Well, here comes another storm - so why not take a moment to reflect on some of those memorable fising days.

For many -this year in review will be a hard one. Especially with 9/11 keeping things in perspective. Let's be thankful for our freedom and thankful that for a moment, a screaming reel can make all our ploblems just seem to disappear...

What is your best fishing related memory for 2001?

Here are a few of mine:
Early mornig mist on the water;
The sun rising as you wade out and make your first cast;
No sounds but rushing water and birds;
The elk and deer that are your only neighbors on the water;
The rod being nearly ripped from my hands;
Going in late to work after my buddy and I spent the mornig chasing fish (yes - I do make up the time...);
Taking time to learn some new water or a new technique;
Being rewarded for that hard work;
Sharing my love for fishing with my 'Little Brother';
Watching my 1.5 year old get excited when I showed him all the pink salmon spawning;
...
well, you get the idea. were all so crazy about fishing - I just want to see what makes others tick....

That Fateful day on the Sauk :p

I didnt do much winter steelheading this past year as we all know what happened to our beloved C&R seasons. But trips made over to the OP were filled with lots of chromers while doing lots of exploring. I floated pretty much the whole Hoh from the Park down to the Oxbow. What an amazing river with an over abundance of fishy water.

The coho fishing was phenomenal. Normally I could care less about salmon but being able to chase after the silvers with the bugrod out in the open water was truly amazing. What a site it was to see coho after coho chasing after our flies out in the middle of the Straights. And what a sight it was to see nearly 15# flyrod caught coho screaming across the surface and coming clear out of the water at the side of the rental boat.

Plus I'll never forget the look on the face of that poor diving bird that beat the coho to a buddy's popper. What a sight!!

And I'll never forget experiencing the greatest salmon fishing in the World in Sitka, Alaska. 10-15 kings a day plus another 30-40 coho in 70 degree weather on the glass calm Pacific Ocean.

I didnt do as much fishing as I have in years past- the C&R closures sure curtailed my fishing time as did the amazing salmon runs this summer which led to 6 day workweeks. But I will say the fishing I did do was awesome as I explored lots of new waters, new techniques and met some freinds for life. THANKS!!!

What will 2002 bring?? Hopefully more of the same!

...many wishes to your families this Holiday Season and lots of fishies as well!...just as long as the wild ones are released.

[ 12-18-2001: Message edited by: RPetzold ]

My best day came this summer (I think it was July or August) after spending the afternoon diving for scallops we settled down for dinner on the boat. Halfway through cooking I hear the clicker on my halibut rod go crazy. I ran out, set the hook and began a fight with what felt to be around 140 lb fish. 20 minutes into the fight the fish wrapped around the anchor (didn't have the option of pulling it) and swam free. Disappointed I regeared and went back to cooking. 2 hours later I still hand't finished a simple dinner because of the seven fish I had hooked. By nightfall everyone who had a license had limitted and we ended up with over 350 lbs of prime white meat.

Nice post Fishnb'. Good idea too. Gives us a chance to re-live a great moment or day from this past year of abundant fish.

Most memorable fishing day for me:

- I had never fished the Wynoochee River before this year, and it was one that I always wanted to try. I fished it with 'Fly and Kid Sauk in Joe's driftboat. Beautiful river! And I got lucky on that day and caught 4 winter steelhead to only 1 between those two WA heavy hitters. So I do get lucky sometimes also. They turned it the other way around on me though on a springer trip together on the Columbia.

I'd like to publicly thank Joe for taking me on several trips on some of Washington's best rivers, including a couple on the outer Oly Pen. On one of them this past fall, he and Doug and I hooked close to 30 fish (mostly silvers, but a few 'nooks too). Such a beautiful area! He has taught me a lot about fishing up there. Thanks Joe. (and your zipper streams will stay that way). ...

Most memorable time fishing this year:

- Fishing the Wilson R. many times with my close friends Mark and Shane. We had a good year there with a lot of laughs together. It looks like a repeat of good fishing and fun coming up for the new year.

RT

What about the beautiful sound of gun fire between bankies and boaters.

Just kidding, don't let me ruin this romantic moment.

