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[Sterling C]

Ok, so here's the gist of this thread. What I'm looking for is for people to post a picture that means something special to them. In addition to the picture I would like people to write the story behind the picture and what exactly it is about the picture that makes it so special to you. Please, lets not turn this into a hero shot thread, I'll have Rodney delete those pics otherwise.

So now that I've set the ground rules I guess I'll get the ball rolling:




This picture is of me and my father from a few years ago on the Chehlais. The thing you need to know about my Dad is that he doesn't really fish all that much. In fact, when I first wanted to start fishing, he didn't know the first thing about it so it was really a case of the blind leading the blind. Over the years I picked up in the catching department, while all along Dad never had any luck. In fact, most days he would get up at whatever stupid hour his sons though the fishing would be good at and would drive us out to the river and most of the time he wouldn't even bother to fish. As the years went on, he stopped buying licenses and would just come so the his kids had a ride out to the river. As I got older, I eventually got my drivers license and Dad was cut out of the equation.

Recently, Dad has started fishing from time to time. He won't ever go out on his own, but if the weather is decent sometimes I can drag him out. He still doesn't buy a fishing license anymore but me and Winston usually buy him one for fathers day. This takes me back to that one fateful day in July. It was a sunday afternoon and I didn't really have any plans for the day. I had a craving for a little piscatoral pursuit,  my brother had gone out for the day so I didn't really have anyone to go with. I ran the possible idea of going fishing past my Dad but he declined insisting that he had promised my mother to take her out on a walk today. Well after the salesman act, I had Dad and Mom convinced that they could come fishing on the chehalis and still get a 'walk' on the hike in. After we got to the parking area we went on our 'walk' from the trail head down to the river. Upon arriving at the river we found it to be in excellent condition with the perfect color. Mom set up on a rock with her book and me and Dad set up our gear.

After working through the run several times without so much as a bite I look upstream to see Dads rod bent over and him reeling it in with some difficulty. "I think I'm snagged on the bottom" was his response when I arrived beside him. Well as it turned out the 'bottom' was actually a small steelhead. We quickly brought the fish to hand and by this time Mom had arrived with a camera in hand and after a quick photoshoot the fish was sent back on its way. A quick handshake was exchanged as well as congratulations to my Dad for his first ever steelhead and first ever fish hooked and landed all on his own. We never touched another fish all day but you couldn't wipe the grins off either of our faces for the rest of the day.

[bbronswyk2000]

This was the first trip I took my son out in my boat. It was later in the season and we did not expect to get much. It was very cold and my son was whining most of the time. I got a bite and set the hook. I was going to let my son play this fish but couldnt get the fighting belt on his quick enough. So I played it, landed it and got my first picture taken with him and the sturgeon. He was absolutely thrilled to finally see a sturgeon. He had seen one before when we were barfishing the lower Fraser. The one we caught barfishing was just 1 foot long and he couldnt really appreciate this species from that small fish. My son rarely smiles but as you can see he is smiling in this picture. After that we got into a couple more before the cold just got to my son too much. I dropped him off and my buddy and I continued to fish.

[riverwolf]

I took a new friend, Dave, drifting down the Chetco river (southern Oregon). He had never been in a driftboat before nor had he landed any fish bigger than a small trout. We were running K-15 sardine wrapped Kwikfish (chart / silver) and had caught a couple of small jacks in about a mile of river. As we were slotting down the piling hole, his rod went down with a vengence. I grabbed the other rod and got it out of the way and he proceeded to fight the fish. After 35 minutes, we netted a very nice 38 lb. king. He said his hands were tired!
I was glad he could get a nice fish and send pictures to all his friends. That's why I like to row.

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

Excellent story guys! Ill include one once I get the pics!

[kellya]

The fish that got me hooked on fishing. My dad helped me get it but now rarely rarely fishes but still comes along often to watch. It was a nice rainbow caught from a fish pond

[Ribwart]

Great idea for a thread Sterling....nice posts guys! 

[Troy_604]

I took this pic of my dad last summer.  he doesnt fish much, this was the first time in probably 5 years actually.  we we're camping in merritt, but i dont remember what this lake was called.  anyways, it was a beutiful day, and dad was having fun

[DionJL]

Two Christmas’ ago my dad decided that he would take our family down the Baja of Mexico for the holidays. I was not too enthusiastic about leaving my friends and girlfriend behind during prime partying season along with my newly acquired drivers license, but the idea of possible fishing opportunities made it slightly less painful.

