Fishing by myself today (fishing buddy had stuff to attend to). The day was crisp, light wind, clear skies. In short, a perfect late fall day. Tide change around 10am. I had high hopes for a great morning on the water. After dropping my crab pots, I set course for Jeff Head. Started fishing about 7:45. Gear of choice: glow-in-the-dark hoochie, red flasher, herring strip. Target: Chinook. Depth fished: 100-150 feet deep, gear 10 feet off the bottom. It was kind of strange to find myself the only one at the boat ramp, and again all alone at Jeff Head. But the solitude was relaxing. At 8:10am the rod jerked with the tell-tale take down of a chinook. Line peeled off the reel and the fish proved to be solid. Anticipation turned to disappointment. With the fish close to the surface, a moment of slack line (maybe the flasher breaking the surface?) and my prize was free. Sigh...

Fished until 11am. Caught several flounders, even when I moved up 20-30 feet off the bottom. That's one thing I've noticed about Jeff Head - the bottom is alive with flounders. Unfortunately they do get in the way of the salmon fishing. When I returned and pulled my pots I was faced with one last cruelty. I had forgotten to removed the rubber bands on the gates of my new crab pots! So no crabs, no salmon, just a nice boat ride on the water. Oh well,beats work any day!

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