Fishing with the Grandkids

   I never got to go fishing with my dad. He was always working trying to pay the bills. My brother and I  had to work after school and on the weekends with dad. He had a landscaping business on the side and we mowed lawns and removed trees from the clients yard. So there was no real play time.

   I never went fishing until I got married and several of my high school classmates and their wives got together and went fishing. I had a ball. When children came along we still went fishing but mom stopped going and stayed home with my daughter and then work got in the way and then another child, a boy. I worked in the retail field and was always promoted to management and that meant  a lot of hours and weekend working. Then a divorce came along when my daughter was seven and my son was two and I moved away so no fishing with my children.

   I moved to Wenatchee to work in the jewelry retail field as an assistant manager. That meant a lot of hours too. I meet a guy in Wenatchee who just fished all the time and I started going fishing with him. We fished for about every kind of fish, mostly trout, salmon and a little steelhead.

   I meet a young lady who after a period of time fell very much in love with. We got married after a couple of years and I bought a small 12 foot boat. I put on a fishing pole holder on both sides and fished the Icicle River up in Leavenworth. No motors allowed so I learned how to row a boat. Not an easy thing in fast water.

   My wife and I moved to Lake Stevens, WA. Most of my fishing ended except for some charter fishing. It was good and probably cheaper than a buying a bigger boat. That went on for several years. One day I went to my wife and said our grandchildren were growing up and I didn't want to miss their childhood like I did with my children. She agreed and we put the house up for sale and a week later it was sold.

   We moved back to Kennewick, WA  and bought a new home. Going fishing with 5 grandchildren is a challenge. There is really no need for you to take your fishing rod because they want your attention all the time. After all, the fun is watching them.  If you can get them to put the fishing pole in the fishing pole holder for any longer then a minute you have made quite an accomplishment.  I'm hoping that some of what I tell them gets thru to them. Especially that they learn patients and leave the pole in the fishing pole holder a little longer each time and maybe they will catch a fish. They are awesome.

   I have made from scratch each of them a fishing pole. They got to pick out the color of the rod and the color of the thread. I am hoping they will teach there children to fish and maybe pass the fishing rod down to them if the pole last that long.

Columbia River Fishing

   For the last 3 years I have gone salmon fishing for the fall run of king salmon. I try to go with my son, Chad, and my son-in-law, Monte. We generally go the end of September or very beginning of October. We this last year both Chad and Monte went with me. I chartered a day trip with Chris Benson from Tri Cities Guide Service.

   I have chartered a day trip with Chris for the last 3 years and will continue to go out with him each year.  Chris is a great guide. He teaches his  techniques for fishing, know where to go and is just a great guy to go fishing with. We have been out with Chris when fishing was a challenge but at the end of the day we have fish when other guides don't. Its is a good feeling when you go to the loading dock and you have several fish and the other boats don't.

   This year, we had just gotten to the first fishing area and Chris was baiting the hooks and Monte said I think I have a fish. I had my back to him and said you just put your bait in the water and it is probably just bouncing off the bottom. Well, I turned around and the pole took another hit while in this fishing pole holder. Monte quickly grabbed the pole and remove it from the pole holder and sure enough he had the first fish for the day before Chad and I had our bait in the water. It was a nice fish and started the day off great with us all thinking we will be done by noon today.

  We finally got another hooked just before noon and this time it was on Chad's pole. The pole jumped in the pole holder and scarred us all. He landed his fish and it was a little bigger then Monte's. This got the adrenalin going for us all and again thought things would pick up.

   Mid afternoon I finally got a fish on and that brought us to 1 each. My fish was smaller then the other fish. That is pretty typical of my fishing. We decided to continue fishing but just burned up gas. The day beautiful outside and we all did enjoy that. It finally got late after noon and we decided to make one more drift thru the hole when my pole jump in the fishing pole holder. I grabbed the pole and landed a great fish.

   With the day over the count is one each for the boys and two for Randy, that's me. This too is typical of my fishing. Generally,  I out fish those who go with me. Not always, but generally.

Giant Fish

  My wife and I went to a dinner/auction with our Small Group from our church. It was sponsored by our high school kids. Well, Steve won the bid at $250.00 for a day fishing trip for 2 people with lunch and snacks furnished. The gentleman giving the trip was kind and offered 2 trips if I wanted to do it. I agreed and paid the church.

   I told the guide I wanted to do a sturgeon fishing trip. I chose a buddy I hadn't gone fishing with in years. On the day chosen we got there early in the morning and went up the Columbia River to what is called the Hanford Reach. I was very quit and a beautiful morning. It took about half an hour to get where we wanted to be.

   We fished for a couple of hours with little to no action but that was ok because we were enjoying the beautiful day and good conversation. Suddenly my friend hooked a sturgeon and finally landed it. It was 1 inch short of legal. Well, we took pictures and let it go. Perked up the morning and we continued fishing hoping to hook a legal fish. This is how the rest of the morning went.

