clients and reservations

05-25-2002, 02:11 AM

Remember the old days when we were young and we walked the stream; with our hearts pounding at the thought of even seeing a fish (dead or alive)?

Remember when we would get to the stream side in the morning and just wonder?????

Remember when the catching meant less than just being able to be there?

I do.

[ 05-28-2002, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: friendly fisherman ]

Captn · 05-25-2002, 04:54 AM

Go on. You seem like you have much more to say.

24 on/ 48 off · 05-25-2002, 06:14 AM

Yes, please continue..

--spud-- :smile:

CrazyHorse · 05-25-2002, 12:16 PM

I do too Friendly Fisherman. I am still that way. When i go out it really doesn't matter at all if I catch aanything it is just nice to get out and enjoy what mother nature has given us. The northwest has been blessed with some of the most beautiful scenic waters in the world. And believe me, If the only reason I was going out was to catch fish i would have quit a long time ago :smile: Maybe we all should look at ourselves the next time we go out. are we just complaining the whole time about the lack of fish and the poor day of fishing or are we grinning from ear to ear the whole time just because we are doing the thing we love most. that is just my two cents....I would love to hear more of what you have to say on the subject
friendly fisherman.

Illusions · 05-25-2002, 12:32 PM

I fish streams alot. I always take in the surroundings before I even wet my line. I love it!! I is not unusual for me to take long breaks from fishing and sit along the streamside and just think how lucky I am to be there.

Jennie@ifish · 05-25-2002, 12:38 PM

I went out fishing with Chris Sessions the other day and came home with a limit of chinook.
I went out this morning with a fly and cast up and down the Kilchis River.
I caught nothing.
I can't tell you which was more fun.
Both days I had a blast!
I think that it is great fun to go out fishing, no matter the catching.
It's a lot of fun figuring out the science, and trying to get as many as possible. too!
I really don't share your feeling that people are losing their love for fishing, or getting too competitive.
Maybe I'm fishing in the wrong places. If so, that is alright with me!!!
I don't envy that you have reason to feel this way.
Jen

Jim · 05-25-2002, 03:41 PM

Friendly,
I am still that way. Went fishing this morning with all the awe and wonder of youth, and quite honestly it always amazes me when I am this way after spending a couple hundred days a year on the water. Chased after Springers today on a relatively unknown river...didn't catch a thing, didn't have a hit. Saw baby ducks and baby geese a family of otters, fed an osprey a *********...great morning!! Tomorrow I would like to catch a Sturgeon! I don't have to but thats my goal. It is simply nice to be out, today by myself, tomorrow with the most beautiful woman in the world (my wife).

Livin life in the Northwest is unbeatable!!!!

Jim :grin: :grin: :grin:

happybrew · 05-25-2002, 05:21 PM

If there were no fish in the stream, would you still go out there with a rod and reel to enjoy the scenery? Would you throw a line in the gutter in the ugliest neighborhood in Los Angeles on a smoggy day if there were a good run of chinook coming up? It's not an either/or proposition. It's a both/and proposition.

happybrew

fishbait · 05-25-2002, 05:28 PM

FF,
we are so blessed...........

to live is such paradise...............

to go fishing any day of the week, of any month, and catch fish, and catch and release, what a treat.........

47 years in this wonderful paradise and i still learn something most every time I go out..........

Friday, I worked till 1:00 PM. joined my buddie at OC, watched his wife and father-in law catch their limit of springers and after I punched out, spent the remander of the day in great conversation with my buddies 8 year old daughter and feeding the ducks. Unhibbited joy........
this particular hen had only one duckling, suspect the critters got the others. Great fun watching this small young duckling battle the currents and survive, thats the way nature intentened it to be, only the best/strongest survive. Unfornatuly, our society has choosen to interfeer with natural selection, too bad............

But just living here, enjoying the joys.....catching fish..... we are indeed privelaged..........

NEUTRON · 05-26-2002, 06:23 AM

Steve, did you fudge a little on that #. Are you
sure it isn't 57 or maybe 67? I really get a kick out of being on the river. Yesterday, my friend and I took his two sons and my son out with us. What a good day we enjoyed. We worked hard for one steelhead, the 12 yr old snared his first. Hopefully, the kids will ask us next time to go. Makes it easy to get a kitchen pass.

