I wish I had a photo to post but I got skunked. I took my neighbor with me (my wife doesn't like me going out on the Columbia alone) even though he isn't usually the most patient angler. We saw just enough fish landed to keep him in the boat for most of the tide.
We got to the mouth of the Lewis a little before ten o' clock. The current was slack so we found a spot (33' deep) in the third hog-line that was just starting to form. The current was completely slack, so we had to keep reversing to keep the anchor line tight. There were only four boats pretty spread out. I started talking with the next guy over a bit and mentioned that we'd gotten there a bit early. "No, you need to get here early to get a spot" was his reply. Of course he was right. by the time the tide got going there were probably close to 20 boats in our line and a fourth line was forming.
I had rigged up two poles with "Brad's Mini-Extreme Wobblers", one chartreuse with a green spot and the other chartreuse and chrome. The chartreuse/green one got a couple hits without hooking up (switching to trebles) but the chartreuse/chrome didn't get a hit. The boat next to us caught a really nice (25 pound) one on a similar wobbler, so I was sure we would hook one... By four o' clock we pulled anchor and headed home as I didn't want to get stuck in the height of rush-hour.
This was my first time in a "Hog-Line" and it wasn't too bad at all. Next time maybe I'll catch something! We were in the right spot with the right stuff, but it just didn't happen.
I have a friend that says he'll take me out in a couple weeks and says he can pretty much guarantee a couple Silvers. Of course I'll take him up on it.
However, there's something about going out in your own boat with your own tackle and catching a fish on your own that is priceless!
