A fish in the hand...

See me smile. See me REALLY smile!! This is my first ever salmon, caught all by my big girl self! Well - Chris did man the net to get it in the boat...and it's a good thing he is tall with long arms, I was as tired as the fish by the time I got it close enough to the boat to net it.

Someone asked how much it weighed, I told them at LEAST 50 pounds! That's what it felt like as it was hauling line away and I was trying to hold on! But it was actually 21 1/2 pounds, a nice size male - they are called "bucks", don't ask me why.

Then Chris got the next one on, and handed the pole to mom. She hauled in this nice 13 pound "hen", her umpteenth salmon. But each one is exciting all over again, as you can tell from HER smile! And yes, we are having a hard time holding them up to get a picture, they are heavy!

Here's a nice view of two nice fish. Mine's the BIG one, in case you didn't notice...
I knew it was a male immediately as it came out of the water, because of the hooked nose. They get more and more hooked as they head up-river for spawning. Also notice, the black "lips" - that's a Chinook characteristic. The Silvers, which were literally jumping out of the water all around us, have white lips where the teeth are. Speaking of teeth - take a look at those nasty sharp things, like razors! And not quite apparent are some "fangs" right in front. Scary.
Chris came over Sunday and mentioned he had two empty seats in his boat, if we might be interested in fishing the next morning. All we wanted to know was WHAT TIME!

He's a savvy, patient fisherman, his boat is very comfy, and we had a great time! Up at 4:30 a.m., on the river by 6:45, hovering over the heater until daylight - have to keep those fingers limber, doncha know. It was like Christmas, with all the boats floating gently with colored running lights, waiting for the sky to lighten. Spectacular.

After trolling up the bay a ways, finding where the "bite" was, enjoying our snacks under bright sunny skies with fresh air and beautiful scenery around us - we finally, reluctantly, hauled out about 1:oo p.m.

Back home, Chris showed me how to hose off the scales, and he started filleting. It's an art.
And this is what is left. Chris calls it "fillet and release" (instead of catch and release). The release part is when he takes the bucket of innards and skeletons down to the bay and feeds the seagulls.
This is one of the things we consider a treasure, living on Tillamook Bay.
Here's the payoff, as far as Chris is concerned - he get's the eggs from the hens. He preserves them with his secret recipe, to be used for fishing bait later on.

Small pay, for a wonderful adventure!!