Reel em in!

Remember that post a few weeks back? The one where I said we went to Oregon and were bummed we missed the opportunity to salmon fish? Well, after having the chance to halibut fish, I knew we HAD to get to Oregon to do some salmon fishing! So in the fall of 2017, we made it happen.

Bryan and I headed up to Oregon for a few days, first stopping again to see his grandma, and then back down to Winchester Bay, where we would be sleeping. We met his dad and stepmom at the hotel, before heading for dinner at Bedrocks on the Bay, my new favorite Oregon restaurant! When you go, make sure and get the clam chowder bowl and a pizza - you won't regret it!

We had to head to bed early because we needed to be out on the water by 6am. Since it was August, ie fall fishing, the key to salmon fishing is to get in the water before the sun rises, because you want to try and catch fish when the tide is coming in or out. So we got up early, Bryan's dad got the boat in the water and then we took off. Because we are so close to the ocean, and the way the water moves, therefore, the way the fish swim, the boat is trolling at a slow pace. We would get moving and Bryan's dad would help us get our rods in the water and into the rod holders and just wait and see what we could catch!

Before leaving for this trip, I had gone on and on about how we needed space to bring some salmon back. It wasn't until the day before we left that Bryan said - you know we might not catch any right?! It was like a punch to the gut. Whoa. I mean, of course there's a chance we wouldn't catch any, but I hadn't thought about that possibility at all. I legit was prepared to catch fish all day long. Whoops. Thanks, babe, for the reality check.

And good thing too, because the entire first day, we didn't catch anything. Bummer! But we weren't alone. Bryan's dad is such a pro, that he is friends with all of the guides. In fact, he is always being asked why he doesn't become a guide for real, but he said he only wants to fish with friends and family. Their loss, our win. :) Since he is friends with the other guides, we had heard that the fish weren't biting much at the time, and we could see that the other boats were having slow days also. At least we weren't alone!

Konk can

The next morning, though, was our time. I think it was around 7am, and I had started to doze off when Bryan said his usual 'oh shit' and his dad said 'fish fish fish' - which means - GO! As it turns out, it was my rod which had a bite. So the fun began! Everyone had to reel in the other lines, so it was just mine in the water, to not tangle them up. Truthfully, I don't remember much because it all happened so fast. What I do recall is that I reeled and reeled, and when I looked at the line counter, the number was the same as when I started.....this little stinker was pulling hard! I needed to reel faster to bring it in. Low and behold, I brought it in and we got it on the boat - woohoo! My first salmon!

My first catch!

After catching it, we had to take some measurements, write the details on my fishing license and then get the rods back in the water as quick as possible. Often times, there are other fish around when you catch one, because they are in a school, so you want to get rods back in fast. In fact, we didn't have all of the rods in and Bryan had one on his pole! Unfortunately, it broke away before he had too much time to try and reel it in. After the rods were in, it was time to celebrate with the konk can. The what?! On board is a konk can (ie, flask) to celebrate following a catch! It's called konk, because you have to 'konk' the fish to make sure it's really dead after bringing
it in. (Sorry to anyone bothered by that). So time to konk - everyone takes a shot - of fireball! That'll wake you up in the morning! After that, the excitement and adrenaline had us going for a while. Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck after that, so mine was the big winner for the trip - a 20 pound winner! 

While it was sad to not go home with more than the one, I was thrilled to show off my catch! As the day wound down, we headed back to town where Bryan's dad filleted the fish for us, and we packed it up. I was hooked (ha) on fishing and couldn't wait to come back again!