So the drive began, us towing our twenty-seven foot trailer down the I-5. After a week of full driving we arrived at our destination; a huge beach just north of Cabo San Lucas. There were about 50 other trailers parked for the winter but we managed to get a spot right on the sandy beach, next to a friendly Canadian from Kamloops. Within a few hours upon arrival my dad is doing what he does best, absolutely nothing. If my dad isn’t working all he wants to do is lounge in the sun, and if its winter he builds a fire and lounges in front of that. So me getting him to fish with me is always a hassle when we’re camping but normally he’ll tag along with a book. Recently I got him tossing a dry fly on the kettle river and then catching his first fish on the fly (that’s another story). But he still doesn’t have the itch to do it on his own like I do.

Of course, upon arrival, the first thing I want to do is find a place to wet a line. We are parked on a surfers beach so I start hiking looking for some flat water to toss a line in. After the first day of walking around in the sun I give up. I’ll need vehicular transport to find anywhere to fish. So after a few days of nagging my dad to take me fishing he says “Lets take the girls to Cabo San Lucas. They can shop, and we can find out how much it will be to get a charter.”

The next day we make the trip to Cabo. The girls go off, and we walk through the harbor talking to the guides trying to sell themselves. Prices range from $200-$1000 for a few hours to a full day of fishing. After finding the price range we go off to do some exploring of our own, enjoying cold beers while walking down the street.

After getting back to the trailer we find another fellow who is interested in coming with us on the charter. So a few days later we head back to Cabo hours before sun up. Down the boardwalk we find a guide that seems to speak fairly good English and seems like a good guy with a good price (of course that changes). He takes us out into the harbor and we buy bait and then head out to the open ocean. We are in a 22ft panga, which is a long narrow boat with a very old looking outboard motor on the back and no kicker. After getting us me set up he tells me to let the bait (live herring) to swim away but if it starts taking line really fast tell him. So I grab a seat at the front of the boat, and watch the guide set up my dad and Mario, the other fellow that came with us. The guide starts telling them that they call Pelicans  “Mexican Chickens”, and that they catch them and cook them in soup. My dad of course falls right into the guides joke but that’s ok, he’s having fun. Before Mario or my Dad are set up I already have a Stripped Marlin on. And the battle begins. Although its before 7am the guide is already on his 2nd “cerveza” and my dad makes the joke this could be a two beer fish. The guide doesn’t get the joke but it’s all good. While battling the fish for more than two hours the guide spots a grey whale and a mako shark (which he attempted to hook). My dad is loving all the wild life and the whole experience. After landing the Marlin neither me nor him were able to wipe the grins from our faces, and the guide told us that was a “4 beer fish”. Everyone on the boat laughed through our exhaustion. The guide took us into shore to fish for bonito and dorado. While all the other boats didn’t seem to be getting anything we were quickly into a double header. After landing one on the spinning rod I switch to my fly rod and hand the bait over to my dad who is still grinning from ear to ear.

After our charter we got our picture taken with all the fish. And after our arrival back at camp my dad couldn’t stop talking about how amazing the trip was. Still to this day he talks about the adventure in the highest regard. I’m sure he enjoyed me fulfilling my goal of the entire trip (to Mexico) more than he enjoyed the fishing, but it still pleases me that he had an amazing time on the water catching fish.  It is defiantly a trip I will never forget.

[testo84]

nice trip dion

[BwiBwi]

Curiouse, what did you do with all that fish?

[Ribwart]

Ok...I'll add one Stirling...you've seen this story already elsewhere, but it was such a rewarding experience for me, and suited this thread so well, that I just had to post it here...

"Early January..."

Well, it's that time of year again. The salmon have all completed their yearly migrations up our favorite creeks, streams and rivers, depositing their precious cargo in their redds. Eagles perch in nearby trees, satiated by the feast of salmon they've dined on, enjoying the abundance of food they are blessed with every year. The air has grown colder, more volatile. The weather taking on its winter hue, is unpredictable and tempermental at best. Yet, what is most associated with this time of year for many west coast fishermen, is the return of big wild winter steelhead to our local flows.

