A new season starts.

[Caveman Jim]

Well the 2017 Salmon season is upon us and anglers are busy fishing in my local watershed.
It was a rarity for me to not fish the opener on September 16th but the plans I had made did not materialize either and I missed a grand opportunity to meet some notable members but that is another story.

Monday greeted us with a freshet of cool wet rain, YAHOO, finally. It also rained a few days before and IMHO is the only reason we had a push of FRESH COHO in a very low river.
Twas a shakedown run for my crew who always joins me for the opener. Low tide first thing in the morning is my favorite time to get after these slime rockets and right at the tide change it was a blur!!! 11 am rolled around we had been bit 9 times, ran out of herring & only had two chrome bright Coho in the cooler!!!
Well it happens every year and my crew often needs a refresher course & then an attitude adjustment. For instance, when the captain is fighting a fish, when he says "get the net" that only means one thing, stop what you're doing and "get the net".

The season is still young, to be continued.

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[11Charlie]

two is better than none. Nothing better than BBQ or smoked salmon.

 

[No_Regerts]

Have you tried the helmets? Seems like herring last a bit longer using them.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Have you tried the helmets? Seems like herring last a bit longer using them.

It weren't the action on the bait, we just got bit so much. I mentioned 9 bites but did not include 5 drive bys & I only brought 1 dozen herring...

 

[SparksFly]

I have really wanted to get out but our boat motor is crapped out. Might be a blown powerhead. Pops and I are going to go out onto the Sandy or Clackamas though.

 

[Caveman Jim]

A nice day for a boat ride with the tides being flip flopped on me (like an incoming tide in the am). Nets are in till Thursday...

Yeah for some reason my boat didn't want to crank this morning but I found out that when I pulled out my rods on the starboard side they hooked into the dead man switch cord and pulled that sucker out. Now, me seeing this happen to other people it's quite comical but it tweren't funny this morning. LOL

 

[11Charlie]

A nice day for a boat ride with the tides being flip flopped on me (like an incoming tide in the am). Nets are in till Thursday...View attachment 396932

Yeah for some reason my boat didn't want to crank this morning but I found out that when I pulled out my rods on the starboard side they hooked into the dead man switch cord and pulled that sucker out. Now, me seeing this happen to other people it's quite comical but it tweren't funny this morning. LOL

That pic is amazing. Nothing better than a relaxing day on the water.

 

[Caveman Jim]

That pic is amazing. Nothing better than a relaxing day on the water.

Well other than a few fish in the cooler. lol

 

[Mikej]

You ever pull/cast spinners or plugs up there? I'd think some fast trolling red/orange/pink plugs in a zig-zag pattern might be a thing? Unless of course your trolling with a bunch of boats.

 

[Caveman Jim]

You ever pull/cast spinners or plugs up there? I'd think some fast trolling red/orange/pink plugs in a zig-zag pattern might be a thing? Unless of course your trolling with a bunch of boats.

Why yes we do Mike, occasionally. When there are a good number of fish in the system and they have lockjaw we put on the artificials just to piss em off & make em bite.
Right now there are only a few fish coming in on the tides and herring is hetting bites for us when we locate them in a good section with no other boats around, which is rare.

 

[KKG]

I'm of the opinion that ALL Herring should be "Pickled" and not wasted as Bait; that's what Hand Grenades are for!!!

 

[Flymph]

I'm of the opinion that ALL Herring should be "Pickled" and not wasted as Bait; that's what Hand Grenades are for!!!

From what I understand, pickled herring makes excellent bait.
Ever wonder why fly fishermen carry sardines around? Yeah, probably not, but they use canned fish as scent for their flies.

Here's a fish head...

 

[Mygrainman]

From what I understand, pickled herring makes excellent bait.
Ever wonder why fly fishermen carry sardines around? Yeah, probably not, but they use canned fish as scent for their flies.

Here's a fish head...
View attachment 398010

We can all learn a lot from that fish head. no matter what, keep a positive attitude. Things can always get worse.
Just look at him... Spawned out and decapitated, yet he's still smiling.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Thats a Christmas fish, they all start to look like this but most still have their bodies attached...

 

[Flymph]

He's smiling because he knows he and his buddies fighting made my night on the river.
I got skunked, again... LoL

 

[Caveman Jim]

I added a log of my latest adventure on another thread so I'll C&P it here since it happened during the new season...

Well let's set the tone for Tuesday's fishing trip on the Chehalis river.
Let's just say that it was quite the adventure with the forecast of rain & a little wind...

