The fish of the Year 2012

This was "the fish" of 2012 for our family. We did catch a few more, but this one was special. After a long week of work, Saturday morning found me sleeping in a little longer than is normal for a Saturday morning during the summer run on the Willamette River. My oldest daughter turned me down on a fishing trip, so it was just me and Jacie. She talked me into getting her a steelhead tag this year, even though she was a little worried about fighting one, and handling the big Ugly Stick fishing rod. Our last few trips out had been successful in the Rim Hole so we put the boat in hoping to find it free of other fishermen. The row up the river was nearly effortless in the low summer flows. We anchored up 20 yards above the deep pool that turns into a sudden ripple. After baiting up and getting comfortable, me with oars in my hands and Jacie with her corn chips and soda, we pulled up the anchor and slowly back trolled our way into the deep hole. After going down stream about 15 yards, Jacie's rod plunged towards the water repeatedly! Fish on! I dropped the anchor and secured it, then helped Jacie pull the dancing rod from the rod holder. I quickly reeled in the other rod while coaching her to hold the rod tip up high and reel in any line she could. I moved to the back of the boat to grab the net and put it together. I looked up to see Jacie standing with her back to the fish, rod over one shoulder, reeling backwards! I had her turn around and gave her some more encouragement. She worked the fish close to the boat and I was able to get it into the net after a couple of attempts. We didn't really realize how nice a fish it was until it was in the bottom of the boat. What an exciting day for her. Her first steelhead! Weighing in at over 10 pounds, it was the fish of the year!

Sore Shoulders

I've really been itching to get back out and get a fish on the boat, so I can get I little better fishing memory stored up here. Decided to try to get home from work a little early so I could go give it another shot yesterday. The river has only dropped a few inches since Saturday, but I'd like to see the water at this level and hopefully get a chance to redeem myself. A friend was able to get off work around 5 so we hooked up the boat and got on the water about 6:30pm. It's a lot of water to cover before dark, but with the heavy water flow we figured we'd make it. We fished hot shots through most of the holes. My friend tried a kwikfish for a while. Not a single strike. We were off the water at about 9:20pm. Then the shuttling. My friend drove back to get the truck and trailer. While he was gone a couple of guys came to the ramp and cleaned their catch. They caught 4 springers up at the dam. They said they fished all day with nothing to show for it until about 7:30pm, then the bite turned on and they limited out. Must say I'm not real jealous. I'm just not a big fan of the combat fishing that generally goes on up there. I bet those boys are eating mighty fine today though.
This morning I woke up with a big knot behind my left shoulder blade. Trying to fish those lures slowly through that raging water for nearly three hours was a little rough. But, like they say, what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Hope that's the case. I've got blisters on top of blisters on my hands now. Well, theres the days report and complaint. Gonna be another week before I can get out there again. Hope yall are catching some fish.

A few sleepless nights

Last week I decided I was going to go fishing on Saturday whether the river was in shape or not. When I said this I was pretty sure that it was going to be just right by Saturday morning. Unfortunately its hard to predict the water flows around here, so by Friday night when I checked the river level online I was none to happy to see we were still 2 feet higher than I needed it to be. I called my brother to see what he thought and he wanted to go give it a try. So we started an hour after daylight. We put the boat in at a ramp about 3 river miles above where we normally fish. The river was swollen and really moving fast, but looked safe enough to float. There was a drift boat on the far side of the river, just up stream from the ramp, hugging the shore. We decided to hug the side of the river we were on and see how it went, back trolling some Hot Shots on the way down. The high water kept us moving through most of the fishing holes too fast to feel like we were fishing very effectively. I was rowing with all I had just trying to slow us down a little. My brother got some practice in on the oars as well. It took us a few hours to get down to the stretch of river that we like to fish. The river runs slower through this section and it was a relief to not have to work so hard to feel like we were working the water well. Halfway down through a certain section, my brother's rod went down hard, surprising both of us. He picked up the rod and the fight was on. A strong tug on the other end of the line, sent line screaming off the real. We took our time playing the fish and trying to get into a good position to be able to get it to the boat and net it. My bro played the fish well. I had the net in hand when the fish finally came side up next to the boat. It was a beautiful spring chinook salmon. I waited for the right moment and went to dip the net to scoop up this big fish. My net stopped about a foot from the water and I realized I had caught it on the rod holder on the side of the boat. I pulled back and got it loose, looking for the fish. Now the fish was next to the boat, inside of the oar. My brother moved the fish out into a better spot for me to try again. Well, instead of taking my time to make sure I did this right the second time, I put the net in too soon. The outside of the next got tangled in the hook sticking out of the fishes mouth. Then I started to panic. I tried a few different things trying to get the fish in the net, but it was not going to happen. I pulled the net up next to the boat and reached down to try to gill or tail him into the boat. Just as my hand touched the fish he thrashed, the hook came loose, and I watched him swim away.
This was a real heart breaker for both of us. I was in shock at how bad it all had gone. My first botched fish netting. My bro's first springer swimming free. I can't help but replay it all in my mind over and over, just thinking of all the things I could have done differently to have landed this fish. My brother didn't beat me up too bad. He said not to worry about it, but as I told him, I don't think I will ever forget this fish. So, I'm really anxious to get back out there and get a fish in the boat and start putting this behind me. Thanks for reading. I'll keep you posted.

Too much water.

