It was a Bright, Sunny and Frigid Morning on the river
Dedicated to my Good Friend Jerry Ashley
October 25, 2011
The morning was a gorgeous, sunny, but bitterly cold. There was a stiff breeze blowing down the river, but it was a perfect time to launch the boat for a few hours of fishing for Coho Salmon.
Two days previous we had torrential downpours of rain, which had caused the Skagit River to swell and turn muddy. Luckily for us, two days of cold, sunny days had helped the river drop a couple of feet and clear up to a beautiful dark Jade Green.
The smell of fish was in the air as Jerry and I launched the boat and proceeded up the river to one of my favorite fishing holes that has always produced some really nice Coho.
A short ride across the 200 yards of the river and then straight up the bank about ½ mile brought chills to our bones. The cold morning air soaked deep into our old bones.
Quickly enough we were motoring through the hole to the spot where we drop anchor and drift back about 60 feet to our resting spot.
My rods are always kept in the boat in a “Ready to fish condition”. Lures are attached and freshly sharpened; sinkers are already hanging from their dropper leaders. All I need to do is cast them back into the fishing hole. So almost instantly my gear was in the water and I was sitting back waiting for a fish.
Jerry, on the other hand had to completely set his rod up with leaders, lures and a sinker; so he was at a major disadvantage. Especially because he is at least a century and a half older than me! Plus he is almost as bind as a bat without the reading glasses that he is so proud of that he keeps them safely tucked into his shirt pocket and is afraid to take them out! I always give him a bad time about him not wearing them for fear of being able to see something.
So there I sit, fishing and freezing in the 30-degree weather and wondering if I’m going to be thawed out enough to reel in a fish if I get one on. I was also wishing that I had a propane heater beside me to ward off a little of the cold!
Jerry finally gets his rod rigged up in record time (it seemed to me like it was an hour, but sometimes I bend the truth just a tiny, tiny bit!)
We sat there chatting about the weather, past fishing trips, our construction days, old friends and whatever pops into our befuddled old minds. After an hour of not having a strike I started digging through my tackle box to maybe find a lure that would produce a fish.
I settled on a Dark Blue Needlefish spoon with black spots. So, I reel in, quickly change to the new spoon and cast out behind the boat. My cast didn’t go as far behind the boat as I care to go, so I proceeded to back bounce the rigging another 30 to 40 feet behind the boat. The lure settled right at the edge of the deep hole. I was happy with the location, so I carefully leaned the pole at an angle across the boat and against the outboard motor.
Now it was time to get down and serious about fishing! I picked up my thermos of coffee and poured a quick cup. I got one big swig out of the cup and had just set it down when the tip of my rod took a nosedive toward the river.
Fish On! I yelled as I made a grab for the rod. Line was peeling off of my reel as I picked it up. That drag was singing loudly as the Coho made runs and jumps down and across the river.
That fish took about a hundred feet of line in a heartbeat and he jumped at least 12 times! I had on a dandy fish! I slowed down his runs by thumbing the spool of my reel and then I began the task of pumping him back to the boat. He made at least a half dozen good runs before I began to tire him out and get him close to the boat.
This is the beginning of the end for the fish, so I thought. But, it was the beginning of when things went terribly wrong! Jerry and I switched places in the boat so that he would be down river from me with the net to ease and safeguard the fish from being lost right at the boat.
I finally got the fish within 10 feet of the boat and Jerry began saying “Gosh ....! That is a Gorgeous, bright and Big Fish! I sure hope I don’t knock him off with the net! I really don’t want to take a chance at loosing him, so make sure that you have him plumb tired out!”
When I thought I had the fish tired out enough I told Jerry to put the net down in the river and I would turn the fish up river, then lift his head and settle him back into the net. Then all he had to do was just lift the net straight up and we would have the fish in the boat.
Well, I guess I should have clued the 12-pound Coho Salmon into the proceedings too, because right at the last second, that fish saw the net and he made one final lunge for freedom! When he did so, he caused the 5- ounce sinker on a 16- inch dropper to flip up and wrap around the handle on the net. In a heartbeat we heard a POP! My fish and Lucky Lure were gone that quickly!
Poor Jerry! Poor Me! Lucky Fish!
Jerry was beside himself! He was so shook up and upset that the fish got away! Me, on the other hand, just had to rise to the occasion and yell Loudly “Jerry! You Did That On Purpose! Darn you! I have a good mind to make you walk back to the boat launch and then all the way back to my house!”
Then I quickly told him “No harm! No Foul! It’s just a Stupid Fish! And it sure isn’t the first fish I have lost like that! Heck, I’ve lost even bigger fish than that right at the boat!”
Of course, all of the rest of the day I just had to give Jerry a bad time and I even told him I was going to call all of our friends up and tell them what that darned Jerry did! I even told him that for the first time in my life I was going to embellish on the story and tell everyone that he took out a pocket knife and cut my line because I was out fishing him and that he did so on a 20 pound Coho!
To make matters worse for him, I told him I was going to write a story about our experience and post it all over the internet and email it to every person I know! Plus the fact that we went the rest of the day without even getting another strike!
Seriously, I know that it was Not Jerry’s fault that the fish got away. Jerry is a darned good fisherman and a very dear friend. We have worked together for many years and I value his friendship very much! He also isn’t as old or blind as I let on earlier in this story! (Like I said earlier, I do have the tendency to stretch the truth a tiny, tiny bit!)
Now, is there anyone out there that knows of a Good Fish Netting School that I can send Jerry to? He is in desperate need of Fish Netting 101 classes!
© Richard M. (....) Raymond Jr.
