Jennie@ifish
04-25-2001, 07:22 AM
I guess the people out on the river below bonn are wondering... Gosh, the line to put in is still backed up to the highway.. Where will all these boats fish?
Is there a maximum capacity for this area, like in a swimming pool?
I guess it is just PACKED. Worse than the last day.
I am feeling a little blue. Why am I home? Will there be ANYONE on the board for me to talk to, or are you all out fishing!?! Sob... Just wrote this on my column diddy...
--
All people who are not sure if they are going to get to fish the Columbia reopener, raise one hand. Oops, I can't type with one hand!
The Columbia is open for a short time for you all to get out there and catch them! How will you do it? Will you get out there? Or will you live vicariously, experiencing it on the board?
Everyone wants their own salmon!
Any way I have done it, I have felt the same excited anticipation. Forgive me, but it seems very similar to a bingo hall. If we could only play more than one card at a time!
Combat fishing? However much I don't know that I'd like to be in a crowded mass of boats below Bonneville, I still think it would be fun to experience it once. Being a crazy vac pac girl, I have visions of slab after slab of fresh chinook to do with as I please. Bbq? Roast? To give it away and make someone smile...
Westport Fishing? I wonder about the area that I mainly fished this year. Probably more enjoyable, although I have seen a bit of competition there also. Everyone wants a salmon! The guides want to fill their customers cards, the sports fishermen watch their every move. Everyone is tentative... waiting, watching!
Plunking? Gotta get up early to get your spot. Competition plays it's role here too. You would think that this would be the most relaxed of fisheries, but this is not always so. People lay claim to their home spots!
I remember as a plunker, (bank maggot, beach lice, none of these nick names bother me!) rising much before light, to travel out to the Columbia beaches. I drove a special car that I purchased just for the fishery at Social Security beach out of Fort Stevens. I'd creep out onto the beach in that rusty old 4 wheel drive subaru, trying to avoid hitting logs, not knowing where the tide was... It was scary, but worth it to get my place! That was years ago. What is it like now?
Gill netting? Do they feel the same rush when they haul them in? How does it feel to have too much salmon? I guess the competition there lies in trying to get rid of it fast enough? I just don't know!
So many people I have run into just want one! One, very special hand caught salmon, and they still wait, and wish, and hope, and keep trying!
It's the whole process. The planning, the night before sleepless expectation, the drive, the launch. Watching your fish finder for the best anchoring spot. How to troll, plug cut or whole? Prawn or spinner or eggs? The anticipation that your rod could go down any minute. The special placement when you cast off the bank. You place a bell at the tip of your rod as you wait... wait... wait!
Today I am at home, gardening, not gambling.
As I plant my new spring flowers, I'm wondering who is out there. What it is like. Why I'm trolling soil and not herring.
I will get out there, one way or another! I will hold that one card in my hand and rehearse the call over and over and BINGO! I'm going to win!
Like the serious addict that I am, I will take my winnings home and vac pac them, store them, or give them away. But that won't be enough. I'll have to play again.
And again.
And again.
----
So, anyhoo, I hope there are some poor lost fisher people out on the board today to console with. I hope that the fishers that go out there and were able to hook into a fish share it with me, and us!
I mean share it as stories. I don't have an upload feature on the internet yet that uploads fresh grilled salmon and lemons, but I'm working on it!!
Might get a little greasy on your keyboard though. That's when you need Norton Clean sweep!
Jen
Is there a maximum capacity for this area, like in a swimming pool?
I guess it is just PACKED. Worse than the last day.
I am feeling a little blue. Why am I home? Will there be ANYONE on the board for me to talk to, or are you all out fishing!?! Sob... Just wrote this on my column diddy...
--
All people who are not sure if they are going to get to fish the Columbia reopener, raise one hand. Oops, I can't type with one hand!
The Columbia is open for a short time for you all to get out there and catch them! How will you do it? Will you get out there? Or will you live vicariously, experiencing it on the board?
Everyone wants their own salmon!
Any way I have done it, I have felt the same excited anticipation. Forgive me, but it seems very similar to a bingo hall. If we could only play more than one card at a time!
Combat fishing? However much I don't know that I'd like to be in a crowded mass of boats below Bonneville, I still think it would be fun to experience it once. Being a crazy vac pac girl, I have visions of slab after slab of fresh chinook to do with as I please. Bbq? Roast? To give it away and make someone smile...
Westport Fishing? I wonder about the area that I mainly fished this year. Probably more enjoyable, although I have seen a bit of competition there also. Everyone wants a salmon! The guides want to fill their customers cards, the sports fishermen watch their every move. Everyone is tentative... waiting, watching!
Plunking? Gotta get up early to get your spot. Competition plays it's role here too. You would think that this would be the most relaxed of fisheries, but this is not always so. People lay claim to their home spots!
I remember as a plunker, (bank maggot, beach lice, none of these nick names bother me!) rising much before light, to travel out to the Columbia beaches. I drove a special car that I purchased just for the fishery at Social Security beach out of Fort Stevens. I'd creep out onto the beach in that rusty old 4 wheel drive subaru, trying to avoid hitting logs, not knowing where the tide was... It was scary, but worth it to get my place! That was years ago. What is it like now?
Gill netting? Do they feel the same rush when they haul them in? How does it feel to have too much salmon? I guess the competition there lies in trying to get rid of it fast enough? I just don't know!
So many people I have run into just want one! One, very special hand caught salmon, and they still wait, and wish, and hope, and keep trying!
It's the whole process. The planning, the night before sleepless expectation, the drive, the launch. Watching your fish finder for the best anchoring spot. How to troll, plug cut or whole? Prawn or spinner or eggs? The anticipation that your rod could go down any minute. The special placement when you cast off the bank. You place a bell at the tip of your rod as you wait... wait... wait!
Today I am at home, gardening, not gambling.
As I plant my new spring flowers, I'm wondering who is out there. What it is like. Why I'm trolling soil and not herring.
I will get out there, one way or another! I will hold that one card in my hand and rehearse the call over and over and BINGO! I'm going to win!
Like the serious addict that I am, I will take my winnings home and vac pac them, store them, or give them away. But that won't be enough. I'll have to play again.
And again.
And again.
----
So, anyhoo, I hope there are some poor lost fisher people out on the board today to console with. I hope that the fishers that go out there and were able to hook into a fish share it with me, and us!
I mean share it as stories. I don't have an upload feature on the internet yet that uploads fresh grilled salmon and lemons, but I'm working on it!!
Might get a little greasy on your keyboard though. That's when you need Norton Clean sweep!
Jen