Left friday night for Lyons Ferry to set up camp due to reports that everyone was hammering the steelies the weekend before. Saturday morning stopped at Darvers sports shop in Starbuck (now open at 7a.m. Nov 1st) for shrimp, slip bobbers, ects. Got on the water a little bit late at about 800 a.m. Tom from Walla Walla got a 22 inch hatchery hen just west of the hatchery. He was using a red shrimp and was about 8 feet down. (First steelie for him, he was pretty excited)

Things went slow so we tried the mouth of the Tucannon. Although a few guys were trolling, no one was having any luck and I only spotted 2 fish on the finder. I didn't see any bank fishermen. Learned later that day that the salmon are thick running up the Tucannon.

We moved back west of the Hatchery in the afternoon and Mike from Spokane got a 23 inch hatchery buck on a purple shrimp about 10 feet down. The weather was overcast/sunny throughout the day. Wind was calm and the water was a mirror. Maybe thats why the fishing was slow. (No bobber action). Only a few other nibbles, but couldn't get hooked up.

There were about 15 bank fishermen. Saw 3 fight fish. Only one keeper throughout the day. Had to take Tom back to the marina so he could head back home. After he left, I realized I'd forgotten to take photos of him and his first steelie. Sorry Tom

Sunday, got an earlier start. On the water about 640 a.m. with a little breeze and ripples on the water. Went west of the Hatchery again and learned that one of the bank fishermen had already landed a keeper before we got there. About 20 minutes later I had a 22 1/2 inch hatchery buck in the boat on a red shrimp 8 feet down. We got a few more small bites but were unable to hook up. The fish biologist showed up on the bank and was checking fishermen. He stated only 1 keeper was taken at Little Goose Dam today. The fishing was slow up there. The water turned to glass and nothing was biting. At around 1240 the wind began to pick up and so did the fishin. I missed a take down and my friend Mike did as well. Then within a few more minutes I hooked up and brought in another keeper. It was a 22 inch hen caught with a red shrimp 6 feet down.

The biologist again showed up and was walking the bank. He yelled over to us and wanted to know when we were going to be going back to the Marina as he wanted to inspect the fish. We needed to get back to Spokane, so I let him know to head over and I'd meet him. He inspected the fish, measured them, clipped the fins and even took our picture so that we could share the photos of the fish with all of you. He stated that it hadn't gotten any better since earlier and that he saw only 2 keepers and heard of the one that someone had got earlier on the bank at the Hatchery, but had already left before he got there.

Based on that report, Mike, Tom and myself were definately happy to have had another great weekend fishing with great weather and having 4 keepers for the 2 days. I also got to try out my new Anchor Caddie that I had purchased for my river anchor. The company wanted photos to use as advertisement, so I took some and sent them last night. It sure was nice to sit in the drivers seat, move into the spot I wanted and lower my anchor, as well as raise it to move to another place.

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