A day to try one's heart...

[Silver Hilton]

My kids and I came south to hit the Mighty Columbia, intending to do a little catching. Not fishing, catching. (cue sound of thunder clouds forming in the distance). The gods punish confidence.

We had a fun ride down, great time with the two kids without Mom, who no doubt was watching deep home improvement TV and savoring a glass of chardonnay enjoying the blissful silence around the house.

The first sign of trouble was the motel room. I had asked for a non-smoking room, as my daughter has a bit of asthma. The room we got smelled strongly of some industrial solvent/cleaner/something. The bedspread on one of the beds had 7 visible cigarette burns. The guy up front said there were no more rooms, so Kate puffed on her inhaler all night, while we blasted the fan...

The next morning came, and what a nice morning it was. The river was calm, with a light breeze. We made our way to the local gas 'n' grits for a last minute junk food infusion. The kids were concerned that they might encounter a sugar low on the water, and I am a cheap touch for these things, if that will get them out on the water with me.

We hit the water, and head off to THE SPOT. I have a snazzy new GPS. It has all the new features, WAAS, 9 million waypoints, charts, graphs, reads minds of cold blooded creatures. Anyway, I had the coordinates of the THE SPOT, labled "URB 1", into it. This is the spot we fished last week where we committed damage upon the species that may cause a recalculation of the ESA position of the URB run. But I digress...

We come to THE SPOT, and I notice that the wind is, as those natty fellows with the big, pointy, slow boats (you know, the ones without motors?) like to say, freshening. There is a two foot chop, with whitecaps forming. Hm-m-m-m-m.

We anchor, and after a bit, with both wind socks out and the kicker running in reverse at 2500 rpm, we settle into enough of a slot that we can fish. I get the lines out, and we wait.

And wait, and wait. This is, of course, salmon fishing. We read, we eat pastries, the kids sing silly camp songs to each other. Kate pronounces that the Portland radio stations are simply not as cool as the Seattle radio stations, and so on.

Then, after three hours or so of impatience builds, I mutter, "Kids, our fish is LATE!!!" Just then, with all of us staring at the middle rod, it slams down horizontal. "Jake, this is yours", I bellow.

Over the next 10 minutes we engage in the usual "fighting fish in the wind" fire drill. The wind is by now probably 25 mph, and there are nice 3 foot rollers.

Jake is working the fish well. Especially since he is nine years old and holding an 8 1/2 foot rod. We get the fish up close, the fish sees his Maker approaching, and he does what salmon do in that situation - makes a screaming run that almost pulls the rod from Jake's hands.

A few more passes, and the fish is near the boat, nearly spent. Unfortunately, our young fisherperson is nearly spent as well, and he can't quite muster the energy to get the head towards me to net it. In desperation, I grab the leader to try and turn the fish, and I can feel the hook wob-b-ble free... "Jacob, I say, you did a great job fighting that fish. I'm proud of you." And he had. He had pumped and reeled like a pro. Those 9 yr old arms just had trouble turning a 30lb class URB.

Oh, well. We'll catch more fish. So I put up the kicker, and start the big moter.

Whoa, girl, what's that sound? Oh, the motor started, no big deal. We motor back to the buoy and hook back up. But I am concerned. I don't like new noises from the doghouse.

After a while, Kate started getting a little green, so I decide to call it a day. When I try to start the big motor, there is sound, but no fury, which, as we all know, signifies a whole lot of nothing in the way of forward progress back to the dock. This is bad. I'm stuck on the river, a long way from the ramp, without the big motor.

A visual exam of the engine showed that the sprocket on the end of the starter shaft, whatever it is called, is worn, to the point of not being able to engage the flywheel. I wanted to try the usual mechanical techniques, but there was no hammer in the boat. OK, that happens. I have a kicker.

So I pull the anchor. By hand. In a hefty wind chop, from 65 feet of water. OK, not bad for a 46 yr old guy with a desk job, I may live through this, and it will make for a good story, so I've got a smile on my face still.

The next 30 minutes were bumpy and moist, but it was warm, and the kids were still in a reasonable mood when we got back to the dock. We got the boat on the trailer, and went to get milkshakes. There is little in life that a milkshake cannot improve. Or at least that is Kate's position.

We set out on the freeway, and as we get up to speed, I glance in the rear view mirror, and see that the lid of my cooler has ripped off, as I forgot to inspect the clasp that holds it shut.

I quit smiling then, for a moment.

Every once in a while, you have a trip that becomes really trying. This was one. Everything was hard, and the experience I wanted to offer my kids, a blood spattered salmon slayfest, where they became one with the bonking club and the cleaning knife, where they grew weary and bored of yarding in one after another glistening chrome football, did not happen. I felt I had done well simply to keep a positive attitude in the midst of trying circumstances. Yet tonight, at the dinner table, Jake, who has never been enthusiastic about going fishing, offered up, "I had the most fun fishing this trip I've ever had."

I guess I'll get the motor fixed and keep the boat.

[Beefcake]

"The gods punish confidence. "

Is that why I didn't catch anything yesterday? Great story, and the important part is that the kids had fun.

[letsfish]

Great read of " A day on the River". You communicate well.

