Salmon!

Holy cow, did we see some gorgeous fish this weekend!

And yes, i said "see" not "caught." Despite my husband being an avid bass fisherman back in Texas, and despite my having caught a ton of trout when i was a teenager, we apparently have no idea what we're doing nowadays when it comes to trout, rivers, lakes, salmon and not getting all our lures stuck to the bottom.

Yesterday, we took advantage of our first Sunday off together (not counting in California) since July and drove west on hwy 34 towards Waldport. I thought my husband had a plan. He thought he'd develop a plan en route. We ended up getting all the way to the coast (where we saw lots of seals swimming about with the fishermen) where we as-per-usual lusted after the boats and skiffs the lucky fishermen were cruising around on in the estuary. On top of the "when we get settled and magically have extra money" list is a used fishing boat and trailer with small motor.

Boat lusting aside, the banks in Waldport were a bit crowded, so we turned back to 34 to meander along the Alsea river and hope for a good spot to pull over, along a highway that says 'no parking on the shoulders.' We found a turnout, however! And as we were leaving, we found several others along the way, so we have scoped out and discovered some swell fishing and potentially gorgeous swimming in the Summer (I know, Texans- it's still Summer down THERE but it's definitely Fall here, right in time with the calender). We scrambled down a muddle, blackberry lined path and made our way to the pristine river, surrounded by light (to medium/heavy) rain and puffy low-cloud patches floating in the mature trees. I think my husband was in heaven: trees, mist, his dog and wife, fishing in Oregon. Can't get better than that!

Well, it could: we could have caught something or at least gotten nibbles! The only nibbles we got were from rocks and trees that stole our lures (i think we lost 5 or so, sheesh). But we were surrounded by fish! They were either mocking us or just rejoicing in the first rain of the season, but we saw some HUGE salmon throwing themselves into the air, diving like dolphins just out of our reach. We'd be re-tying a lure on, unable to cast and those persnickity fish would be thrashing around just beyond our noses. It was frustrating, yes but it was also wonderful to get to see the beautiful fish playing around in the water.

The husband indicating the size of the fish that just did acrobatics in front of him.

Not quite as good as eating them or getting our hands on 'em for a photo before releasing, but our first glimpse of wild Oregon salmon was pretty fantastic. On a side note, our corgi is pretty water proof, but a day in the rain was a bit much for her. Thinking we need to invest in some kind of rainwear for her. She certainly appreciated the down blanket snuggle times during the drive home.

Do you fish? Do you get as much joy from seeing the fish rise as you do from hooking them?