4/21 Portland harbor chromer

[minnowmagnet]

I have put in a good amount of time for these springers lately and now I am starting to feel okay about it at 3 for 3 on the season. Yesterday, I had a strange premonition that one of the three of us out fishing in my friend's boat would put a fish in it. Even though we had seen zero action by 10:00am, I fished on tirelessly (I usually have to paddle my kayak endlessly while fishing for salmon). The anxiety and exhaustion brought on by sitting there, drinking beer and listening to tunes while basking in the sunshine was really starting to get to me. At around 11:00 the trusty kicker started sputtering and finally ran out of gas, so as my buddy started filling the tank, the other two of us went over to the rods to reel up. Amazingly, as I got to my rod, with the line pointing almost straight down in the water, the rod tip started going berserk. Once it was out of the holder, the fish was already hooked and started making a run and after some dubious exclamations from my fishing partners and some powerfully profane exclamations from me, the entire boat accepted the bizarre but delicious reality of the situation- fish-on!
I truly believe that had the kicker not hit E at that precise moment, that fish would still be out there swimming. Thanks fish-gods!
It fell for a blue brined cut plug behind a green flasher from a dead boat.
Good luck to all of you springer fishermen out there, and stay positive. It works.

 

[rogerdodger]

excellent, was your gear already close to the bottom when the motor died? or was it sinking towards the bottom and then you started reeling it up? cheers.

 

[troutdude]

Mr. Magnet; that AIN'T no minnow!!!

Well done!

 

[troutmasta]

Well it looks like the real slow troll is hot.

Can you say CHROMER. Holy smokes!

Nice Job

 

[DrTheopolis]

The anxiety and exhaustion brought on by sitting there, drinking beer and listening to tunes while basking in the sunshine was really starting to get to me.

It's just awful.

And the long drive home is such a downer.

It's horrible to be a fisherman in Portland this time of year, just horrible.

 

[eugene1]

Awesome!

congrats on the fish,

 

[bass]

Great job MM! That is a nice fish, you have been having a really good season!

 

[minnowmagnet]

Thanks guys. I always get fired up when I see other people's success, so I thought I would share and help keep the addiction alive for all those folks out on the troll. It looks like I made the featured report page of OFF, so now I'll never get away from the paparazzi!

excellent, was your gear already close to the bottom when the motor died? or was it sinking towards the bottom and then you started reeling it up? cheers.

Roger, I was fishing for them suspended fish, so my gear was never near the floor. That lane is consistently over 50ft deep. My other fish this year have been on shelves tapping or near bottom.

 

[chad wiest]

Gotta love those lower willamette spring kings! The best fishing is yet to come...

 

[rogerdodger]

Roger, I was fishing for them suspended fish, so my gear was never near the floor. That lane is consistently over 50ft deep. My other fish this year have been on shelves tapping or near bottom.

cool, great fish...

 

[mikeee2362]

Niiiice!! Sometimes a little stop and flutter will trigger the bite!! Awesome looking fish! Congrats!

 

[Hooked Up]

Well it looks like the real slow troll is hot

Awesome fish MM

 

[Gettin' Jiggy Wid It]

Nice chrome fish, MM! Congrats on going three for three. Thanks to you mentioning trolling cut plugs from a kayak earlier this year, I started trying it myself from the NuCanoe in April. Hooked and lost my first king two weeks ago, and landed my first king today. I'll post it up with pics later.