October 25, 2011
Dedicated to my Good Friend Jerry Ashley
October 25, 2011
The morning was a gorgeous, sunny, but bitterly cold. There was a stiff breeze blowing down the river, but it was a perfect time to launch the boat for a few hours of fishing for Coho Salmon.
Two days previous we had torrential downpours of rain, which had caused the Skagit River to swell and turn muddy. Luckily for us, two days of cold, sunny days had helped the river drop a couple of feet and clear up to a beautiful dark Jade Green.
The smell of fish was in the air as Jerry and I launched the boat and proceeded up the river to one of my favorite fishing holes that has always produced some really nice Coho.
A short ride across the 200 yards of the river and then straight up the bank about ½ mile brought chills to our bones. The cold morning air soaked deep into our old bones.
Quickly enough we were motoring through the hole to the spot where we drop anchor and drift back about 60 feet to our resting spot.
My rods are always kept in the boat in a “Ready to fish condition”. Lures are attached and freshly sharpened; sinkers are already hanging from their dropper leaders. All I need to do is cast them back into the fishing hole. So almost instantly my gear was in the water and I was sitting back waiting for a fish.
Jerry, on the other hand had to completely set his rod up with leaders, lures and a sinker; so he was at a major disadvantage. Especially because he is at least a century and a half older than me! Plus he is almost as bind as a bat without the reading glasses that he is so proud of that he keeps them safely tucked into his shirt pocket and is afraid to take them out! I always give him a bad time about him not wearing them for fear of being able to see something.
So there I sit, fishing and freezing in the 30-degree weather and wondering if I’m going to be thawed out enough to reel in a fish if I get one on. I was also wishing that I had a propane heater beside me to ward off a little of the cold!
Jerry finally gets his rod rigged up in record time (it seemed to me like it was an hour, but sometimes I bend the truth just a tiny, tiny bit!)
We sat there chatting about the weather, past fishing trips, our construction days, old friends and whatever pops into our befuddled old minds. After an hour of not having a strike I started digging through my tackle box to maybe find a lure that would produce a fish.
I settled on a Dark Blue Needlefish spoon with black spots. So, I reel in, quickly change to the new spoon and cast out behind the boat. My cast didn’t go as far behind the boat as I care to go, so I proceeded to back bounce the rigging another 30 to 40 feet behind the boat. The lure settled right at the edge of the deep hole. I was happy with the location, so I carefully leaned the pole at an angle across the boat and against the outboard motor.
Now it was time to get down and serious about fishing! I picked up my thermos of coffee and poured a quick cup. I got one big swig out of the cup and had just set it down when the tip of my rod took a nosedive toward the river.
Fish On! I yelled as I made a grab for the rod. Line was peeling off of my reel as I picked it up. That drag was singing loudly as the Coho made runs and jumps down and across the river.
That fish took about a hundred feet of line in a heartbeat and he jumped at least 12 times! I had on a dandy fish! I slowed down his runs by thumbing the spool of my reel and then I began the task of pumping him back to the boat. He made at least a half dozen good runs before I began to tire him out and get him close to the boat.
This is the beginning of the end for the fish, so I thought. But, it was the beginning of when things went terribly wrong! Jerry and I switched places in the boat so that he would be down river from me with the net to ease and safeguard the fish from being lost right at the boat.
I finally got the fish within 10 feet of the boat and Jerry began saying “Gosh ....! That is a Gorgeous, bright and Big Fish! I sure hope I don’t knock him off with the net! I really don’t want to take a chance at loosing him, so make sure that you have him plumb tired out!”
When I thought I had the fish tired out enough I told Jerry to put the net down in the river and I would turn the fish up river, then lift his head and settle him back into the net. Then all he had to do was just lift the net straight up and we would have the fish in the boat.
Well, I guess I should have clued the 12-pound Coho Salmon into the proceedings too, because right at the last second, that fish saw the net and he made one final lunge for freedom! When he did so, he caused the 5- ounce sinker on a 16- inch dropper to flip up and wrap around the handle on the net. In a heartbeat we heard a POP! My fish and Lucky Lure were gone that quickly!
Poor Jerry! Poor Me! Lucky Fish!
Jerry was beside himself! He was so shook up and upset that the fish got away! Me, on the other hand, just had to rise to the occasion and yell Loudly “Jerry! You Did That On Purpose! Darn you! I have a good mind to make you walk back to the boat launch and then all the way back to my house!”
Then I quickly told him “No harm! No Foul! It’s just a Stupid Fish! And it sure isn’t the first fish I have lost like that! Heck, I’ve lost even bigger fish than that right at the boat!”
Of course, all of the rest of the day I just had to give Jerry a bad time and I even told him I was going to call all of our friends up and tell them what that darned Jerry did! I even told him that for the first time in my life I was going to embellish on the story and tell everyone that he took out a pocket knife and cut my line because I was out fishing him and that he did so on a 20 pound Coho!
To make matters worse for him, I told him I was going to write a story about our experience and post it all over the internet and email it to every person I know! Plus the fact that we went the rest of the day without even getting another strike!
Seriously, I know that it was Not Jerry’s fault that the fish got away. Jerry is a darned good fisherman and a very dear friend. We have worked together for many years and I value his friendship very much! He also isn’t as old or blind as I let on earlier in this story! (Like I said earlier, I do have the tendency to stretch the truth a tiny, tiny bit!)
Now, is there anyone out there that knows of a Good Fish Netting School that I can send Jerry to? He is in desperate need of Fish Netting 101 classes!
© Richard M. (....) Raymond Jr.
October 25, 2011
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