great two wkds of river kings

[chromage]

Well, my season is slowly coming to an end w/ bow season starting. However, the past two wks have been awesome. It seems that if you can get out to the river before the snaggers show up, expect to walk away w/ soar arms.

Last wkd I headed north. Friday there were a few fish in. I fished the surf til 8 until I had a wave roll over me. I landed one little 5 pound male and had two other slams but they didn't connect. After having the wave go over me I opted to hit the river. It didn't take long for me to hook up with a hog of a chrome hen. She was easily 18 lbs. Last year it took all season long to get a large fish but not this river season.

Saturday the 1rst shift of snaggers showed up early and it put the fish down. With major kurplunking of 3 ounce weights and crystal clear water the fishing was going to suck all day unless we got the rain the whether men were calling for. Only one out of the few locals there hooked up with a decent hen. My family and I opted to head farther north in search of some unmolested kings. Well, we ended up finding some but they were very spookiest. I even went down to 6 lb line and dime size chunks of skein. We checked out 2 other creeks but nothing was happening. It was a beautiful ride any how.

We then headed back to the original river and around dark, it finally started raining. In a half an hour I had 3 fair hooked fish on including the brightest fish I have seen. Almost had it landed and that's when it decided it didn't want anything to do w/ me and head shook and jumped all over the place. After a half an hour of fishing in miserable condition my parents had enough and we watch MSU hand over the game to Notre dame. It was alright we had to leave because I knew what was coming.

Sunday mourning we woke up and was down to the river before first light. As we drove there I seen a flag blowing hard from the north. I knew what that meant and was current on my 2nd cast with a bobber down. It was non-stop fishing all mourning long. Finally, after two years of putting them on fish, both my parents hooked up with many fish. My mom ended up walking out with her limit. My dad landed several more but released a ton. I walked out also with 2 hens and released many. One of the local guys were down there and after he limited he let my mom reel in some of his fish. Between the times I handed my pole off and the local, my mom could barely reel in the last fish which was a 15 lb buck. Needless to say, I didn't want to leave but had to.

This past wkd was also great. Jasontheoutdoorsman joined me for the adventure. Our first night resulted in a ton of fish caught and released. Then we found ourselves on the beach sipping on some beer and grilling up brawts thinking of what to do next. Saturday mourning was pretty much the same as Thursday night fishing skein under a bob. The water was a little bit more clear but there was just so many fish and little snagging going on you couldn't help but have a bobber down every cast.

Finally our eyes gave way and we had to pass out around 2:30 P.M. After a two hour nap my room mate called and told me he was in traverse and ready to fish. We went down to the river in which he hooked up but the fish through the hook a lot. I ended up landing two before the blackness showed up.

Then we started throwing fly's and even, my room mate showed us how it was done when he landed a decent size bucks. Congrat's were in order to him for this being his first trip ever and then landing his first salmon legally. Between the 3 of us, many fish were hooked but not many landed.

Finally we were chased off the river by guys tossing ten pounds of led and weights attached to the treble. A call was made after seeing this and people fishing in illegal areas.

Saturday mourning found us back on the river w/ a river litterly choked full of fish and nothing but the locals. Usually I would just slide in with them but having a few other guys with me we went looking for other fish. We ended up finding a pod of 100 or so fish under a tree. It didn't take long for us to hook up with fish. Even got his second which took the skein so far down it's throat there was no way of releasing the fish. Not too long after I landed a fish the snaggers showed up and scared most of the fish. We went in search of more fish and found some room with the locals. Then it got real bad and the bite but non existent. We made sure to have fun making a huge rucus on the river making fun of snaggers like no other. Heck, the C.O. was down there and told us in the parking lot it was extremely hard for her not to laugh hearing us diss snaggers w/o them even knowing. She made a few major bust thanks to jasontheoutdoorsman. Finally after a few hours of no head shakers all of us and the locals had enough and went our different ways.

Sunday found me in the woods which you can read that in the deer hunting forum.

I couldn't of asked for a better couple of weeks. I caught the most fish I have ever caught these past two weekend but it's the friends and family that made the trip the greatest. It was great seeing my parents fighting fish all the time and seeing my room mate hooking up with a consistent number of legal hook ups. Who said these fish don't bite?

I talked to a lot of my local buddies. They said the fishing has been out of this world where ever they go. I though the D.N.R stopped planting as many fish? It's been fun!

Also, it's good to hear the D.N.R have been out busting people. I heard a lot from the guys that the CO's have been down every day busting and arresting people. Hopefully one day we can fish in peace and quiet.

The rods are going to be hung up for a few weeks now. Time to get some hours of deer hunting in. Hopefully I can fill my tags in time to get into some river steel this fall. Good Luck to anyone still out fishing.

I also apologize for this being so long.