We had time in the morning to try a few passes at the end of Multnomah Channel in St Helens, OR for spring salmon.The downtown marina was quiet and flat.
The river is closed now below Bonneville for salmon fishing... but the channel and Willamette are still open...
The Columbia River looked vacant and empty after last week's traffic. Mount St Helens is not yet breaking out from the night's fog.
There were about 2 dozen boats trolling inside the Channel.
We made one downhill pass, and then ...bam...Bam... BANG! Fish On!
Look familiar?
He hooked a red-hot spring salmon.The geese were honking, and we were scrambling.
Finally, the fish was in the net.And it had a fin. Wild fish - gotta let it go.
It was a big one, too - 18 or 20 lbs. Isn't that always the case?
We did a quick release, and went to repeat the process.We made 4 more passes, and had 2 other big takedowns... but nothing stuck.
We only saw 2 other fish caught, before we had to leave by 9:30.
We did take some time to checkout a sinking boathouse in the Channel.
It was a really nice house at one time - shame it is sinking.
Nice big boat area.
Really had some nice potential... until it took on water, that is.All in all, a great morning in the Pacific NorthWest. Spring is in the air, trees are in bloom, and fish running in the rivers.
