December 6th:
Well, the Florida-Disneyworld trip was excellent. We had great weather on Thursday and Friday - Scorching hot in the 80's. Then Saturday the cold front moved in and the temps plummeted into the low 40's with a chilly wind. We spent our time at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Disney/MGM Studios and Downtown Disney. I think we both enjoyed Epcot Center the best. Overall, the trip was a good time, even though we were unable to find "Doc" and "Sneezy" for Bunny's dwarf collection. Here's a couple of of my favorite pics from the trip:
Bunny and Piglet.........Bunny and Pooh.......Mike in China......Bunny and Tigger......Darth Vader
November 25th:
Well, tomorrow is Wednesday....and that means we're off to Disneyworld for the weekend. Yay! A much needed break from Texas-life for awhile.
I've recently scanned some vintage AK photos from the years 1998-2000. To tour these pics click here.
November 22nd
Well, it looks like it's been awhile since my last entry, so I'll see if I can sum up the last two weeks events in a timely manner. First, the weather report - for the most part the moderate fall climate has stayed with us. Last night, Glory and I were out in shorts and t-shirts for an evening walk in 75 degree weather. This morning, however, the cold front that's been affecting the rest of the US finally caught up with us. This morning it was windy and cold and in the mid-40's. Tonight they expect it to get down to 29degrees. From shorts to stocking caps in one day...bummer.
We had another issue with our neighbors Ramon and Rau. About a week ago on a wednesday night they came home at 3am and cranked up the stereo. We called security on them and they came over and had them turn the music down. About 10 minutes after security left, the stereo was back on full volume again. So, I had to make another call. This time two security cars came and enforced the peace. Ramon and Raul were so bummed that they drove off - I'm assuming to some dance-club so they could continue to party. The next morning I called the apartment management and let them know that they needed to take action immediately. They assured me they'd have a talk with the guys and put them in line. So far it has worked. While they are still noisy at night, they seem to turn the music down once they see our bedroom light go out at night. But will the peace continue????
Glory and I have been out looking for houses. We've toured quite a few. It's amazing the condition some people leave their houses in when they're trying to sell them. We've seen houses with cockroaches all over the floor, dog poop on the carpets, cracked ceilings and walls, disintegrating carpets....you name it we've seen it. The funny thing is that from the outside they all looked really cute. As of today, we have two houses that are in contention for the finals. We checked the crime stats on the areas and one house is in a neighborhood with a crime rate about 6-8times higher than the other house. That stat is definitely going to carry some weight in the final analysis, I think.
I'm still working for the Genty Group. I'll be starting my fourth week with them on Monday. We're working a shortened week due to the Thanksgiving break. This week will be a make or break for me as we need to complete the same amount of work in 2.5 days as we normally do in 5 days....ouch.
We're off to Disneyworld on Wednesday evening. We're both very excited. Neither of us has ever been to Florida before. I checked the weather forecast and the temperatures are still good hi-70's to low-80's for the next ten days, although they expect some rain showers on Friday and Saturday.
Only about 222 days until the start of sockeye season.
November 7th
Well I wrapped up my first week of "work" in Dallas...everything went well, and I'm still going to be invited back next week. I've been working at the Gentry Group, a Dallas-based, financial institution. Working with the accounting staff, I've been helping to track various selling agent's sales commissions.
Glory had a successful day-trip into Omaha, Nebraska and back this week. Despite initially going to the wrong terminal at DFW, she was still able to get to her plane on time.
The weather has taken a nose dive this week. It is cold, rainy, and I've actually had to turn the heat on today. Well, that's it for now - bunny just came home and we need to go out to eat now.
November 3rd
Well it is no real surprise...but the polls (click here to read articles) are in and the citizenry of Europe has revealed their true colors - they're anti-Semitic and hate Israel. Given what Christian prophecy scholars have been predicting for a long time - that the EU will be the revived Roman Empire and birthplace of the coming Anti-Christ, this poll is not in the least bit surprising. Actually, it's what most of us have been expecting all along - that Jerusalem will eventually become a stumbling block to the entire world, that the sentiment of all nations will turn against Israel, and ultimately the war of "Armageddon" would be unleashed in an effort to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. As I mentioned before, for the most part, Europe is in its 'post-Christian' period. They have voluntarily cast their lots against the Lord God. As they begin to strive for world dominance, the EU will begin to fight against the powers of Christianity and Judaism in an effort to bring about a one-world government, economy, and spirituality. Again, this is just my opinion - but it is based upon reading the word of God and observing current events. I'm no world scholar, just a simple bible believing fisherman - but I know when I see the word of God being fulfilled before my vary eyes.
Anyways, the articles that appeared today reinforce my notion that France, Germany, and the core EU are no longer allies of the United States. We're on their hit list. France and Germany have chosen sides - and they are not with us.
Signs of the times:
Matthew 24:4-10
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."
November 2nd
Did more drive-bys for homes again this weekend. This time we concentrated our search in East Dallas near White Rock Lake. So far we really like the area much more than Carrolton or Farmer's Branch. We saw about 20 homes of which we liked the feel of about 7 or 8. Hopefully, over the next few weekends we can get a chance to go inside these homes and find out if any of them are for us.
Shocking news - I have a contract job starting Tuesday. I'm finally going to have to abandon the couch during the week. I'll be doing a 6-12week contract job at "The Gentry Group". The Gentry Group sells life insurance annuities. I'll be working with the accounting department to track salesmen commissions. Should be no problem.
The weather is still really nice. We continue to have moderately warm afternoons and evenings. Looks like it will continue to be in the low 80's throughout the coming week. I'm still wearing shorts most of the time - a major advantage of Dallas over Portland. As a result of the nice weather, Glory and I have been able to get out and walk quite a bit in the evenings - very helpful for our ageing bodies!
Ramon and Raul and their party guests woke us up with their music again last night. Had to call the security service at 4:27 am to get them to turn down their dance music. These guys are a real piece of work. Truly, though, they are serving as motivation to find a house and get out of the apartment.
October 26th
We got a 'cold front' dropping down out of the north this weekend. Temperatures got down in the 50's at night and it was only about 60 and windy during the day today. It was a bit chilly, but for the first time since we've moved to Dallas, we actually breathed "fresh" air. It was a nice change.
Bunny and I went house hunting this morning. We looked at places in Carrolton and Irving. There are quite a few houses in our price range, yet we weren't really impressed with any of them yet. The Irving area homes definitely had a better feel to them - houses and neighborhoods. We plan on contacting a realtor this week to begin a more thorough search for our new home. We are looking forward to getting out of these apartments soon. We're tired of being woke up at 2am by Ramon and Raul's (my pet names for our gay upstairs partyboys) techno-jungle music. Marching up the stairs at 2am in my pajamas half asleep and ringing idiot's doorbells to tell them to turn down their music really sucks....and it makes me somewhat grumpy.
I have just added an article from a lecture by Judge
Don Walters regarding his trip to Iraq to help survey the state of their
judicial system. I suggest everyone read this article by a man who has in
person seen what is going on over there. Click the button for the link
----->
When I read articles like these I become very angry at people who are demonizing the US for taking the action we did in Iraq. I maintain my view that WMD's or no, the US did the right thing in invading Iraq. Also, I believe that eventually those who tried to stop us - France, Germany, the UN will have to be held accountable for their actions. I'm afraid the truth of the matter is simply stated by Judge Walters in his article - France, Germany and the UN were making millions of dollars by maintaining the status quo in Iraq. On this subject I must tell them to wise up because the word of the Lord is against them:
Isaiah 10:1-8
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.
Isaiah 5:22
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw, and as grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay, and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, the Lord's anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets.
Now, I'm not calling down fire and brimstone on these guys, it's just that I've been reading through Isaiah lately and when I read Judge Walter's comments, these verses came to mind; verses that deal with turning a blind eye to justice, making money at the expense of the poor, oppressing those that have no hope. France, Germany, and the UN were wrong in what they've done - especially because it appears they were in it just for the money.
October 21st
I've just posted a clip from the Anchorage Daily News regarding the proposed Sterling highway reroute in the Cooper's Landing area.
October 20th
Received and posted photos of our new nephew Christopher Bedard. He was born 10-10-03. A very handsome kid if you ask me - and lots of hair, too!
October 19th
Guess we spoke too soon about Autumn finally coming to Dallas - the last two days have been sunny and hot again, and the evenings were pretty warm, too. I have to say the warm weather is definitely good for my formally aching knees!
Bunny and I finally decided what to do for Thanksgiving this year. We talked about staying in Dallas and about flying back to Portland. Finally we decided - how about spending the weekend in Florida at Disney World!! Sounds good to me. So it looks like Thanksgiving with Mickey Mouse and Christmas with the family. A good compromise.
October 18th
Saw a brief news clip of a Joe Lieberman speech. He claims that if elected President he is going to repeal the tax cut for the rich and refocus the tax cut for the middle class. What he didn't tell you is that he is also going to redefine "rich" as anyone who makes over $30k per year and "middle class" as anyone who is an illegal alien.
I continue to hear the media vilify President Bush for leading (or misleading) us into the war against Iraq. They claim we had no right to invade Iraq, that Iraq was not connected to September 11th or al-Qaida. In my opinion we invaded Iraq for two reasons: 1) WMD's not withstanding, Saddam Hussein was a brutal unstable dictator who needed to go and 2) we needed a strategic point from which to wage the war against the al-Qaida terrorists. Originally, after the September 11th attack the US wanted to lash out against al-Qaida in retribution for the attacks. However, the cells were spread all over the world and we really didn't know where to find them. That has changed with our occupation of Iraq. Instead of lurking in hidden cells throughout the world, President Bush (more likely the military establishment) has basically tricked a large part of them into massing their personnel into the Iraq battlefield. Jihad warriors are flocking into Iraq from all of the neighboring countries. Personally, I think it is a brilliant strategic move to have lured a lot of them into the Iraq countryside. I believe the next few months will prove this out - if and only if - the American public pulls their collective heads out of the sand and begin to realize what is happening and start to support the Iraq effort. The two biggest enemies our country faces in this war are the terrorists and the ignorant understanding of the American public. We have the greatest military fighters in history in Iraq, they will win this battle if America keeps its will to fight. For every terrorist that flocks into Iraq, that is one less available to attack the US homeland.
