Search - Alaska for Salmon and Halibut on DVD

Not an instructional video

Carlos Norton | Cupertino, CA USA | 01/24/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The description of this video states that, "This program teaches you how to catch and fillet giant halibut, king salmon, silver and pink salmon." The contents were mostly of enthusiastic fishermen reeling in their catch with some description of the wildlife.

There was less than a minute out of the hour long presentation devoted to the bait or lures used. There was a quick view of the guide rigging a herring with no real explanation, a scene of the guide cutting up bait, and an explanation that the fisherman was using a lure he had snagged, but no explanations of any depth. There were scenes of fishermen horsing up halibut and salmon from deep water, but nothing mentioned about how to fish the bait, about setting the hook, or proper techniques in reeling up the fish. There was some mention of down riggers, as in getting them out of the way of people reeling in fish, but no mention of when or how they were used.

There was a 5 second clip of a fish cleaner filleting a small halibut and another clip of the fish cleaner filleting a salmon, but no explanation of the process. The film assumed the watcher knew what kind of knife to use and was familiar with filleting techniques. Presumably all sizes of fish would be treated the same way? In any case, there was no teaching involved.

The content of this DVD was not much more than a home movie of an Alaskan fishing adventure. While the content was similar to that of television programs showing people catching fish, the description should be revised to omit any expectation that it is an instructional video."