All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S15E02.The.Big.Catch.720p.WEB-HD.x264-Pahe.ph

[dramatic music]

[Ricko] Right now
is some crazy times

going on in the world,
there's coronavirus.

And I think there's
no better place to be

for me and my family
as out in the woods.

So, blessed to have
my kids out here.

And I'm real lucky to be
able to move around out here,

and enjoy myself with
this freedom I have.

[dramatic music continues]

Oh, oh oh, a wolf.

Right there, look. There's
a wolf right there.

[mimics a wolf howling]

Awesome, huh?

[Skyler] I know.

You know how to say
wolf in Athabaskan?

-No.
-No.

Teekana.

-Teekana.
-Teekana.

Yeah, just say it like

you really mean it,
so you'll remember it.

Teekana

-Teekana.
-Teekana.

Probably one of the
most respected animals
in our culture.

There's three of them that
we really, really respect.

And that's, wolf,
wolverine, and bear.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] Ricko DeWilde
and his children,

Skyler and Skarlett,
are on a 700 mile voyage

to the family cabin in Huslia.

They're now in
the Koyukuk River,

and nearing the end
of their journey.

But before they get home,

Ricko will take the kids
to an area that his family

has used to harvest
food for generations.

We have deep roots in this area.

We have places we know of
that are rich for fish,

or rich for moose, and
that's where we go.

So on our way to Huslia,
me and the kids will stop.

We'll make camp at Darby Slough,

and that's where it's
good for fishing.

And there should be a place
there that we've been camping

for literally hundreds
of years, my people.

This is where we'll camp.

We're just one bend
above Darby Slough.

There's a lot of bears hanging
out around Darby Slough,

so I wanna get to where
there's no bear trails.

Looks like a good spot here.

If you've never
seen a wall tent,

this is what it looks like.

I got to kind of string it
out just so I get an idea

of how wide to put the
poles and everything else.

Today, I'm putting up
a canvas wall tent.

More of a traditional style of
a tent with modern material.

And I'm gonna use some spruce
poles to make the tent frame.

I haven't done this with
my kids before, so I'm

looking forward to having them
learn something new with me.

-[chain saw buzzing]
-[dramatic music]

Good job.

It's important for me to
teach this to my kids.

I learned it at
a very young age,

and I want them
to learn it also.

[dramatic music continues]

Just like this.

Okay.

Getting closer here.

Put this end up first.

There you go.

[dramatic music continues]

Tent's up.

And It's almost like
a cabin in a way.

[Skyler] Jeez.

[Ricko] You like it?

[Skyler] Yeah. It's so big.

I'd like to show my kids
how to be close to nature,

but I want them to live in
a modern, comfortable way.

[dramatic music]

Well, I think right across
the river's a good place

to start for what
I wanna do today.

I wanna make my daughters each
a nice little berry scoop.

And they're best carved out
of the roots from these trees

that drift from upriver
where the trees are.

So I rely on these sandbars to
catch them, after the flood.

I'll probably just go over there

and just go cut a
root or two off of it,

whittle out a couple
of nice little scoops,

and the girls can go
after their berries.

[dramatic music]

Ugpichs are the
little salmonberries.

Folks around here
call them ugpichs.

And they gather them by
the pound and by the tonne.

My daughters, Carol and Qutan,

who are out here
babysitting with me.

We're watching my daughter,
Idi-bitty's son, Wade.

And we're gonna be
berry picking soon.

So I wanna give
them the right tool,

the best tool that
they can have,

if they're gonna go out
here and go get food.

[dramatic music]

That's not gonna do.

That's got a really
bad grain to it,

with a big inclusion
halfway through it.

The only way we know to
find out if it's any good,

is to cut it and have a look.

This one's got good solid grain.

I believe I could
take this down,

and make it worth
about almost a quart.

I can kind of see
what I want out of it,

while it's still in it.

Looks like it'll be a
good section too but,

got to cut to find out.

There we go.

Oh, this will be
a wonderful scoop.

Those should do quite well.

[dramatic music]

Well, I'm gonna make
a handle up top here.

And the scoop is
gonna be down here.

I'm gonna clean this
up on the outside,

make it nice and rounded.

And I'm gonna get
the middle out of it.