I have enjoyed my best days on the river in this past year and have found the time to be there when it was at its peak. I would have to say that I enjoyed my pursuit of the columbias spring chinook more than any. and particularly the wind river. I had been making my morning trip to the river for weeks on end hoping that i would be there on the day that the fish were going to arrive. I had purposely made sure that I would be able to fish everyday the month of may just to get a chance at these fish. well after two weeks of this and only a few fish to show for my efforts I was getting a little nervous that these fish had been intercepted along there path and were not going to show. but I had not lost complete hope and was still getting up at the sound of the 4:00 am call. it was may 13th and It was raining like heck I walked down to the drift I know would produce as soon as the fish did show. and low and behold on my second cast I was tied into a fresh springer. it was a pretty good fish of about 17lbs and if anyone who has ever caught thes fish in the river knows they do a might battle for there size. It was going to be the day that I had hoped for and I was into fish the whole day. a few people came down during the day and everyone that did took out a limit. the fish and the rain just kept coming. It took less than a week for the majority of the run to go past this low river spot and the crowds intensified ten fold everyday until four days later there must have been forty people fishing that drift after ten days. I filled my punchcard in the next two weeks and made many new friends. it was best early and the fish were definately more aggressive in the lower end. there was no snagging that I saw. until the fish got to the seven mile area and began to get lockjaw.
p.s. I would always carry a bacpack to cary out my fillets and all of the trash left by others it made me feel good to walk away from the river with a limit and a bag of trash

2001 will have to go to my wife this year.She has really come into her own this year. The best memory will have to be her happiness with catching a big king on the Sol Duk and losing an even bigger one.A close second will be a 3-4 mile hike on the Calawah where the sea runcutts made a good showing.I can't wait to get her into the big native's on the Sol Duk this spring.She thought that big king put up a fight!

Best day happened on a OP river for wild steelhead. I only brought three to the bank, but one was a 40" hen and the another was a 38" buck. All three were immaculate specimens.

A close second occurred on the Columbia for springers. Four of my fishing buddies and I brought 18 to the bank. The highlight was a triple header. All were caught plunking spin-n-glos w/ sandshrimp.

There are so many good memories from 2001 that I
could'nt list them all,but will list a few.
1)Last Febuary my fishin partner and I goin four
for four on large chrome steelies on a very crowded and high pressure system.Being tagged out by 11:00 a.m. and blowing water to get out from the hordes of fisherman.Kid Sauk may recall this day???????.
2)Hooking six and landing six springers in the sled on Easter sunday,the first four by 9:00 a.m.
The last two I had my wife and daughters with me.
As I was fightin the fish my wife was gettin the net,all I can remember is my kid's yellin, get it mom,come on mom, get it, get it mom.She did great
nettin both fish while under pressure.
3)Bouy 10 family vacation 2001 was the best.I got my brother and my two nephews on limits of coho.The best day was when I took the wife and father-in-law out to the bridge and had our nine
fish in 45 minutes,back to the dock to clean them and pick up my two daughters to get there limits with in an hour and a half.What a great year down there,if it wasn't for the three day's of pouring down rain and the wind blowing I would have had to
go to costco and purchase a little freezer.
4)Elk river 2001 was a great event also,That's where I hooked and landed a chrome bright 40lb buck and had lot's of other hook up's.All fish on the elk this late fall were nice chromers with beat red meat.
Hope 2002 will be a repeat of 2001 as far as fishin goes.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Every time I get to go out Is my best day. Just to get out on the water and see all the sites in Washington. I don't have to catch anything to have a good time. I like to do my fishing in the middle of the week. That way I don't run into too many things to ruin a good outing. Jim S.

This will be a year for me to remember. All these fish have really put it together for me. We are blessed to have such an abundance of resources and to be able to fish in prime runs year round.

1) Drifting, blind (not knowing the drift)on 2 different rivers reading the water, applying the tech. and totally scoring.

2) Last winter catching my first fish on a free drifted pink worm.

3) Catching my first spinger on the drift from the bank. That was a warm sunny day shared with my uncle on the Sandy. That 17lber put up a real battle on my steelhead rod with a coffee grinder.

4) I can finally say I am a good steelheader. Haven't been skunked in 8 trips and my drift boat has landed 15 in the last 3 trips. Remember guys this is Oregon

A couple more memorable days come to mind:

A tripple header on steelhead.

A 50+ steelhead day between 3 people. My wife contributed about 6 of those fish.

Alaska and 20+ fish days on the Kasilof, including chromers of 40+.

3-4 on keeper gators on a Puget Sound river.