HOGTIDE · 05-26-2002, 06:35 AM

...and on this same topic, I believe a bit of the experience is lost when fishing from a powerboat. Sure, I love boating. It's mostly what I do. But walking the edge of a stream, slipping on boulders, feeling the current press against your legs, smelling the dankness of rivermoss hit by sunrise are things that do not fill the senses when sitting in 20 feet of shiney aluminum.

When I reflect on my experiences fishing for the past 25 years, it is always the trek along the bank and all of the nuances there, that seem to hold the greatest richness and bring a smile to my face.

05-26-2002, 08:25 AM

Well said hogtied. :smile:

Cohodependent · 05-26-2002, 09:32 PM

I am the same way. I just love the peace and solitude of just being out there. This morning I was on the Trask sitting on the bank soaking up the silence. There was no wind or any other sounds other than the birds and the water. I can't belive that I am going to say this, but my favorite place to go, when I don't want to see an other soul is the Salmon Berry River. I have gone trips where the on person I see in three days is the guy driving the train. The Steelhead on that river are the biggest I have ever seen as a whole. The canyon is spectacular and again, ther is almost never any one there. I hit is way up the canyon near the north fork and hike down the rail tracks until I find the place that demands that I pitch a tent. Then it is just exploring the various holes in the halve hearted attempt to catch a fish. The joy is just being out there!!!

Cohodependent · 05-26-2002, 09:34 PM

I am the same way. I just love the peace and solitude of just being out there. This morning I was on the Trask sitting on the bank soaking up the silence. There was no wind or any other sounds other than the birds and the water. I can't belive that I am going to say this, but my favorite place to go, when I don't want to see an other soul, is the Salmon Berry River. I have gone on trips where the only person I see in three days is the guy driving the train. The Steelhead on that river are the biggest I have ever seen as a whole. The canyon is spectacular and again, there is almost never any one there. I hit it way up the canyon near the north fork and hike down the rail tracks until I find the place that demands that I pitch a tent. Then it is just exploring the various holes in the halve hearted attempt to catch a fish. The joy is just being out there!!!

[ 05-26-2002, 10:37 PM: Message edited by: Cohodependent ]

Paddlefish · 05-26-2002, 09:39 PM

Hogtide:

Slipping on boulders? Is that all? You need to try slippping on smooth logs, moss, muddy fishermen's trails, and unexpected ice. :smile:

I've even gone back uphill and tried walking down the same log again, not believing that I couldn't navigate it. Guess what. Same result: flying butt-drop, Part II :blush:

Seriously, I always tell people that I may not catch what I intended to catch. I may not catch anything at all. But in 40-plus years of fishing, there's always something interesting, unexpected, memorable, or fascinating.

Thanks for the reminder. :smile:

Firedog · 05-26-2002, 10:21 PM

FF, that Texas heat is really making you miss the Good Ole Northwest isn't it?
You know I have great memories of the upper Kalama and Gobar creek, Spent my youth traipsing around that area and really miss being able to go catch a summer runs up there. Loved being able to go out and hook 3-5 Steelhead before gong back up and having breakfast. The thrill of Catching cutthroat out of the Creek in the middle of a stand of 100 year old growth. I do get a thrill walking the river at the house though and watching the Springers spawn in the fall, still gives me hope. Haven't seen a Steelhead up there in a couple years though. Oh the good ole days, some are gone some are now, just savor the Memories that are made everytime out. :smile:

Uncle Bob · 05-26-2002, 10:46 PM

The good ol' days?
Was that when I was still able to see my belt buckle,
now it's done by braille. :grin:

I remember a friend of mine and I taking Tri-met out to Eagle Creek to go fishing for the day.
You should have seen the look on the bus drivers face as we brought a big Chinook on the bus.

...........Bryan Hermansen You Rock!!!..............
Thank You for getting me started - back in the good ol' days.

Robert

poshie · 05-26-2002, 11:04 PM

Hey Uncle Bob..you'd probably make a good advertisement on the side of a Tri Met bus. :grin: :grin:

hawgcatcher · 05-27-2002, 10:46 AM

Days of fishing at Black Point near the falls. Watching and learning from the "old Timers". being told that Steelhead were trash fish and that salmon were the only good fish. Watching the mighty salmon in the "wet hole" fighting their way up but being caught in the hole, unable to get up river.