And then the handle
should be up here.

And then they can fill
these up with berries,

and then go put
them in a bucket,

instead of carrying
a five gallon bucket
all over the place.

And having to
carry it every time

you wanna get to new berries
can be kind of fatiguing so

the best thing to do is
have something light weight,

like this made out of wood.

And they can go along and pick
all the berries they want,

and keep going
back to the bucket.

[calm music]

I like to make things
that are handcrafted.

I like to do things
that are kind of custom.

It's just a dad-to-daughter
kind of thing,

to give her a really
good tool to use.

They can use it for
a bowl to eat out of.

They can cook in it.

Everybody used to
have one of these

a long time ago when they had
life on the trail, I guess.

Hey Wade.

Come here, I'll
show you something.

It's gonna be a
berry scoop for you.

I'll be done here pretty soon.

They call those kaluutuks.

[Chip] Kaluutuks, yeah.

[Wade] And I'll go find berries?

[Chip] We will go find
berries, very shortly here.

I should have this done in
about the next half hour.

Most of it's just scooping out.

I've got all the outside done,

and I'll work my way down
to a thin but firm edge.

And I'll fork it over
here in a little bit.

Looks pretty good.

Yeah.

I'm gonna go lay Wade down.

-All right.
-He seems pretty tired.

I don't want to lay down.

Well, you go do whatever.

But listen to your
Aunties, okay?

All right, we'll see you later.

[dramatic music]

Brutal honesty is the only
way to survive out here.

I'd love to say I'm
king of the forest.

But at times, I'm
more the Court Jester.

[calm music]

All righty.

So, here's the kitchen.

And, here is the
grey water system.

You can see it's
coming apart. It's old.

Grey water is, once
you brush your teeth,

and you spit in the sink.

That dirty water going
out, that's grey water.

That grey water goes
into the water house,

through a bleach and
probiotic system,

and then goes back into the
real world healthy and safe.

But these are 1968,
1970 components.

That has to be replaced.

To get this started,
I'll bring the Bobcat.

I'm gonna put the
forks here, so that

when I cut the
pipe, and cut this,

this pipe has somewhere to go.

You know, couple of Hail Marys,

and get the heck out of the way.

[dramatic music]

Hopefully it goes
where I want it to go,

and not on my feet or my legs.

Accidents do happen.

Things drop and bounce
in the weirdest ways.

Right now, there's an
imbalance in the weight.

When I start really cutting
loose on the weight,

this may decide, right, I'm
just giving up the ghost.

And bounce off.

So the first thing I wanna do,

I think, is cut the pipe here.

That'll even out the weight.

[sawzall humming]

All right. That's not good.

I was hoping that
cutting this it would've,

taken the weight this
way a little bit more.

I just don't wanna
see this go wee.

[grunts in frustration]

Flying by the seat of my pants.

I got a nice ass, but that
doesn't get the job done.

Desire is not always
enough to do it right.

Okay.

I'm gonna cut it from this side,

just in case it decides
to run free, little bird.

Don't hurt me.

[dramatic music]

And I thought oh, I'm
gonna get from this side

'cause it won't land on me.

Well, I got to go
back underneath it.

[suspenseful music]

Damn. Okay.

I got the strapping
tape cut there.

Now I need to cut this one.

I can see it's heavier
over there than it is here.

I'm afraid it's gonna
like, bounce to my loo.

[squeals]

I got it.

[calm music]

That's good. I'm happy.

I'll take this to the bone yard,

because right now
this is a done deal.

It has to get out of my way.

The next step for me,

is to get this next
section of pipe off.

I need to keep working on it.

I'm a
fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants gal,

not the best plumber,
not the best carpenter,

but why the hell
not start doing it?

I am no expert at how to
do a lot of this stuff.

I'm just willing to do it.

[dramatic music]

Second pipe down.

Building a better
wheel only happens

if you start turning the cogs.

[dramatic music]

Well, I've got the
heavy work done.

But, I've got to get
this stage cleaned up.

So clean up the old, and
get ready to lay the new.

This is a project that
I really can't delay on.

I don't have time.

So I've got to clean
up and keep moving.

[dramatic music]

I have to slow myself down.

I'm in no race in the end.

The only thing that I'm
racing against is time.

