Fishing the Rouge River Part II

 Another fishing trip was planned for today.  The participants included Vivian, Don, Pat, Tom and me.  

We boarded John’s boat and off we went with high hopes and much enthusiasm. 

 The weather could not have been nicer.  

We had been on the water about an hour when Pat got a bite!  He fought the fish and was able to land it.  It was not quite as big as the first one he caught the other day, but it was still a very nice keeper.

The Sea Lion Patrol was out again today as before.

He patrols the area where salmon are being caught and uses a shotgun loaded with rubber bullets to drive off sea lions (harbor seals) trying to take salmon off the fisherman’s lines before the fish can be landed and put safely in the boat.

The US Coast Guard was out patrolling the river and the ocean outside the mouth of the river.

It was a long day with not much activity, but no one else was doing any better.  Even this Blue Heron was having trouble finding his dinner.

We stopped for lunch and a short break and back to the water.  

We continued to fish and fish without much luck.  Finally Don caught a small hatchery salmon which we had to throw back. 

Tom hooked a nice fish and as he was fighting him when the fish  came up out of the water and threw the hook out of it’s mouth.  He is able to hook the fish but getting them in the boat seems to be a problem for him.

We continued to fish without much luck until it was time to call it a day.

Back to the house for another fabulous sunset,

and then the highlight of our day was to have Pat’s fish for dinner!

His fish generously fed all six of us with some left over.

Wild chinook salmon from the river to the table in just a few short hours.  You can’t get any fresher than that!