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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: It only took 258 days  (Read 1473 times)

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Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
I went fishing last Thursday.  Woo-hoo!  I'm surely getting my money's worth out of my 2022 license.

The fellow I go fishing with called to tell me he'd seen seals in the small pool at the tide gates, far up a slough, so the salmon must be there and we should go fishing.  To be honest, I wasn't sure I was ready to go fishing - hauling a kayak around has gotten much harder for me lately - but my real job is to be there to bear witness and take pictures of his astounding skills, so I said "Sure!"

When we arrived, the salmon were rolling and frolicking right in front of us - it's always best if there are fish in the area, otherwise you're not fishing, you're just paddling around.  It's not unusual to see a gaggle of salmon carrying-on when we arrive, but it's always comforting.

We'd planned to get started just after high slack, but we biffed it.  For once, I was rigged-and-ready first, and had my kayak half in the water, waiting for that other guy to get going, and while I stood there watching him fiddle-fart around, I noticed that my kayak, which had been half in the water, was now completely on dry land.

"Hey!" I remarked.  "The tide is going out, and it's going out fast!"

"No it's not.  The tide tables don't lie."  I didn't argue.  There's no point in making a big deal out of someone else's closely held beliefs.  It was high slack, the tide wouldn't start going out for a while, and that was that.

I need to get my lying eyes checked.

He finally finished rigging, we finally launched, and the first thing I did was tangle my line around the tip of the rod.  Sometimes you can flick the rod tip and free the line, sometimes you can swish the rod tip in the water and free the line, and sometimes you have to do it by hand.  I had t do it by hand.

One way to do that is by pulling the rod tip to you, balancing the opposite end - the heavy end - on the bow of your kayak while unsnarling the mess.  The smarter way is to break down the rod into two manageable sections to get it done, but that's too simple (and too clever) for the likes of me, so I did it the hard way - and in the process, managed to tangle the rod tip in my landing net.

While all this was getting straightened out, the outgoing tide had pushed me up against the bank, which was good, because, as I struggled to get free of my net, the rod handle and the reel slipped off the bow but landed on the bank.  Cool!  There'd be no sloshing through the slough to recover my gear.

The bad part was the reel landed on a bank that had been underwater only thirty seconds earlier and had plopped into deep, soft muck.  Finally free of the net, I didn't pay attention to the muck on the reel until I noticed I was covered in mud, from knees to shoulders.

It was going to be one of those days.

The salmon had disappeared from the pool - I'd seen them moving back down the slough while waiting on someone - so we headed down after them.  I was tracking some herons, figuring they were following the fleeing salmon.  It would have been better if the herons had been seals, but you take what you can get, and we didn't see a seal all day.

Our plan had been to troll the slough but sadly, I haven't mastered trolling is 18-inches of water, so it was gong to be a day casting flies, except I wasn't rigged to cast flies and everything I had was too heavy.  Oh, I could cast - respectably if not very far - but I spent a lot of time recovering my fly as I hooked every stupid log on the bottom of the slough.  Not "a lot of logs"; every single one.

I eventually did manage to hook something.  It wasn't big enough to be a salmon, but it was frisky - maybe a jack.  I didn't set the hook because one doesn't do that if they hope to jiggle their fly out of another stupid log, and when the fish moved, then turned back and raced towards me... well, we all know how that ends,  I never got a glimpse of whatever it was.

My companion, who was ready to cast flies, entertained himself catching porgies and a shiner perch so small - and fairly hooked - it was a genuine miracle it could get its mouth around his hook.  I continued on hooking logs.

It was my first time in my kayak in a year and it wasn't long before my butt was numb and painful.  Yes, your butt can be both numb and causing you no end of agony at the same time, and I decided to head back to the ramp where I could get out for a few minutes.

There were a couple of geezers in lawn chairs fishing from the ramp and I thought I'd land on a small opening between the ramp and some pilings so I wouldn't disturb them too much.  It was a generous plan that went awry when I stepped out of my kayak and went knee deep in muck.  Great!  Now I was muddy from head-to-toe instead of shoulders to knees.

The geezers, obviously in recognition of my sacrifice on their behalf, didn't laugh at me.  They didn't even snicker.  Odd as it may seem, even geezers fishing illegally - blocking a boat ramp - have class.

As sensation returned to my butt, it announced itself by letting me know how much my poor posterior hurt - and it was quite painful - so I chose to stop fishing.  We'd only been out for three hours and the tide was coming back in - and not just coming in, it was rushing in at a furious pace?  How could the tide tables have been so wrong?

Or did someone misinterpret the times for low- and high-tide?  It's a mystery I don't intend to solve.

Eventually that other guy came into view, working his way back towards me so he could tell me all about the salmon that got away.  It was a good one, apparently, and had put up a heck of a fight until it got away.  Had I seen a salmon with an injured mouth swim past, he asked?  Nope.  Three salmon had passed by the ramp, but I hadn't paid attention to their mouths.

I'd dressed for the weather forecast - it was supposed to be foggy and overcast but had been bright and sunny - and hot - all day.  I was thoroughly over-dressed, and stood around, woozy, while the guy I fish with took hours to pack up before we could head home.

It had been a complete skunking for me.  I hadn't hooked a tree.  I hadn't hooked a piling.  I hadn't even hooked a tide gate.  All I'd done was get muddy, hook logs, and beat-up my heiny.  But but had been a Good Day, nevertheless.  It always is when I'm able to go fishing.

As I drove home, and as I reflected on the day, and it occurred to me I should always stay far away from my companion when we're.  I'm a jinx - he always hooks the best fish of the day when I'm out of sight.  I should stay out of sight.  He taught me how to fly-fish from a kayak and I owe him at least that much consideration.

"Go ye hence and catch big fishes.  I shall stay behind to make it possible."
« Last Edit: September 18, 2022, 06:13:51 AM by Tinker »
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


MonkeyFist

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Corvallis, OR
  • Date Registered: Feb 2013
  • Posts: 363
0333.
Got a bit of an insomnia problem?
I feel your pain.


Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
0333.
Got a bit of an insomnia problem?
I feel your pain.

I hope it's short-lived for both of us.  So many hours, so few movies to stream.   ;D
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


 

anything