[dramatic music]

The kids and I
put up a tent and,

I want a little bit
of flooring in there,

so it's not so damp and wet.

We got to look for a place
where we can get spruce flowers.

We need a place that's got
spruce trees close to the river.

We can get some of the
limbs off of them and,

make a little carpet basically
for the inside of the tent.

[contemplative music]

Okay, we'll just use this
rock here to anchor the boat.

And when you use a rock,

use other rocks around it
to kind of pin it down.

[Skyler] So it
doesn't float away?

Yeah.

Because if the boat float
away, we're in big trouble.

[dramatic music]

Every like 100 feet or so,
look back where you came from.

That's the number one thing
when you walk back in the woods.

[Skyler] Why?

If you don't look back,

everything looks different
when you go in this direction.

And then you won't
know where to go.

So, you've got to
remember where is the sun

when you walk away
from your boat.

Look back when you're walking.

Stuff like this in your way,

just chop it out of
the way like this.

Even that right there
tells you something.

I'm trying to get you
to think on your own,

so that you know how to
walk away from your boat,

come back to your boat.

[dramatic music]

Very easy to get
confused in this land,

because it all looks
the same sometime

when you get back
in the thick stuff.

It's part of survival out here,

and it seems real rugged,
maybe, to some people.

But for us living out here,

that's just like
someone in the city

teaching their kids how to
cross the street safely.

See, this is what we
wanna lay on or walk on.

It'll keep us off
the muddy ground.

So I'm gonna throw this
down on the ground.

Let's just get a pile of them.

Put them on the ground,

and we'll carry them
down to the boat.

And then once you're
done with one tree,

you move to the next.

And this doesn't
hurt the tree at all,

because the tree just
grows another limb.

Even though we're coming
to get spruce boughs,

I took advantage of a
chance to teach the kids

on how to find their
way back to their boat

when they walk away from it.

I got to take time to teach
my kids everything I know,

as best as I can,
because I'm not gonna

always be around to
take care of them.

And that's what my late mom
told me when I was growing up.

[dramatic music]

We're not here forever
but whatever we teach you,

we're gonna try to leave
it behind with you.

When we're gone, you're
gonna have survival skills,

and you're gonna have
a lot of knowledge,

so I'm hoping to pass
that onto my kids.

Hopefully they learn some new
tricks and add onto that book.

And in the end, we have a
beautiful chapter in this life.

And the more spruce boughs you
have, the softer your bed is.

[Skyler] Yeah, this
is very springy.

[Ricko] Yeah, it's nice.

Good job, kids.

[dramatic music]

[Andy] The only
way you learn how

to live in the bush, is
go live out in the bush.

There's no substitute

for hands-on experience
in life out here.

[dramatic music]

This is definitely a task
that'll be worth doing.

We could not get this to feed
out on the boat like this.

[Narrator] Andy Bassich
and Denise Becker

are preparing to
fish for king salmon,

a key resource that's briefly
available in the summer.

But over the years,

the salmon have dwindled
to critically low numbers.

If they are to
preserve the future

of king salmon on the Yukon,

they must catch only what
they need to survive.

We're only gonna have two
and a half days of fishing.

We've got a very short clock.

We wanna try and
make the best of it.

It might be good practise
for you to kind of

take the lead on
driving the boat.

I can just see where
this is going. [laughing]

Well. If you don't do it,
you're never gonna learn.

Yeah, but then I
don't run the risk of

jerking the boat and flipping
you over the bow. [laughing]

That's one way to get rid of me.

Let's go fishing.

Come on, Dickle. Can you do it?

He's not gonna do
it, just lift him up.

Dickle's now almost
16 years old.

He really loves
going for boat rides.

He has kind of a hard time
getting in and out of the boat,

so we'll give him a
little assistance there.

But it'll be, it'll be
fun to have him along.

[Denise] Attaboy,
Dickle. Yay, Dickle.

This is my third year going
out and putting the nets out

with Andy fishing,
and with that comes

the expectation that
I know what I'm doing.

[dramatic music]

Having some experience, I
know enough to know that

anything can go sideways
in a split second.

All I can say is sometimes
ignorance is bliss. [laughing]

There it is.

[dramatic music]

You won't be
affected by anything,

until you get out
into that current.

