Tom reserved a fishing guide for a salmon fishing trip on the Rouge River. Pat, Kay, Tom and I bundled up and headed for the river. John Anderson of Memory Makers Guide Service, our guide
and his deck hand, Donnette, his daughter,
helped us on the boat and we were off for a full day of fishing. John provided the gear including poles, reels and bait. He uses anchovies to catch salmon.
The weather was cool but pleasant even though it was a bit foggy at first. We were able to see our rented house at the top of the hill from the river.
Tom was the first to catch a fish. With much excitement we all reeled our lines in while he proceeded to bring in his fish.
When he got the fish up to the boat John said he was not hooked in the mouth but rather the dorsal fin and we would have to let him go. Seems you are not allowed to keep a “foul hooked fish”. What a disappointment! John said it would weigh at least 25 pounds.
Pat was next to get a bite, but that’s just what it was, the fish took his bait and left him with nothing! This happened to him 3 times during the day. The morning wore on without much luck. There were many boats around us but they weren’t having much luck either.
We stopped for a break and lunch from a food truck near the river. We ate our lunch on the boat because you don’t want to miss any fishing time! The afternoon wore on with little to no luck at all.
All of a sudden, Tom had another strong bite. He could tell it was a big fish by the way it fought! There were too many boats clustered around our boat and several lines became tangled including Tom’s with his big fish. Another guide offered to land Tom’s fish, but just as he was about to net the fish, the line snapped and the fish was lost. Another disappointment.
The other guides would talk back and forth with John on the phone about what a slow day it was.
With no action to keep her warm, Kay got very cold and tried her best to stay positive and keep warm.
It was getting late in the day and the boats and fisher-people were getting tired and a bit frustrated by the lack of fish. All of a sudden, Pat got a strike!
He was careful to hang on to this one after his earlier experiences. He fought, and the fish fought back. But Pat fought harder and he persevered!
He landed a beauty!
It was his first big fish and we were all so excited and proud for him! After a long day with very little luck, Pat and his fish made it all worthwhile! It was getting late in the day and we headed in to the fish cleaning area.
John filleted the fish and we had two giant fillets of delicious wild caught Chinook (King) Salmon to take home.
Even though we only put one fish in the boat we had an exciting day on the beautiful Rogue River with John and Donnette. We will be back Sunday to try and do even better.
When we got back to the house Vivian and Don had a delicious dinner prepared for us. We enjoyed our dinner and told fish stories the rest of the evening.
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