I see Osama released another tape today calling on the Islamic world to rise up and battle the US in Iraq. You may not think we are at war, but apparently our enemies do.
I read in the paper that Wesley Clark said if he were elected one of the first things he would do would be to create a volunteer Homeland Defense force. Though I definitely do not endorse Clark, I am glad that finally someone has put forth the idea to engage the average Joe-Blow American in the battle for Homeland Defense. I definitely think this is one area the Bush administration has dropped the ball. Clark's idea was to have people volunteer to do non-uniformed service (professional and blue-collar) for a period of 3 to 5 years in exchange for guaranteed medical/health coverage. I think its a great idea, and although, I don't want Clark to be President, I think the idea should be studied and implemented in one way or another.
October 17th
I've been considering this for the last few days and finally I've decided....since it doesn't look like I'll be doing much fishing over the next few months I'm going to turn this section of the website into my daily journal of socio-political-religious thought.
The first topic I want to hit on is the story about 3-Star General William Boykin and the comments he made regarding his personal views of the war on terrorism. To paraphrase his comments, he said that "the terrorists hate us because we are a Christian nation and they despise our culture because it is based upon Judeo-Christian values."
Now, he's being hammered in the press and by the political left for a couple of reasons. First, they claim that even though he made his comments in church, he was wearing his army uniform at the time and therefore his comments establishes "government policy'. That's a bunch of bull. The bill of rights protects his personal free speech in the workplace just like anyone else's. The fact he was wearing his uniform in these settings does not preclude him from voicing his personal opinion on matters. Heck, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he wore his uniform to the National Day of Prayer gathering....and that was okay. You know back when this country was being formed, General George Washington, on more than one occasion invoked the name of God in our revolutionary struggle against the British. Did anyone object to that? Should Washington have been fired or told to shut-up?
Also, the media is claiming that he is trying to frame the war on terror as a Muslim vs. Christian battle. Well, guess what - on this subject General Boykin is absolutely correct. I thank God that someone in this country finally has the balls to stand up and tell people what is really going on. Ladies and gentlemen, the real fact of the matter is that a holy war has been declared on the United States by a portion of the Muslim faith (Islamic Fundamentalists)....and the reason is because we are (in their view) a Christian nation in league with a Jewish nation (Israel)....aka - infidels. We are at war folks. We are at war with Muslims. Not all Muslims - just the radical fundamentalists. But the terrorists we fighting are Muslim and they seek to destroy us for religious reasons. Let's face the facts.
Now here is an insight into the world events as I see them. For a thousand years the recent world has been divided by religious beliefs. The west (mainly old Europe) was the keeper of the Christian spirit. They battled the muslim world over hundreds of years in a series of "Christian Crusades". I think we can all agree that this is historical fact. But now, over the last 50-60 years we have seen Europe slip into a its 'post-Christian' era. In fact, the emerging European Union, against the wishes of the Pope, even refuses to mention anything of its Christian heritage in its constitution. Likewise, in America, a country founded by religious pilgrims, it is now 'politically incorrect' to mention God or Jesus Christ or to hold and voice Christian values. It's even been ruled illegal to hang the Ten Commandments on the courtroom wall. The 'western' nations on planet earth have foregone their moral allegiance to the Lord and Savior which made them great in the first place. For America, in its battle in the 'war on terror' the results of this change I believe will be devastating. As a country, America has no rallying point or moral compass for this war. There is no longer anything to bind us together as a nation, no common cause to unify or motivate us to rise up and overthrow our new enemy. The political correctness of the liberal left has become so influential and radical that even President Bush, a self-confessed Christian believer, is unwilling to paint a picture of the truth of this war we are fighting, because he knows to do so will be 'political suicide'. But in order for our country to stand firm to the end of this war, I believe we will need more people like General Boykin to stand up and tell people what is really happening. We need to hear a rallying cry. We need a reason to unify, to be motivated, to press on to see this war to the end. Well, that's my opinion anyways, for whatever it's worth. Sorry if my argument is a bit disjointed and hard to follow - I'm not much of a commentator at this point.
I was reading through the Bible the other night and came across this verse from Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 2:
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Though out of context, I think it sums up my socio-political views.
October 16th
Well, Glory and I decided that autumn has officially arrived in Dallas. We went out for our evening walk last night and for the first time we both wore our sweatshirts. I guess we just can't wear shorts and t-shirts at 10pm anymore, the evenings are getting a little more chilly. The daytime weather continues to be great, though. It remains sunny and in the mid-70's still. My pajama's and my daytime clothing are one and the same: shorts and t-shirt. I guess Texas does have its advantages.
October 15th
Okay...I'm going to do my Bill O'Reilly imitation and give you the most ridiculous item of the day. It happened while I was watching Fox News this morning while eating my breakfast. The gal on Fox was interviewing former Ambassador Marc Ginsburg regarding the latest mid-east violence that included the car bombing of some American diplomats in the Gaza Strip. In the middle of the discussion Fox breaks away with a "major news story" - Kobe Bryant is arriving at the courthouse in a white suburban. The cameras proceed to show us Kobe getting out of the vehicle and walking the hallway into the courtroom. Now for the ridiculous part - the instant replay. That's right - the instant replay. Apparently, seeing Kobe get out of the vehicle and walk into the courtroom the first time wasn't good enough for America....we need to see it again. So Fox immediately replays the shot of Kobe's vehicle arriving, him getting out and walking into the courtroom. Wow! That was exciting. Can we see it again? Maybe this time in slow motion....with Marv Albert giving us some insight into Kobe's move...."Wow. look at that...Kobe with the spin move around the reporter, there's nobody between him and the courtroom door....he's inside....that's incredible ladies and gentlemen....the courtroom door slams dunk shut...truly an amazing move by Kobe!" Once again our media is on top of the 'major breaking news' keeping us informed of the information we need to know! I'm very disappointed Fox, very disappointed.
October 14th
Received some great pictures in the mail of our new niece Elissa Rae. She was born on September 26th to Eli and Rae. What a cute kid. I posted a couple of the pictures on one of the photo galleries. We also have a new nephew Christopher Bedard. He was born just a few days ago. I will add some of his pictures when they arrive. Congratulations Eli, Rae, Jim, and Daisy!!
Only about 265 days until the start of next year's 2nd run of Kenai sockeye. So little time to prepare!!
October 11th
I made the initial upload / publishing attempt of the website today. Overall, most everything went smoothly. Had a couple of bugs with the main active link sidebars and the corresponding banner titles on those specific linked pages. I am attempting to republish those pages to see if they work on the second pass.
Heard from Mom and Dad today. They have been crossing the US for the last few weeks in their motorhome. Right now they are stuck in Louisiana with another motorhome malfunction. They were supposed to come visit us in Dallas this weekend, but it looks like they will be delayed a few days.
October 10th
Still not much going on in the job world for me. Robert Half has contacted me a couple of times regarding some jobs, but nothing has come through yet.
Bunny is home sick today. And she hurt her back yesterday at work. Everytime she hurts her back, she has more sympathy for me and my back problems.
Kobe's prelim trial was yesterday. From the graphic sounds of the prelim testimony it looks like Kobe may be playing ball for the San Quentin ball club this year. As bad as the 'Jail Blazers' have been over the last few years, at least none of them ever had to go do time, they just got fines and probation.
The Governator was elected in California this week. It's the first time in years that any of Arnold's movies have been played on TV. At least he never co-starred with a chimp. I think there's a good chance that Arnold pulled one over on the Republicans, from the looks of things, he's got more liberal views on social issues than Alan Colmes.
I'vee read through the David Kay report on Iraq's WMD findings. It is amazing that people still don't understand the magnitude of what was going on over there. After reading through the article I find it nearly impossible to believe the media and democrat's assertion that we've found no evidence of WMD activity in Iraq. There is enough evidence in that report that Bush and the Republicans should be ramming it down the democrat's throats. If he doesn't get on the ball and stop playing so nice, Mr. Bush may find himself being a single term President like his father did.
And another thing....when are we going to wise up and finally do something about our borders? Is it so impossible to contemplate putting our military along the border to shore things up and actually create some 'Homeland Security'????
A follow-up to my last posting regarding my batch of
smoked salmon....Good stuff, Maynard!! Here's a link to a page regarding
some of my methods of preparing my salmon meals.....>
October 5th
Finally got around to setting up the website hosting with Yahoo. KenaiDreams.com should be online any time now. Still mostly just hanging out around the apartment during the days. Robert Half Int'l is still looking for contract work for me. I'm not in any real hurry, though. These days off have been very beneficial for my health. I've been walking 3-4miles per day and been getting in some good bow-flex workouts. If my darn back would just heal all would be fine. Bunny is spending her time working and going to school for her MBA. She's taking a marketing class and a financial accounting class. Luckily for her, I am a good source of help when she is doing her accounting homework. She's quite a wife - I am very blessed.
On the political front, look like Arnold is going to become the governator...good for him. I hope he does a good job and kicks some butt there in California. That state has the 4th highest GNP in the world when compare to the rest of the nations. There's no reason they should be in debt.
Yesterday we went to Fry's and bought a new digital scanner. Finally, I was able to convert some of my Alaska 2003 photographs into digital images and embed them into my website. Previously, I only had about 7 digital images for 2003 - that webpage was looking pretty pathetic.
Got 2 sockeye soaking in brine today - will smoke a batch of salmon tomorrow. I was going to do it today, but we've been having some nasty thunderstorms. When it rains here our deck gets flood with water and that's not real good for the smoker. So, I need to wait until the weather clears up a bit.
2003 Fishing Season
September 26th
To the airport at 5:30am. Got checked in and boarded. First flight arrived 40 minutes early in St. Paul. Guess we had a good tail-wind. Was able to get on an earlier flight to DFW and avoided a 3-hour layover. Got home about 6pm and bunny picked me up. Successful trip!!
September 25th / 26th
For the most part I just hung out around Wayne Manor. Taking in the view, cooking, reading, cleaning the MH. Friday was the big event when we winterized the MH. Finally deployed the RV Cover that Mom and Dad gave me a year and a half ago. It fit pretty well. Took out the batteries. Made sure there was proper anti-freeze throughout. Reinforced the ceiling inside. I'm pretty sure the MinnieWinnie will be fine until next year.