As long as you stay
in this eddy part,

you'll have lots of control.

The river's really dynamic.

It's constantly
moving. It's very fast.

A lot of current,

a lot of power in the river,
especially at high water.

You really have to hold on to
your boat tight all the time,

or you just get whipped
around in there.

Think we stuck this
net in here backwards.

This is the first
thing coming out,

and we need the front of
the net to come out first.

[Denise] How did we do that?

[Andy] It's upside down now,
so we're gonna deal with it.

[Denise] Oh, man.

[Andy] We'll make it happen.

Okay, here we go.

Okay. And talk loud, because
I can't hear anything.

[Andy] Give it a little bit
of gas, then slow it down.

Got everything all
tangled up here,

because it's in backwards.

That was a big mistake.

That's it.

That's it.

Now just hold yourself in
the current here, okay?

We're getting close to the end.

[Denise] I just
can't get that spot.

[Andy] Your prop is right
in the net right now.

No.

No! No!

Don't get! Oh man,
you just got the net.

All right, just stop.

Let's see what we
got left of the net.

[Denise] Is it bad?

[Andy] Yeah.

One of the biggest things
I was concerned about was,

catching the net in
the prop, and I did.

And I did it right
out of the gate.

There's moments where you
just want to disappear.

You want to redo it.
You want to undo it.

I mean, you can't.

You got to carry on. That's
the reality. So you do.

It's all right, Denise.
I've done this before, too.

It's just something
that happens sometimes.

She feels bad about chopping
up the net, but actually

I feel bad because I think
I set her up for failure,

by having the net in backwards.

Well, the one good
thing about this

is we're contributing to
the conservation effort.

[Denise laughing]

Maybe it'd be better for
us to go up to the house,

and spend the time fixing this.

'Cause this needs to be done
out in the grass and the lawn

where you can see
what you're doing.

[Denise] Okay, then
let's just do it.

[dramatic music]

We're not usually the staying
type so, in the Arctic,

it's a pretty good place
for social distancing.

[dramatic music]

Me and my family, we are
going across the river to our

personal favourite
berry patch of ugpichs,

before the upcoming winter.

There's usually a short window

that you have to
get the ugpichs.

[Chip] Oh wow, look at that.
Wow, this place is loaded.

[dramatic music]

Right now, the ugpichs are
perfect and juicy enough

to go pick right now
while the blueberries

and everything are
still ripening.

Perfect for making jam.

You can mix them
with your pancakes.

You can make ugpich pie.

There's a whole lot you
can do with the berries.

My dad decided he would
make a scoop for berries.

Around here, we
call them kaluutuks.

The kaluutuk is one
of the many things

the Native people use
for gathering things.

We can carry water with them.

So, it's pretty good
to have around camp.

[Wade] I found one.

[Carol] You found one?

[Wade] Look right here.

-I found this right here.
-Oh, and it's ripe.

Good job.

[contemplative music]

It's actually a challenge

to be out there berry
picking with Wade,

because he constantly wants
to eat all my berries.

He wants to hold my bucket,

and then he goes around
swinging the bucket,

dropping a bunch of
berries and stuff, so.

-Oh.
-Hey.

I've been just trying
to teach him how to

pick the berries on his own,
and put them in his own bucket.

[contemplative music]

You can tell they're ripe
by how juicy they look.

[Chip] Yup. There's a
colour to it, and a texture.

[Qutan] Yeah.

[Chip] Well, starting to see
more and more ripe ugpichs.

[Qutan] They're all over.

[dramatic music]

I have to change with the times.

Mother Nature is gonna
change when she wants to.

I have to change with it.

[dramatic music]

All right.

I've got some of my supplies.

But what I need to do first,

try to get my pipe set
up, the basic pipe.

[Narrator] Sue is renovating
her grey water system,

a vital piece of
sanitation in Kavik,

and one that reduces her
environmental impact.

After demolishing the old pipes,

she must now construct
a new, detachable system

that can withstand the brutal
conditions of the tundra.

The pipe is gonna run
somewhere down this way, right?

I'm gonna wanna put
a piece of wood here,

and it's gonna hold
it for me here.

[dramatic music]

Working with me is a
project all on its own.