[Moldy45]

You worked hard but you got the end result!
The kids loved being out with you Way to go

[swampy]

Tough to keep a positive attitude in such situations but I find that if you can the kids can as well. And the next trip is bound to be better !!!! swampy

[Timberdoodle]

Harry Potter is upstairs waiting for me, but reading your story left me in no hurry to leave. Your a great dad.

[24 on/ 48 off]

Excellent read- even with the disheartened ending. C'mon back down again soon! They're here- and a few might even be ready to do battle with you again.

--spud--

[cutt plug]

Excellent story, I really enjoy your writing.

I truly wish you the best of luck next time!

[ampersat]

These are the days that make other days good days. You're a good dad

[ET]

Great post! "The gods punish confidence." That's a classic.

Sometimes children seem to think and remember parts of a trip that we can't see. I have a similar story. My friend and I were going to go out of Westport with his son and niece for some big salmon. The weather was awesome, the ocean flat, spirits were high until the motor started acting up as we came out of the marina!!. Not wanting to risk an engine failure miles from shore, we were forced to cancel the trip. As an afterthought, I put some herring on the poles and dropped them down. The kids spent the next hour catching dogfish and had a blast! "Cool" "That was fun" "We caught Jaws"....

[FisherJack]

Most excellent story, with a lesson for us all. You do write well, Silver Hilton.

[First Bite]

Great story Silver. If the kids want to come back and do it again then it was truly a successful trip. Sure makes you appreciate the good days when everything goes perfect.

Mark

[bankhog]

I have a story similar to that. I hope I can tell it as well. My cousin Kevin has wanted to go fishing with me for years. This year was the year I decided I would take him. His Grandma had just passed away and I wanted to chear him up.
A week before I had caught chinooks in my favorite little springer spot from my float tube. My buddy had drug another friends boat down to the same spot days before our trip. I thought it would be easier for Kevin to fish from a boat than a tube to catch his first ever salmon so I called my buddy with the boat and arranged to borrow it. The boat had been chained to a tree with a combo lock at the waters edge for days. When he would use his boat he would take his Minn Kota along with the battery from his truck.
Kevin comes over the night before with his new tag, license, cooler FULL of food and drinks. We go to bed late, get up early, drive 45 mins. to my buddy's house (he's camping). We remove the battery from his truck after 30 mins of trying to get the darn Ford hood open. Then we gather misc. tackle and motor and head to the spot. We look all over for the boat and come to the conclusion that it has been stolen.
There's almost no bank access at the spot so we go back to my Buddy's house to trade motor and battery for extra float tube and extra large extra waters for extra skinny Kevin. Problem half solved. Only problem now is that my tube and waters are back at my house. 1 1/2 hrs. later we are back to the spot and ready for Kevin's maiden voyage in a tube for his first attempt at catching a springer.
By this time the sun is high on the water and the bite is dead. It's getting hot in the sun. Kevin paddles over to a small stretch of shade and yells, "I got one!" I look over to see a huge smile and a large salmon surface with Kevin's hook in it's mouth. Next problem: the net is on the opposite shore. I start kicking as hard as I can to get it for him.
I finally get the net almost to him and the fish comes up 3 ft. in front of Kevin and spits the hook. We fished for about 10 hrs. total that day. That was the only bite. We were exhausted. I think we could have used a few milkshakes.

[Musicman]

Most excellent story SH, hopefully you got all the bugs out on this one trip so you can some better trips later.....tight lines!

[jocose]

one day you will turn around and those little kids will now be in their twenties, college, marriage,careers and a thousand other things to keep them too busy to fish with dad.... quality time isnt defined by blood and scales in the boat, its measured instead in smiles, hugs, and happy memories.. your day sounds like a sucess to me...

[Fshklr]

Great post SH

Mirrored your day on sunday but from the bank..back lashes a plenty for 2 rods..catapulted 5 - 14oz pyramids well into hogline country .

Did get my Dad into a chromer though...not before he took a swandive face plant as the feet wouldn't keep up with the momentum of FISHFEVER!!



All in all it sounds like some quality time with your kids,

[reelist]

You measure success the right way.

Now milkshakes humm, I'll hafta try that w/ my girl!

Reelist

[Lured In]

SH...glad to see you taking time to get down here again, especially with the kids. Knowing your 'persona' I am sure the kids had a great time, in spite of the stuff that drives you nuts.

Congrats on making memories for your kids and hopefully a new starter will take care of the problem.

[Silver Hilton]

I should be able to get out of this for the cost of the sprocket. All you sportjet owners might want to check out the condition of the cog on the end of the starter. Apparently that's a known wear piece.

[ogrejager]

I'm flying up to Alaska next week to spend a week silver fishing with my dad and my uncle. I hope he brings the milkshakes!

[Jennie@ifish]

What a great story!
Sounds like memories to be kept, forever!

This reminds me of when my brothers went hunting with my Dad. My Mom gave them a crate of apricots to eat on their trip.

My brothers rode in the back of the canopy on the way there, and decided to have a food fight with them. There were apricots everywhere! Hanging from the canopy ceiling, smeared across the windows... squished on the floor!

My Dad made the bed up in the back of the truck that night in the dark. They had a double bed in the "bed" of the truck and a board that went over it, to form a bunk. My Dad could NOT figure out why he kept going "squish" every time he turned in his "sleep".

My Dad did NOT have fun. My brothers had a blast, and still laugh about the great memories to this day!

Jen