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Steelheader4Life
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After cleaning the two hatchery fish we bonked on Saturday I left a small Kershaw knife on a rock to the left of the put in at 1st bridge if you are facing the river. I doubt I will ever see it again but it was a Christmas present from my two daughters and if it does get returned to me there will be a small reward 
. It it's a short wide blade with a beer opener on the back with a black body.
Now onto a report of one of the most event full days I have ever been a part of. We started off putting in at 4th Bridge right before day break. To our surprise there was only one boat ahead of us so we got set up, pulled anchor, and headed down river. About 5 minutes into the drift my dads bobber slipped under and before he could set the hook a colored up hen started doing some awesome aerial jumps. He catches up to the fish and I work over to get anchored up in a soft spot. After the first initial jumps it came in pretty easily and we had the first fish of the day, a little 7-8lb native hen. Now we have some mojo going and we're salivating at the mouth for the next one. Another 20 minutes goes by before we get the next take and it was a quick head shaker that came unbuttoned after a few seconds. Oh well, plenty of time left in the day.
Fast forward about 45 minutes and we haven't had any other solid hookups and we've made it to the rock garden above 3rd bridge. We start to go into the garden and a few minutes in we hear a huge crack up on the hillside. All three of us started looking around when I noticed a huge 40 feet tree crashing down from the hillside on river left. Thank god we were on river right, I have anchored up and fished the other side before and that tree probably would have hit us had we been there. There's not many spots to anchor in the rock garden but I found a soft spot and anchored up to regain my composure and make sure I didn't wet myself LOL. We all start laughing with a little fear in our voices and you could tell we were all very thankful to be safe.
We got down below 1st Bridge and hooked up with a small spawner fish at the tail out of the Rock Hole and lost it right at the boat, oh well, quick release anyhow. We didn't hook up again until a little ways above Camp 101. It was a beautiful chrome bright hen but we lost it right at the boat after a couple chances to get her close enough. It was actually a very smart fish as it went under the boat and wouldn't come back out. We were running doubles and it took the bottom hook and when I tried to swing her out under the boat she popped the hook and swam free. After a brief moment of disappointment we headed out looking for our next chance. The river became crowded and we had to skip over a lot of the holes we like to fish and we didn't hook up again until right below 101 Bridge. It took us down river a little ways thrashing and jumping and after a few minutes we had our first hatchery fish on the boat. It wasn't anything huge but a nice 9lb chrome hen gave us another jolt of life.
We took out at Three Rivers and it was only 1:45 so we decided another drift from 4th to 1st Bridge was needed. On the way up we must have seen 50-75 trailers at all the different put ins. Sometimes it's hard not to get discouraged after seeing that but it was a beautiful day and nothing was going to change that for us. We pulled up to 4th Bridge dropped the boat in and headed off for our next float. Then the next weird/crazy thing happened for the day. A deer was running along side the river and jumped in more hectically then I have ever seen before. Something was obviously chasing it and it started swimming right at us. We were all kind of confused and when it got close one of us yelled at it and it turned and swam right down the river for about a 1/4 mile or longer. Now we are all thinking what the heck is going to happen next, it was just a very strange feeling at that time.
We got a little ways down river and right above 3rd Bridge we hooked up. It's a tough spot to anchor or do anything but we got over river right and anchored up. It was a bigger fish and it was feisty. It started to run down river so we pulled anchor and as we were chasing it the fish turned and started running back up. We anchored on the left above the rapid that drops you into 3rd Bridge. I jumped out of the boat and we netted our second hatchery hen of the day, this one being around 10-11 lbs. Since we were in a tough spot I decided to pull the anchor for my brother. I pull it and he starts rowing shortly after he started yelling, I look back and the oar lock had been pulled through and we are heading straight towards a bad spot sideways. With the anchor rope still in my hand I reach back to try and hold the oar lock down as he is trying to not flip us. We barely made it through, had we been over another inch I don't think we would have made it. But now we are heading straight for 3rd Bridge in a bad way. I managed to drop the anchor and luckily it stuck exactly where I wanted it to. Now we are all shaking, scared, and literally just freaked out. I got the pin back in the oar lock we got down around the bride and fixed it permanently!
We managed to hook up with one more fish and after a few jumps it spit the hook right below 2nd Bridge. We headed down to 1st Bridge and got the boat on the trailer. As we cleaned our fish we spoke to a couple older gentleman and showed them our setup and what worked for us. I smartly decided to look over the bridge while going to get the trailer and my glasses fell off my head and into the river and then I left my knife. So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it LOL. The only thing I would change for the day was leaving my knife and the oar lock was a scary situation.