Do I have training
in any of this? No.

I got my first one up,

and now it's just a matter
of going down the line.

[drill humming]

Deconstruction is my forte.

Construction takes
a little longer.

Not everything I
think actually works.

But it's my camp
and I get to try it.

You wanna help me? You
got little tiny paws.

Can you twist it on?

You think so?

I'll hand you your part.

Here you go. Twist
it on, little buddy.

That's a good boy. I got
a helper on the project.

Not much of a helper,
but hey, cheap labour.

This wraps up phase one
of the lighter weight,

up to date, detachable
water system.

Looking up here,

the overhead system has got
to be updated and upgraded.

Phase two, coming up.

We might not see each
other a lot out here,

but we do rely on each other.

[dramatic music]

Growing up,

I used to read some magazines
that my dad subscribed to.

In one of those magazines,

I remember they talked
about sheefish fishing,

and how Koyukuk River
was good for it,

that the mouth of these
tributaries to it.

Man, as a kid I used
to dream of just going

and out and fishing
for sheefish,

but I never did get to do that.

Rod and reel fishing is
something we didn't have

when we were growing up, and
I always wanted to do it.

But I didn't have a rod and
reel, just stick and string,

or fish nets was
how we got our fish.

In a way, it's kind of I'm
living vicariously through them,

and getting to do this fishing

that I never did when
I was growing up.

[dramatic music]

Oh, my God.

I almost dropped
the fishing rod.

I never caught a
sheefish before, that's
why I'm so excited.

I don't even know what
a sheefish looks like.

Me neither.

I think that it's
a big white fish.

Yeah. Me too.

[dramatic music]

I got one, I got one.

[suspenseful music]

[Ricko] Just let it fight.
Let it fight, let it fight.

Don't pull on it. Let him
get tired, there you go.

[Skyler] It's a big one.

[Ricko] That looks
like a silver.

Let me get it.

Oh. Big old sheefish.

It's actually bigger than
I thought it would be.

Nice.

Skyler just got
his first sheefish.

Real good fishing here at Dalby.

Let's get Skarlett to cast.

[suspenseful music]

Oh, I got one.

-You got one?
-Yeah.

[Ricko] Okay. I'm
not gonna help you.

I'll just help you get
it out of the water.

It's super heavy, though.

[Ricko] Let it
fight, let it fight.

[Skyler] It hurts your hands.

It's okay. Reel it up.

Oh, pike. Look at that, Skar.

[Skyler] Holy
cool. Look at that.

Dad.

[Ricko] Move, get away, Sky.

Don't let it grab
your foot, hey.

Hold on, it's got so
much hooks on this thing.

Yeah, we'll let it go.

[Skyler groans]

It is my first pike.

Wait, Dad, could
they grow bigger?

[Ricko] Yeah, they get
even bigger than this.

[Skyler] Jeez.

[Ricko] Okay, let's let it go.

I don't wanna let it go.

Watch it swim away, though.
You'll get a good visual.

Just let him relax.

[calm music]

Whoa. That was cool.

[Ricko] Yeah. Awesome, huh?

[dramatic music]

We're fishing for food,

but I'm not keeping
all the pike we catch.

A lot harder when
I was growing up,

because sometimes we didn't
catch fish, and we went hungry.

That's just how it was.

But for my kids, I'm
teaching them to fish

as best I can with
a rod and a reel.

Seeing them hang out together
and catch fish together,

that's a big deal,
because they're gonna be

talking about this
for years to come.

[dramatic music]

This is awesome.

Oh, look at that nice
moose over there.

It's looking back. You see it?

Sometimes when
the moose do that,

when they come out,
when they're hanging out

and they're looking
back like that,

that means that there's
a bear after it.

The one way they can shake that
bear is come around humans.

[dramatic music]

Oh, you got one.

-That is big.
-That's a sheefish.

[Ricko] Is it a sheefish?

-It's a sheefish.
-Oh yeah, it is a sheefish.

Bring it this way.
Bring it this way.

Oh, big old jagged
hooks on this thing.

[dramatic music]

Jeez, Skar. Look,
half the size of you.

That's big. It goes
down to my arm.

It's an awesome-looking
fish. Good job, Skar.

I'm glad you guys got the
sheefish. Time to eat.

