Before the launch, the sun steals the show

The sun was amazingly bright over the Snake (Washington side) and Clearwater (Idaho side) Rivers as we prepared to launch our quest for Moby Bass. I caught a couple of junior bass and released them so they could grow a bit. Vic caught a 10-1/2 incher, our only keeper of the hot, pleasant outing.

Bass Fishing at Chief Timothy State Park on the Snake River

For my husband and me, Saturday afternoons are for fishing when weather and commitments permit us. Today we launched Pisca-Dory at Chief Timothy State Park on the Snake River. Bass thrive here, and the warmer weather has activated them significantly.

We caught three Smallmouth bass between us–Vic caught one and I caught two. The scenery and the pelicans added beauty and enjoyment to our excursion.

Pisca-Dory is comfortable and the scenery is refreshing.

 

We go under a railroad bridge and into a lagoon, but catch nothing there. It’s quiet and lovely, but we head back to the broader River.

 

Pelicans are so marvelous!

 

Our catch. I caught the largest and the smallest Smallmouth, and Vic caught the mid-size model. We had two more nibblers who got away–a good thing, because they were so small.

Vic took all the photos.

 

The active river: Fishing the Snake River from Couse Creek westward

My husband and I took our beautiful dory, Pisca-Dory, out fishing on the Snake River today. We had a very fine day simply being out on the river in the excellent boat my husband built, combined with the pleasant motive of fishing.

              Pisca Dory at Couse Creek Launch

The magnificent scenery along the Snake River, upriver from Couse Creek

Huh? No tourists? Really?

I caught no fish this time, and my husband caught this beauty, an 11-1/2″ Smallmouth Bass.

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.

 

 

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.

A Friday walk

My husband took a recuperative day off today, and we took an easy walk along a Snake River trail. We were a little disheartened that the river’s flooding this year caused the grassy trail to be displaced by cockle burrs, but we coped with the narrow trail and dodged the burrs.

The day started out cloudy, but our walk seemed to invite the sun out and join us. I took a couple of photos of the scenery.