Be safe out there and tight lines!
. It it's a short wide blade with a beer opener on the back with a black body. Now onto a report of one of the most event full days I have ever been a part of. We started off putting in at 4th Bridge right before day break. To our surprise there was only one boat ahead of us so we got set up, pulled anchor, and headed down river. About 5 minutes into the drift my dads bobber slipped under and before he could set the hook a colored up hen started doing some awesome aerial jumps. He catches up to the fish and I work over to get anchored up in a soft spot. After the first initial jumps it came in pretty easily and we had the first fish of the day, a little 7-8lb native hen. Now we have some mojo going and we're salivating at the mouth for the next one. Another 20 minutes goes by before we get the next take and it was a quick head shaker that came unbuttoned after a few seconds. Oh well, plenty of time left in the day.
Fast forward about 45 minutes and we haven't had any other solid hookups and we've made it to the rock garden above 3rd bridge. We start to go into the garden and a few minutes in we hear a huge crack up on the hillside. All three of us started looking around when I noticed a huge 40 feet tree crashing down from the hillside on river left. Thank god we were on river right, I have anchored up and fished the other side before and that tree probably would have hit us had we been there. There's not many spots to anchor in the rock garden but I found a soft spot and anchored up to regain my composure and make sure I didn't wet myself LOL. We all start laughing with a little fear in our voices and you could tell we were all very thankful to be safe.
We got down below 1st Bridge and hooked up with a small spawner fish at the tail out of the Rock Hole and lost it right at the boat, oh well, quick release anyhow
. We didn't hook up again until a little ways above Camp 101. It was a beautiful chrome bright hen but we lost it right at the boat after a couple chances to get her close enough. It was actually a very smart fish as it went under the boat and wouldn't come back out. We were running doubles and it took the bottom hook and when I tried to swing her out under the boat she popped the hook and swam free. After a brief moment of disappointment we headed out looking for our next chance. The river became crowded and we had to skip over a lot of the holes we like to fish and we didn't hook up again until right below 101 Bridge. It took us down river a little ways thrashing and jumping and after a few minutes we had our first hatchery fish on the boat. It wasn't anything huge but a nice 9lb chrome hen gave us another jolt of life. We took out at Three Rivers and it was only 1:45 so we decided another drift from 4th to 1st Bridge was needed. On the way up we must have seen 50-75 trailers at all the different put ins. Sometimes it's hard not to get discouraged after seeing that but it was a beautiful day and nothing was going to change that for us. We pulled up to 4th Bridge dropped the boat in and headed off for our next float. Then the next weird/crazy thing happened for the day. A deer was running along side the river and jumped in more hectically then I have ever seen before. Something was obviously chasing it and it started swimming right at us. We were all kind of confused and when it got close one of us yelled at it and it turned and swam right down the river for about a 1/4 mile or longer. Now we are all thinking what the heck is going to happen next, it was just a very strange feeling at that time.
We got a little ways down river and right above 3rd Bridge we hooked up. It's a tough spot to anchor or do anything but we got over river right and anchored up. It was a bigger fish and it was feisty. It started to run down river so we pulled anchor and as we were chasing it the fish turned and started running back up. We anchored on the left above the rapid that drops you into 3rd Bridge. I jumped out of the boat and we netted our second hatchery hen of the day, this one being around 10-11 lbs. Since we were in a tough spot I decided to pull the anchor for my brother. I pull it and he starts rowing shortly after he started yelling, I look back and the oar lock had been pulled through and we are heading straight towards a bad spot sideways. With the anchor rope still in my hand I reach back to try and hold the oar lock down as he is trying to not flip us. We barely made it through, had we been over another inch I don't think we would have made it. But now we are heading straight for 3rd Bridge in a bad way. I managed to drop the anchor and luckily it stuck exactly where I wanted it to. Now we are all shaking, scared, and literally just freaked out. I got the pin back in the oar lock we got down around the bride and fixed it permanently!
We managed to hook up with one more fish and after a few jumps it spit the hook right below 2nd Bridge. We headed down to 1st Bridge and got the boat on the trailer. As we cleaned our fish we spoke to a couple older gentleman and showed them our setup and what worked for us. I smartly decided to look over the bridge while going to get the trailer and my glasses fell off my head and into the river and then I left my knife. So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it LOL. The only thing I would change for the day was leaving my knife and the oar lock was a scary situation.
Be safe out there and tight lines!
