Stringer not Springer

I’ve always enjoyed Memorial Day weekend.  As a kid, it was filled with baseball tournaments and served as a reminder that summer vacation was only a few weeks away.  In my adult life, it’s become more of a time to relax and be thankful for the freedom’s we have.  It’s also the first holiday of the year I get off and is usually spent hanging with family in the evenings after dragging a line through the water all day.  Memorial Day weekend 2011 was especially memorable as Big G not only got his first fishing pole, but also caught his first fish quickly followed by a limit of fish.  

Papa D and Big G heading to the pond with the new rod

Papa D and Grandma J came into town Friday afternoon to spend the holiday weekend with us.  As always when they come into town, the guys make a trip over to Fisherman’s to stock up on fishing tackle in an effort to advance the collections.  This year, I let G pick out his own fishing pole to use and take care of.  He picked out an orange and black rod with an orange reel (Go Beavers!).  It’s a pretty cool 5’ 6” rod and at only $22 for the combo, a good starting point.  As expected with a 2.5 to 3yr. old this summer, I am betting that as he starts to cast solo, this rod will find its final resting place at the bottom of a lake or river somewhere. 

Ready for the first cast!

A new rod doesn’t do any good if it’s only going to collect dust on a rod holder in the garage; so Sunday’s outdoor adventure took us to a local pond to see if G could bonk his first trout.  The place we chose is just a few miles south of home and restricted to anglers 17 and under making it the perfect place for a kid to learn how to fish.   As we were packing up the truck to head to the pond, G couldn’t get over why we weren’t hooking the boat up to the truck and continued to say “you gotta’ hook the boat on”.  It took us a few minutes to explain what bank fishing was before he got over us leaving the boat in the garage – provided some great humor for Papa D and me.  

Patience, as we wait for the strike!

On the bank, G did a great job paying attention to baiting hooks and casting.  He got a little impatient between bites but did a great job reeling in the fish for a 2.5 yr. old.  I am confident that by the end of the summer, he’ll be baiting his own hook and maybe even casting.  It took about an hour to catch G’s limit of 5 trout which was the perfect duration for a kido’ at his age learning.  I was so proud of his attention to the details and his determination to reel the fish in.  Each time he’d reel in a fish he’d say “I’m gonna’ eat that”.  He eats salmon (cooked) at home on a regular basis so I figured I knew what he meant.  However, while we were cleaning up and taking some pictures of G and his stringer, he took one of the fish and attempted to take a bite out of it… Ug!!  It didn’t seem to faze him as he quickly realized that didn’t taste good and moved on.

Big G with his stringer of trout!

Papa D's expertise in fishing allowed for a quick limit

Back at the house, G was just as interested in the fish cleaning process as we gutted them and removed the heads.  Surprisingly, he enjoyed the cooked trout just as much as he does salmon.  I do have to give credit to my trout grilling recipe which doctors the meat up pretty well.  Pretty tasty trout!

On the fillet table!

On the springer salmon front – It continues to be a tough year with unfortunate conditions.  As of Memorial Day weekend, the Columbia is once again at flood level with significant snow melt and as a result, the Willamette River is backed up and looks like a lake.  Over the course of May, I’ve been on the Willy a few times experimenting with standard river fishing tactics.  I’ve never really salmon fished that river, limiting myself to the larger Columbia.  However, with it so close to home, I am going try and spend more time learning it.  (I’ve done tons of bass fishing there). 

On the way home from the trout pond, we swung by the boat launch I generally use and sure enough, the waters are flooded and the docks are note accessible.   Referencing the picture below, there is generally a long ramp down to the water.  Both of those docks are floating docks and it looks like you could back into the water with no ramp.  

More high water