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.

Coastal Chinook

Bolted over the hill early in the morning with Dylan to a quiet creek and tried our luck for some fall chinook. We hiked through some awesome older-growth forest areas. We found this giant Sitka Spruce.


Amazing to think of the storms they've weathered, as well as the the stories they could tell. These things wouldn't budge!!



All of the signs were there for fish... The water had risen, but was on the drop.


I put a nice silver-dollar sized clump of eggs on my hook and through the offering up in the hole. The bobber floated slowly down the seam of the current until it just turned and went under as if it were stuck on the bottom. I knew it was only set at 6ft and the hole was about 12 feet deep. So, taking what seemed to be an eternity to realize I should set the hook, I reeled up and let 'em have it. Bobber Down!!! I felt a couple strong head-shakes and could see him flash back and forth as the the fight began. He jumped more than any chromer, coho, or steelhead that I've seen!


Once I got him in, we tailed him and realized it was a hatchery fish. One more fish that needed to come out of the system. Soooo, we bonked it.


I made good use of this guy and smoked him up. Turned out to be one of the best smoking jobs I've done yet! (I've only done two)...but I'm progressing fast, so look out!


We had battled thunder, lightning, hail, pouring rain, and torrential winds, but prevailed. We also landed a nice chrome native coho that we quickly released, and a couple other dark fish. We were pretty proud that we had prevailed and endured the storm, but came away victors. We made our way back over to the valley meeting up with the back edge of the rainstorm, with the one fish, but many memories.



The sun began to come out just before sunset giving us a 'thumbs-up' with a rainbow. Was a great day~ Sure beats sitting at home!