Once again the neighborhood outdid itself last night. There were some fireworks in our cul de sac but the cul de sac behind us REALLY did it up good. We have a tri-level house, the deck off the dining room has a nice view over most of the houses in the area. It was almost better than the Fourth of July display they put on last summer. And there was some one in the distance who had a bunch of M-80's (equal to a quarter stick of dynamite). VERY loud booms. Bailey stuck to us like glue the whole time. And no such celebration would be complete without the sounds of the fire truck sirens. There is a fire station about a mile away from our house. We can hear them any time they are called out. They were called out a couple of times last night.
One of the thing I did recently that wasn't reported here is the fishing trip I took after Thanksgiving with Randy, my brother-in-law. He is an avid fisherman. It was the first time I've gone fishing in the 20-some years I've been in Oregon. Oh yes, there was that ill-fated deep sea fishing expedition. I don't count that as I was toooooo seasick to even hold a fishing pole. We drove a couple hundred miles to the coastal town of Port Orford the Friday after Thanksgiving. Saturday we were up at 4:30 to meet Vernon, the guide at the Sixes River at 6 am, well before daylight. Apparently you cannot start fishing until there is a certain amount of daylight. And when it does get light, you want to be at your spot, ready to go. Vernon had a light on his hat, like a miner, to keep us off the banks and shallow spots as we made our way down the river. We were in a 15' rowboat, Randy and I in seats in the front, Vernon had the oars and all the rest of the gear behind us. It was about 35 degrees with a bit of wind. Kind of cool. I had on sweats and coats and rain gear and gloves and a couple pair of socks to keep me warm and dry. At least it kept me dry. We got to the spot we were heading for, a bend in the river about 7. There were up to 35 other fishermen in the same area through out the day. Some in a couple of boats but nearly all of them were fishing off the bank or in the river using waders. There were a number of fly fishermen (as opposed to lures and bait) and even one fly fisherwoman. Because the river was low, we were "bobber fishing" as opposed to "trolling". This mean that we anchored the boat, plunked our bait into a pool right at the bend in the river, sat back and watched the bobbers, waiting for them to disappear. There were fish all over that pool, roiling the water, jumping out of the water, catching the line on their fins as they swam by (the bait (fresh salmon eggs) was just above the bottom of the river.) We sat there, feeding the fish nearly the whole day. There were guys not more than 30 feet away from us catching so many that they had to pick and choose which ones (limit two per day) to keep. We got one strike around noon. The fish played with us for about 30 seconds before throwing the hook (he kept the bait....) We sat there.... through the morning mist, some early sunshine, clouds, rain, more wind, more sunshine, more rain. You get the picture. It wasn't until after three when I hooked one. It took a while to land, they tell me. It had a lot of fight in it. Very exhilarating. I think it was worth the eight hours of wind and rain and cold, don't you think?
A nice example of a Chinook Salmon.
That's Pat's brother Randy with me. He taught me all I know about fishing.......
Vernon and Randy pointed out that there should be a second fin on it's back. That means that it came from one of the hatcheries (where the fin was clipped) and released into the wild. I must have caught it on its way back upstream to spawn. The Vernon estimated it to be about 25 lbs. Not bad for a first fish! And, as it turned out, the only fish of the day for us. We got caught in a down pour on the way back. Got thoroughly drenched. So, I've got a lot of salmon in the freezer right now. Tabetha's significant other has a smoker. We'll turn the fish over to them to smoke it. We're negotiating how much salmon it will cost us for this service.... The whole experience was pretty much fun, but would have been better if it had been warmer. I caught a nice head cold too that weekend. The next time I go fishing, it will be warmer, if nothing else.
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