It's Nice to Have an Ocean Nearby

[zonker]

This is not tube related but I'll share it for those of you who like fishing pics.

I was able to get out today on a trip to a river 2 hours away to do some salmon fishing. I left the tube home, preferring rather to be pampered by a guide in his comfortable jet sled. This was a trip provided for me and a friend by members of our church. We fished in tidewater, not too far from the ocean. Rain for the last three days has made fishing conditions near perfect, bringing in the first of a run of very fresh Chinook. Fish had not yet shed their sea lice.

A 3:30 AM driving start put us on the water while it was still dark.

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The tide was going out and was at nearly low slack by the time we got into the first fish. I had the honors with this one, a 34 pound Chinook. Guide is the guy on your left.

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My fishing partner hooked up next, with what turned out to be a 26 pounder.



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My fishing partner also nixed a serious banana hex. (Salmon fishermen believe that having bananas onboard brings extremely bad luck. Couldn't have told it by us today though.)

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I hooked up again with this "smaller" 20 pounder. That finished me for the day.

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My partner hooked up again to finish his limit.


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We encountered the usual suspects as we returned to the dock by 12:30. They were quite appreciative when we cleaned our fish.

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And the final hero shot for two amigos.


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Everybody ought to experience at least one day on the water like this.

z~
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]GREAT report and pics. We can almost forgive you for not having your tube in them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Is that the Nestucca River? Hard to tell. A lot of them look the same at the lower end. I love tidewater fishing in the fall. I used to spend a lot of time on the lower Eel river in California and got some great early season flyrodding for "chub" (jack) salmon and steelies. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those are some nice fish and still good and bright. I'll bet they eat good.[/#0000ff]

[#ff0000]Duh...I noticed the captions on the pics after I asked my DUMB question. I guess I was having a "Z" moment.[/#ff0000]
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[ATFISHING]

FRICKIN' EXCELLENT Z!!!!!! [cool] GREAT REPORT AND AWESOME PICS!!!!

AT
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[zonker]

Thanks guys. It was a wonderful trip - one of those with memories to last a lifetime. I hesitated to put it on the tube forum but you guys/gals have become my friends. Couldn't help myself.

Yes, it was the Nestucca. First time I've fished the lower river. I usually fish it upstream for Steelies in late winter. That guide had it dialed in. We were his second set of clients for the year so we were right at the beginning of the run.

That 34 pounder was my biggest ever fish. Previous to that it was a 30 pounder.

No fly rod this time. We were using trolled spinners, Quickfish, and bobber/eggs. Very hard to get Kings to take a fly, though they will if you persist for days sometimes.

z~
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I have fished the N for steelies and salmon up by the Tillamook area. Nebo bridge?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I once helped net a 73 pound king for a guy there. Ugly fish though. Very dark and with spots on it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I beg to differ on getting a king to hit flies. Used to get some up to 50 pounds just up from the mouth of the Smith River in California. Had one on one time that would have gone over 60. Headed downstream and took my flyline and backing before I could pull the anchor on my pram and follow him. Probably sold it in Japan when he got there a couple of hours later.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, a friend who ran a guide service in Soldotna, AK, on the Kenai, specialized in getting clients big salmon on flies. Racked up several over 60 in the years before he died of skin cancer two years ago. His wife claimed the top salmon for the lodge...85 pounds. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You never need to justify putting anything up on this board. Fishing is fishing and we are all family. Catching fish from tubes or toons is what we are all about, but we are fisherfolks first. Any good fishing report, especially with pics, is always welcome.[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

That would be Hebo bridge. (Ya been in Salt Lake too long.) That's a great fishing spot. In fact, that stretch of river property was closed to the public a few years ago because of midnight garbage dumping and vandalism to fences/gates. Our fishing club went in after that and leased the passage/fishing rights to that section of the Nestucca above and below the bridge. I can go in there during the winter and have about 3/4 of a mile of the south bank with little or no competition except from drift boats (long as I keep payin' my dues.)

I have caught kings on flies before but have found it to be a considerably lower percentage game than bait or lures. I'm used to that with some other fly rod species but for salmon I usually make the exception. Usually keep 'em, too, as they'll die shortly anyway.

Catching them on anything is a hoot as you already know. Don't know what I'd do if I hooked an 85 pounder - or even a 60 for that matter.

[cool]I wouldn't mind finding out though.

z~
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I recalled the correct name of the bridge after sending the reply. We have a "Mount Nebo", south of Salt Lake and I slipped a letter.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Did you hear about the Jewish/Japanese restaurant? It is called Sosumi (so sue me). Get it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I got to thinking that I also did some great flyrodding for fresh run salmon on the American River when I lived in Sacramento. I lived right over the levee from the river and there was a big long hole that filled up with salmon after the first big rain in October. I took my ten weight and a box of bright flies and went to work. I hooked over 40 fish (mostly fair...in the mouth)...all on the flies. I brought in about 15, with the largest being about a 40 pound male. I kept two egg-laden females to smoke and for their roe...for future steelhead trips. In the pic below, my daughter/photographer cut off the bottom part of the two fish I kept.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also including some pics of the lower part of the Eel in California.[/#0000ff]
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Fresh run steelhead taken from "tidewater" zone on the lower Eel River in northern California.


Summer run chinook salmon from the American River


TubeDude with another early run salmon



Two fall run chinook salmon, taken on flies from the American River. Photographer (young daughter) cut fish in half, but without digital photos there was no way to know until fish were long since consumed.


"Jack" salmon from the Eel River in California. These precocious (early) male salmon are also called "chub" salmon by locals, because they are usually chunky.



Three more jack/chub salmon from the lower Eel River. These fish mill around in "tidewater" before the fall rains wash out the "bar" at the river mouth and more water allows them to move upstream. Great quarry for tubing. [/size]
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[TubeBabe]

I'm jealous!! Would love the opportunity to do what you just did!
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[Bluegillman]

[size 5]Aw...Zonker, take me with!!!!![/size]
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[Bass_Ackwards]

Nice fish, I will be hitting the (CA) Delta, Sacramento and American Rivers in the next next few weeks and hope to have something as nice to show for my efforts.
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[Kraizee_Skot]

[font "Times New Roman"][#ff4040][size 3]Great work Zonker! Too bad that it wasn't in the tube...cause that would have been a freakin blast to have those bruisers drag you around for awhile.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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[zonker]

Yeah KS, that would have been fun. I've hooked fish that turn my tube around but never one big enough to drag me around.

z~
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[zonker]

Nice pics, TD. I often went down to watch people fish in the American River during the two years I lived in Sacramento but I was so busy I never had the time to fish.

z~
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