The fish that Paul Herbert, "Snook" caught in his fishwheel have been put on the cutting table, directly in front of his smokehouse.
Snook has sharpened his knife. He feels the edge. It is smooth and sharp, ready to slice through salmon flesh.
Just as he learned to do as a boy while living with his grandmother, Belle Herbert, Snook cuts his fish. He works swiftly and expertly.
He fillets a salmon, leaving the two halves connected at the tail.
He cuts the end off at an angle, to create a shape that will facilitate the drying process.
Pushing down hard, Snook runs the knife over the cut fish in a way that will squeeze out the blood. Too much blood left behind could ruin the meat.
Snook makes angle cuts through the flesh at regular intervals.
Each cut leaves a clean strip of white on the inside of the skin. This will allow the skin to stretch so that the segments of cut meat are separated through the drying and smoking process.
Applying considerable pressure, Snook runs the knife over the salmon skin to begin the stretching process.
He soaks the cut fish in brine for a spell.
After the fish soak, Snook places them on a rack where they will hang briefly.
As they hang, he stretches the skin some more. He wants to be certain that segments that he has cut do not come in contact with each other, as this could cause them to spoil.
After the fish hang for a spell on the outside rack, Snook transfers them into his smokehouse.
The fish that Paul has cut hang in the smoke.
Snook had been a little worried that the big red king might have been too far along on its spawning journey, but when he cut into it, he found that the flesh was still good. He will cut this one up into sections for freezing.
He places the cuts sections in a large bowl for washing.
His wife Alma washes the cut sections.
Snook had also cut salmon strips, which he will now transfer from the outside rack into the smokehouse. Yellow jacket hornets gather around, hoping to get a share.
Harold Frost who had come from Old Crow, Yukon Territory, to play his fiddle at the Gwich'in Gathering stops by. Alma gives him a box of salmon that she had jarred the day before to put in his boat and take home with him.