We went up to the Bonneville dam early in the day, to show my brother and a friend, the fish ladder, viewing window, etc. The fish counter lady was there and was SOOOO informative! I'm impressed with what those people can do!
She was there at her keyboard, just counting everything that went by, and I mean there were ALOT of fish that went by!
She, and others there, have been blown away at the Sockeye numbers, and are totally excited to see such numbers. (I figured she WOULDN'T be too happy because of all those numbers she has to count.
)I'm glad to see these counters enjoy what they do and are VERY willing to talk, and tell you anything you'd like to know.
After being held up by a barge running through the locks, we headed down to the Fishery to launch.
Saw quite a few bald eagles and ospreys, and multiple confrontations between the two.
This one, I was fortunate enough to catch on film! Great aerial displays by both.
I noticed the osprey liked staying above the eagle, while continuing to bombard it, mid-air. The eagle would spin upside-down to ward off the threat. Great to watch nature in action!
We tried a few areas with no success. Later we ran up toward the Shad Rack, and hooked a few shad, and had a few oversized gators breach near our boat.
My brother hooked one nice chinook that took off and POP!...was off. After pulling up the gear, we noticed that it straightened out two of the hooks on the treble. Thought it might be a gator, but we could tell by the way it fought it was a salmon.
We decided to call it, after hearing it was fairly slow up there for other boats as well, and headed back to Salem.
Saw some great scenery along the way, and had an amazing time, even without the bonus. Sure wish the season was longer... Oh well, I hope to get up there for URBs!
...Until next time, Chinook!!!....