This spring has been a little disappointing on the fishing side of things. We had a lot of snow in the mountains last winter, so now every time in rains, even a little, the river comes up. There should be a fair amount of fish in the river now, but it's just too high to fish it in my opinion. So now I wait. We need at least a few days of dry weather to bring the river down to fishable. I'll have to have everything ready to go so I can just head out as soon as conditions permit. I'll keep you posted. Hope the waters are a little friendlier where you are fishing.

Some New Gear

I'm not sure how exciting this might be to yall, but, I'm pumped. I have to tell you about some of the new gear I just purchased. Some, I will be using for the first time and some gear that I use regularly but I'm still just excited to have. The first that I want to tell you about, is my new reel. My wife bought it for me for Christmas and I have yet to use it. She's been calling herself a fishing season widow ever since. The new reel is the Ambassadeur made by Abu Garcia. Model 6501C3. I have only used a reel like this once. Last summer, a friend and I were able to go on a guided fishing trip with Roaring River Guide Service. My friend shot a video of the fishing while I fished with the guide and his friend. You can watch the video on Youtube if you want to. It's called Mckenzie RIver Salmon. Anyway, the guide, John, uses this reel and I did catch an 18 pound springer with it. It was a learning experience just to work the reel. I have used spinning reels almost exclusively since childhood. (Except of course when fly fishing). I really like how easy the spinning reel is to use and will still have a few with me at all times for casting spinners or whatever. John told me that I should give the Ambassadeur a try and that I will catch more fish with it. It is an ideal reel for pulling plugs, back trolling and back bouncing. Well, I mostly back troll for steelhead and will try my hand this year pulling plugs and quick fish for salmon. The back bouncing, I need a bit of practice at, but I now have the option to give it a shot if nothing else is working. So, I will definitely be updating on how this reel works out for me and my style of fishing. Have any of you used this reel, or something like it? I made a few purchases this week as well for the upcoming summer steelhead run. I Picked up a few silver and chartreuse K14 Kwik fish. I have only fished these on the guided trip last summer and am excited to give this a try. Got a few No. 35 blue and red Hot Shots. My friend Jamie has picked up steelhead with this lure. I also purchased some new line to fill my new reel and replace the old line in one of my spinning reels. I decided again to go with the #20 Maxima Chameleon. It is not a perfect line, but for the type of fishing I am doing, it works well and is very reliable. I've had trouble finding my favorite diver in stock at my favorite tackle stores, so when I found them today I blew my fishing fund on them. But now I'm all stocked up and shouldn't have to worry about them for a while. I will try to include some picks of this set up when I'm all ready to go.A friend at work today said that one of his friends caught a summer steelhead in my neck of the woods last weekend. I'm really getting excited. Thanks for reading my rant here. Hope your catching some fish.

Jamie's Steelhead

Aly's First Steelhead

Well, I at least have to tell you all about Aly's first steelhead pictured below. The last few years it seems I have fished less with the kids for trout and spent more time on the river chasing steelhead. I've been feeling a little guilty about it. This year I'm gonna try to focus a little more on getting them out to catch more fish. Well, Aly had been asking me to take her steelhead fishing. She had been along on some trips but just fishing for trout. I like to back troll divers and bait for steelhead and if there is and extra person in the boat, I like to dangle an irresistible adams on a fly rod right behind the boat for them. We have caught some nice trout using this method. We decided to get Aly her own steelhead tag for the season. We headed out early in the morning on May 9th. This was early in the season for summer run fish up this high, but we had been hearing some stories of people catching a few fish here and there. Plus it was going to be a nice warm day. Got all of our gear ready and put in early in the morning. By sunrise we had rowed up to our preferred spot and starting fishing. The river in this section runs from south to north. The rising sun hiding behind tall trees on the east bank cast long shadows all the way across the river. We were a little surprised to see several other boats on the water. I can't remember how many now but I do recall I man in a beautiful aluminum boat with a red stripe down the side, anchored up on the opposite side of the river, just above a nice little ripple. We were a little cold there in the early morning shadows and the sun staring to shine on the other side of the river looked really inviting. I told Alyson we would head to the opposite side as soon as the gentleman in the red boat moved down. Well, he stayed there for another hour or more. We were about to head down river ourselves when he pulled anchor and moved on. I got on the oars and moved over there. We rebated our lines and started fishing down into the ripple. Now by this time, we had been on the river for over 3 hours. I must say, Aly was a little tired of being out that long and not even getting a bite. She was reading her book off and on and at this time she had moved up onto the bow of the boat. Our baits had moved down into the middle of the ripple. Just as it always does, the rod cracking strike of a ten pound hen took us both by surprise and happened in an instant. Aly's rod was doubled over and line peeled of the real. I yelled fish on to her, but she was already jumping down and pulling the rod out of the rod holder. This fish was a bruiser and fought hard. I got out the net and tried to coach her as best I could. I had her move into the middle of the boat and lift up on this fish as hard as she could. After a few runs at the boat, I leaned over as far as I could and netted the beast. I lifted it into the boat and both Aly and I yelled "Yes"! We gave hi fives and then realized that a couple of boats had pulled over next to us to watch. They were yelling congrats to both of us. It was possibly the best moment I have ever had fishing. I was so excited for her and proud of her. She handled that fish like a pro. Sorry, a little long winded but I hope to never forget that day. Thanks for reading. wt