I had a really great week with great people in not so great conditions. Low fish counts and daily rain didn’t seem to affect anyone’s attitude.
Every trip we caught enough fish for the grill. But, we couldn’t find enough fish to fill the freezer.
About 5 minutes into the first trip of the week Sue caught this nice red salmon.
Shortly afterwards Randy got this one. I thought we were on to something, but that was it for the day.
Here is the whole crew. Sue, Steve, Amy, and Randy are doing their best to catch a salmon.
The next day, I fished 82 year old Bruce and his sons Pete and Mike. I can’t say enough about the their attitudes. They worked hard for two straight days to land 6 salmon. They were smiling when it started, they were smiling when it rained, and they were smiling when it all ended. They shook my hand before they left and said “we’re coming back next year.”
Pure joy!
The three of them never slowed down. The longest breaks they took happened when we were traveling in the boat searching for a new spot to try.
Here’s Bruce holding the largest salmon he’s ever caught. It was an honor to be a part of that.
Hundreds and hundreds of flips finally got Mike on board.
Pete was the last to land a red salmon. It was a lot of work, but he didn’t mind.
I finished the week fishing with a high school classmate of mine. Here is Mike with the “one that didn’t getaway.”
We fished and fished and finally perseverance paid off for Sean.
A great family photo. From left to right is Mike, Mollie, Laney, and Sean. I sure enjoyed our conversations and talking about the “old days”. I’m sure the younguns probably tuned us out more than once.
For the week ahead I’m expecting a lot more action. All ocean indices are showing there are a lot of red salmon staging, but have been reluctant to move north.
Come back next week to see how this grand river that owes us nothing treated us.
Fishing Report Week Ending 7/12/26