Playing hookie

I skipped work today to head out on the Columbia River with some co-workers to try my hand at the fall run of salmon. It was a slow day, but as they say, a bad day of fishing beats a good day of working. Dan was invited to go as well, but since school is back in session, he had to pass on the fishing trip, and was just a bit envious. We headed out at 5:30 to the boat launch to get our spot "on the line" and drop our lures in the water. Captain Tom, First Mate Corky and deck hand Cindy are old pros at this and in no time we were waiting for our first bite.

It wasn't too long before we had a hit, and the crew were generous enough to let me reel in the first fish, as I hadn't caught a salmon in a while. This turned out to be a jack, which is a juvenile Chinook salmon that heads in to spawn early (I did not know this before today). Anything over 24" is considered an adult, and this salmon measured at 23 3/4" (I swear!). After basking in the sun for a while and having a few snacks, we got another hit, another jack, but released this back into the water as it looked like it had already started the aging process. We had a big hit a little later on what was sure to be the biggest fish of the day, but somehow the fish managed to wiggle off the hook. Not long after, we had another fish on which the captain was sure was another jack, small and not worth pulling the anchor to drift with the current making it easier to land the fish. However, he was wrong and we netted a nice size Chinook of 14-15 lbs.

Carol with the jack on her right and 15 lbs chinook on her left.

"Hurry up and take the picture already, my arms are tired!"

We may have had a bite or two after this, but it was slow for the rest of the day. We packed it in a little after 1:00 and headed back to dry land and home. It was an absolutely perfect day for fishing with calm water and warm sunshine, and it beat sitting in the office, even if the catching was slow. I was able to put two marks on my punch card today! Many thanks to the Gowers for a wonderful day. On the menu tonight: fresh salmon fillets!