My one armed fishing buddy JC (he's got two but one just dont work very well) & I arrived at the ramp as always (about 7 am), there was a slight drizzle present so we launched the fish killer (FK, for future reference). As the FK slid off the trailer the raindrops started getting a little bigger, larger & then someone gutted the heavens!!!!! Good Lawdy it was a torrent made of sheets of sideways rain!!!!
Ole JC opted to wait and don his raingear on the boat.... big mistake for a country boy born & raised in McCleary Warshington... WTH was he thinking? (clearly he weren't) He crawled onto the bow as I was backing away from the ramp & exclaimed loudly, "well do ya think it's gonna rain"? He was wetter than a mad hen....
Did I mention that with the rain came with 40 MPH gusts? Well let me tell ya that it was a ripping incoming tide with a constant Westwind and we were trolling about 10 MPH goin upriver!!!!
Well, while JC was trying to keep the FK from swirling in a circle & bumpin off the banks, I feverishly readied the trolling gear. I opted to use hardware for the day as the herring would not have lasted 30 seconds in this current. Kinda like trollin fer TUNA!!!

AS I finished setting the rods in the holders I came inside the cabin to show JC how he should have been anticipating the gusts & turning appropriately instead of piloting like a crew of drunk sailors, a gust turned the FK sideways!!!!! I laughed & said let this be a lesson....

Well let me tell ya that this adventure taughtme two things, never let a one armed man pilot yer FK in a natural disaster and try & remember the dry trips when it don't matter that your raingear should have been replacedbefore the rainy season.... I was wetter thanJC's mad hen.... And we had neery abite & the seals were also quite wet.............

I figured I'd explain the "wetter than a mad hen" comment before all y'all start posting; WTH, say what & the like. Well it references a saying an eon ago down south, madder than a wet hen (a play on words)..... It seemed fitting as we were really really wet....

 

[Mikej]

Jim, I don't know if I envy you or pity you. Maybe both? Envy for the way, at your age, you get up at the crack of dawn and drive a long ways to soak the boat in driving wind and rain. I've lost that drive, and have given up lot of the fishing and outdoor stuff I used to do. May you continue to be ready, willing and able to do that until the day you die!

Pity, for the fact that you appear, at times, to have lost your mind and common sense!

SALUTE!

 

[Flymph]

I'm going to check the river gauges and head out for the evening run, if it seems stable. Aka, it's probably a movie day! LoL

Sounds like a good time, Jim.
Reminds me of on of the perch jerks on hagg with OBPC, except we caught a lot of perch!

 

[Caveman Jim]

Jim, I don't know if I envy you or pity you. Maybe both? Envy for the way, at your age, you get up at the crack of dawn and drive a long ways to soak the boat in driving wind and rain. I've lost that drive, and have given up lot of the fishing and outdoor stuff I used to do. May you continue to be ready, willing and able to do that until the day you die!

Pity, for the fact that you appear, at times, to have lost your mind and common sense!

SALUTE!

Well Mike, I can tell you with great certainty that there are times when I do stay home due to health reasons like not get to g to sleep until 4 am, back pains, shoulder pains or just not wanting to be away from a toilet for more than a minute (I know, ewwww).... but I will continue to be "That Guy" till the day I die (preferably the way I will die)...
I got your back & will have some type of seafood available should you ever make it up this way....

 

[Mikej]

Well Mike, I can tell you with great certainty that there are times when I do stay home due to health reasons like not get to g to sleep until 4 am, back pains, shoulder pains or just not wanting to be away from a toilet for more than a minute (I know, ewwww).... but I will continue to be "That Guy" till the day I die (preferably the way I will die)...
I got your back & will have some type of seafood available should you ever make it up this way....

I've seen you write about getting down here to Merwin and/or Yale for kokanee I think? If so I might like to meet up some time next spring if that water is ever on you schedule. I run a boat pretty good and know how to back a truck/trailer.

As far as that back, shoulder and neck crap goes I've been dealing with that for probably 5-6 yrs now. I've been drinking this nasty tasting turmeric and "Curcumin" (black pepper extract) elixir before bed. It's made one hell of a difference in those aches and pains. You know, the ones the doctor tells you are because you're getting old? Arthritic? "Synchro Gold" Synchro Gold Liposomal Turmeric
I wouldn't have bought into crap like this but one of my customers with chronic pain issues gave me a half a bottle and said "YOU HAVE TO TRY IT". The stuff has mad a HUGE difference for me. Like night and day. That and cortisone shots in the knee and shoulder joint.