Crews are getting off the water from fishing across the bay to break down their operations for the season and catch up on sleep. KDLG's Jessie Sheldon went down to the Dillingham harbor to check in with crews to see how they’re feeling about the 2026 sockeye season, and has this audio postcard.
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Silas Gronley: Hello, I'm Silas Gronley. I'm from Lopez Island, Washington. It's pretty cool, you know. Down in Washington, all I do is sport fish, and man, this is way different. I wanted to get the experience of what commercial fishing is like, and I sure got it.
KDLG: How'd it go? Are you going to be back?
Silas Gronley: Potentially, you know. Maybe ask me in like 10 months or so, once I've been back home for a little bit. Right now I feel like I'm a little tired of it.
Gracie Speak: I'm Gracie, I fish on the Nelly G. I felt like the first day we fished, it was just a really good first day, it was really exciting, and then just kind of felt like potato farming after that, just slow farm grind. The Nush just felt different this year. I think everyone kind of feels like it was slow and mediocre, and it just felt like there was more to give towards the end of the season.
Fritz Johnson: Fritz Johnson on the Jazz. Well, I'm glad the price was what it was, and I hope that trend continues. Our season was kind of modest, but the price kind of made up for it. My crew went home happy, and I haven't done the numbers yet to see if I made any money or not.
Anders Helgeson: I'm Anders Helgeson on the Miss Gale. It was a season, it was a hell of a season. It's my second year up here, and my buddy is a skipper. It was his first year skippering, so we both learned a ton very quickly out of necessity. It was really, I mean, it was really really hard. It was difficult, challenging, but in good ways, and we caught enough fish so we're not gonna go broke, which is good. I had a ton of fun. It was really difficult, but I'm grateful for it.
Rick Galgano: Rick Galgano, F/V High Flyer. We had some good days. It's always fun to get out there and catch fish and see them hitting the net. I had three of my four children on the boat this year, so that was kind of fun. First time in all the years that all of them were together on the boat, so that was good. I mean, it's always fun when you're catching fish.
John Montecucco: My name is John Montecucco. I think my first year was 1989. You know, it was an odd season, less fish, but the weather was really good this year. We were in the Nushagak all season, then went to Ugashik at the end for a few days, and it wasn't really great fishing. And then we came back.
Megan Santos: I’m Megan. I'm a greenhorn, first season. My best bucket was when we first went to Egegik, and it was dead. So we decided to come back to Dillingham, and the water was super calm. So there was no wake, and it was sunny, and it was beautiful. And I got to take the best bucket ever because it was sunshine-y, and there was nobody, and it was flat water, and the best scenery, and there ain't nothing but fresh air.
Forest Newell: Hey, this is Forest with the Supernova out of Dillingham, and just wanted to say goodbye and thank you for a mediocre season. I would like to share one thing with you, which is my favorite set of the season, and it happened in Naknek, and Phil called us out to a couple jumpers, and we ran out there and set the net, and got a couple hits and didn't see much going on, and sat down and made spaghetti, and they were just bumping in, and we sunk the net without even realizing while we were making spaghetti dinner.
Jeremy McGill: I am Jeremy McGill. Beginning of the season, we were broke down below Ekwok for the peak. We got towed down here, and we just got our water pump rebuilt. We're waiting on one part, so we're planning to go get some fish, some silvers, hopefully some humpies. There's no shame, and it's a part of life. I mean, we were planning to be there for the first opener, short season, short window, but that's how life goes.
Thor Gudmundson: Thor Gudmundson, I just wrote this one day when we were trying to eat up some time, waiting for the fish to show back up. Okay, here we go. They call me the picker 'cause I get the net in quicker. The deck gets slicker while the fish get thicker. The fish go in the hold and then they get sold. We don't wanna bleed 'em and we do like to eat 'em. I'm looking for a scratch that's bigger than Phil’s. Fish I wanna catch 'cause they're giving me thrills. Fish are better than pills. Fish are better than bills. You may disagree, but that's because you don't see the beauty of the salmon. It's like being in heaven, especially when you slam 'em like 7777.
