It must be all the clean living we are doing because we are having some pretty decent luck salmon fishing so far this season. There were a couple days where the weather didn’t cooperate, but for the days we got out on the river, we were pretty lucky. You can tell when the fishing is slow and at the beginning of the week, the fishing was pretty tough(as salmon fishing often is). I managed to keep my “salmon on every trip” streak alive, but only barely. Each day I only caught one salmon and they were both wild so catch and release. The weather was beautiful and the fishing was great, but the “catching” was really tough.
Thing about this kind of fishing is that you have to go out there whenever you can. Sometimes, you get nothing. Some days, it’s the best day of fishing you ever had, you have to get that line in the water. We got a little rain, not too much, but sometimes a little rain gets the fish moving. It was a beautiful morning, light winds and warm. Mt. Hood was showing a fresh dusting of snow, so you know you better get those days before winter sets in. As it has been for the past week or so, the fish seem more eager to bite around sunrise. When the sun comes up over the local mountain, it’s hard to get a bite. The weather is too nice for good salmon fishing. Hooked into a Chinook salmon just before sunrise and got on the scoreboard.
Foul hooked a native Chinook that put up a heck of a fight, got it to the side of the boat and removed the barbless hook without using the net. After another hundred casts, another hookup. After a few long runs that had the drag of my reel working overtime, I had the fish at the boat. A big steelhead; maybe the biggest I’ve ever caught. The salmon are a little better to eat to most people and are great fighting fish, but big steelhead are right there. Strong runs, jumps and quick direction changes make steelhead real fighters. Definitely a memorable day.
It’s so nice, but it won’t last. Winter is right around the corner. We really need some rain around here so those gray, rainy months won’t seem so bad. Right now, this is world class fishing and we’re stoked to be out there and catching a few.