September 24th (to Quartz Creek Pictures)
Up at 8am. Cooked eggs and cheese omelet in the MH. We are preparing to head to Quartz Creek this morning for a dolly and rainbow session. We will take the MH out on the roundtrip. It is overcast and cold this morning. The weather looks generally poor....that's what rain-jackets are for.
Left Wayne Manor around 11am. Overcast and rainy along the Turnagain most of the way. Up over the pass things dried out and we ran into a beautiful fishing day in the midst of the mountains. Parked at Quartz Creek and began our hike in. No wind, no rain. Still I had my rain-jacket on in preparation. Wayne forgot his in the MH.
The trail into the river was thru golden sponge and grass through a series of broken down trees. I love this kind of forest. There was fresh bear sign all about. We were cautious about our journey and got to the river with no incident.
The water was very low. Lowest I've ever seen it. Though, this is the latest in the season I'd ever fished it. Tons of spawning reds all about. The odor of decaying fish and rotting red corpses was very strong. We hit the water and started looking for fishable holes. Overall, we saw very few dollies. We spotted a few here and there and what we thought were rainbows. Wayne was the champion - hooking 1 dolly varden that went about 19-inches and made a fine dinner. Hooked it on a spoon.
Made the drive back in the evening. Stopped at the Turnagain Pass rest area and played a couple games of cribbage. I lost the first, but skunked Wayne the second game. Sniff sniff....I'm +10-boy now. The rest of the drive around the Turnagain was in the dark. Got back to Wayne's around 8:30pm. Lost the next game of cribbage before retiring to bed. Body is good-tired from the river hike today....
-saw a nice bull moose in the Portage Flats area...just before the hill up over the summit.
-the coloring of the mountains and trees make things seem like a totally different place - as though I was seeing it for the very first time.
-nice diet today - MM's, Jerky, Coke, Scoops
-the river was littered with hundreds of frothy sockeye remains.
-the weather was perfect today. No complaints. No wind, no rain, just us fishermen, the countryside, the water, the fish, and the smell.
September 23rd
Didn't see any northern lights last night. I tried but nothing...finally had to go to sleep. Got up at 7:30am. Cleaned up the Minnie Winnie a bit. Furnace worked well and I stayed warm all night! Chip in the windshield has started to crack and run. May need to get that looked at. Off to Carr's for groceries.
Color of autumn is definitely here. Most things are turning gold and yellow and orange or red. Very different from the green of summertime. Plan on driving around a bit to find some good pictures. So far, it is sunny today, although the short-term forecast calls for clouds and rain to move in soon.
Drove out the Turnagain Arm and stopped at Beluga Point on the way back. Things feel different now. The are fewer birds in Potter's Marsh. The grass around Girdwood has turned golden. Fewer cars and RV's on the road. The sun doesn't crest so high anymore. At Beluga Point I watched the tide from low slack to incoming. In the space of 15 minutes the area around the point went from glassy calm to a raging torrent as the tide came in. The long stretch of sandbar in further out in the inlet disappeared in a flash. As I watched the event unfold, I kept telling myself how cool it was to be here. Only yesterday I had been in the brown flat hazy urban world of Dallas. What a contrast of lands. I wished bunny had been there with me.
Back at Wayne Manor in the evening I finally got on the board at cribbage. Moved his dryer from the condo. For dinner my Kenai Silver Salmon mayo-bake-ala-Wayne.
September 22nd
Took flight from DFW to Anchorage, by way of Minn/St. Paul. On the way into Anchorage coming in over the Chugach Mountains, the weather was crystal clear and I was able to observe numerous glacier-systems turning pink in the setting sunlight. There was a pink band around the western mountains and Denali was clear and lit in pink. On the final descent saw a moose out along a swamp near the airport.
Wayne and his mom picked me up. Mom was up for 2-weeks of house-warming. Got to Wayne Manor around 8:30pm. Beautiful clear chilly autumn evening. Definitely feels different than in July. Wayne Manor has made great progress: flooring, carpets, and some furniture.
Lost my first game of cribbage.
September 20, 2003
Regretfully I have not kept much of a journal this year. I did some fishing, but as I was more pre-occupied with moving and this year's Alaska trip, I didn't do much of a job of documenting my outings. January and February I had a couple of steelheading outings with Rod. In April, went out with Tim and Rod on the Willamette in search of chinook....I never caught one. Rod and Tim each got one on trips I wasn't part of. Had a couple of fishing trips up to the Breitenbush in June. Had mixed success. Spent a lot of the year traveling for work: New Jersey, San Francisco, San Diego and Japan.
At the beginning of the year it was decided by Glory and I that we would follow her company's move down to Dallas, TX. The big move for us took place in the middle of June. After that I stayed in PDX for a week and did some fishing. Then I flew down to meet the moving van in Dallas. After that week we came back to PDX and picked up the motorhome for the drive north to Alaska. The Alaska adventures are detailed in the AK2003 Journal. Here's a summary of the week of fishing prior to my departure to Dallas:
Thursday 6-20
Up at 7:30am. Went for a walk around the block. Took a shower. Started down the checklist of to do’s. Took RV for a washing. Did laundry from camping trip at Keinows. Got gas. Dumped the RV. Watched shad fishing at Dahl park for awhile. Headed over to Tim’s house so Tina could cut my hair. Called bunny and she reminded me to drop off the box at Comcast. Went to Comcast and then back to Tim’s and got haircut. Rod came over. We talked for awhile and then gave out our good-byes. Went by Klaus’ house but he wasn’t around. So, then I headed off to Eli’s for the evening. Tomorrow it’s off to Dallas for a week in order to meet the moving van. Then next week we come back to PDX to get the Minnie and head up to Alaska.
Wednesday 6-19
Woke up at 4:30am but never saw Rod. It was prime time to go fishing, but no Rod or Tim. So I rolled over and went back to bed. Around 8am Rod and Tim showed up in their boats. Weather had changed from scorching hot to windy and cold. We rooster fished for awhile but never got anything to hit. Both Rod and Tim said they caught a few on the way over to get me, but I think they were inventing stories just to be funny. Since we weren’t catching anything we headed over to the island and cooked some breakfast. Rod mushed together eggs and hashbrowns into a most unappetizing looking burned mush. Tim tried to fry 2 complete packages of bacon at the same time. I ate 5 pieces of bacon then went powerbaiting since I had caught no fish yet today. I rigged up with Tim’s special mustard power bait and started hammering them. By the time Rod and Tim came down I was already into my 6th fish. Then all 3 of us started plunking and hammering fish on nearly every cast. There were a couple of fat guys across the lake on the opposite bank that must have been pretty jealous as we were catching every time and they weren’t catching anything. Every time we caught a fish we jokingly yelled out that it was a monster brown. Finally we had each caught so many fish that we decided to take a break for awhile. Tim got his stuff packed up and ready to go. We sent Tim on his way home and then Rod and I had some snacks and went fishing. We trolled to the deep end and caught a couple each on roosters while trolling. We anchored up at the warning sign at the end of the lake and cast our roosters in the deep water. We each caught a couple of fish there, too. When that action died down we went back to the island, anchored up, and powerbaited for awhile. We caught fish after fish until we were so tired of fishing that we decided to leave. On the way home, we stopped at Estacada where Rod bummed $3.00 from me for gas money.
I’m glad I spent the time fishing this week. Although action at the Breitenbush was only marginal it was good to get out there again for a final trip through my favorite fly holes. The weather was great – felt like August. The only real problem at the Breitenbush is where to park the motorhome.
Harriet was really nice, too. I saw two extremely scenic and beautiful evenings there. If only the dusty road was paved the place would be a paradise. But of course that would probably attract even more bank maggots. Saw 2 osprey all weekend. One swooped down and caught a trout. Pretty awesome. Saw big hawks, chipmunks, duck family, kingfishers, red-headed woodpeckers, deer, and the osprey. Caught tons of fish. Had great evenings. Nice campfire. Fish jumping all over the place in the evenings. Awesome thunder and lightning shows. God is awesome.
Headed back to Harold Ave. for overnight camping and a much needed shower. Called bunny. Need to clean the motorhome, get a haircut, dump, go to Eli’s, and maybe visit Klaus tomorrow. Need to get a radio with an automatic shutoff – so I don’t have to fall asleep with the motorhome battery running down.
Tuesday 6-18
Woke up around 8am. Hung out in the Minnie most of the morning. Started to get sunny and hot at about 10am. Not many fish rising right now. Last night from the time I arrived there were fish rising all over the place, but it has slowed down now. I’m looking forward to some evening fishing today. Just a few boats out today and a group of bank maggots up the road. Jammed out to Van Halen and ate Mike and Ikes for breakfast. Supposedly Tim and Rod are showing up today.
Tim showed up around noon today. Just him, Bobo (his dog) and the boat. Helped Tim unload the boat and get things ready. We transferred all of his gear across the river to the island camp spot. We took about 10 trips up the hillside – luckily he had packed “light” for this trip. In all of his light packing, Tim forgot his sleeping bag, Then up at the campsite we worried about where to put his tent. The prime spot is underneath a dead-leaning tree. Tim finally decided to just chance it and he put his tent right under the tree. We started fishing at about 1pm. We tried roosters for awhile in the shallows. Tim got one 12-inch brown – a dinner fish. Next we parked at the island and sunk powerbait. Tim hit 3 or 4 fish pretty quickly. Finally I caught on to the powerbait method and landed 6 or 7 fish myself. The method: tiny treble, 2 split shot for casting distance, ultralight rod and reel. Cast out into the hole, let it sink, slowly remove the slack out of the line until you feel your bait settle on the bottom (feel some resistance) and then wait for the tap-tap-tap of a hungry trout. I like to wait for the 3rd set of taps, thus insuring the trout was taking the bait, then set the hook.
After a few sunburning hours of powerbaiting trout we took a break for dinner. I went to the motorhome and worked on cooking my salmon. As Tim landed the boat near my motorhome, Bobo ralphed up on the bottom of the boat all of the junkfood that Tim had been feeding him. I told him during the day that beef jerky wasn’t good for his dog, oh well. Tim cooked his 2 dinner fish. Later we started an evening fishing session in the shallows with our rooster tails. Rod showed up around 7:30pm. We fished until dark. Right at dusk we all got some good fish. I landed a nice 14-15 inch rainbow. A real nice stocker. Rod got a nice brown and some ‘bows. Tim landed some nice rainbows, as well. After that session we headed back to the island campground and hung out for awhile. Around midnight all of a sudden the stars were blotted out by a huge black cloud front. Then the nasty thunder and lightning started in the mountains. Nothing like experiencing a thunderstorm right up in the mountains. Before the big rain started I had Rod take me across the lake in the dark. I had a small flashlight that we used to navigate by. The lightning show was pretty darn awesome. God has really good “bass”. You could feel the thunder hits roll right through you. Went to bed and waited for Rod to come get me in the morning for an early am fishing session.