Summer comes and the salmon dwindle. A new fish comes. It fights like a demon on light line. SHAD. It is too bony but we still take a few home to smoke. No one else seems to care to fish for them but some of us teenagers. We wade along the shoreline and feel under rocks for lures and weights. The water is low so we get out where the hoglines were. There are the big weights. Ones we could sell to the Old Timers.

Mid summer and the shad are gone. An occasional salmon or steelhead jumps and we hook a few. Now the big thing is the crappie and bass that line the rocky shoreline. Esp.where a trickle of water comes out from the paper mill. Largemouth Bass of 4 to 5 pounds patrol the shoreline. Stringers of crappie to clean.

Life was special to a growning teen in those days. We wandered along the shore from the falls to the Clackamas. We watched birds, muskrats, an occasional beaver and just learned about life. We became fisherman and went on with our lives. Our lives better from our love affair with the Willamette River.

Flatfish · 05-27-2002, 12:31 PM

For some to fish is a hobby.For others it is a way of life.
I am color blind.Sunsets don't do that much for me.I live a diminished life because of this.
I fish because I have to.I hunt because I have to.Most of the time I go home empty handed.But I created opportunities.These moments of opportunity are why I breathe.Without them my life would be very diminished.
See you on the rivers.
Mark.

Jennie@ifish · 05-27-2002, 12:56 PM

I think I'll go take a walk with my fly rod on the river.
:smile: :smile:
Jen

Flatfish · 05-27-2002, 01:55 PM

Good for you Jen!
Big" Thank You" for all of your hard work.This is wonderful fun.
See you on the rivers.
Mark.

Firedog · 05-28-2002, 07:52 AM

I posted above that I have great memories and I think that is a great thread in itself but after reading the posts in here I got to thinking that the title is wrong. I don't think that Guiding equals loss of integrity. That is what the title implies. I think guiding gives more people the opportunity to get out and fish. I don't know a guide around that guarantees fish caught. Guiding gives people who otherwise wouldn't have a chance to see the rivers or lakes or bays a chance to get out and see what it is like to be on the water. To experience the sunrise, to see the wildlife and the beauty of the area.

Granted most guides are very good at catching fish so these people do get to catch a few and a lot of times that is what they pay for. I admit I fish to catch fish, if I wanted to just experience being out there I wouldn't have thousands of dollars in fishing rods and a few thousand more in boat costs not counting the terminal tackle. I could get by with a lot less. Do I enjoy being out on a piece of water and having it all to myself, you bet. I search these areas out for two reasons I don't like fishing in crowds and sometimes they are the best fishing. If there weren't any fish there would I be there? NO. Plain and simple.

Just because some one is a guide or a client for that mater doesn't equal a loss of integrity in my opinion. I know a lot of guides and have deck handed for a guide friend of mine from time to time. These guys work very hard so people have a good experience, don't put them down for doing a job most of them love. I am lucky enough to have a job I love also and it makes for a lot better quality of life. There are days I would rather be at work than doing just about anything else and I know most guides feel the same way about their jobs.

[ 05-28-2002, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: firedog ]

05-28-2002, 12:14 PM

ok now the original post for this thread is ok.

I too have a job that I love dearly and even get paid for it.
But its not fishing.
No put downs here.

friendly fisherman

Thumper · 05-28-2002, 12:29 PM

Firedog --- Well said. I love being there, catching the critters, and eating them. I would not be there just to watch the birdies though.

NAUTI-NOTIONS · 05-28-2002, 12:44 PM

One Thing that happens to remind me of how lucky I am to be on the Water. Is when a passing car honks or a train goes by and the engieneer honks or waves, you know he's got to wish he we're you . they get to see us in some of the most remote areas. they're wondering what your after and if your doing any good. questions that will never be answered, which in some cases is all for the better. i think its a case of border line lust.

Gulity as charged

metalhead madness · 05-28-2002, 02:30 PM

love to spent the quality time with my kids and wife. fishing is a great way to do this. no ps2,phone,dbz,freinds,work, or tv. Just me and my family. I don,t allow walkmans or gameboys.This means we'll have to talk. Fish or no fish these timeshave always been some of the best :smile: [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img] :smile: