The Overfishin Condition
01-23-2003, 10:40 PM
Howdy ya'll! I'm so stolked to no longer be a lurker that you get two intro stories. #1- Opening day of the first summer run season in 20 years or whatever (haven't been around that long). I was fishing with a buddy at the east tip of government island. Nobody was doing any business at all, when my rod doubled down, so I jumped up, we released and I started fighting. The fish took a hard vere towards the shallows, jumped, dove, took line, and spit the hook. I could see my lure hanging out of it's mouth when it jumped and shook, looked to be about a 25 lber. So, we go back up to the hog line, cursing as we go, and I put back out, knowing, or thinking I had missed my chance. Only a half hour later, the rod went down again. Leaving behind a chorus of "why don't you bring this one backs" we drifted after her. I fought for quite a while and netted her, 27 lb hatchery! Before anyone else touched a fish, my friend got another take down and grabbed his pole while a collective groan arose from the hogline, but that one didn't stay around long. Story #2: Same spot, same rainbow lure, 95 degree scorcher in the middle of summer. There was a boat and two wave runner setting up camp on the beach right next to us, and they weren't shy. They almost hit our lines, almost hit our anchor line, and were being generally obnoxious. Me my friend and his sister, were sitting in a small circle chatting (lines in the water, but not really fishing) our back to the poles, when my penn started screaming. I grabbed the rod, my friend pulled up while his sister tried to release the anchor. After bringing in he went to help her and we were off. This was a big fish taking lots of line, but it jumped several times almost immediatley. I fought until I had it straight under the boat, straight down like a chinook, my friend was trying to get the net untangled from his kwikfish, while I was naturally a little nervy. He finally netted the thing, a nice 20 lb chinoo...Steelhead? I was shocked, it was a huge chromer, nicest fish I've ever caught not the biggest, but the most beautiful thing I've ever hooked. Once it was in the net, the hooks fell out, we dumped it and it was darting away as fast as it had come. There's my stories and I'm sticking to them. Glad to be here!