Tattoo Tuesday — Sublime Sockeye
It took me until July, but I finally added a new species to the list of fish I’ve caught: sockeye salmon. The hardest part was getting to Bear Trail Lodge in Bristol Bay, but once we were there we were amidst a pretty good year of what is typically the largest run of sockeyes in the world. There were places where you could almost walk across their backs, and other places where you’d be wading and would feel them bump your legs as they swam upstream.
We brought home several dozen pounds of sockeye fillets (along with some king salmon) as a reminder of our trip, but if we really wanted to inscribe it in our permanent record, there are plenty of sockeye tattoo examples to work from. Here are some of our favorites:
This guy took no prisoners with a full head sockeye tatt from Lo and Behold in Olympia, Washington
We weren’t there at the proper time for the bold red sockeyes, but they’re clearly the most striking iterations on skin. Here’s one I first saw on my friend Joe Cermele’s Hook Shots Facebook page from Charlie Forbes Tattoo
And another from Graydon Payne in Seattle
This one comes from Homer, Alaska, where I camped in 1995, and hope to get back sooner rather than later. Artist Peter DeGraffenried added forget-me-nots and Alaskan fireweed
Here’s a black-and-white from Justine Walters of Double Helix Tattoo Syndicate in Idaho
In this one, the salmon isn’t central, except to the foaming-at-the-mouth bear. It comes from Big Trouble Tattoo in California
Not quite sure what this one from Stapleton Tattoo in California represents, but it’s definitely jarring, with great attention to detail.
