Christmas/New Year traditions?

Bill Monroe · 12-15-2003, 04:33 PM

I'd like to do a feature about any unusual traditions out there on Christmas morning...or during the season, including New Years Day...or eve.
Anyone take Santa out fishing on stocking morning? visit a favorite hole of someone who passed away? Decorate their driftboat? Please send me an email or call at the office at 503-221-8231. Those of you out of town can call toll-free to 888-222-8231. If I get enough, I can do a collage, or if just a few, pick one and call.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[ 12-15-2003, 08:15 PM: Message edited by: Bill Monroe ]

Bait O' Eggs · 12-15-2003, 05:25 PM

From grade school thru high school, I didnt know most peoples Chistmas dinner wasnt served on the river bank.

I can remember dad and my brothers plunking a favorite hole as we huddled around a big fire. The rods were strung down the bank with those clip on bells, when you heard the ringing sound, it didnt mean an angel gots it wings, it meant, get outta my way.... "fish on".

Mom would show up rain or shine with plates of food. We would peel back the aluminum foil and have the best time ever. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

After high school us kids moved on and went our own way. The tradition died :depressed:

I have my own family now, and my wife thinks Christmas should be spent in church with family

No amount of explaining or complaining will allow me to spend the whole day fishing, let alone having dinner served on a river bank. :whazzup: I suppose what we do now is more mainstream, but I sure miss rain water dripping off my southwester onto semi warm turkey, sitting on a block of wood listening for a bell to ring.

[ 12-15-2003, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: Bait O' Eggs ]

Bill Monroe · 12-16-2003, 06:45 AM

Love that one; great visual image!

C'mon everyone! There's gotta be more out there...it doesn't hurt...add New Years, too...
Tis the season to be Jolly...

WaterDog · 12-16-2003, 07:52 AM

I can remember a few Christmases and many New Year�s where Dad and I were on the Nestucca or Wilson. Sometimes Mom too. But as BOE pointed out, when one gets hog tied by the ball and chain, Christmas fishing trips become distant memories.

New Year�s is a �fishable holiday� however. And will likely be somewhere chasing something. It�s always a great way to start off a new year .

Lure Dragger · 12-16-2003, 12:24 PM

You can bet that My girlfriend and I will be spending New years eve and day out on the columbia trolling for steelhead, may just fish all night and bring in the new year right. We started this tradition last year and we even caught fish. That is how we spend out thanksgiving as well. We have a turkey dinner and all right there on the boat.

David Johnson · 12-16-2003, 12:33 PM

I used to always fish Thanksgiving and New Years Day, now I pretty much look forward to getting a day off that I can sleep in

I might fish New Years Day again this time.

justdave · 12-16-2003, 01:25 PM

What has become a Christmas tradition for me is to fish the day after. It started in 1980 with the arrival of my son. He was born about 3:00 am on the 26th. Wanting to rest, my wife threw me out of the room and told me to go home or something. Way too wide awake to go home, so I went fishing. I decided then and there, this would be a new tradition. I haven't missed the 26th since and my son hasn't missed the fishing on the 26th since he was 3 or 4. Most memorable to date, two years ago fishing Fall Cr. We each took home a nice fish, but his was an epic battle. The fish just wasn't going to be caught, and he wasn't about to let it get away. We almost had him to the net on three separate occasions, only to have him make another run upstream away from me and the net. On the forth attempt, he took off across the current and turned down stream on the outside of me. I've got the line hung up on my waders, the kids screaming at me not to lose his fish and the fish is deciding maybe the ocean would be a safer place to be. He's stripping line, I finally get a hand on it, get untagled and turn the fish back over to the boy. The fish was now charging around a bend with the water too deep to follow. There are four or five good size alders hanging out over the water and pretty bad footing around them. The boy passes the rod around the first tree, hops down below the second and I hand the rod back. The fish is in the middle of some extreme current, nose into a rock on the bottom and he isn't budging no matter what the boy does. Now the fight gets hairy. The boys on the edge of the water, left hand on the rod, right hand holding on to me as I inch my way out into the current with the net handle extending toward the fish. I'm reaching out as far as I can, touch the fish with the net, he explodes out of his holding spot and takes off down stream again. The kid immediatly lets go of me to fend for myself as he's fighting the fish. Somehow I got out of the water without swimming, there's two more trees to go around. We do the handoff thing again and I'm done. I sit down and watch the battle. Ten more minutes and fifty more yards downstream, the kid finally beaches the thing. He removes the hook and is getting ready to give it a good bonk, it lunges again and hits the shallow water at the boys feet. He jumps it just before it swam away. Game, set, match. That was quite the day. Looking for a rematch next Friday.

Mark Vickers · 12-16-2003, 11:07 PM

Slightly off topic. For Thanksgiving each year, we have a family/guests fishing contest after we eat. Each year we decide a few days prior to Thanksgiving what the year's fish is to be.

Last year's contest was the largest keeper sturgeon (no one won). This year's was potluck, the biggest fish wins. My Dad won with a borderline keeper/shaker sturgeon.

The prize? A plastic fish trophy that is highly coveted and proudly displayed in the winner's home for a full year. When I won it, it sat in the living room next to the family portraits.

Bill Monroe · 12-21-2003, 04:11 AM

ttt one last time. Actually, it's starting to look like a wetter Christmas, so are there some traditions you're possibly about to miss out on as well? These are all good. I'll start making some calls tomorrow...thanks all

Digifish · 12-21-2003, 05:27 AM

Hi Bill,
We have some family friends that have a strange tradition. For their Christams eve meal they always have hot dogs. Not the fancy kind either. They like the plain ol' throw-em-in-the-pot-o-boiling water kind. They wouldn't think of having anything else. Traditions...go figure.

steelheadslayer · 12-21-2003, 06:29 AM

Bill, since I started a rotating shift 13 years ago the tradition has been to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas. A few times my company saw to it out of the goodness of their heart to give us those days off but not when it interfered with profits.

I'd guess the only tradition that seems to stick is my wifes family getting together on Christmas Eve for clam chowder and chili.

I'd love to start a new tradition by catching some Christmas chrome but I think it's far more inexpensive than paying child support to be 'Home for the Holidays.' :grin:

King13fisher · 12-21-2003, 07:12 AM

I checked the calendar...Dec. 25th and Jan 1st always have "river closed" on those dates

Lure Dragger · 12-21-2003, 05:58 PM

As usual, steelhead derby above McNary dam New Years day. Wouldn't miss it for nothin.

pearl · 12-21-2003, 06:11 PM

Years ago hangovers finally took their tole.

For the last 12 - 15 years a group of us always gather a bunch of boats and we go sturgeon fishing. Kids wives, cousins and grand dads etc. Typically we anchor close together and every one has a TV on board to watch football. What follows next would put the Iron Chef to shame. What started out as a fishing derby is now a culinary contest that rivals the finest restuarants in PDX . Every year the bar gets raised a little higher and the groceries get alot better.

The result is friends, family, football, good eats and once in a while we even catch a fish!