Hit up the Green River yesterday with my Dad. It was pretty cool to fish with him since it is not something we do often.

We started out driving down to the Tukwila Community Center zone around 3pm, ran into a fellow wa laker down there, chatted, I went down peeped out the river but did not like what I saw, Oops never checked the flows this morning, whipped out the phone and found on-line release from HHRES was 1490 and rising, Oh crap, I told my dad, best thing we can do is head to a few holding holes where I know there is some cleaner water where fish will probably stack up. So we blazed out of the BECU zone and headed straight up to the Black River Inlet. Flipped a few Jigs there and spinners but it was dead.

What my dad did not know was that this whole trip was a diversion since my family was preparing a surprise bday party for him at home. So I had a time table with a few more hours to kill and what better way to kill it then visiting a bunch of spots in search for some dirty dogs.

So up river we go, next stop Coco Corner. When the river gets chocolate milky I can always count on a bit of clean water at the Coco Corner to keep a few chum, and wouldn't you know it did. In general when the water is dark I like to start small and then go big until I am pulling dog gone deen wrapped K16's trailing streamers from little girls bike handlebars. We started with the jigs, pitched into the corner and 3rd cast for the Daddy o is a snag, At first he yells Fish Fish, never mind snag, all excited I yell back are you sure, and then the drag leaps to life, Chum on. He played it for about 4 or 5 minutes before bringing it in and making the release, maybe a 8-9lber. About 50 thousands casts later into this hole running everything we had, we call it and decide to move on up stream.

We stopped at VDLP to check out a spot that holds fish, but It looked dead so we moved on up to RWRSP. Knowing this spot pretty well I grabbed all the gear and headed down. We started out the same way Jigs first moving to spinners and then into Plugs. My dad lost trust in the jig sooner than I and snapped on a #5 bronze. A few casts later, he pulls in a dandy little sea run cut. Maybe about 16inches, I thought it was a branch at first since we had had a good amount of snaggs and debris, but then as he got it closer he felt the head shakes and tugging. It was a nice looking fish though, released.

Ole pops has the taste of blood now, his hands are sharp with the desire to hook into another bigger fish, and although I am trying to give him tips, I can tell his mind is off on his own as he slowly works around a corner further and further away.... Oh well, I figure he is into it.

I stick with the jig, move up to a larger pattern that is like the size of my daughters socks and hurl this thing across the river using my big boy rod (10'6" st. croix avid with a stradic 5000) I have never used it on the green because it is really just to big for this river, but I had it with me and figured it was the only way to get a jig where I wanted it. Boom way up river and right into a pocket I know fish hold up in, and Chum on! As is standard, zero aerobatics, just the charge and run of a bull in a china shop... Oh it was great to finally use that big ole rod, and it made fast work of this little guy. By the look of it maybe a 12 -13lb buck, oh and snaggle toothed as all get out. In fact I landed him so quick that I was holding his tail getting the jig out and he still had the juice to take a swipe at my hand... Whoa you little beast... I slipped that jig, and then held the fish in the water for a minute yelling at my dad so he could check it out, He was out of sight and yelled back let it go, I don't need to see your fish... Punk, see if I get excited when your into your next fish.

At this point it was about 6:00 getting dark and raining pretty good. It had been almost an hour since I hooked up so I yelled to my dad, see ya at the Truck. I sat in the back waiting for 45 minutes... finally he shows up and I ask him, well what gives I thought I was going to be sleeping here tonight. He looks at me and says I was into the mother of all fish, it was a monster, I was skeptical, and asked him well how big, He said, I never saw it.... Ok now I was even more skeptical, and I said, sounds like one of those Pre-spawn Cedar Bucks they can really peel the drag. He did not think that was funny. I asked him when it happened and he said, well about an hour ago, and that is why I could not leave, I had to stick with it. As I put his rod and reel away, I noticed that the #6 Chartreuse spinner was missing the hook and I asked him, hey after you hooked into that monster did you check your gear.... he responded, no why? I said, well it looks like you have been fishing for an hour with no hook there pops. We laughed and headed home.

As we drove up to my house, and walked to the door he gave me a hug, and said man son, that was a blast we should do that more often, and a few seconds later ... SURPRISE!!!!!! Twas a good birthday.

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