2017-08-15 Salmon fishing with Dennis & Dori

For a time before I retired from First Bank, Dennis Madson was our account manager for Open Solutions Inc.  During that time we discovered that we both are interested in fishing.  I have taken him, his son Taylor, and his wife Dori, out fishing several times in the past.

This year we were scheduled for a two day salmon fishing trip with Dennis and Dori.

Unfortunately when trips like this are scheduled months in advance, you have to deal with the weather, whatever it is, when the designated day arrives.  In this case the first day was pretty gnarly.

We tried to start fishing on the inside of Vallenor Rocks, and it usually is OK to fish there even when the weather is marginal.  But this time it was really too rough to safely fish there, and besides that, it wasn't much fun for any of us.

So we moved over into the Clover Pass area where it was much more protected.

We picked up a couple of Silvers there as well as a couple of Pinks.

Around 3 PM we moved north in Behm Canal up to Grant Island.
I had been there just over a week prior and had done well there.

We picked up 3 more Pinks there.

Then we headed in to the Naha USFS dock for the night.
We have stayed there in the past with them and it is becoming sort of a tradition.

On the way there we came across a small black bear swimming across the narrow channel.
Not something you see every day.
I didn't want to get too close to him because sometimes animals panic and do things that are dangerous to their health.

We were once again fortunate to get a spot at the dock.
It is first come, first served, and there is never a guarantee of a spot.
Dennis and I processed the fish while Dori started on dinner.
She made a tremendous meal of steak fajitas and rice, much better fare than I usually make for myself out here.

We had a rainy but quiet night at the dock, with only one other boat there.

In the morning after a quick and light breakfast we pulled out about 8 AM.
The weather was a little better today, no rain, not as windy, and just over cast skies.

We went right back to Grant Island and spent pretty much the entire day doing passes along the side of the island near the navigational marker.

The final fish count for this day was 8 Silvers and 5 Pinks.
Of course there were many strikes which yielded no fish, and a few fish were lost right at the net, but we won't talk about those.
And we got a few under sized Kings which of course must be thrown back.

We quit fishing at 4 PM and ran back into town to Cedars Lodge, where Dennis & Dori arranged for the fish to be processed for their trip back to Utah the next day.

Then it was back to the stall, clean the boat, sort out the gear, and wrap up the trip.

It was a good fishing trip and it was nice to spend some more time with Dennis and Dori.