One Day in February Leave a reply
It's no secret that I get the steelhead bug bad, real bad in February. This is the time of year when those big bruiser wild steelhead enter the rivers in Washington and for some reason I absolutely geek out when that happens.
It could be that they have a reputation as being the hardest fighting fish in North America, or maybe I'm just a geek. Probably the latter. Whatever the reason…I geek in the spring for wild steelhead. I guided for 15 years on the Skagit river system, known for it's run of brawny wild steelhead, and no matter how big or small the run forecast was for the Skagit system folks knew where to find me every spring. Right there where I wanted to be…geeking out on wild steelhead!
So, when my buddy Darin called on February 1st to invite me for a day of steelheading with guide Bret Ferris of Ferris Northwest Guide Service on one of the Southwest Washington rivers, well, I geeked.
There was only one problem though. My wife was a week overdue with our baby girl and she was headed for a much-needed ultrasound the next day.
And now for one of the many reasons why I married this Alaskan woman. When I axed her about fishing the next day she completely, wholeheartedly thought I should get out on the river with the guys. She had her mom in town and going to the doctor without me for what would probably be her last ultrasound didn't even turn up on her feminine radar, if she possesses such a thing. I didn't hesitate to whisk the hall pass from her hand and 7:00 a.m. the next morning I was racing up a river with Greg Ashton from Contour cameras, Darin Koob from Outer Escape, and guide Bret Ferris.
It was the first nice day we had seen in over a week, the river was on the drop and greening up nicely, and the sun was just starting to glimmer over the trees to the east. The perfect conditions for a day of terminal schwackocity!
As we cruised up river I got to chat with Greg about Contour cameras, their features, and some of the different mounts you could get for these awesome point-of-view video cameras. Contour is one of the fastest growing companies in America right now because their cameras kick ass.
Sho'nuf…we get to our first stop and Greg hooks up within ten seconds of his bait hitting the water. The dime bright chromey hatchery steelhead raced all over the river before succombing to Bret's Folbe net, destined for Ashton's smoker.
A short while later I slapped the hook into another dimer of about 8 pounds, but this time it was a wild steelhead and we quickly kicked it back to spawn and produce even more steelhead for my daughter to catch. Greg happened to have his Contour camera rolling for the hookset and the fight on this particular steelie and you can check it our HERE on the Contour website. I'm looking forward to strapping a couple of these puppies onto my Alaskan charter boat this summer for some truly epic Alaskan fishing, wildlife, and scenery footage.
Another innovative product that's hit the scene here in the Pacific Northwest is the KAST Steelheader's glove. I've brought these gloves along on multiple trips this winter and they've never let me down. They are fully waterproof, they have a thin but warm and fuzzy liner, a rubber palm area that's great for tailing fish, and a totally awesome soft nose wipe zone on the index fingers for those frigid days when your schnauz just won't quit running. These gloves pass the Robbo test with flying colors!
After a solid morning of steelheading Ferris pulled us into a back channel to take a break and grab some lunch. I quickly passed out some Punch cigars and made a pre-emptive strike by lighting up my own cigar rather quickly. A few puffs into this tastey lunch stogey my cell phone rings and it's my wife, "Honey, the doctor says we have to go to the hospital today. Don't worry…it's not until 9:00 p.m. tonight and you can finish your day of fishing. I really think it's important you fish all day with the guys." Reason #2 why I married this woman. She knows how important fishing is to me and after all, it's my job!
Ten minutes later my Droid buzzes with a new text from my wife and it reads:
I'm so excited honey. We're going to be great parents and our daughter is
going to be beautiful. What an amazing day! Please don't rush home
though. You need to finish up your day on the river. 9:00 will come soon enough and I'm doing great. I love you!
Unless this was a trick of some sort I understood that I should keep fishing, or at least I'm pretty sure that's what she wanted me to do. You never know with these sort of things and after all I am a big dumb animal. I read the text to the guys and we did just that…we went back to fishing!
Before long 4:00 p.m. came and we were at the launch cleaning the hatchery brats that we had kept after an amazing day of fishing. If you're looking for a great guide on any of the Southwest Washington rivers I wouldn't hesitate to give Bret Ferris a call. He's an all around good guy, he's funny, and he catches fish.
I raced home, washed off as much of the cured egg goo and cigar smoke as I could, and off we raced for the hospital.
On Saturday morning at 11:50 a.m. my wonderful wife brought little Ava Marie Endsley into the world and our lives would change forever for the better. She weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was as cute as a bug.
One of the great nurses at Harrison Hospital in Silverdale set us up with an incredible bassinet called the Momma Roo, which seemed to be about the only thing that would keep little Ava from fussing. That's the 6 foot long couch I parked my 6'6" frame on for four nights in the hospital. Very, very worth it I would say!
I quickly poured thru the motion menu on the electric kiddo buggy until I found the "Ocean Wave" setting. Might as well begin the brainwashing in the first 24 hours. Wouldn't want her getting seasick on daddy's boat or anything.
My wife Nicole and I with Ava Marie before leaving Harrison to head back to the Endsley chateau. We were cleared for take off and excited to head home to start our family. The staff at Harrison were second to none!
It's been a great couple of weeks since this momentous day and guess what? I geeked out yesterday and went steelheading again with Darin Koob and Bret Ferris and we found some more chrome steelhead to make our reels scream. Baby Endsley is doing great and I'm looking forward to introducing her to steelhead fishing when she's of the age. I've got some Contour cameras on order for the spring and summer fishing seasons too, but don't worry I won't wear one for any diaper changings. Lets just keep this to steelhead fishing shall we. Life is good!
Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com