J
JeannaJigs
I put in a time off request like 10 years ago, to have yesterday off to go fish the Columbia with Andy (I work dedicated weekends, with weekdays off, Andy only has weekends off...yada yada). Needless to say, THAT got axed. We decided dodging root balls and logs the size of blue whales in a 12 foot boat, with virtually zero visibility was not wise...though we have done some crazy trips up there. That said, I was fiending to get out of the house, had the jeep gassed, needed to find a plan B. Well everything else looks like diarrhagia. I decided cougar would probably be the only option, and it turned out that it was the only piece of water up that highway that didn't look like poo. Water looked really good actually, with good visibility. The boat ramp was accessible, and it was an easy launch.
The rain wasn't as bad as we had anticipated, as we prepared for a monsoon...but we didn't prepare for it to snow pretty much all day. Still was an alright day of fishing. We were trolling worms and fenders without much luck so we stopped up an arm and I broke out my ultra ultra-light rod from retirement that was actually my first trout rod, It's only like 5 feet long and is like a toothpick, but I've had a lot of good memories with that little rod and a lot of fish caught over the last 22 or so years. I cast a worm (yeah I was slummin' it chuckin' gear and drowning worms...what what, it was fun) on my first cast I start reeling in and fish on. It feels like a tank, but everything does with this dinky little rod. I finally get a look at it and it was a beast! I kinda panicked at that point because it was then that I realized I have probably 4 pound line, that is 10+ years old on this tiny reel that only holds 60 yards and it's probably all kinds of frayed. (can you tell I don't go troutin' often?) Somehow I got it in without breaking that crappy line and see that it is definitely my PB rainbow. I've caught some searun cutties in Siltcoos and Tahkenitch that are larger, but never a rainbow of such size.
I did keep it, as it was a bleeder, and I was hungry. Trout tastes good, but I don't mess with eating the small ones because the bones just make me angry. I did an autopsy at home because I was curious what such a large fish had been eating. There wasn't much in her stomach, a couple bugs and some snail shells. Turns out she was post spawn, I found a couple eggs in the boat, and there were exactly 3 eggs left inside her, so she was probably a much fatter fish before all the nutrients went to those eggs. Still weighed in at 2 pounds, a nice fish for sure. Unfortunately, it was loaded with parasites. I researched different parasites and with all the ones I saw it was still safe to eat the fish after cleaning and cooking as usual, it's just mentally getting around that. The meat is fine, bright red, but, I think my dad's gonna get a nice trout dinner out of this one lol.
I eventually went back to the trolling and picked up a smaller one, that was literally iridescent purple/blue. It had the same coloring as a kokanee, with very faint spotting. Classic reservoir fish.
Andy picked up one in the same arm as my first larger fish, that was probably about 15 inches or so, a very nice fish. Somehow it wrapped his flasher around a stump, and he still got it in.
I also learned that if you throw something my dog is interested in off a cliff, she WILL jump with reckless abandon after it, no matter what....Won't do that again. (dog is safe/okay despite her lemming move)
I'll post pictures later, I can't post from this computer, have to do it from my evil phone.
The rain wasn't as bad as we had anticipated, as we prepared for a monsoon...but we didn't prepare for it to snow pretty much all day. Still was an alright day of fishing. We were trolling worms and fenders without much luck so we stopped up an arm and I broke out my ultra ultra-light rod from retirement that was actually my first trout rod, It's only like 5 feet long and is like a toothpick, but I've had a lot of good memories with that little rod and a lot of fish caught over the last 22 or so years. I cast a worm (yeah I was slummin' it chuckin' gear and drowning worms...what what, it was fun) on my first cast I start reeling in and fish on. It feels like a tank, but everything does with this dinky little rod. I finally get a look at it and it was a beast! I kinda panicked at that point because it was then that I realized I have probably 4 pound line, that is 10+ years old on this tiny reel that only holds 60 yards and it's probably all kinds of frayed. (can you tell I don't go troutin' often?) Somehow I got it in without breaking that crappy line and see that it is definitely my PB rainbow. I've caught some searun cutties in Siltcoos and Tahkenitch that are larger, but never a rainbow of such size.
I did keep it, as it was a bleeder, and I was hungry. Trout tastes good, but I don't mess with eating the small ones because the bones just make me angry. I did an autopsy at home because I was curious what such a large fish had been eating. There wasn't much in her stomach, a couple bugs and some snail shells. Turns out she was post spawn, I found a couple eggs in the boat, and there were exactly 3 eggs left inside her, so she was probably a much fatter fish before all the nutrients went to those eggs. Still weighed in at 2 pounds, a nice fish for sure. Unfortunately, it was loaded with parasites. I researched different parasites and with all the ones I saw it was still safe to eat the fish after cleaning and cooking as usual, it's just mentally getting around that. The meat is fine, bright red, but, I think my dad's gonna get a nice trout dinner out of this one lol.
I eventually went back to the trolling and picked up a smaller one, that was literally iridescent purple/blue. It had the same coloring as a kokanee, with very faint spotting. Classic reservoir fish.
Andy picked up one in the same arm as my first larger fish, that was probably about 15 inches or so, a very nice fish. Somehow it wrapped his flasher around a stump, and he still got it in.
I also learned that if you throw something my dog is interested in off a cliff, she WILL jump with reckless abandon after it, no matter what....Won't do that again. (dog is safe/okay despite her lemming move)
I'll post pictures later, I can't post from this computer, have to do it from my evil phone.
its been heavily abused/loved