Monday 6-17
Woke up around 8am. Took my time getting up. Had banana and OJ for breakfast. Called bunny but no answer. Headed back up to cliff hole #2. Started fishing about 10:15am. Had good success at the first hole, which is quite unusual. Hooked 2 there and had another rise up and give chase. Mixed success down the rest of the stretch. Down at the log hole I raised 2 nice ones but never got a good hook set on either. Ended up hooking 5 or 6 fish and missed quite a few others. Finished at 1pm. Weather was sunny and hot – normal Breitenbush style. Another two weeks and the trout will be much more active here, I think. Had tuna sandwiches for lunch. Trying to get a call / message from Bunny. Next I will head upriver to dunk my head. Then head over towards the Mt Hood forest.
Made my way up to Estacada. Trying to get a cell signal but there is no signal until Estacada. Spent $12 buying a screw-driver and headlight.
Finally ended up camping out at Lake Harriet this evening, got there about 7:45pm. Very nice evening. Other than the dusty road, I really like the lake. It is $14.00 for a camping spot or free for parking along the road. I parked along the road. Saw many trout leaping about during the evening. I tried my flies and roosters from the shore but got no hits. A guy flinging a bobber with a fly was doing well. I stopped at Faraday Lake on the way up to Harriet. Very hot outside, but saw no fish being caught. Harriet is a nice lake. But you really need a boat to get out into the good water. My flycasting and rooster chucking from the shore just doesn’t quite reach the fishing spots.
6-15-03 Sunday
Bunny is off to Dallas this morning, I’m heading off in the Minnie to make a final fishing of the Breitenbush River and Lake Harriet.
Stopped for free dumping at Estacada Timber Park
The summer vacation has started. The house is packed and things are headed for Dallas. Called Dad for Father’s Day. Last night stayed with Glory’s family at Kuya’s house. Left some stuff and cash behind for safekeeping until the 28th. I will be camping until Thursday evening this week. This will be the first real test of the motorhome. A good week hopefully before heading to Alaska.
Made it to the Breitenbush cliff hole #2 at 4pm. Made lunch then prepared for flyfishing outing.
Sunday evening fishing at cliff hole #2. Landed 4 fish, all tiny’s. Camping out at turnoff near lower river. Weather was excellent today. Water level was medium-normal. Most likely it will be very lower during mid summer. Going to bed now. It’s about 10pm. Motorhome is working perfectly so far.
2002 Coho and Trout Season (No rain, no gain)
10-18-02 FRIDAY
Going to head out to Eagle Creek again today for some more Coho fishing……
Got up at 5:15 am this morning which was kind of strange since I set the alarm for 5:00am. It took me a few minutes to get motivated enough to actually get out of bed. I was tired, it was early and dark, but I had promised myself that I was going to go fishing. Since I was behind schedule I decided to forego the shower and just get dressed and head out. I loaded up some liquids and a few granola bars and went on my way. The weather was cloudy but dry and it was fairly warm for an October morning. The drive up was pretty uneventful. I didn’t get stuck behind any log trucks this time. I didn’t see any deer either.
Made it to the Hatchery at about 6:20am. I was the only car there. It is such a strange, lonely feeling being at the hatchery hole in the dark of morning all alone. Being down in the canopy of trees it is really a “thick” dark that surrounds the area. I definitely was glad to have my flashlight along this morning. Last week when I met Rod we had the ambient light of the moon to see by, but this morning was pitch black. I quickly got suited up and ready to go. It was time to hit the trail.
In the blackness the trail in is a little scary. There is a twinge of fear that accompanies me into the black wooded area. At the same time, there is an adrenaline rush from doing something that I’m afraid of. It is a self therapy that I put myself through….deliberately going somewhere that I’m afraid of just to prove to myself that I can do it. So, I set off into the woods, rod in one hand and mini-flashlight in the other.
It’s funny how the trail looks so different in the dark. Although parts of it were very familiar other parts seemed out of place. Numerous times I almost convinced myself that I was on the wrong trail, that I was going a different route than usual. Of course time and perseverance proved that I went the right way, and again I overcame the challenge of self doubt.
The hike took about 15 minutes to get to the corner hole where I’d have to cross the river. The ambient light began to increase a little bit, but I had higher confidence in my foot placement when I kept the flashlight on. I crossed the river slowly and without incident. In another few weeks it won’t be so easy. Soon the fall rains will come and this little creek will begin to swell up with fresh rainwater. It will make the morning crossings much harder, but at the same time the fishing should improve.
After I made the double crossing at the corner hole I started downstream for the steelhead hole #2. This part of the hike was a bit slower and more deliberate because I had to do a lot of creek crossing and rock hopping to get to where I wanted to go. Eventually, I made it down to the steelhead hole #1. When I got there, I crossed over a couple of logs at the head of the hole and started hiking towards the rock clefts at the middle of the hole. My presence broke the serenity of the setting and a couple of Coho jumped out of the water to bid me good morning. This is a good sign I told myself. They must really be stacked in there if they are jumping out of the water already. But despite the good sign, I was determined to continue downstream to the #2 hole and ply my craft there.
A few minutes later and I was at my destination. I scaled up the side of the rock overhang and surveyed the situation below. There was enough ambient light to see my surroundings now and I was able to make out some faint torpedo shapes in the water below. I watched for a few moments and there still appeared to be a good grouping of fish in the hole. So, I decided to prepare my rig and get started fishing.
The first thing to do is to get my rod assembled. I brought it in taken apart in two pieces with the line already run through the guides. The end of the line was tied in a knot at the last guide. I prepared to insert the top end into the bottom piece of the rod. There wasn’t enough slack in the line to allow this to happen, so I tried a little bit harder. I just needed about one more inch of line to allow an easy insertion. Anyways, I applied a little pressure on the rod and the tip of the top piece began to bend. I almost had it and then…..snap. No. No. I didn’t. I know that sound. I’ve heard it many times before. I couldn’t believe it. Dammit. I looked at the tip of my rod and it was dangling. I now had a three piece rod. I really really really hate it when I do that. At this point in the morning, after walking for 40 minutes in the pitch dark without even casting once, I had broke my fricking rod tip off. Well there was no way that I was bagging this expedition and heading out of here without getting some fishing in. So I did the only thing that I could do….I chopped of the rod so that the 2nd guide now became the rod tip. Granted this eliminated any chance of repairing the rod tip, but there was no way I could fish otherwise. And given that this was a $20 rod at best, I didn’t really feel too bad about. So, I chopped off the remaining tip of the rod and set about to rig up and fish. I tied up a rig and got ready to cast. Somehow the hook set itself in the sleeve of my sweatshirt. A brief struggle ensued and I lost. Now, I’ve broke my rod and snapped off my hook, and I haven’t even made a single cast yet this morning….sheesh! About that time I told myself it was time to catch a mellow. So, I set my pole down and went for the water bottle in my backpack. I took a few swigs and with renewed clarity of mind began to re-rig. This time it was a success - I was ready to cast. My first cast landed right where I wanted it to, at the head of the hole and floated down into the slot…without any success. My second cast, however, found its mark and I had a nice male Coho mouth-hooked and crazy mad. This is why I’m here I told myself. Most Coho are fighting machines and this one was no exception. He ran me up and down the hole three or four times and came out of the water twice. I’d reel once and he’d peel drag twice it seemed. The battle lasted a good 5 minutes before he tired and gave up. I brought him to shore at the tailout of the hole on the flat rocks. He was a real nice fish, blushed from his stay in the river, but a big brute of a salmon. He had a real nice hooked nose and a big broad belly. I bet three weeks ago he would have made a beautiful specimen on the barbecue, but today he was just catch and release material. Well, the truth is all the Coho are catch and release. I’ve got a whole freezer full of prime Kenai sockeye filets that I still need to consume. I hardly need to bring home another salmon until next year. Well, after having this great battle on my second cast, I was sure that I was going to have a red hot day. It was another 30 minutes of solid casting before I hooked into another fish.
After fishing the #2 hole for awhile, I decided to continue hiking down to the river to explore some new spots. I hiked another half mile finding three or four holes that held fish. It was clear however, that the quantity and quality of fish had certainly declined in this area since the previous weeks' outing. The quality was definitely on the downslope. The Coho are definitely showing the effects of their freshwater transformation.
After walking and hiking a variety of holes, I decided to head back to the #2 hole for another session. I could see the fish much better now, but I think they could also see me. They were wise to about every cast I made, dodging my rig with the utmost disinterest. I finally was able to coax a few more hookups out of them, but at a real dismal rate. About 9:30am I started to tire from my poor results and started the hike back to the truck. Unless we get some good rain soon, this Coho season is going to die out quite uneventfully.
10-17-02 THURSDAY
It’s Thursday night and I am planning on going fishing tomorrow. I spoke with Rod today who hasn’t been fishing himself all week, but has talked to John who has gone. John was reporting steelies at Dog Creek and Chromers in the lower Eagle Creek and into the Clack. I still kinda want to go to the Hatchery and make the walk. I really enjoy the walk as it turns out, once I can go at my own pace. However, maybe I should take my fly rod and try Bonnie Lure instead. I’m probably best prepared for a hatchery hike-in however, so that is what I’ll do. The hasn’t been any rain since my last report, kind of a bummer for the salmon run. The first pulse of fish has definitely been in the water for awhile now. There will not be any chromers at the Hatchery. They will all be in the lower river if at all. However, I don’t need any chromers so to speak. I need some easy prey, and I might as well see Eagle Creek from the top on down. I want to walk in past where Rod disappeared last time.
