Each year, as salmon make their way up the mighty Columbia River to their spawning grounds (or hatchery), I make an annual trip northeast in pursuit of "just a few more". The early October trip generally serves as a way to cap off my fishing for the year... for salmon anyway.
The Hanford Reach area of the Columbia is the last free flowing section of the big river. Launching from Vernita Bridge near Mattawa, WA and fishing upriver 5+ river miles as well as down river 15+ river miles is one of the most beautiful stretches of water imaginable. With no commercial or residential development as far as the eye can see and significant wildlife at every turn, fishing these waters takes my mind back in time to the days of Lewis and Clark; just out of the pages of Stephen E. Ambrose's
Undaunted Courage.
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| Mitch with a 15lber |
The 3 day trip started on a Thursday with just Papa D and I, along with what turned out to be some pretty hot eggs (see previous post). From about 7am to 8:30am, we experienced one of the hottest salmon bites I've ever seen, quickly catching what would have been our limit had we kept the first 4 fish caught (2 each). During that period of time, we literally could not keep two rods in the water before a fish would strike. Since it was early and we were there to fish, as soon as we had a few fish in the box, we were letting fish go. We finally bonked the last portion of our limit later in the day before heading home.
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| Mitch, a fellow G-Loomis guy - with hat and all |
Fishing Friday was especially enjoyable, as joining Papa D and I was my good friend Mitch, whom I hadn't seen in over 10 years. Luckily there was a steady bite, although not as hot as Thursday, we were able to put nearly our limit of 6 fish in the box. In addition to the salmon finding my cured eggs irresistible, using my orange variety, Mitch caught the most beautiful native steelhead I've ever seen. I wish I'd had a camera on it before quickly releasing the native fish back into the water as the color on it was amazing and the size was outstanding, nearing what the 3 of us guessed was around 8lbs.
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| Papa D and Mitch |
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| One for me! |
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| Mitch, Papa D, and Me |
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| Mitch with his limit |
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| Papa D doing the grunt work |
It's amazing how quickly the bite can change. For several weeks leading up to this trip, Papa D and I had planned to fish the third day with Uncle R (see previous Buoy 10 post), Aunt P and their Cadillac of a boat. Continuing with the same bait, areas, and tactics as the previous two days, the four of us got completely skunked Saturday. Although we didn't put any meat in the box, I do have to say this was one of my more enjoyable days fishing of all time - my mouth literally hurt from laughing so much and the jokes and stories.
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| Uncle R's Cadillac of a boat! |
Springer season is exactly 150 days away from this posting, I better start tying some leaders now... the countdown begins
