On the morning of 25 September 2009, two longtime friends and I got on the road just after 4:30. We headed up the Columbia River Gorge to the Bonneville Dam, which is the first dam east-bound on I-84. We made good time and were able to get my boat in the water by about 6:30 am. Our destination was a mile upstream to a deadline a couple of hundred yards below the dam. We had the company of six other boats scattered around the deadline.
- 09/25/09: MinuteMan fishing on the Columbia near the Bonneville Dam
We were using K16 Kiwkfish with a sardine wrap with about six foot of 30lb test lead hooked to a Jumbo Jet diver. About an hour after putting my rod in the water, I had just poured a cup of coffee and looked to see my rod bent down over the water but not moving. I thought I was hung up on the bottom, but when I picked up the rod and gave the reel a couple of cranks, the salmon on the other end realized it was hooked and the fight was on. It gave me a good run and after about ten minutes, it was netted and in the boat. After high fives all around and the taking of pictures, we all replaced our gear in the water and continued fishing.
A short time later, my rod did the same thing and I’m thinking, “Today’s my lucky day.” I got the rod out of the rod holder expecting feel the strong pull of salmon on but to my very great disappointment, the only thing I had was mud and gunk. Most unfortunately, while we had two more strikes, we didn’t get another fish nor did we see any other boat get one either. We were off the river by noon and I was very happy I got the beauty you see in the picture.
When I got home, I cleaned and filleted the fish and took the filets to my son’s house. He brined and smoked it. Later that weekend, I enjoyed a really delicious smoked salmon and cream cheese omelet. Yum!