FishwithJD

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Good to see you again, Chinook #14!

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Kyle with our ol' pal No. 14


As most of you probably know, I’ve been involved with a multi-agency salmon project in which I’ve been hired to capture (with rod & reel…I know, cry me a river!) Chinook salmon and then outfit them with acoustic tags so their progress upstream can be monitored and tracked.

Well, we tagged 60ish spring-run kings in May and June and now we’re onto fall-run. While fishing for falls the other day, I encountered an old friend, Chinook 14. I hooked and landed him back on May 25 on sulfite-cured eggs and then on Aug. 31 he decided to sample a sardine-wrapped FlatFish. Proof positive that catch & release works.

Take a closer look of these two pics of him with my crew member Kyle holding — it’s not often that you get to see the same salmon at various life stages. Notice how many more spots he’s developed since he was a freshie. Overall, he looks pretty good considering he’s been hanging around for three months. Now, Fourteen…get upriver and make some babies!

The Kid’s First Striper

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Took the kid out the other night for a quickie 1-hour (that’s about all a 4-year-old can handle) fishing mission on the river to dunk some sardines. It was a beautifully cool August evening, just dad and the monkey. On the first cast, his little rod doubles over and the fight is on! I have to hold the back of his lifejacket as the scrappy striper is determined to yank the kid over the side. It all looks like a scene from one of those long range tuna boats…rod pinned to the rail and the angler grunting as he struggles to lift the fish from the depths.

A moment or two later, I heaved the 15 incher, Coop’s first-ever striper, aboard. Judging by that grin, it might as well been 50 pounds! You should have seen my smile…

No trying to Reason with Steelhead Season: The Photo Essay

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Well, it’s winter and that means those of us in the masochistic, semi-antisocial, diabolically obsessed society of incurable lunatics (also known as “steelheaders”) are going to be our most unproductive selves in terms of real world activities. If you love a steelheader, it’s best to set him or her free for the next couple months — don’t try to intervene — it will only exacerbate the situation.

Now, in case you’re one of the aforementioned inflicted souls and you happen to be stuck in your office cubicle, 100 miles from the nearest steelhead, take a look at the following photos. Like therapy, they may just help you to get through the days until you next set foot in green water…or, come to think of it…they may cause you to do a swan dive out the window. Well, in any case, read on with caution! Click here to read more…