10-09-02 WEDNESDAY
Got up at 4:45am and headed straight for the shower. If I’m going to get up this early to go fishing, good chance I’m going to need a shower to awaken the mind and body. After the shower I was quickly dressed in my warm fishing clothes, as I anticipated it would be cool out in the early morning air. However, it was fairly warm out, for an October day that is. Kissed bunny good-bye and headed out for Eagle Creek. It was 5:15am. On the way out I got stuck behind a log truck on the expressway. I ended up following the truck the whole way to the Eagle Creek turnoff. Made the drive without much effort. Only passed one parked car along the river on the way up. Made the turnoff to the hatchery and started down the hill. About half way down a bambi ran out on the road next me. Seeing a deer on the way to the fishing hole is always the sign that I will catch fish. So I was pretty happy about that.
Got to the parking spot right at 6am according to my truck clock. Rod wasn’t there yet, and for a moment I thought that I might get stood up again. Started gathering my gear together from the canopy when Rod pulled in alongside. Before I got dressed I had to answer nature’s call and do my thing in the bushes. It was still dark out so I didn’t go too far off the trail. In a few moments we were geared up and ready to go. There was so faint light that made the trail visible in the dark once our eyes adjusted. So, we started off down the trail, each of us in waders and boots, toting our rods and backpacks. Even as we headed into the overgrowth of the forest we were faintly able to see the trail at our feet. The difficulty lay in the nuances of the earth directly beneath our feet. At times I tripped our stumbled on raised roots and or stones. But I was able to control my stumbling without doing any damage. I really concentrated on making high steps and not dragging my feet across the ground. We made it up the backhill trail and down past the cliff hole to the corner hole in pretty good time. When we got to the corner Rod was amazed at how low the water was. There would be no issue with crossing the river today. The low water wasn’t a great confidence boost after the walk since it meant that maybe the creek was still too shallow to allow many salmon upriver this far. Once we passed the corner we started walking the river to the steelhead hole since the water was fairly low. We made it in pretty good time without incident. It was probably about 6:45am when we got there. There was some background illumination in the sky, and soon daybreak would be upon us.
As Rodney rigged up I started making some casts. After about a dozen casts without any luck I hooked up with a medium red buck. He ran up and down the hole several times and gave me quite a workout. After a few minutes I had him up on the rocks at my feet and released it. I tried to get Rod to take a picture of the fish since it was the first Coho of the year for me that I put on the bank, but he declined since he wanted to start fishing right away. He stood up on the rocks about 10 feet above the water and started doing his thing. I got my rig back together and starting casting in the upper half of the hole. Within moments I had hooked up again, although it only lasted a few moments. Next it was Rod’s turn. He hooked a buck right in the private parts and ran him up and down a few times through the hole. We were both starting to feel pretty good about our chances for having a good day now. As Rod landed his fish, I went for the camera and got three of four good shots of his struggle and his results. When I got done filming it was back to business for me. I started having good success throwing my rig up towards the head of the drift and bringing it down the slot. I hooked up with a beastly buck next. It was all I could do to hold on for about 10 minutes as he ran up and down the hole peeling drag. I was using 15lb line and didn’t have the line strength to just horse him in. Eventually I got him to the rocks at my feet and dragged him in. Three times he flopped and tugged his way off the rocks and back into the water. This one was a hog.
Finally I got him subdued and pliered my hook out of his mouth. Rod had come down to film and I started to pose. As I grabbed the Coho around the tail to lift him, I found that I could not reach all the way around his tail…he was that big! I’d have to estimate him at 12lbs. He was dark and had a beautiful black outlined hooked kype. As Rod got ready to snap the picture the buck wiggled in my arms and dropped free in the rocks sending up a splash that soaked Rodney and the camera. On the second effort we got a couple of good pictures. Even though the buck had color he was still a monster specimen of a Coho. I hope the picture comes out. After I was done releasing my fish Rod asked me if he could use my sunglasses. I wasn’t wearing them yet since it was still a low light situation. However, Rod used them to his full advantage and started spotting the groups of Coho that he wanted to target. As it turned out there were quite a few fish in our hole even though the water was pretty low.
By 7:30am we had both hooked up quite a few times and took a few minutes for a break. We talked about moving downstream to the next hole to check it out. After another hour slaying at the steelhead hole we packed up things and waded down the 100 yards to the next hole. This hole was longer and deeper than the steelhead hole. At the tail-out was a big logjam. We crossed to the other side of the river to fish. I arrived at the new hole first and walked up the side of the rocky cliff to view down into the hole. Immediately it was obvious that this hole was packed full of fish. I could see them stacked and piled in the depths of the center of the hole. Rod, with the glasses still on, reported seeing “hundreds of fish” in there. In moments I started making casts into the hole, tickling one on every cast. On my third or fourth cast I hooked up with a bright red one. Rod started getting on me for dispersing the fish before he got into the water, but hey, it was him or me. We both hooked up quite regularly. Rod hooked into one that was a dull chrome and he went down and landed and bonked it. As the sun started coming out we had some intermittent Jeff-hole moments as we could see down to the bottom of the hole. At some glimpses we could see that there were hundreds of fish in the hole….stacked in. The weird thing is that in the center of the hole they were situated sideways, facing the opposite bank. Down at the tail-out though, they were pointed upstream. Basically there were two groups, one packed in the bottom center of the hole, and another group that drifted from top to tail-out, in opposition to our casting. Over the next few hours we both hooked up time and time again. Rod went across to the other bank for awhile and fished from the outcropped log. Then he took off downstream to explore more water. I stayed up on the side hill with the backpacks and gear and continued to fish.
At about 11am I saw another angler crossing over to the steelhead hole above me. After a few minutes that guy gave up on the hole and started to head down. I promptly stood up (as I was sitting and fishing) and made enough movement that he could see my hole was occupied. After standing and deciding what to do, the other angler finally bagged the idea of sharing my hole and he headed back across the creek and into the bush out of sight. Well I hooked quite a few more fish. Every other one seemed to break of my gear as I was landing him. These Coho are big brutes and horsing them onto the rocks wasn’t real easy. I’d get them close and then hand tug them in the last few feet. This technique seemed to be the cause of most of the bust-offs. But I did get quite a few to shore, it was a great day. Finally Rod came back and relayed his tales of legend and lore. He claimed that he fished a real long stretch where the fish were just stacked in. He claimed he couldn’t miss on any cast. After a few minutes of fishing together we decided to head back and call it a day. It was about 12:30.
On the way back upriver, we stopped and scoped a few holes. There were less fish as we went upriver, logical since the water was so low. Give this river a day or two of rain and the hole stretch will be a producing zone. Also the rains will bring in some more fresh fish. Granted there were a lot of fish today, but not many were bright. Since I wasn’t seeking table fare it wasn’t that big of deal for me. Rod was a little more bummed since he likes to keep lots of fish. But in all we couldn’t really complain; we had been out in nature, seen beautiful fishing holes, hooked tons of fish, had epic battles, and got in two good hikes. Not a bad day-off indeed. Now, I have to consider whether or not to get up on Friday morning and try it again. If I do, I’ll probably head to the Jeff hole to see if there are any chromers. I find it hard to believe though that much new stuff is coming in without any rains in the last few days. However, the Jeff hole is definitely an easier hike, a shorter drive, and a couple of miles closer to the ocean that the steelhead hole, so there is a chance that something brighter may be on the way. It is my theory that the fish up at the hatchery represent the first big spurt of this year’s run. When I was out last Friday at the Jeff hole there wasn’t much action. That first spurt had already passed by. So, hopefully by now a second spurt of fish is working its way up the system. Maybe we’ll see on Friday.
10-08-02 TUESDAY
Tomorrow is Wednesday, and I’ve taken the day off work. I am supposed to meet Rod up at the Hatchery at 6am. Of course that means he won’t likely be showing up until 7:30am, if at all. However, if he does show up were going to attempt to fish them Coho at the 'steelhead hole'. If we are there at the time we think we’re gonna get there, then we’ll be in for quite a hike in the dark. It is at least a 30-40 minute walk in the daylight let alone the morning dark. We talked a bit on the phone today regarding where we should go. He thought we should try the Jeff hole. Well, we’ve both been shutout there recently, plus, I haven’t ever attempted to fish the Coho at the steelhead hole, so it should be an interesting outing. Rod’s point however, was that the Coho at the Jeff hole would be fresher than those at the S.H hole. Well, that may or may not be, after all, Eagle Creek isn’t a long river, and frankly there shouldn’t be much difference. But I guess we’ll see…stay tuned for details.
10-4-2002 Friday
The rains have been coming off and on for the last few days and I know the silvers must be up in the river by now. Talked to Rod a few times and he’s had some sightings and hooking up experience at Bonny Lure already, so I know the fish are just waiting for the water to come up a bit. So, it is half year closing, but I figure I can get in a morning fishing expedition on Friday.
Get up at a quarter to six and get dressed and ready for battle. It is lightly misting and pretty foggy out. Getting up and out in the morning is always a strange feeling. It is so serene and peaceful in the dark a.m. time. I make the drive to Eagle Creek without incident. I get to the Jeff Hole and I’m the first car there. This is a good sign. Since I’m already dressed in my waders, it’s just a quick moment to don my backpack and get my fishing pole out of the back of the canopy. Then I have to take off my backpack and get out my flashlights and put my keys away. Then I’m off into the dark canopy of the rainforest.
The trail is dark, overgrown, and wet. My 2 penlight flashlights illuminate enough to see where I am and not much more. As usual, I struggle through the forest, losing the trail almost instantly. I recognize a few points along the way, but it has been at least a year since I’ve walked this path and I am easily lost. The normal 3 minute journey lasts a good ten minutes. A couple of times I retrace my steps looking for a beaten footpath. I know I’m off the trail a bit and I think I am downstream of where I need to be. Finally I break through the last layer forest and come to the edge of the cliff. Now, I just need to find the way down. The trail down into Eagle Creek at the Jeff hole is a good 50 foot descent. In good conditions in daylight it is treacherous. In the dark it can be suicide. Any number of places along the cliff are shear drop-offs onto rocks below. One time last year I almost made that discovery firsthand. I made my way through in the dark and came out at the edge of the cliff. I slowly started over the edge only to find there was no next step. Thankfully, I recovered my footing before falling over the edge.
