Lines are wet, 2013

After a long, non-fishing, yet mild winter, the lines are finally wet in 2013. Long gone are the pre-kid days of being able to fish for every specie imaginable 12 months out of the year. Nope... now fishing days are selective and often planned well in advance (for the most part). As a result, mid-march has become the "normal" starting line for my fishing and outdoor adventures each year.

Although I do miss an occasional winter steelhead and freezing my finger tips off chasing them, I've gladly traded the freedom to do what I please for being "dad" to 3 adventurous and amazing kids that I get to share the outdoors with. I often love being by myself in the outdoors and have no problem chasing salmon for 8 hours solo, but as I grow older I find myself taking more joy in sharing and introducing the outdoors to others.

As written here before, I've begun to learn that springer salmon fishing in March is a bit early, and based on personal experience it's easy to burn out (along with a lot of fuel and bait) before the fish even arrive. However, March is prime trout stocking for a large number of Oregon lakes, including kid only (17 and under) Canby Pond. With a grin from ear to ear, I am proud that the first fish of the year for this household wasn't a spring salmon, but a 12" rainbow trout my son Gavin landed.

With Canby pond scheduled to be stocked the week of March 11th, my buddy Brian and I had a strategic plan to take our oldest boys to the pond in the afternoon on Friday the 15th. Going in the afternoon on that Friday would ensure ODFW had dumped plenty of concrete raised pellet eaters for our boys to hook into. It was a good day for fishing and a great time outdoors with good people...

Like clockwork the next day (Saturday), both of my my boys were up at 6am ready to get the day started as as I drank coffee trying to remember what it was like to sleep in. Gavin had fishing on his mind and wanted to go again and to show his little brother Garrett how it's done. With the bait already in the bait box and the rods still in the truck, the boys hopped in and we were wetting lines at the pond by 7am, ready to do it all again.

Snack time!

An Appetite For Fishing

After a long winter without any fishing whatsoever and not as much as one leader tied, finally here in March, I am starting preparations for fishing in 2013. The projection for Columbia River spring salmon is lower than 2012's actual but the projection for the fall salmon run looks to be quite large. Add to that a healthy Oregon lake trout stocking schedule and my boys getting to an age where they can target trout with me, 2013 has the potential for a very entertaining and memorable variety with great friends and family.

A good friend of mine has already landed several trophy size trout in 2013 (read about it and see pix here) so I am chomping at the bit to get going. The first couple of weeks in March will be dedicated to boat prep and leader tying for springers, but given the fall run projection, I've already started outlining preparations for Buoy 10 fish camp.

Antelope boat snacks

I have an appetite to go fishing but also an appetite for the various boat snacks that are consumed while fishing.  This year I am well prepared with more than 25lbs of smoked salmon and a fresh stock of antelope. My father in-law Dave tagged another Wyoming antelope last fall and we had it processed at Gartner's in Portland. The pepper sticks and summer sausages are amazing and I am very impressed with the quality of Gartner's wild game processing and those that set sail on my boat this year will be too.