So, day before was a big loss but I made up for it today. Brought my net along too and used it :)

Wound up back at that same spot after fishing another spot where I've caught plenty, but no luck today...

After fishing the first spot I jetted down to Sportco in Fife. I picked up some new barbed hooks to replace the ones on my spinners and went back to the spot where I lost that nice one on a barbless Blue Fox spinner the day before.

I fished the spinners for awhile and caught a nice 4lb coho on that same spinner I lost the big one on yesterday...Was happy to have that hole pay off again!

Kept fishing that spinner as there were quite a few rollin' and jumpin' and eventually got snagged up and lost it.

So, I fished other spinners for probably a couple hours since I kept getting hits...Eventually I started to get sore...My wrist even went numb :) haha

Finally, I had enough of that business and so put on a jig and twitched that through the hole for about 15 min. and nothing...

So, then I got my eggs and bobber rod out and started floating some eggs through the hole...Almost immediately I started getting bites!

Finally, I had a nice hook up...I wasn't sure how well he was hooked and so I jumped down on this little ledge right at the rivers edge where I already had my net and the silver on a stringer...I could tell he was a decent sized fish but I didn't want to lose him...

He tried to pull line off and jump but I slowed him down putting pressure on the reel and lowered my rod tip in the water...I was working him over pretty hard, not letting him make a big run...

Finally, when I got him close enough to net, I made the worst mistake ever when netting...It's called high sticking! I was holding the rod up high and trying to get my net into position when all of a sudden...WHACK! My rod broke in two!!!

Such a tricky place to land a fish there...No room to work with at all...High bank fishing can be tricky that way!

About the same time I slipped and fell into the water covering the top of my rubber boots...My right foot was totally submerged! I came down on my left knee in the dirt and so luckily was able to regain my composure and so I grabbed the leader and pulled him into the net.

The net was bought for pinks many years ago...It's nice and small so easy to lug around...But dang..I could barely get the fish in the net! Not a bad problem to have :)

I didn't want to lose another nice fish and so I grabbed ahold of the line and hand lined him into the net and up on the little bit of bank with me halfway in the water with the fish...I gave him a couple whacks upside the head with an old beer bottle I found to settle him down and put him on my stringer which I had to unbury...

When I slipped I pulled the stringer and my silver into the water...So it was below my right foot over knee deep...Luckily, that's as far as the stringer fell and more importantly me :) Another foot or so and it dropped to waist deep and then the main channel at least 8-12 feet.

I didn't want to slit the gills until I had him on the stringer...

As I'm untangling the stringer, holding him and the net as I'm halfway in the water I feel the heartbeat of the fish...So cool to be one with this amazing creature!

Since I whacked him pretty good upside the head he was bleeding a little...Once I got him on the stringer I ripped the gills to help him bleed out and preserve the meat. Blood was all over the place.

After rinsing my hands off I then went to untangling the mess I had on my hands...Broken rod, tangled leader, grass and weeds all tangled in everything...My foot still soaking in the water...Luckily it wasn't too cold yet :)

When I pulled the hook out of it's mouth, I noticed the size 1 old school Eagle Claw was starting to get a bend in it...I was pushing these old hooks to their maximum by horsing him in like I did.

Was relieved that the hook held well and stayed stuck right in the corner of his bottom lip. There were no eggs left on the hook, just the bit of cerise yarn I had just put on the hook to aid in getting a solid hookup.

Was so happy to catch the biggest one I've caught yet...Matter of fact, this was the largest salmon I've caught ever! And to top it off, it was my first ever Chinook Salmon!

Both fish were nice bucks! The Chinook was about 8lbs and the Silver was 4lbs. Both a little dark but still pretty nice fish. Gonna try eating the King and see how it goes...If not grill/oven worthy I'll smoke him up! Silver still cut pretty nice red.

Additional upcoming rain this week ought to bring additional fresh ones up into the middle and upper Green.

Tight Lines Y'all!

Happy Hooker Out!

Oh yeah, met a couple fellow NW Fishing Report members while at the hole...a nice father and son team. The son recognized my story I told him about losing one the day prior at this same spot. Hope you guys had some good luck.

---