Okay, let's get out of here.

Good job, kids.

Good fishing.

[dramatic music]

[Andy] Every time
you take shortcuts,

it comes and it bites you
right in the ass out here.

Nothing's a failure as long as
you learn from that mistake.

[dramatic music]

We're just about done here.

I don't know what
the heck I'm doing,

but it's coming together.

It's coming together.
It's closing up the hole.

[Narrator] Andy and Denise
are fishing for king salmon,

a key food source
that can be harvested

from the Yukon River
this time of year.

But a costly mistake
has damaged their net,

and they must get it
repaired quickly if they are

to seize the brief and
dwindling salmon run.

[Andy] This time we're
gonna do it the right way.

[dramatic music]

We've got a
challenging job ahead,

get those nets out with
the time crunch on us.

Every minute counts
at this point.

That one looks good.

Yeah. No, I think
this will be okay.

[dramatic music]

I'm just gonna go ahead
and set this net here.

I'm nervous, after getting the
net wrapped up in the prop.

Some of the things with
the river and the boat,

I find still very intimidating.

[Andy] Okay. Put it
into reverse, Denise.

Just get yourself
out into the current.

That's good. Keep going.

When I feel anxious
about something,

that's my signal I need to
jump in and learn how to do it,

and get over that anxiety
and build the skill.

[Andy] Slow it down! Neutral!

[Denise] Is that
coming in about right?

Yeah. Don't give it power.

[dramatic music]

Looks pretty good.

I think there's one more
eddy right around the corner.

Let's go check that out.

-Good job setting that net.
-[thunder rolling]

-You hear that?
-A thunderstorm's coming.

[Denise] We better check
that eddy down there quick.

[Andy] Let's do it right now,

'cause the weather's
probably not gonna be good.

[dramatic music]

All right, round two.

I'm pretty lucky right now.

Denise is getting
better and better.

And she's developing
some really good skills,

and she's getting faster
and faster at things,

and getting that
confidence to do them.

Just in time, the
rain's starting.

So we got two nets in the river.

Hopefully we'll catch a
couple of fish, anyway.

I'll be happy with
a couple of fish.

[dramatic music]

[Sue] No beauty
contest out here.

Out here, strength
is what matters.

[dramatic music]

All righty. What do you
got? You gonna help me?

I don't think so.
You're not much help.

What I've got going on,

I'm now working on phase
two of my water system.

The aeration system,
the overhead system,

it is put together with
whatever was laying around.

It's engineered well enough
that it's held up for a while.

But I don't think I
have another winter.

My idea is to take these
hell-a-stout pipes,

and reinforce the old system.

There's still a lot of life in
the old girl, I just have to

get her booty up
in the air better.

The first thing to do
is take these pipes,

cut them to length.

Guys, I'm gonna start
lighting things.

You're gonna have to go. Yeah.

[dramatic music]

[flame whooshing]

Using this instead of wood,

if I can make this work for
me, if I can get this cut,

and weld it and support my
system better, hell yeah.

It's gonna last me well, well,
well into the next decade.

[dramatic music]

So, I've got the pipes cut.

The next step is I've got
to weld on some barrels

to keep it in place,
make it stout.

[dramatic music continues]

It doesn't have to be perfect.
It just has to be strong.

I may not be the
best torch cutter,

but I'm the only one out
here, so I gotta keep trying.

All right so, the welding
is done on this one.

They're really heavy. [laughing]

Not sure how I'm gonna
get them over there.

I didn't think that far ahead.

Maybe I can just get this
bobcat to help me a little bit.

Let me see what I can do.

It's a little
awkward, weight-wise.

It's unstable. It
rolls, it's round.

I've got sharp objects
off of one end,

and a barrel off the other.

And I've got a greenhouse
and a building in the way.

Do not fall over. Do
not fucking fall over.

[dramatic music]

This is no fucking good.

I did it, man.
[laughing] I did it.

I have to stand them up now.

But I can't use so
much force with this,

that I tear up what
I've just welded.

[dramatic music continues]

So this first one is in place.

I could not have planned
that better if I tried.

That's about as snug a fit

as you can order
out of a catalogue.

I mean, it's beautiful.

I don't wanna
spend a lot of time

sitting there
hemming and hawing.

