Hope at least one person gets some entertainment out of this.
I had the day off and it was my birthday, so I thought I'd go catch myself a birthday present.
I figured since my bank exploits on the Duwamish hadn't paid off, I'd use this opportunity to take my boat up the lower river, something I'd never done. Had to get the kids off to school first, so by the time I got them away, my gear loaded, and to the launch it was after 11am. Nets were out in force, but only one other set of guys launching while I was.
Finally got all much junk in my little 12' aluminum and pushed off. Couldn't get the Evinrude to fire up, which wasn't a surprise as it hasn't been used since the 1st of July. But, not a problem as I had brought my electric too for trolling. Figured I'd use that to motor out away from the launch and then work on getting the gas motor operational.
Went to tilt the electric down and the lever that retracts the locking pin to tilt the motor snapped off in my hand with the motor half way down. It didn't just snap off, the entire part broke in half, which left me with no way to retract the locking pin......hmmmm. "This fishing trip might be over before it starts." I'm thinking.
Fortunately I had a pair of needle nose in my fishing gear, which were just small enough to reach in and grab hold of the top of the locking pin. After some cursing and knuckle scraping, I was able to get the motor down into a working position. I scooted out to deeper water and went to work on the Evinrude. Took some cajoling, but finally got it to fire up and stay running. Of course I couldn't bring the electric out of the water, but at least I was operational. It was now nearly noon. Time to catch a salmon!
I proceeded to work my way up the main channel as fast as my 4hp would push me. I quickly noticed the water was barren of any jumping fish. Finally saw one jump by one of the nets up near South Park. Fished a few areas between there and 102nd. I pitched jigs and spoons and trolled and drifted Dick Nites. After cruising in circles for a while without any hits and still not seeing any fish jumping, I decided to work my way back down river. I tried trolling my DN down through the net gauntlet into deeper water. Finally hit an area that was deep and had a larger area free of nets that I could do some circling. Out in the middle of the channel I dropped my DN a little deeper and thought I hung up on the bottom....but it seemed to be coming up as I reeled, so figured I snagged a stick. When it came to the surface it turned out to be a 6" bull head. Released and I was on my way. I skipped and hopped my way back to the launch. Exited the water at 4pm. Ran into the guys I launched with and they hadn't had any luck either. I think I saw a total of maybe 5 fish jump the entire time I was on the water. I left just in time to sit in traffic on I-5.
At least I get to go back to work tomorrow.
Thank God for cold beer and birthday cake.

salmonbarry

10/8/2012 8:36:00 PM

Wow! I have had a few days like that too but good for you for not giving up and making it work! When we took out yesterday at 10am even the natives looked discouraged at the what to expect. I got a bullhead too but did get 2 really good takes when I was just pulling the DN with a dodger and no weight. of course, this was before the nets went in so had more river to work with. Good luck out there!

The Quadfather

10/8/2012 8:39:00 PM

Oh man, Bentrod.. I feel your pain. Glad to hear that you got some personal time on the B-day, and it involved time off the bank, in the boat, cold beer and cake.
At least you arrived back at the launch to witness the same dudes that you saw in the AM, with no stories from them as well.
You didn't miss anything at Shilshole. It appears to have slowed way down. I know some folks are catching fish, but much diff. from 3-4 weeks ago. Too much salad in the water this weekend. Too many sailboats, and a spooky vibe considering the very unfortunate accident that occured on Friday.
So the question is... if things are slower in the salt, right at the mouth(s) of the rivers, and there has been no rain, i.e. slow in the rivers,, just where are these fishing hanging? The ballard locks are on fire I can confirm.

oneshot

10/9/2012 2:34:00 PM

A birthday out fishing and not at work is better than a birthday at work. or something like that.. :)
Glad you got your boat out there to see how capable it is (when running) with your small boat you can get up river all the way to I-5 i bet..

hopefully we get another good push of fish for your next outing!

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