   We ate lunch with no other action. Later that after noon my friend hooked another fish and when landed we measured and it was just short we thought. Mark released it too. I asked the friend who took us fishing if he had a fishing regulation guide and he looked around and found it. I looked thru the regulation and discovered that Mark's last fish was legal. Oh well, our fault for not knowing the regulation.

   Well, it was getting late afternoon and I still hadn't had a bite even. I was setting there eating the snack when my rod jerked so hard in the pole holder, I thought it was going to bounce out of it and into the water. Boy did that start the adrenalin. I grabbed the rod and when I felt the weight on the rod I was sure the fish was legal.

   I want you to know that when a big fish wants to go in another direction there is nothing you can do to stop it. I continued to put pressure on the pole and he continued to fight back. My arms were getting very tried and after about 30 minutes I gave my fishing pole to my friend. I gave my arms a rest for about 5 minutes and took to pole back. The fish still strong, I kept putting pressure on him to come to the surface. He finally came to the surface and I about fell out of the boat. This was a giant fish to me. The fish took one look at the boat and went back to the bottom. I continued to put pressure on him and he finally gave it up and came up to the boat and we hooked his tail and went to the bank and took pictures and measured him. He was 6'10" and was 150 pounds. This is the biggest fish I have ever caught in freshwater. But he was to big to keep, so I released him.

   The Columbia River produces sturgeon much bigger then this. I know of people catching sturgeon well over 12 feet. This was my biggest fish caught on the Columbia and it was a great day. The captain took us on a trip up further up the river and we ran into a group of foru mule deer. Three of the had four points on their antlers and one deer had five points. Beautiful day and thanks to the captain.

Cell Phone

   When ever you go fishing or even out for a nice nature drive, you need to have some way to contact someone for help if you need it.  That's why, it is of my opinion, that you should always take your phone and if anyone is with you, they should take their phone too.

   There is no better safety percussion then having your cell phone with you on any outing. You need to make sure you have fully charged the battery and remind anyone going with you to do the same. If you are taking your phone with you when going fishing you might consider putting it in some kind of waterproof bag. Phone won't do much if you drop it or it falls into the water. From experience, I know the doesn't work to well after it has be submerged in water.

  This is why I recommend you have the person that came with you to carry a cell phone too. You just never know what is going to happen. I was fishing a mountain lake and forgot my phone and did not remind my partner to bring his when an older man fishing the same lake fell and broke his hip. Well, lucky for the older man someone on the lake fishing had a phone and called for help. It still took about 45 minutes for the ambulance to get to where we were, but at least help came and was able to get the man to the hospital. That made a believer out of me. I always take my cell phone now.

   You need to be sure you put the cell phone in a secure pocket too. Not all pockets are good for the phone. I lost my phone one time while fishing, it fell out of my pocket and I didn't know it until I got back to the truck and tried to make a call but the phone was gone. We tried to find it but couldn't. Well, when I got home and informed my wife the phone was lost, she was not a happy camper. A few days later I bought another phone that cost me 250.00 and about a week after that the phone company called me and said someone found my phone and wanted to know if I could come and pick it up. I informed her that I purchased a new phone and to give it to the organization the gives phone to battered women.

Picking a fishing hat

   Having a good fishing hat is very important. Most of the time we just take the hat that is easy to get and most handy. Generally this is a baseball hat. Even though we look great in them, in my opinion they are not the best suited for fishing. Baseball hats don't really keep you dry when it is raining and don't keep the sun off the side of your face or neck. A baseball hat will get wet if it is warm with sweat and will take all day to dry out making them pretty uncomfortable to wear all day long. When considering a fishing hat be sure you look at them all and read about each type.

   There different qualities to each type of hat that will key to your situation. The head band need to be of a material that will absorb  sweat that will keep the sweat out of your eyes. Having a mesh material in the crown will help keep your head cooler while fishing. The only problem with mesh is if it rains you may get a little water thru it. Having an adjustable strap is something you should consider too. This will keep you hat on if it gets windy or if you knockit off while fishing. It is no fun watching your fishing hat float away or  chasing it down the river because of no chin strap.

    One of the most important things to consider is the brim of your fishing hat. In choosing a wide brimmed hat you might look of a hat that has a darker underside to it. This will take away some of the glare off the water. Also, you need to look for a hat that has a waterproof shell. These are more breathable and tend to stay dryer. You might look at the hats that have a neck cape to them. Some will roll up off your neck or you can put them down over you neck when you need it. These usually will also cover your ears and sides of you head cutting down on the UV exposure from the sun.

   One of the last things to consider is whether you hat is fade resistant. You don't to spend your money on a hat that will fade out from the sun. This feature really won't affect whether you hat protects you  from the sun or weather or not, but looking good when the pictures are being taken of you fish that you caught is. So, as you see picking a hat isn't as easy as you might think.