The look on stlhdr1's face after the Monster NF Lewis Chrome Kinger Hen spit the hook on me.

Meeting and fishing with many new people from this board!

All the trips with Team Vision!

What a great year it was.

Finally broke the 50 mark on the OP. Almost twice in one day! Still 98 pounds of King Salmon in 2 fish! Not to mention a 39 and 3 big silvers to finish the boats limit! All before Noon.


Bob D

My buddy and i were at my favorite mackinaw lake downrigged at 100ft and 5 minutes into the troll my pole started bobbing so i jumped up grabbed my pole out of the holder, reeled a little slack grabbed my spool, and set the hook. Click, plop, my pushbutton spool popped off the reel and into the lake with 275 yards of brand new Ande on it. So i grabbed the line and wound it around my arms like crazy hoping to bring it up a bit so we could net it. Yeah right. So i check the other end, no fish. I wind it all back in then grab the line still on the DR clip and pop it off and pulling that in a 7lb mack gulped it. Talk about a mess. Landed it though. Glad i had a spare rod with me.

Very next week i brought an amatuer with me and when he set the hook(like amatuers do) the line snapped at the spool, he leaped across the boat trying to get the end of the line but no luck. So he starts winding up his DR and it seemed to be catching on something. I grab the handle and i feel a bouncing on bottom feeling then i realize his fish is still on the clip. A few minutes of slow winding he grabs the line and lands a nice 8lb mack. Crazy days of fishing i tell ya. I still can't believe my spool popped off. Dam amatuer. LOL

I would have to say it was watching my 11yr old hooking 16 silvers & landing 11 of them. He is becoming quite a fisherman and I couldnt ask for a better best friend

Some of my best moments this year were:
Watching my buddy hook his first steelhead (you should have seen the look on his face - 'oh - sh## what do I do!' 'let him run!' I started to say, but 'pop', I was too late and the line broke. He was hooked though!)
Watching my 'little brother' catch his first wild rainbow on an OP river. Then catch his next. Then his first dollie. All on the same trip.
Watching the same buddy and the same 'little brother' catch their first salmon.

What's really fun, it taking out beginners (wife, kids, friends, whatever) and getting them into fish. The trick is to make them feel like they actually out-fished you. When my wife says - "wow, I even out fished YOU!", I just smile, and say "yep, you did great!" Knowing she'll be more exited about going fishing the next time... (OK, OK, so they really do out-fish me. Sounded like a good excuse anyway...

my best days were
1) fishing humps and silvers on the snohomish when no one was catching any thing and i come up and catch 2 humps in 5 casts then the next 3 casts were all silver a 10,13,8lbrs. its amazing what just an 1/8th ounce difference in a lure can make.
2)walking up to the beach on possession point and making my first cast while talking to this guy and asking him if he got anything and as soon as he said no i hooked up with a nice 10lb coho. when i got it on the beach he left pissed!!!! this was my first cast of the day!
tyler

Battling a 20 plus pound chrome pig on the snohomish. I was dead locked for 15 minutes with this slab could not budge it I thought I had a early springer. These four onlooking fisherman could not believe the power of this fish they were blown away. Finely after 30 minutes I managed to land the bright pig only to have my buddy drop my camera in the water. It was beutiful and sickening all at the same time!

We too had a good year with some very memorial moments.

Watching the wife land and release her first fly caught trout, 18" tazmanian strain beautiful fish.

Watching the wife catch and release 15 18" rainbows in a half hour time on a nymph.

Watching the wife catch and relase her first steelhead and then go one to repeat the feat several more times that day.

For myself it was catching more steelhead in one day than I have caught in any one season

And that one hot hen steelhead that managed 6 water clearing leaps before being released to do her thing.

yes it was a very good year.

Great thread!

Halibut limits out of Neah Bay in May!

Anchored up, steelhead fishing with plugs on the Columbia in July. Eligant, crome bright fish. Staying there through the tide change. Just talking. Listening to the Mariners.

Getting a fifty-three year old life long trout fisherman into a thirty plus chrome chinook off Johns River in August. She nearly spooled him but he got her to the boat and then he wouldn't kill her. He is a keeper for sure.

Long days on the ocean trying to find something the cohos would not strike. Couldn't find a thing.

Trooling for chinooks in Nehalem Bay.

The sights, the sounds, just the beauty of the whole damn show.

It was quite a year.