Something always came up... work, bad timing, poor fishing, even kidney stones...
But today I finally met and fished most of the day with "THE KING" himself... the cavalier, drug-pusher from North Carolina... Shit, I forgot to ask him if he had an in for a wholesale deal on Vicodin
KINGCOLE... aka Jeff Colville.
We met in the Region II hatchery parking lot, said our hellos, shook hands and grabbed gear.
I told him to make sure and fill out his steelhead report card ahead of time since the wardens do check 'em these days...
Oops, must be a North Carolina thing... lol.
Next stop, Region II Headquarters to buy a steelhead report card.
it was easy and the ladies there were super friendly.
In 10 minutes we were re-parked and good to go.
Jeff's a great guy, very laid back, easy going and eager to find fish. He asks questions but picks up on things fast and doesn't talk your ear off while you're trying to zero in on the fish. Anyone who can put up with my grumpy ass has got to be pretty cool.
I mentioned some basics about working spoons and we spread out a bit to cover the water.
Early on I hooked a beautiful 3-4# steelhead. I celebrated a bit too early as it jumped and dumped my 1/4 oz gold BCS. I thought it was going to be one of those WFO steelhead days but such would not be the case...
A bit later I heard a small voice from up on the hill behind me, "Hey Mark!" I turned around to see a regiment of about 24 field trip kids who had come down from the hatchery with Meg, a friend I used to work with at the hatchery many years ago. She was leading the lil rugrats on a nature hike. I took their photo and I think they all smiled when I said, "Cheese!"
Seconds later my line jumped and I was engaged in battle. It felt good at first but after the initial runs and jolts I knew it was the wrong kind of Oncorhynchus... On top of that, it was swimming funny and going downriver WAY too fast.
A 'dorsal-fin-bite'....
I ran her down and got downriver from her, laid the rod down and hand-lined her close enough to where I could remove my spoon. She swam off quickly. Damn... I hate looking like a snagger in front of an audience... but I'm sure Meg covered me with the kids...
Jeff had a hit in the meantime and it got his attention and also keyed him in on what to expect.
We walked a 200 yard stretch and hammered the water thoroughly. I lost another nice steelhead and had to make a few over-the-waist spoon recovery wading missions. I think on the day I only lost 1 spoon. I think Jeff lost 1 or none.
Down at the bottom of the run, I hooked a big red buck salmon on a silver spoon. It's always a little disappointing to hook kings instead of steelies but the sheer power of a pissed-off Chinook on an ultra light rod and 8# test is still a kick in the ass.
A WAY-solid 'center-of-tongue' hookset needs no barb to stay stuck...
I snapped some photos, gave the guy plenty of recoup time and sent him back out to find a few splooge-worthy hens to play with.
Not long after that, I look up at Jeff and his rod-tip's dancing in the afternoon sky. "I'M ON!!" he says... and so I dropped my gear and grabbed the Nikon.
]He handled it like a pro and had his fish bank side in just a few minutes. I took a few fast photos and watched him release his first spoon-fed fish.
I was worried we might get skunked and so this took some pressure off. He was pumped (and so was I) to have had everything go right on his first spoon fish.
A chromer steelie would have been a little sweeter but hell... I remember the first time I caught a salmon on a spoon and it was pretty freakin' cool.
I also remember the agony and torment I experienced my first several trips fishing with spoons. I got a big fat (0) the first 3 times and wondered why the hell I was even bothering with this 'stupid new idea' of rolling a curved piece of shiny steel through the water in hopes that something would actually see it and eat it.
To hook ANYthing the first time you use a spoon... is way commendable. In fact, I'd be willing to say I'd better not take Kingcole up on his proposition next time we fish:
[quote]I'll bet anyone a 12 pack of Ice cold beer that I can out fish you at your best secret fishing hole!
Test Me Bitch!next time out... [/quote]We kept at it for 2 more hours. I landed another salmon and lost another steelhead and Jeff also lost a steelie.
It wasn't red-hot fishing by any means but we both had action, lost very little gear...
...and had a great time.
I admitted to Jeff that I'm kind of a fishing-loner... and it's not that I'm stingy about spots or info... it's just that steelheading and striper plugging are for me very solitary, full-focus types of fishing. Even with my regular fishing buds, we go to the river together but end up spending 90% of the day at least 50 yards apart trying to get our fix. When one hooks, we all celebrate but in our determination to hook, we isolate.
To this day, I'm grateful for Ray Hartley (aka, Chrome-Addict) who strongly suggested I try fishing for steelhead (and salmon) with spoons. I remember him telling me that once I got it dialed, it would be my go-to method... I didn't believe him. How could a piece of metal be more effective than a worm, a cluster of salmon eggs or a fly?
He was 101% right.
So there ya' go Jeff... next time you see Ray, the original AR/BC Steele Jedi... tell him his wisdom corrupted yet another Padawan.
Nice to finally meet you and fish with you today
FOR TYRUS
Mark
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