Columbia River Springers!

[Nelly]

We scooted down I-5 yesterday, launched the boat and checked in to the Janzen Beach Red Lion Inn.

On our first drag this morning, Kathy's rod doubled over just above the I-5 Bridge and it was game on!

IMG_9746 (Small).JPG (85.58 KiB) Viewed 10510 times

After a great fight we slid the net under a beautiful, mid-teener spring chinook!

IMG_9752 (SPR).JPG (114.83 KiB) Viewed 10509 times

The bite quickly faded as the morning went on and it sounds like there's a nice shot of fish headed our way as anglers downriver enjoyed much better success than the I-5 area produced today.

We've got about a week left before the April 9 closure so get crackin'!

[Chef Patrick]

We fished downstream of you in the Woodland area today. Our day went much the same as yours. I picked up this one on the first pass.


Fresh Springer for dinner ... my favorite sign of that Spring is here!



.

[dnmalsom]

Hey Nelly,
Saw you also down by I-5 yesterday as well. My wife and I were there Wed & Thurs. Great weather and awesome sunrises with Mt. Hood in the background. This was my wifes first "Springer" trip and she was my lucky charm. We boated 4 fish, 2 (16), 1 (12) and 1(9). All hatchery chrome bright and all female. Our luck continued as we woke up this morning to clean the boat and saw a flat tire on one of the tandems. Of all places to have a flat tire...in the drive after a road trip to Portland. I am definetely taking her to Buoy 10 this year.
SharronTime2

[blkphantomfishing]

Hi Tom...WE met at the I-5 launch yesterday.. We picked this pair up on our first two passes...We had two others to the boat..Great day to be on the water.

Tim

[Nelly]

Nice work Tim!
I wish we could have stayed as it sounds like mid morning really heated up!
Did you get my parking spot at least?

[blkphantomfishing]

Yes we did get it...thanks...there was a pretty good bite indeed for a few hours after that soup lifted.

Tim

[Nelly]

Hey Nelly,
Saw you also down by I-5 yesterday as well. My wife and I were there Wed & Thurs. Great weather and awesome sunrises with Mt. Hood in the background. This was my wifes first "Springer" trip and she was my lucky charm. We boated 4 fish, 2 (16), 1 (12) and 1(9). All hatchery chrome bright and all female. Our luck continued as we woke up this morning to clean the boat and saw a flat tire on one of the tandems. Of all places to have a flat tire...in the drive after a road trip to Portland. I am definetely taking her to Buoy 10 this year.
SharronTime2

Hey DNM, glad you got your fish and had the "driveway flat" rather than the roadside BLOWOUT Much less dramatic and don't ask me how I learned that...
I take my trailer once a year in the late Feb/early March time frame to EZ-Loader and have them go through it.
I hate trailer breakdowns and since I've gone to the annual service program, I have not had an issue

[dnmalsom]

Hi Nelly,
I agree on trailer maintenance. We happened to pickup a nail somewhere along the way. My local LesSchwab independent dealer fixed for free. I also use a concentration of "Salt-Away" in a garden sprayer on my trailer brakes when launching and retreiving in the salt. Disconnect trailer lights as well before launching. Even though the new LED lights are sealed it never hurts. Prevenitive maintenance goes a long way and might save you a few $$$ on repairs.
Sorry we didn't swing by to say "Hi" on the I-5 troll, we happened to be on opposite ends of the troll paths. Also, thanks for using boater etiquette when heading back up river for next troll pass. Wish more boaters would run the outside edges away from the troll fleet. Nothing like getting "rocked" while fighting a fish.
Hope your Springers were as tasty as ours. Unbelievable amount of oil. What a treat.
Dan