Details
On Saturday, I fished Ringold for the first time without a guide. I hit the water a little late - about 8:30 - and spent the morning and part of the afternoon in the "31 hole". Most of the time was spent on the Hanford side. I had no idea how much variation there is the depth and structure over there. At one point, I snagged both rods on the same obstruction, and things got a little crazy on my boat. It's probably not a great idea to run two rods in unfamiliar water when there's no one to share piloting duties when things go wrong.
Anyway, I fished quite a while with a cannonball, ProTroll and Superbaits, but didn't get a single hit. Around 1:00 I decided to head for the boat launch. As I was loading up, I met guide Jerry Reyes. We chatted, and he made a few suggestions for minor changes to my approach. He fervently suggested I take a break, then re-launch and give it another try. He was incredibly helpful and encouraging.
I put my rod back in the water at 4:55pm, and started down the east side. On the second pass, I got hit but lost the connection within just a few seconds. On the next pass, I added another rod rigged with a Brad's Cut Plug. Both the SuperBait and Cut Plug were the "rotten banana" color and loaded with tuna in oil.
Very close to where I'd gotten hit on the previous pass, I hooked a fish on the SuperBait. Just as I got that rod out of the holder, the Cut Plug also connected. So there I was, alone in the boat, with Kings on both rods. Let the craziness commence. In retrospect, I probably should have pulled that second rod out of the water before fighting the first fish, but the takedowns were so close together that I doubt it would have made a significant difference.
After a few minutes, the first fish was in the net, and the net was lying on the deck. Then I fought the second fish, which was the larger of the two, and made a couple of 100' runs upriver. The battle finally over, I got him up to the boat and released him without netting him or taking him out of the water. Aside from the crosswind shoving my boat into the rocks, it all went pretty well.
Later that evening I left Jerry a voicemail thanking him for all of his kind assistance, and letting him know that he'd left out one important piece of guidance... What in the world do you do when you're alone in your boat with Kings on both rods??
After spending the night in Pasco, I went back out this morning. I met Jerry at the boat launch, and he was sincerely excited about my previous night and the voicemail I'd left him. Back up to the 31, and by about 8:30 had my fish. This one hit right at the end of that long drift, right about where the tip of the island is on the west side. I'd seen a number of fish caught by the few boats who troll a little further down than most, and when I tried it, it paid off.
I'm still pretty new at this whole salmon thing, and fully realize the challenges that come with each new species, fishery, and season. That's why I'm so completely grateful to guys like Jerry Reyes who, even though they're paid guides, will spend some of their valuable time to assist anglers who aren't even their clients. The simple tips Jerry offered turned my whole trip around. Instead of going home skunked, I had two fish in the cooler, and a great story.
Comments
Why is this comment inappropriate?
Delete this comment? Provide reason.