I've got two more
to get in place.

I really take pride in
being fit, being strong.

But the light dawning on me
that I had to use the equipment.

Once I did that,

then the brain kicked
in, science kicked in.

I could see what I
needed to do in my head.

And it went smooth as butter.

Shoot, here comes the rain.

This wasn't forecast,

but it's not gonna get
a whole lot better.

So I've got to get

some support and some
weight in these buckets.

[dramatic music]

You can't count
on Mother Nature.

The only thing you
can count on with it,

is that you just can't.

The chore isn't
as fun as it was,

'cause I'm getting rained on.

And that's all right, I
don't mind getting wet,

if it fixes the job at hand.

I think I finished
it just in time.

I can feel the wind
starting to pick up.

That's the steel grey of
winter coming in there.

I've got 2000 pounds right here,

a lot of it on the bottom side.

And that tells me this
isn't gonna go anywhere.

And new pipe, detachable.

Win-win. I got it.

For a chunky little
girl, I got it going on.

[dramatic music]

[Chip] The most
gratifying part of my life

would probably be
seeing my kids succeed.

[dramatic music]

Come on, Wade.

We're going over
here to the beach.

We're gonna go make
a little bit of tea,

and relax for a little while,

from all the walking
and stooping over.

Let's make some tea.

Go get some water.

But I'll show you a trick
with that wooden bowl,

so fill up your wooden
bowl with water too.

[dramatic music]

You got to get away
from all the dust.

You can't fill it
up with dusty water.

Look, can you see how
it's clear over here,

but it's real dusty from
your footprints over there?

I got the water you asked for.

Sure, I was gonna show you a
trick while we make this tea.

Take three nice rocks like this.

We heat them up really hot.

And we put them
in one at a time.

It'll heat that hot enough
to make a nice pot of tea.

So if you think about it,

if all you've got is
a knife out there,

something you might
consider doing quickly,

after you take care of
shelter and keeping yourself,

you know, un-hurt, would be to
make yourself a wooden bowl,

so you can gather
things, drink from it,

put stuff in it, cook in it.

And it won't take
very long to heat.

It's a pretty cool trick.

[Qutan] Can I put
my finger in there?

[Chip] If you want to.

[Qutan] Yup, that's
hot. This is cool.

[dramatic music]

This is what I
would consider like

the more primitive way
of doing something.

But sometimes that's
what you're reduced to.

But it is a really good
idea to know how to that.

And also for me, it's
like something personal

I can do for you, for myself,
and it's pretty dang handy.

Come on Wade, we're leaving.

We're gonna go have
the rest of this day.

-There you go, thank you.
-Wow, awesome.

Always put the fire out.

[Carol] I'm warmed up.

[Chip] Time to go home.

[dramatic music]

[Andy] I wouldn't consider
myself a perfectionist,

but I do hold myself to
pretty high standards.

There's nothing wrong with
trying to do the best you can.

[dramatic music]

[Denise] You ready?

[Andy] Let's go catch a fish.

Hop in, you're driving.
Practise, practise, practise.

Okay.

Give it gas, there
you go. Perfect.

Yeah, but you're
still in the boat.

I know. You didn't knock me out.

[Denise laughing]

[dramatic music]

We had to go to a
couple different sites

to finally get two nets in.

Hopefully we'll catch
a couple king salmon.

The way the runs are
going, who knows?

This might be our
only king salmon,

if we catch any, for
the next year or two.

[Denise] Oh, there's
a lot of debris.

It's a net full of driftwood.

[Andy] Oh, here's
one right here.

[Denise] Oh!

I can see it splashing.

[Andy] He's trying to dive.

[Denise] Nice.
That's a nice one.

[Andy] It's tangled
up pretty good.

Looks like a female.

[Denise] Aw, man.

Half-tempted to put her back in.

One like this will
carry about 4000 eggs.

When you get to low numbers
with what we have now,

every single female
salmon counts.

I have something
tugging at me saying

release that salmon, let it
go produce for the future.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna
release that one back.

Yeah.

That's kind of how my
gut feels about it.

[contemplative music]

It really strikes
me as being the lone

struggling female trying to get
out to the spawning grounds.

