Isn't salmon fishing from a boat boring? What's your opinion?

[GraphiteZen]

yes santiam drifter i understand totally what u are saying - many many folks feel as we do. of course we still salom fish as we can, but the high spirit of it is rather sapped away by all the issues it raises. i just stay AWAY from the ridiculous loudness and frenzy of it all - if i catch, great. if i dont, that's great also.

Indeed. No matter the type of fishing I'm into at any particular moment, it's an integral part of my plan to stay away from crowds and popular places. I just don't like it. However, if I'm ever way back in a stream on my outcast or kayak and happen across another boater, or even someone on the bank, I find myself excited to see them and will BS sometimes for an hour or so.
If an individual will go through the same things I go through to find one of those secluded spots that are so rare these days, you are of the same breed as I and welcome to fish any ground I'm on at that moment!

 

[kaimuki49]

that is a GREAT perspective you brought to this question. yes, it is exciting to find a kindred soul of sorts. and by nature we r social beings who enjoy sharing. thanks

 

[Coho Kid]

I think you would have been a great commercial fisherman... spydey, one day mabe you will get the chance to push a driftboat down a 35 ft bank into a river you forgot to check the river levels on, drift through a dark lonely canyon.. watching steelhead shoot up or downstream as you pass.. slide up onto a gravel bar with ut anyone elses footprints on it, no empty prawn containers.. a herd of 5 elk will blast across the river downstream and you will hear no cars and see not another soul.. and you will see why we call them magic carpets.

I grew up boat fishing. First was a Clackacraft 16 ft drift boat guide edition. It was a bulky boat that required more effort to row than normal. Through my dad's struggles to control that boat I only remember 2 days I didn't bring home a limit of fish. We often fished diver and bait or back trolled plugs. I caught too many fish in that boat and our neighbors drift boat to remember them all.

After he got tired of muscling that beast of a drift boat around he traded a van we had for an 18.5 ft flat bottom sled. I had some great experiences in that boat as well; trolling spinners, pulling plugs, back trolling diver and bait, kwikfishing. I caught my first steelhead casting a gold spoon onto a ledge on the Clackamas on that sled. It was a fun and capable boat for the small river fishing I'd grown up doing, but I didn't like it nearly as much as the drift boat.

Fishing the Columbia on anchor is probably one of the least fun things I have done in a boat. It's extremely productive when the fish are thick in the channels. I do it on occasion and really like getting the big kings that way because there much less risk of losing a big one as is so often the case plunking these big rivers.

Only in adulthood when my dad stopped fishing did I discover the art of bank fishing. I now enjoy drifting more than any other form of fishing. It takes real skill to drift boat fish, in not only understanding the fish, but knowing the river and knowing your boat. If I had the money I would drift boat fish as much as possible. Bank fishing is just more cost effective and I do well enough to not constantly miss the boat.

 

[kirkster]

Oh Wow, Im thinking this thread is getting more boring than sitting in a boat for 10 hours with no fishin rods.

 

[SantiamDrifter]

Oh Wow, Im thinking this thread is getting more boring than sitting in a boat for 10 hours with no fishin rods.

Its called crabbing. But I sure do love them little things MMMMMMM

 

[kirkster]

Its called crabbing. But I sure do love them little things MMMMMMM

Thats for sure. In my younger days workin on commercial crab boats and spendin up to three weeks without seeing land was still not as boring as this threads getting to be.lol

 

[GDBrown]

Good and bad!

Good and bad!

kaimuki49,
I have a different perspective as well, especially when it comes to guides. Most guides I know really do like to fish and love it when the people they are guiding are interested in catching fish. Many times though, the client is there because he/she is being schmoozed by a salesperson who is trying to wine and dine in a different way. They could care less about putting a fish in the boat. When that happens all the guide want to do is get the fish in the boat and get away from the boozers.
I have spent some really fun and informative times on the water with guides who are as entertaining as they are great fish finders. I would not be able to catch salmon or even come close to knowing when or where to fish had I not spent some time in the boat with a guide.

My $0.02

GD

 

[kaimuki49]

GD - you make a great point, and call to mind a nice, refreshing perspective on the whole matter. thank you. i am not nearly as rabid or rant prone as my earlier remarks might have suggested, my comments were fueled by less impressive guides i suppose, and when they snicker at my minimal craft and roll their eyes at my humble old truck, well . . . i get ticked. be safe and thanks for your redeeming slant on it. t kai