Fishing at Nisqually John

Our usual acronym is WRBF, which stands for “We’d rather be fishing.” That was our plan for Memorial Day today, and that is what we did. We went fishing. It happened, as it sometimes does, that we enjoyed three hours of fishing on the Snake River without catching a single fish. That happens sometimes, just as it happens sometimes that we catch the legal limit of trout (5 per person) in less than an hour at our favorite pond.

We took our beautiful wooden boat Pisca Dory that my husband Vic built from scratch to Nisqually John launch with some hope of catching bass. Contrary to our anticipation, there was no line for the boat ramp–no wait at all. The river was quiet. The scenery at Nisqually John is superb, surrounded by basalt hills. And, just to keep us interested, bass were jumping and generally active; they simply preferred not to come home with us. And that was okay.

My husband Vic at the helm, steering with a tiller that is part of the motor.

The motor’s foam is a visual narrative of Pisca’s speed, about 12 mph.

Basalt hills on all sides provide a wonderful narrative of nature.

 

 

Trout fishing with pelicans

The pelicans are a beautiful sight on the pond. We don’t consider them competitors, and I suspect they don’t think of us at all. My husband took this photo.

My husband and I headed for the pond immediately after dinner last night to fish for trout. Rain was falling, but trout were leaping, and six came home in our ice chest. I caught five, the legal limit, 9-1/2″ – 11-1/2″, and my husband caught one. I was able to fish more continually because he unhooked the fish I caught and did the gutting and bagging, enabling me to keep casting, and, miraculously, catching and landing. We caught our six trout in just over an hour, and returned home wet, chilled, and triumphant.

Back to the pond

Ha! I caught my limit–five trout, 9-1/2″ to 11-1/2″. My husband and I headed for the pond just after 6 PM and stayed 2-1/2 hours fishing. As evening pressed on, the fish were jumping and biting and skipping toward the shore. I just love fish who want to come home with us. If it weren’t for the State’s legal limit, I’d have wanted to fish longer. I was hooked; what can I say?

Vic took these pictures. He would have been fishing but his reel broke.

The first bite to hang on. . .

 

Closer. . .

 

And closer. . .

 

The trout has landed!

 

And it’s time to go home, Number 5.

Caught: Trout at last

Sunshine, wind, and fishy aspirations. . .

My catch

My husband and I accepted the sunshine’s offer (the wind was thrown in with the deal) and we returned this morning to our favorite pond to fish for trout. I caught two trout, 8-1/2″ and 10-1/2″. Vic is cooking one of them now for his lunch. (I am very allergic to fish.)

Back on the river again: Our happy anniversary

Today for our 22nd anniversary, Vic took the day off from work and we chose to go fishing in the sunshine. We didn’t catch anything, although a minnow did grab my lure and keep a fair pace for a minute. He freed himself before I could free him.

We fished and ate lunch and enjoyed the Snake River aboard Pisca-Dory, the beautiful 19-1/2 foot dory Vic built from 2016-2017.

                                        Pisca Dory at Pony Island in the Snake River

Huge pelican flocks added to our enjoyment. Pelicans are my favorite birds; their grace in flight is wonderful to observe.

                                                                 Vic at the helm

                            Here we are, the happy 22nd anniversary cruising couple!

River Sun

We went fishing this afternoon, and the sun was low by 2 PM. The flying saucer-like object in the center of my photo is likely some sort of lens artifact.

I think my husband’s photo invokes the essence of the day’s crispness and contrast exquisitely.

Fishing in color

My husband and I returned to the Swallows Nest area of the Snake River today for a few hours in the late morning and early afternoon. The autumn weather was gloriously sunny after the early morning’s cloudy gloom. The spectacular autumn colors were a blessing more than enough to offset being–yes, skunked again!

Pisca-Dory, ready for launch

The colors of autumn at the boat ramp

Saturday: Back in Pisca-Dory

We took Pisca-Dory out fishing on the river Saturday–her first outing in six weeks! The day was lovely and we were so happy to be back in our dory (my husband was recovering from surgery and hefting the boat onto the trailer was out of the question).

We didn’t mind a bit that we were skunked again. We saw a steelhead jump, his brawny pink middle and head teasing us. He was back in the water in a second, and there was no time to take his photograph.

We enjoyed the scenery along the river in our beautiful boat for 3-1/2 hours.  My husband took all the photos. I was fishing a tad obsessively.

Heading out

Basalt

Colors

Drift

Fishing

Snake River colors

 

Back to the River

After five weeks, we returned to the Snake River upstream of Asotin to fish for bass. I caught an 11-1/2 incher on my first cast, and after about an hour and a half, neither of us caught any more, though I lost two lures to hungry rocks.

The day was spectacularly beautiful: sunny, with contour and light accenting the basalt hills across the water.

My husband took all the photos.

Holiday fishing on the Snake River and Tenmile Rapids

Finally some fish wanted to come home with us. Vic caught three smallmouth bass, 13, 11, and 8 inches.  I caught two that were 5 and 6 inches, and I promptly returned them to the river to grow up some more.

We went upstream through Tenmile Rapids to get to some pools where we had not been fishing before. From the Rapids, we went another mile or so upstream to do some more fishing, but no more fish came on board. The day was sunny, a little windy, and beautiful on a surprisingly uncrowded holiday.

Pisca-Dory awaits launch at the ramp while Vic parks our truck.

My first bass of the day was about six inches, which we thought was odd, because we saw a humongous bass swim right by us just a couple of minutes before the little guy grabbed hold. I released the little fellow to return home and grow at least another four inches.

Vic reels in his 13-incher.