Evolution, or just a change of pace?
October 16th, 2008
Most of my life I have caught fish from the bank. Whether I’ve been fly fishing for trout as a teenager in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon or casting my proudest gob of roe on one of our coastal King rivers….I’ve almost always done so, from the bank.
The few trips over the years I’ve done out of a boat were usually a fluke….and other than some over-sized Sturgeon fishing, it’s never been productive..especially not for Salmon…..because there wasn’t a consistent focus….or a good source of knowledge and information to help me/us get better.
I wouldn’t have guessed, almost three years ago now, when Gavin, Sal and I bought the Diamond Back Drifter….that we would be nailing chrome bright Kings out of it…in the Columbia River on anchor next to hawg lines and sleds….that is not until LipRipper showed me how to convert my traditional drift boat into one ‘fit’ for CR Chinook anchor fishing.
I wouldn’t have been comfortable enough hooking an anchor and bouy system up to my driftboat, let alone backbounce 12 ounces of lead on a wobbler in fifty feet of water with ANY kind of confidence.
If Big Tone and Jed didn’t have an uncle who owns the Acropolis, they would have never re-connected with our old comrade from the original Fisherman’s back in the day, ToDD “Double D” Peterson.
Thanks to DD’s selfless runs with us out in the big river, we were not only able to see how to catch fresh fish in the big river from a driftboat…..but also now we were able to see how the finer nuances played into the mix…..washing lures with soap…running tremendously long lead lines…..the best rods to use for maximum wobbler presentation…as well as countless other helpful hints and habits to form for future success.
So, as I sit and think about these two new Team Salmon members….and I think of the original TS guys that have ponied up trips this fall season…..I’m forced to wonder…Is Team Salmon evolving as a group of Allaroundanglers? Or, is this boat fishing simply a change of pace? I’ll let the future trips speak for themselves.
I just wanted to prop these guys and give the rest of you something to think about. I’ll tell you what, it’s been a long time since I tagged six Kings in a month….let alone HOT fish that wreak of Chromeness and little wiggly sea lice.
This boat fishing just might be more than a change of pace. Just a hunch.
H3Llcat