Introductory Story

BentMetal · 12-07-2003, 06:02 PM

Well, I've lurked long enough and also needed some advice, so here goes the obligatory opening story.

But which story? I thought about when I went fishing with my Cousin on the S. Fork Coquille, and he caught a hatchery fish on his first cast. When he goes to bonk the fish, he bonks me in the forehead on his backswing instead!

Or, maybe when fishing in Alaska this summer with a buddy of mine who lives up there, when a person in the boat broke the rod completely in two on the hookset on one of those monster Kenai kings . . . we still landed the 60+ lb beauty after a half an hour tussle.

No, I think I'll go back to the beginning, to what gave my desire to chase these anadromous fish in the first place. I was in the fifth grade and we were visiting my Grandparents on the south coast, when my Uncle decided to take us fishing in Coos bay for cohos, fishing near the T-docks retrieving spinners. The adults caught two silvers earlier in the day, but by noon, my 10 year old self was getting pretty tired. No longer concentrating, I was casting along, when a nice long silver came up and grabbed my lure not five feet from the boat. He just stood there shaking his head, and his body was glittering in the early afternoon sun just a foot under the surface . . . and then he was gone! My uncle looked at me with an amused look on his face, probably thinking if that kid would have just set the hook he would have had the fight of his life. With that opportunity used up, not five minutes later did I have another fish jump on my line . . . this one however wasn't no silver, but what turned out to be a 35lb Chinook Buck. It was quite the fight, chasing the fish across the bay, when we were finally able to net it. I was so proud of that fish, but at the dock and at my grandparents, not too many people were believing that I was the one who actually caught it. Now at 27, my Uncle still harasses me about the "Fish on!!!!" that escaped my lips when I hooked up on that guy.

Well, that was back probably in the mid-80s or so . . . and it took me a long time before I started catching fish on my own accord. My dad was never really a steelhead or salmon fisher, so it took me a while to put two and two together on my own. Hopefully this board will help me up my catching rates, although I've been slowly getting better myself.

STGRule · 12-07-2003, 06:09 PM

Welcome to our house. Kick back and enjoy.

Hopefully the moniker is job related and not hook related.

hookumhi · 12-07-2003, 06:16 PM

welcome

Salmo Gairdnerii · 12-07-2003, 06:52 PM

Welcome! Tight lines.

SHOUGALNITE · 12-07-2003, 06:56 PM

Welcome. We look forward to hearing from you more.

Snapset · 12-07-2003, 07:01 PM

Welcome to the board. I just love all the fishing around Coos Bay.

UmpquaSpecial · 12-07-2003, 10:57 PM

Welcome to ifish BentMetal! I grew up down in Southern Oregon and used to have the pleasure of fishing the South Fork Coquille - a beautiful little river with some very big winter runs.
Chris