This morning as I clear the last layer of forest I come along a footpath along the cliff line. I follow the path upstream a bit and it ends soon into a clump of forest. So I go downstream along the footpath until I find a place where the path goes over the cliff and starts a descent. At the top of the cliff I shine my line over the edge and I can see a path that angles down at least halfway down the hill, but my light doesn’t illuminate much more than that. I know this is not the usual trail down, but I make a command decision….basically I’m lost, and this is a trail down…I’m taking it. So, I start down the trail. It is just some muddy footsteps in the side of the hill, interspersed with some bramble weeds a grass clumps. The first ten feet down are not bad at all. They angle down across the hillside at about a 45 degree angle. I make it no problem. After that to make the next few feet I have to let my rod slide down the hill so I can use both hands to descend. I brace myself against the much and slide down about another 10 feet and land very close to my rod and reel. I look down and all I see is blackness, a big tree stump, and the silhouette that must be the river. I am clinging precipitously to the side of the hill…to earth itself. I’m beginning to think this is a bad choice for a descent. I look around, up and down. There is no more pathway. Where did it go? At that moment I make another command decision….I’m getting the hell out of here. I slowly rotate myself around so that I’m facing in towards the hillside. I am going to climb back up and go find the real trail. I’ve got another 25 feet to go and the only way down is to fall or slide the rest of the way down. Hell, if I fall and break my leg or ankle or back, no one will find me forever.
I begin with fervent effort to claw my way back up the mucky hillside. However, the is no handholds or toe holds. No tree limbs or roots to leverage against. Everything is wet and slick. And the harder I try to go upwards the more I feel like I’m about to lose the little footing I have and begin to go downwards. I’m screwed. I do the only thing left that I can. I cry out “help me Lord, help me Lord” over and over. As that “I’m screwed” feeling finally sinks in, I realize the only way out of my predicament is for me to continue my descent. I figure that I’m going to fall about 20-25 feet before I make contact with whatever awaits me at the bottom of the hillside. I still can’t see what is down there. I assume it is rocks or boulders, since that is the typical bank lining of this part of the canyon. Since I’m going to need both hands for my task ahead, I again send my rod and reel down ahead of me. At the moment I set my rod sliding down, I begin to think of the irony of the situation….wouldn’t it just be my luck that I break my rod and when I finally do make it down I just have to turn around and go back. With that thought I send the rod off and lose sight of it as it thunks down at the bottom of the hill. Now it is my turn!
I’ve made a few tricky descents into river canyons before. Most of them have come over at the Breitenbush and they’ve been in the daylight when I can see what I’m up against. This is probably the most challenging episode I’ve faced because I really can’t see more than five or six feet down. This is going to hurt!
The last few minutes have begun to take their toll on my body. My legs are already aching from my clomping through the forest and my escape efforts moments before. My arms are tired from holding and grasping onto the mucky earth. But the pain is secondary to the fear in my mind. I know that I’m about to do something really stupid and for what? To catch a fish, a lousy fish?
It is now time. In the split second before I let go and commence my slide I hatch a game plan. I will try to split the fall into two portions in order to minimize the force of my impact. My lessons from Mr. Cox’s physics class come back to me….F = MA, where A = acceleration, which is approximately 10 meters per second squared. My mass ain’t going to change anytime soon, but if I can dampen the acceleration factor, I have a good chance of decreasing my force at contact. With that in mind I let go from the hillside and start my descent down. As I let go, the gravitational force of mother earth kicks in. I press my body and back into the hillside, but I starting moving down nonetheless. I fan out my arms and grab into the muck and grasp for anything that is there, but there is nothing. After a split second, I hurtle towards a clump of grassy bramble weeds. I dig in harder with my fingers into the earth. I get one foot to wedge on top of the clump of grass. For the moment I’ve stopped. I’ve made it down halfway now and have stopped for a moment. The pause only lasts a split second as the grass clump gives way under the pressure of my weight. But the momentary pause is just what I needed (see physics equation above). At this point I now think that I may live after all! And then I am once again plunging downwards….and plunk….I land in another clump of grass at the edge of the rocky riverbank. It is over and I’ve made it. Thank you Lord!! Relieved at my stupidity having not killed me, I search for my rod and find it…still intact. It’s time to go fishing!
As the thought of death and painful injury leaves my mind I look around and notice that I’m a good thirty yards downstream of my intended descent point. I really need to find the trail next time.
I make my way up to the river crossing point and cross the river without incident. The water is at most waist deep in the shallows. As I head to the big rock I can see no one else about. I have the Jeff hole all to myself. The Jeff hole is a big holding pool below a set of narrow falls. On each side of the hole is some rocks to stand on. On the side that I crossed to is a big boulder that stands about 10 feet above the water. I climb up on it and survey the surroundings. Daylight is starting to show and I can see the gray sky, the foggy air, and the misty treetops. In all, it is a beautiful northwest rainforest canyon. A lichen’s paradise. The water is stained brown and with the overcast I cannot see more than just the top of the water column. This hole has a magic hour at about 10 or 10:30 am when the sun is out, but I won’t be here that long, since I’ve got to be to work at about noon. I’ve witnessed the magic hour one time last year…and it was magic, but more about that later.
I start casting my rig over and over without much success. There is a lot of debris in the water, and about every third cast yields a fallen soggy leaf on my hook or an occasional stick. I’m not feeling many bumps, and I’m yet to hear or see anything roll. I make cast after cast and still nothing. For a moment I take a break and grab the water bottle out of my backpack and take a drink. About that time I see one roll at the end of the pool. Dark one too. Looked almost like a Chinook. Eagle Creek does still get a few native Chinooks every year. The run probably doesn’t number more than a hundred at max, but I’ve seen a few before. Seen a few last year when I was chasing steelhead at the cliff hole. Anyways, I start casting again. I work mainly the upper end of the pool, throwing my rig to the opposite bank, letting it sink down into the main hole, and retrieving it back. The opposite bank is a shear cliff drop-off into the main hole. There are a few points on the opposite bank where one can stand. The footing is treacherous, and one bad step would put a person into the water over their head in an instant. I like my side much better. I throw my rig across again and let it sink down the edge. This time I feel something different so I set the hook. Instantly I know that I’m not going to land a maple leaf again this time. My line starts to move through the water. The Coho breaks the surface and continues on heading downstream. He is a big fish. I’d say about a 15-pound buck. But he’s the color of an Orange Crush pop can, so I’m not all that interested in him. He runs to the tail end of the pool, swirls around a bit runs back towards me and breaks the water again. Moments later my line goes slack and the battle is over. Well at least I hooked one.
Well, I know there Coho and they like to hang out together. So, I throw my rig back into the same spot as my previous cast. This time there’s no resistance and I come up empty. I try again. Again my line starts moving downstream towards the end of the pool. Fish on!
He peels some drag and does a few circles around the pool and then heads for some of the submerged boulders near the tailout. Don’t go there! The next thing I know my line and hook are coming out of the water right back at me and land at my feet. Fish off! Dang, I think that was a chromer, too. Of course all of the ones that get away are chromers. And big ones, too, whenever I retell the story.
Well, I guess I’ve found their lair at least. So, I fire my setup back into the hot spot…and nothing. Time and time again I try and….nothing. The next thing I know I look around and someone has emerged at the bottom of the trail. Guess I’m going to have some company at the Jeff hole. And there’s a dog, too. Big German shepherd.
“Is that you, Mike?”
“Is that you, Jeff?”
By golly, what a co-incidence, running into Jeff at the Jeff hole. I guess that is appropriate by golly. After a few pleasantries Jeff takes up position across the bank from me. He begins his first cast by snagging into the tree directly above his head. After a brief tussle he snaps off his rig and gives out a cry of disgust. I throw my rig back over into my hotspot. Hmmmm…..hookset….Fish on! This battle, the final of the day, is also the shortest. This fish rolls one time, breaks water, and instantly throws the hook. Well that was fun.
Jeff and I chit-chat for a few moments before Jeff decides to move downstream and fish the shallows. Once again I have the hole all to myself. I check my watch and see that it is about 8:30 now. I’ve got another hour to go.
After Jeff leaves fishing slows way down. Nothing is rolling and I can’t see or hear anything moving up through the shallows. After making cast after cast I decide to go down and observe the shallows to see if anything is moving through. Nothing. The only movement is a huge pale frog on the opposite bank. He’s exploring rocks and swimming along the edge of the bank. I stand and watch the shallows from shore. From my vantage point I could see if salmon where making their way up through the gauntlet of channels to get into the Jeff hole pool. On occasion, I’ve stood in the same spot and watched hundreds of fish moving by. I really like the days the fish are on the move, because then I can Kenai-style fish for them with my Coho flies. But not today, not a thing moving up. Guess either this wave has passed on upstream or they’re just still hunkered down.
So, I climb back onto my boulder at the Jeff hole and resume casting. I cast for another hour but to no avail. Since, things are dying here, I decide at about 9:30 that it is time to head for home. I cross the river and find the trail. Wow, this trail is much easier than the one I came down!!
September 3rd
Went fly-fishing up on the Breitenbush today. Water level was approx 11.0 per the Santiam/Mehama reading. Parked at Canyon hole #2. Arrived approximately 10:45 pm. Sunny, blue skies, and an occasional cloud. Used primarily royal coachmans/royal wulffs….as I was out of yellow humpy’s.
At the first hole I was able to raise a trout beneath my fly a couple of times, but never succeeded in getting one to hit. Next I planned on jumping in the river and wading down the canyon wall, but noticed that the gravel bottom had been mostly washed away. As a result the water was 5.5 feet deep at minimum. I would have been soaked trying to cross there. So I went upstream above the falls and waded across. Not too difficult there. Next I fished the flats below the first hole. I saw a couple of trout chasing my fly downriver and succeeded in timing my “hookset” just right. The first fish I landed was a keeper. I tried to catch more in that hole as I saw more chasing my fly, but due to shadows on the water I had a hard time tracking my fly. So I moved on. I moved down to the second set of flats and caught 2 more trout, 1 of which I kept. The one I released was probably legal, but very skinny. Next I fished the famous “gathering place” where the water channels through a narrow chute. At this chute is a little still water pool. One time many years ago I stumbled upon this pool and it was full of about 50 trout. Since that day I have never seen or caught or even had a sniff of a fish in that hole. Quickly I moved on to the log-butte hole that typically defines hole #2. I had absolutely no reaction fishing the front rapid and swirling pool that makes up this hole. I did have one great strike on the tail-out, but I missed it. I was really surprised. This hole is almost always the savior of this trip. But not today. After this hole I continued downstream and fished two or three spots without any luck. Finally I reached a deep green water hole that showed some promise. I let the fly drift and sink a little bit, giving it a nice twitch every now and then. It was sort of a “jigging style”. I got quite a bit of action from this hole and managed 2 more keepers. So, there I was, having fished for 2 ½ to 3 hours and I nearly had my limit. Well, as I was tired and the back was aching a bit I decided to call it a day.
In retrospect the most successful technique for me was to cast upstream and let jig the fly across the tail-end of a hole. I didn’t attract a lot of flashy “strikes” or “hits” from the fish, today. More often I got nibbling from down underneath the fly and just used a soft set to hook the fish. But, fishing deep green pools with dry flies, what could I expect?
Also, I noticed that the water was very very cold. I’m glad I didn’t attempt to go at it in shorts and boots….ouch. As it was, my hands hurt just from cleaning the fish.
August 17th, 2002
Got up and went off to bible study. Had good time. After that we headed off in the motorhome for the Breitenbush River. Wanted to get in some fly fishing time. Bunny fell asleep on the way, she was so excited to go. Got to the #2 hole around 2:30pm. Combination of the afternoon sun and my poor eyesight combined to make some of the shaded spots difficult to see. I’d rather fish the holes on the brighter morning sun which seems to illuminate the stretch much better. Uncharacteristically I had a raise on a fish at the very start of the #2 hole. Usually this long pool looks inviting, but hardly ever yields a fish. And when it does its usually a bad sign anyways, you’ll have to take my word for that. So, I get a raise and miss it just as quick. A few more casts yield nothing. I’m extremely impatient on this pool most of the time, I’m always in a hurry to get down to the premier pool. This time is no exception, especially with bunny waiting up in the camper. I don’t want to dilly-dally and have her wait in a camper all day, wondering when I’m going to return so that she can go too. So, after a few casts I’m ready to move on and cross the river and start moving down. I start zipping in my line and its gone a bit slack in the current. I reel it in and feel it stuck in the rock ledge or something. I try to jimmy it loose real quick when I realize I got one on. How typical. Catching a fish in the spot and not even knowing it. It is just such an unsatisfying feeling. It turned out to be a scrawny keeper which I quickly threw back. If I was going to be catching them like this then I could do better.
Move across the river and started down the ripple. Threw in a few times along the way and didn’t have any results. Got to the legendary stocking hole and saw that it was empty again. If it wasn’t for that one time I’d never have believed it myself. Along the way to the back to back fly drift holes I make some good casts in decent holding water without any results. Additionally the water is shaded and I can’t track my fly let alone a pursuing trout given the lighting. What looks like excellent water is non productive. Sometimes I just don’t understand why certain places don’t have fish. They look like great holding spots, yet my presentations never work. So, what has started out as a quick start at the first pool has quickly heated up to a glacial pace. I reach the rock hole and change into the royal wulff with wings fly and immediately get some trackable results. I spend probably close to an hour at the rock hole hooking a number of fish. The action at first hot, then slowly tapering away. I switch back and forth between the wulff and my trusty yellow humpy-the fly which has taken more trout for me than any other. I keep 1 fish from this area. The majority of the others were scrawnies or too small to eat. After I regain my confidence with a victory, I start moving down again. A little later as I’m free drifting and walking down I hook a nice big 10-11incher. Finally, a good eater. Also really makes the other one look small.
The rest of the journey is pretty much a bust. The whirling pool hole yields nothing, even though the water was at a perfect height for that hole. Down around the corner and the cliffs produced nada as well. The cliffs have never really been productive for me other than one time. I also detect a few more worm containers in that area, but I don’t think they could fish out one hole. The reality is that its unproductive for me because I don’t focus on it enough. I need to work that area more patiently and be more stealthy in my tactics and presentation. Also, there needs to be more fish.
Made it back to the camper and knew I had been gone for a good 2hours. Got back and bunny was still asleep. She woke soon after and was ready to get going. With my boots and swimsuit still on we drove up to the bridge hole and parked. Bunny got dressed and we started walking up the highway to the road path into a hole ¼ mile upriver. I wanted to fish the small pool and then work my way back to the camper. If that was unproductive I’d continue around the bend to the log hole and the stair step pools.
So, we walk into our starting spot and instantly I’m amazed. Another fisherman! And he’s fly fishing in bunny’s good drifting spot. No way. We never see anyone else fishing this river let alone a flyfisherman. But hey, it is a good camping Saturday afternoon and we’re up in the smaller river section, where the water is very accessible via campsites.
So, we make it up stream and get to the farthest log-pool that I want bunny to fish. She makes a couple of casts and raises a tiny that she misses. After that we don’t get much. We start meandering back down stream and pass the other guy going up towards where we were. So, bunny and I fish the long drifts that the guy was abandoning. We don’t do much. Then we start down to the second one. The second drift has been fouled (made better to me, though) by a couple of fallen trees. The trees parallel the run but the branches stick out every five or six feet forming small squares of fishing opportunities. Also you have to climb the logs and stand up on them to hit the squares. This is my kinda hole basically. However, it’s not much opportunity for bunny. So I get up there and catch 3 or 4 scrawnies that battle me into the branches, but I manange to pull some up and out. Bunny watches with a smile from below me. After my catches I get bunny to walk back up to the top of the run and wade out into the head of the rapid and dangle her fly down the run. The branches are lying just above the surface of the water and she is able to run her line just below the water’s surface without snagging up. After about 2 minutes of dangling and jigging through the middle of the run she hooks up. I don’t think she knew it at first. I was up on the log watching and giving her hand signals about fly placement, so I saw the little guy track her fly and lock on. I shouted to hold her rod up and reel him in. She started her retrieve but the trout started up to the surface and broke free in one of the branch groups. She lost it. However, a little persistence and a few minutes later she had another hooked. This time she got him in okay. I sprinted from my position on the log and made it down beside her in a few seconds to help her get him. He was a scrawny, but a keeper-scrawny. And he was bigger than one of mine. Dinner! As it turned out the 3 trout made me an okay meal. Although I do remember soon having a tuna sandwich or two soon thereafter. The big 10-incher was a good morsel though.
After bunny’s catch we started moving downstream and encountered 5 or 6 more fishermen/boys/girls. Way too many people on the river, and the most I’ve personally ever witnessed running across. Made it down to the bridge and started turning the corner when I noticed another pair of fisherman 100yds down around the corner. So, bunny and I decided enough. We’d clean our fish and have some dinner. Bunny had landed her first rainbow trout on a fly, our feet hurt, and it was time to eat. Not a bad day indeed.
July 30th, 2002 (review of Alaska trip July 15th-28th)
Here’s a quick summary of the trip (click here to go to AK2002 journal). It’s my first day back at work and I can’t say that I’m excited, but oh well. Anyhow, the Alaska trip was just downright awesome again this year. Things started out really well with an 11am camper pickup. Ended up on the river at about 6pm Saturday and caught my 3 limit right at 11:59pm that night. Wayne was skunk boy (I helped lose his only fish as net-boy). Glory kicked butt this year. She had 24 fish this year and was house champion 4 times!! We ended up with a total of 81 fish for the year, only 3 shy of last year’s record. I got 57, Glory had 24. She was the real difference in making our numbers this year. I struggled at times to get my 3 fish, so it was a big help to have her add 2 or 3 fish most of the time. The weather was pretty darn good for the first week and a half. The river was at a good level and there was at least 10-15 ft of gravel bank until the 2nd week when the rain started in and the water level came up. All but a few of my fish were put on the bank. Glory’s too. Had a couple of great nights when the 95,000 and 61,000 fish days came by. Glory recorded an awesome hour of video of me fishing that 95k night where I mouth-hooked and landed at least a dozen fish in an hour. Hung out with Marvin and Charmaigne and saw their place at Anchor Point. Visited Bob and Chi's log cabin at Crooked Creek. Saw the start of Wayne’s mansion in Anchorage. Visited a number of properties and decided that Crooked Creek or Cohoe Loop would be great spots to have a cabin. Anyways, we ended up with 5 fish boxes and over 300 lbs of fish, some great videos, met some new people, visited with old acquaintances, hatched some great new stories, and had a really relaxing time. God is good, He always provides….and usually more than you ask for to begin with. Thank you!
July 9th, 2002
Still hanging out at work wishing I was somewhere else. Weather is starting to turn hot here. Gonna be 90+ today and throughout the rest of the week. Looking forward to heading north and getting into some more moderate weather. Sockeye have been slamming the Kenai for the last few days, fueling my depression, and causing me to lose sleep, as I realize I may not catch many fish this vacation. So, I’m having to tell myself that the Russian River can save our trip, but in reality, the Russian isn’t the place I want to be. I prefer the surroundings of Soldotna: the town, the other people, the ease of going back and forth to the camper. At the Russian, I’ll have to take the ferry across and be stranded for hours at a time. I just know that it won’t be as productive as Soldotna. However, the beauty of the surroundings is definitely much higher. Perhaps, the silvers will start pouring into Ship Creek by the 24th or 25th and we can make a silver attack. Who knows? As it is, I’m sure things will turn out okay fine. We’ll probably end up with more fish than we can eat. And I’ll have some great times. But, boy the waiting is killing me and seeing those reds chart high numbers is painstaking. If only I could be on the water today!
July 6th, 2002
|
Detroit |
07/06/02 15:57 |
Went back up to Breitenbush today. Got on the water at about 11:30am. Fished the #2 hole again as there were people all over the upper campgrounds. Better light conditions helped fishing a bit but there just wasn’t much action until I got to the cliff hole. There I caught a few and chased a few that I didn’t catch. I’d fish a fly for about 5 minutes then change. Every time I’d change my fly I’d get some action soon after, then things would die down. Then I’d change back to what I had on before and things would pickup then die down. Again only action at the cliff hole. But it was a really nice summer day. And hot, too. I had to sit in the water at one point and cool down for 5 minutes.
Drove back on highway 42 and stopped at the log-canyon hole on the Clackamas. I hadn’t fished this area for a few years since they don’t stock the area anymore. Caught a few steelhead smolts, but that was it.
Checked KK’s sockeye count when I got back. Definitely not good news….22,000 sockeye hit on Friday. Shuuucks. Looks like we will definitely be on pace to miss half of the sockeye run this year. Of course, there is the chance to fish them at the Russian, but they’ll be darker and leaner at that point and not as much fun. Oh well! Can’t have everything every time. There’s always next year. But, these things go in cycles. For the last few years the runs have started later and later, and then wham back to the cycle of being early again. Maybe the trend is just restarting itself. This week at work is going to be miserable. I’m going to be sitting at my desk thinking of nothing other than the fact that my sockeye are swimming past my hole and I’m not there to catch them. I just pray that I don’t miss any 40-90000 fish days. Please lord leave me some fish this year. It is exactly one week from this moment that I can start casting my line. Will there still be fish available? This question will haunt me all week. Normally there are about 14 days of 20000+ fish days at Soldotna. I have missed one already and there are still 7 more days to go before I’m fishing…ouch.
July 5th, 2002
Still monitoring those Kenai Red counts via KK’s website (Alaska Outdoor Journal). I am compulsive. I have checked it 20 times already this weekend, my insides on fire with anxiety to know, how will my trip turn out this year? Am I missing the run? The latest news from the 3rd was good news. KK had eliminated the Sockeye surge from his headlines and banners. All reference to the run being early died down overnight as the 3rd showed just 6-7000 reds and not the 15000 count that he was hinting at. So with the count back down today I have one more breath of good news. Of course the posting of the 4th data is weighing on my mind. It’ll be good to get this weekend over without any major surge of fish happening. If we can just turn the corner and make it through Monday without any major surge going by things might work out.
Getting ready to go fly fishing tomorrow. I could use a good day on the Breitenbush to raise my spirits and distract me from the impending doom of Kenai failure. Alas, it is sunny and hot today, summer is blooming in Oregon and I need to get out and live in it. I also need to bond with the water, muck, and brush of the forest in anticipation of the coming vacation. I’d like to not have so much city slicker to wash off this year. Every trip takes a few days to sink in and convert you to a bushwacker. The grunge takes a little time to build up and overcome the neat and cleanness of the urban existence. Ultimately, it feels more natural to me than my current suburban existence and I seek a way to make it become my enduring reality.
Last reading from Breitenbush at 2pm Friday afternoon:
|
Detroit |
07/05/02 14:00 |
Santiam |
IV |
Also the river has been stocked with 1800 trout over the last 4 or 5 weeks. It should be plenty full in most of the holes, and again I don’t think so many people fish my holes, so tomorrow should be grand. I’m thinking of hitting the upper campgrounds in the morning say 10am and working my way to the canyon hole in the mid-afternoon. I could foresee leaving for home around 4 or 5 pm. I definitely expect to come across a variety of campers but expect little competition other than the log hole. Still, I also need to fish some stretches that lie among that BLM run and downstream from the guard-station trail. Still, I know I’ll also have fun sticking to my own personal stretches. It all just depends upon how I feel and what time I want to get back.
Talked to bunny and decided that I’m gonna run up for an eveing fishing derby, whether or not I camp-over remains to be seen. Probably not though, huh?
Anyhow, went up and was on the water at 6:30pm. Ended up fishing the #2 hole since there seemed to be people all over the upper campgrounds. With the low light conditions fishing was very difficult as I could barely see my fly. Additionally, most of the trout strikes are just beneath the surface and so there were no splashes to indicate trout hits. The water was low enough to easily walk around and cross. I had a few rises along the way to the cliff side hole, but not much to write home about. At the cliff hole I caught 3 or 4 fish, all of which I let go. I also left 3 or 4 flies in the trees and was attacked by the micro-scopic biting bugs.
Got done fishing around 8:40 and the there was a beautiful sunset occurring. I stopped by Detroit Lake and just sat and watched the sunset and Mt Jefferson turn pink in the light. Then the drive west on 22 looked like a scene from the Arizona desert. The twilight and sunset were just an amazing yellow and orange and red and pink.
June 24, 2002
Returned to work after a good weekend at the coast which included our bottom-fishing charter. Set out Friday at noon in the motorhome. We now have tunes in the rig thanks to Kuya. Have a new set of plastic running light covers all the way around the rig. So we load up and head out. Only stop along the way is at Subway in OC and West Linn, and then at the Basket Slough for some leg stretching. All of Glory’s family is set to meet us at Lincoln City house on Saturday for a barbecue. Charles and Ikuyo also will be joining us. Altogether there are 18 people staying overnight: Glory and myself, mom and dad, Charlie and Ikuyo, Ken and Nanay, Jim and Daisy, Eli and Rae, Nathan and Kristin, Anna and Judy, Hazel and Len. Of course there’s also Spencer and Scully. The gathering seemed to go real well. No major problems or arguments. For the most part I think everyone enjoyed the experience. I know mom and dad liked having some company to talk to. Especially mom. I think she eventually trapped everyone for some conversation throughout the day. Nathan really enjoyed exploring the backyard. He climbed the rocks and re-arranged the rockpile to his liking. Dinner went off pretty well.
We make Lincoln City in the afternoon and after a short visit we motor up to Pacific City and get a RV spot at Tomichi Village. We just hang out and eat and goof off, play some yahtzee (bunny wins again), and go to sleep early. We have to be up at 4am to get ready for our early charter.
Everyone is on time for the charter. Eli and Dad show up as we are walking across the street to the brew pub parking lot. Joe shows up a few minutes later. We board the vessel and ride down to the beach. Soon we are backed into the water and Joe is launching us over the surf. We start bass fishing, trolling lead-head jigs with white tails soon there-after. We are only out about as far as the big rock. It is really foggy this morning and I know that Glory is probably going to end up being sick again. Apparently the water temp has dropped to about 51degrees. Peak water temp for an active bass bite is about 54 degrees. Fishing is sluggish to start with. Eli is first on with a fish. Things are slow for me and dad. In fact, Glory and Eli’s side of the boat lands the first 4 fish. Finally, Dad and I hook up and get on the scoreboard. Fishing is hot then slow throughout the morning. We got through periods of nothing, then 1 fish, then 7 or 8 really quickly, then back to nothing. Glory begins to get sick and basically passes out. Occasionally she awakes to reel in a fish. I end up getting a ling cod while trolling that is about 24 inches…a keeper! After awhile we come upon a school of bass feeding topside. We cut the engines and drift with the school, casting our jigs and jigging them back to the boat (similar to lake/trout fishing with rooster tails). This method is a lot more fun than just holding the pole and waiting to reel in. We each land a couple with this method. As we approach our limits Joe suggests we beach Glory and pick up Benny and then go back out for Lings. Everyone agrees this is acceptable. So we send Glory off to the coffee shop to regain her legs and appetite. Benny comes aboard and is instantly the brunt of all Joe’s attention. This makes things more manageable for the rest of us. We go bottom fishing for Lings. Dad and I jig lead weights with hooks while Benny and Eli bottom bait fish for the big guys. Dad and I catch a ton of fish….I get a snapper, small lings, sea trout, sea bass etc. Benny and Eli don’t get much action, however, everything they get is a monster. Benny catches a 20 lb ling and Eli gets one that must be about 15 pounds. Dad never did boat a keeper ling, but I reel up some of Joe’s that go in the boat. Also my red snapper must’ve been about 10-12lbs.
After we get all of our lings, we start casting and jigging for bass. I really enjoy this method, as I can stand and work the jig like I’m a fisherman or something. Dad and I knock ‘em dead and we quickly catch the remainder of the boat’s limit. Then it’s off to pull the 5 crab pots for Benny. Out of 5 pots there is only 1 keeper. Good thing we didn’t want to pay for crabs this time. (Picture of our results)
In all, we had a good time, caught lots of fish, got some good beach-catch photos and enjoyed the time fishing. We took lots of the ling-cod back to Lincoln City for the barbecue. Most everyone really enjoyed the fresh Cod. I had some of the snapper and wasn’t all that impressed. It had a real rubbery-chewy texture that didn’t seem all that appealing.
When Eli and I went to pick up the fish at Joe’s house, he and Benny were out in the Drift boat fishing for Chinook behind Joe’s house. As we walked up Joe hooked up with a nice chrome Chinook. We watched him make a short battle then land a nice 15lb chrome-bright hen. Pretty nice thing to do in one’s backyard. Can’t beat fishing!
Dad took me on a drive around the mouth of the Salmon River. Saw the boat launch area about a mile from the mouth. Looks like it had some nice tidal float areas that probably have a few good holes to house Chinook or Coho. Then we drove to the end of Cascade Head to where we could see the mouth of the river. At low tide the surf is way at the end of the head and looked very tame. However, dad said that when he went back at high tide the surf was rolling all the way up the first stretch to the first corner, so things are a bit more dangerous. However, around that first corner there would probably be tons of salmon brought in with the higher tide. Definitely need to check it out. Looked like it would be a good place to kayak and/or take out the pontoon boat for a salmon troll.
Tested out the vacu-seal and with the DC power inverter yesterday. I was encouraged by our great success. We easily vacu-packed 3 filets without incident. We even pushed the vacu-packer to the limits by using the override function. So, it looks like we’ll be able to vacu-seal filets in the field this year. This will really benefit us since we will have nice personal meal sized packages of reds, instead of large bags that feed an army. The downside is that it will take longer to process, but the trade-off is a good one for us. Also, it will help us economize space in our freezer since the vacu-packs will stack better than the bulky freezer paper filets. In all, it should be a winner.
June 20th, 2002
Spoke with Travis this afternoon. He’s in the market for buying a house and won’t be making the trip north again this year. Sucks to be him. He does sound interested in making an effort at hooking some cohos or pan-fry trouts, however. Anyway no sockeyes or ‘buts for him again.
June 19th, 2002
We’ve booked a dory-fishing trip for Saturday June 22nd with Haystack Fishing Club. Glory, Dad, and myself are going with Kuya claiming that he wants to go as well. I still need to get Glory her fishing license. Need to remind Kuya to get one as well. Hopefully we can catch a score of sea bass and maybe even some Ling Cod. I’m not much for eating Sea Bass, but I do enjoy the dory-fishing experience. And it’ll be good to get Glory out and in the fishing mind-set. And I like going out just as a fore-taste of my upcoming halibut charter out of Homer.
Only another 23 days until we depart for Alaska. As usual, I’m a bit apprehensive about the timing of the Red Run. Currently, the first run of Reds are about 1 week early at the Russian River. Not only are they early, they are in peak mode too. In fact, enough reds passed the weir prior to the river opening, that the sanctuary was opened on the first day of Red season, which is unprecedented. I sure hope the Marc Wilson is getting some good business. From the reports of