When it comes to salmon fishing, I have no trouble getting up in the 4am hour (or earlier) to chase the morning bite. However, while back in eastern Washington visiting my in-laws, I was a little surprised when Papa D wanted to get up at 4:30am to chase trout. I was a little skeptical, assuming the size of these fish were the result of your typical "fish tale". Regardless of size, I love catching fish so I played along and we took the 1.5 hour drive north last Thursday.
Wow!!! was I ever impressed with the size of these fish. The fish tales are true - the average size fish we had to wade through in search of bigger ones was 5lbs. It sure makes for an amazing day of fishing when the average size trout is 5lbs and your target size is in the 10lb plus range.
Fish in the box #1 - a football of a trout
Papa D ready to throw the small ones back
Up at Rufus Woods, each angler is allowed to keep two trout. If we were allowed to keep more, I don't know where we'd put them. The four fish we did bring home actually overflowed the ice chest that we'd brought for the catch. All in all, we caught 21 fish, most over 5 pounds. Our strategy was to keep one fish each to start so we were sure to have meat in the box and then catch and release until we got tired and wanted to keep our last two for a boat limit.
Gotta' bigger ice chest?
4 for the grill / freezer /smoker
The next two days were spent on local waters chasing walleye and bass. After catching 5lb trout, the average size walleye and small mouth bass just seemed... well... small. However, fighting walleye and bass is quite the battle compared to trout. All walleye and bass were released in hopes that they continue to grow bigger so that one day they'll find their final resting place on my Weber grill.
Thanks Papa D for a memorable weekend of "catching".
"Normally" by mid-July, I've logged quite a few hours on the water chasing bass, walleye, and trout. However, if you've been reading previous posts here, you know this year has been far from normal. My first 2011 attempt at some warm water fishing was last weekend up the John Day river while on a family camping trip.
I didn't get to fish as much as I would have liked, but the alternative of quality family time on the water was much better. The catching of small mouth bass was plentiful but we never did get to hook into anything of significant size.
Big G fishing plastic worms wacky style!
Little G and Big G taking a little nap at the helm
With the crazy weather we've had this year, I don't think we really had a spring.... and I think we're in summer now.... at least the calendar indicates summer but it'd be hard to tell only looking out the window.
Generally, as the season switches from spring to summer, so does the type of fishing. As I switch from spring salmon to walleye, bass, and trout; not only does that bring different types of rods, reels, and tackle to be used, but also a different boat configuration.
When we fish the big rivers for salmon, I have a large anchor that's mounted to the bow. As we switch to warm water fishing on smaller rivers and lakes, the anchor is replaced with a 24volt bow mount electric trolling motor. The electric motor is a nice feature as it allows us to sneak into various fishing holes without spooking the fish and also allows for precise boat positioning.
Today was one of those days that makes living in Oregon so beautiful and amazing...
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?"
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.
Well, this post comes from Nashville, TN after spending the last two days in New York for work. The combo of stuffy suits in New York and a springer skunk on my back really makes me wish I was fishing - for any specie. To top it off, I am sitting out in 70 degree weather with a T-shirt and a pair of new sunglasses.
No new fishing reports at this point, but I did want to share an interesting, but welcomed trend that unexpectedly continued this year. The past two springs, and now including this spring, I've found myself at one of my favorite fishing stores to order from on-line; Bass Pro Shops. In 2009, the family and I went to the Mesa, AZ store, and in 2010, we found ourselves at the Katy, TX store. As it turns out, here in 2011, the Nashville, TN store was just a few blocks down from my hotel. However, if I wasn't missing the water already, spending the past 1.5 hours walking the isles of Bass Pro sure wasn't a help.
Bass Pro in Nashville, TN - Beautiful Blue Sky
On a side note for a Columbia River springer update - The states DFWs decided to open things back up Friday the 8th through Friday the 15th due to the really low catch counts. With my work travels the 11th through the 15th the 8th through the 10th were really my only chance. However, with some much needed family time and the Columbia only a foot below flood level, I was fine keeping the boat in the garage.
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains" - one of my favorite quotes from the 80's baseball movie Bull Durham - also a quote that pretty much sums up the 2011 Columbia springer season.
It's been a while since my last post so let me get caught up - I skipped out of work the 24th and 25th (Thur/Fri) for solo springer missions. It seemed things were on the up with this amazing picture of Mt. Hood over the Columbia in the sunrise as I dropped bait Thursday (secret fishing hole, don't tell).
Mt. Hood at sunrise
After two long days with no fish and only seeing one of the 100+ other boats catch a fish, Lu joined me Saturday the 26th for his first trip out on my boat. Although the boat got blanked, I had a great time getting Lu out on the water and hope he's still up for the Buoy 10 season.
Lu and lots of rain!
Interestingly, I found myself fishing next to Buzz Ramsey at various times all 3 days and even saw him put one in the box.... so I know I was in the right area, doing the right things. However, I did something I don't think I've ever done previously, I skipped out on a planned fishing trip and kept the boat in the garage Sunday (27th). The fish counts and water conditions were just too poor to really statistically have even a slim chance of putting blood in the boat. The fish checker at the launch had checked only 2 fish for 42 boats. Yikes!! And other launches had similar statistics.
With high hopes for April and the last 4 days of the Columbia season (ug!!!), Tabasco T, Kokanee K, and I skipped out on work Friday the 1st - with my intention of fishing 4 consecutive days to finish out the spring season.
Columbia sportswear reps?
I am generally not one to make excuses but the conditions this year have been a disappointment. With higher than usual rains (we set records for the number of days in March with rain), extremely high waters, and a massive snow pack causing water temps to be significantly lower than normal - the fish haven't shown up yet and even some of the best fishing guides were continually getting blanked. As a result, it turns out Friday's trip was my last of the spring (on the Columbia) as I played each following day by ear hoping to hear better reports/conditions.
As I sit here on the evening of the last day reading fishing reports and gas prices flirting with $4/gal., I am glad I chose to hang out around the house and get chores done. A fellow fisherman posted the following today which helps sum up the 2011 season -
"The Last Day" -- Got to the launch this morning only to find an empty parking lot and the Columbia within a foot from the top of the ramp. It's flooded! Didn't even put in.......
Well, I guess that's fishing - makes the epic days of boat limits that much sweeter - If things work out, I'll give springer fishing a couple last shots sporadically in April/May on the Willamette - other than that, on to Trout, Bass, and Walleye fishing.
