With the river levels holding right at flood stage for most of June, I haven't been on the salmon hunt since mid May. A month and a half during spring/summer is way to long to keep the boat out of the water. Over the past week or two, the Columbia finally dropped to about a foot below flood level (still extremely unusual, especially for this time of year) which relieved some of the water backup on Willamette making it somewhat fishable.
Big G is still a little too young for serious salmon fishing but he loves to be outdoors and on (or near) the water as much as I do. He's been itching to do more trout fishing since his first catch over Memorial Day weekend. Living in Oregon allows us several options to fulfill those fishing desires so we planned a double header; salmon fishing for me on the Willamette in the morning followed by a family trip to a lake for some trout fishing and picnic from the bank.
I dropped the boat into the river at around 5:30am and experienced one of the most peaceful and sunny days imaginable. I never put a fish in the box but was just so thankful and blessed to be out on the water with the warm sun, calm waters, and a hot cup of coffee. At around 9:30 I loaded the boat on the trailer and headed home to pick up the family for the second part of the day's adventure.
As I parked the boat in the garage, Big G, Little G, and mommy were getting ready for our trip up the mountain to Frog Lake on Mt. Hood. By 10:05am we'd loaded the truck with trout rods and other supplies and were on our way to the mountain. The blessings continued with temperatures in the 70's and a great family afternoon trout fishing and picnicking at the lake.
Note - We had no plans for grilling fish today so it was a catch-n-release day; in case you're wondering "where's the fish?"
