Bald Eagles = Good Luck Charms

I got the call to fish the halibut opener this past weekend but was blown off the water the first two days. However, Dylan and I had a Plan B. We brought our waders and salmon gear to go hiking up some NW rivers. The temperature was perfect; the bright greens of the moss and foliage, the deep blues of the sky, the sun glimmering off the water. We knew we could find some fish! We made our way to the river, and began our trek.

At the first hole we came to, Dylan hooked a Nice fish.  The fight played out and as the fish came to the bank, it came unbuttoned.   So we knew they were there...
We hiked our way through steep canyons, LARGE boulders, and 100yr-old trees.  Beautiful area!Some pools were tough to navigate, but we would eventually find a path up to the next hole. 

Unfortunately, still no fish were taking our offerings.   We fished bobber/eggs most of the day through the deeper holes.  Couldn't BELIEVE we didn't hook any fish holding in this hole.   It seems like the perfect hole for fish to plug up in.  We made our way up around these boulders, larger than cars, to the next run.  You can see Dylan in the upper left-hand corner of the next picture.  This shows how small we can feel sometimes.

 
While wading across one tailout, a large shadow cruises across the ground.   We look up to see a HUGE bald eagle flying up the canyon. 

We've seen it there before, and know there are others in the family.  This one in particular stood out due to its larger size.

We continued up the river until I found a nice deep slot that ran along the far bank, and into a deeper hole.  I pitched my bobber upstream, let it float its way down into the hole.   As it entered the slow water it sunk...

FISH ON!!     After a great fight, we realize it was a hatchery fish!   So, up the bank it came. 
BONK!  Time to stock the freezer.

It seems like every time we see a bald eagle we hook up with a fish.   So, we've concluded that they're our fishing good luck charms.   The next morning, before heading out for Halibut, we spotted another nice bald eagle perched out on the tips of the jetty.   We limited that day by noon.

Santiam Scouting for Springers

Santiam River Spring Chinook Scouting Trip from Sublime on Vimeo.

High Water, But Still got a Spring Chinook

Decided to run up and hit the river with a Mike, his dog Wiley, and Alex yesterday evening around 4. The river was still running high and fast, but had good color, so we decided to give it a try.

We ran up to a couple runs and holes and decided to bring out the diver and eggs and start dredging.

Had a few squawfish take our baits, and a few bites that we swore were chinook, but missed those. Mike's rod started getting nibbled on..waited....waited.....waited.....waited.. for like a minute.. and finally he set the hook and BAM! FISH ON!
The video is from a still cam, so it's pretty shaky, but you get the idea!



Wasn't a large fish, but HEY!, it was a high water springer, so we were happy! We were the only boat on the river. Apparently nobody else thought the river was fishable.  

Too bad we only had a couple hours on the river.  The fish are all over, just have to find them!