It's a very symbolic moment
of the struggle of the salmon.

It is not her time.

She needs to have her fighting
chance given back to her.

And that's what Andy
and I are doing.

[Andy] They're tougher than
hell, but they're a lot

more sensitive than you
might think in some areas.

[Denise] Yeah, it
would even be worse

to put her in and
then she dies anyway.

[Andy] She's going
straight down.

She's not even holding
an equilibrium there.

Let's just give
her a few minutes.

[calm music]

She's definitely waking up.

I think it's gonna
be worth releasing.

[Denise] That's good.

[Andy] Send her up river.

[Denise] I'm glad we did
that. She deserved it.

[Andy] Well, let's go
check our other net.

Maybe we'll find a male
that we can eat tonight.

[Denise] There's definitely
debris in this one as well.

Here we go again.

Oh, here's one right here.

[Denise] Oh.

[Andy] Looks like
we're catching fish.

[Denise] There he is.
Think that's a male?

[Andy] Yep.

That's something to eat.

[Denise] Oh, there's one here.

We got two nice ones there.

[Andy] That's pay-off
for our conservation.

[Denise] I got something
heavy here. A live one.

[Andy] Ooh, that's a big one.

[Denise] Is that male?

[Andy] Yeah.

Yay.

A little bit of driftwood,
and three nice keeper fish.

I'm glad that we don't
have a net full of fish.

Because that is more
than we would need,

and we don't want to overfish.

That's perfect for what
that species can give to us.

[contemplative music]

Look who came.

-Hi, Dickle. Yay!
-Hi, Dickle.

He says, are you guys
cooking some salmon for me?

Good boy, Dickle.

Dickle's been a great dog.

And I think about all the
great times I had with him,

all the adventures
we shared together.

And I celebrate that, not
the fact that it might be

the last couple of
weeks or the last month.

[Denise] That is delicious.

It's pretty hard to be too
much fresher than that.

You know what I
think makes it really

taste good, is knowing that

there's one that was
released out of it today.

I'm very proud of the fact
that I was able to release

a female king salmon to
go up and finish spawning.

This life has provided a
really, really good life for me.

And I just want
other people to have

the opportunity to
experience that.

-Cheers.
-Cheers.

[Andy] Chink.

[Denise] Oh, it's so good.

[dramatic music]

[Ricko] If I'm able to
raise my kids successfully,

and raise them to be strong,

it shows a lot to who raised me.

[dramatic music]

There's a little process
to making a fire out here.

It's summertime, it's not
winter, so now's the chance

for me to teach the kids
how to do it on their own.

[Skyler] How are
you gonna light it?

[Ricko] Don't burn yourself.

[Skyler] Okay, now.

[Ricko] Good job
on the fire, kids.

My kids are real hands-on,
very inquisitive,

very interested in learning,

and that's what makes it
successful on my part,

because it shows that I'm
doing my job as a father

to keep them out of trouble,

and keep them interested in
the right things in life,

and learn how to
survive out here.

[contemplative music]

[Skyler] That looks good.

Yeah, it does.

You guys pretty much did
everything, you know that?

How?

You guys caught the fish.
You guys made the fire.

You guys helped with the tent.

You guys are getting more
and more self-sufficient.

-[calm music]
-[fish sizzling]

You guys like sheefish?

[grunting in affirmation]

You know what my
late mom used to say?

What?

It's sink or swim out here.

Like, if you don't
get up and hustle,

if you don't get up and
know which direction

you're going to
make things happen,

you're not gonna make
it, you're gonna sink.

If you know how to get food,

and you know how
to rest like that,

how you put up the tent
and make it comfortable,

that's how you can live good.

Once you learn how
to do all that,

then you're gonna
be able to swim.

It was just overall a real
good trip for me and the kids,

because I had a good chance
to bond with the kids,

and see where
they're at as far as

learning their
survival out here.

And they both caught
their first sheefish.

I've never caught
a sheefish yet.

It was fun being able
to bring them out there,

and watch them do something

that I've only dreamed
of doing as a kid.

[Skyler] This is literally
my favourite trip,

favourite trip.

[Ricko] Was it?

[Skyler] Yeah, it's
going so good so far.

[Ricko] Awesome. I'm
glad you had fun.

[calm music]