Weeks ago, I spoke with a young man and member of a fishing site about possibly doing a bit of steelheading with him and his dad this season. We discussed some techniques, and places to go, and decided we should make a trip out for steelhead at least once this year and see what we could find...

We made arrangements early in the week to hit the flow and waited to see what the weather had in store for us. Torrential downpour on my last excursion, didn't bode well for our upcoming trip, but we kept our hopes up and a last minute decision was made to give it a go, and see what the river had to offer us.

"Fishey" and his dad, Dave, arrived at my place early this morning under clear, cold skies. We exchanged hello's and introductions and soon had our gear packed in the truck and were on our way. After a brief stop for some nice hot coffee we were soon zipping down the highway and leaving the city far behind.

Now, Fishey and Dave are relatively new to the sport and so we passed the time driving out there going over some details of what we might expect for conditions, and how we might temp some of these mighty fish. Questions abounded and we spoke in length of the fish that so handily captures our imaginations. Fishey showed me some of the floats he had made himself and we passed the time doing what fishermen do when they're not fishing, talking shop...Before we knew it we were pulling up to a nice low key local flow and not another angler was to be seen anywhere...

We hiked in, rods in hand, along a trail for a while until we reached our chosen spot. Having been hounded by some local residents dogs for a while along the way, and playing fetch with them to keep them at bay, it was nice to finally put everything behind us and settle in to find some fish...

I quickly settled in to my routine, working the water from the top down, short floating a large flashy colorado blade along a current seam. I really didn't know what to expect today, but conditions were as good as one could expect, so I dug in for some serious fishing. Several casts in, and wouldn't you know it down goes the float! I could tell right away this was a smaller fish, and soon brought a nice little cutthroat to shore and let it swim on its way...



By this time my newly found companions had set their gear up, and were getting set to work the pool along with me. With Dave on my right, fishing a nice looking gooey bob, and Fishey on my left drifting a nice big juicy roe bag, the three of us began to work the pool short floating in earnest.

Remember how I stated they were "relatively new to the sport"? Well neither of them had ever fished for steelhead before, let alone caught one, so it was going to be a tough go at first, or so I thought...
I tried to explain to them that many steelheaders don't get their first fish for a year and sometimes more. I made every effort to give them a realistic understanding of what to expect. I recall distinctly looking over at Fishey in between casts and describing that his drifts looked pretty good and his home made float was sitting nicely, when suddenly he comes back hard on his gear and I see the clear, tell tale pounding of the headshakes of a big fish, and proclaim: "That's a Steelhead". It was a big fish too. That fish slammed that roe bag with a vengeance and Fishey was hanging on for the ride for a second or two...LoL  .
You should've seen his face! He had the same look of awe, surprise and glee we all must plainly display when a fish smashes our presentation and we don't quite see it coming. I don't care who you are, we all get surprised by a fish from time to time, with those sharp, quick hard takes that can really wake you up quick, whether it's your first fish, or your fiftieth!!!

This fish powered its way through the pool. It was taking line right from the get go and must've hit fishey's roe bag at a good pace! I swear I watched closely, but it was moving so fast I almost thought I saw it in two places at once! I recieved my first indication of its size as the fish surged across the tailout, porpoising through the water...it was pissed...! Fishey all the while continued to fight his first ever steelhead.



We checked his drag to make sure it was set right, and watched in horror as the fish began to try and leave the pool...   Quickly I told fishey to try and turn the fish and not to let him leave the run!!!
But he was already on it before I could get the words out...



I explained to fishey how he could turn the rod to the side to apply a little more torque to a determined fish and he pulled it off like a charm!!! The fish turned and ran back towards the mainflow for another dogged fight through the current...

Handily staying on top of the fish, Fishey experienced those first agonizing few moments before a steelhead is lead to shore, as we prepared to bring the fish to hand...Carefully swinging this beauty into the shallows Fishey is completely focused on the fish, and it turns and rockets up the shoreline leaving a wake behind it...Ahhhhh Steelhead, the name is soooo appropriate for these determined fish. Shortly thereafter, the prize of all prizes, an anglers first steelhead is posed for the camera and an addict is born forever...



I guestimate the fish was near 15 lbs, a beautiful wild buck full of energy and life...the second Fishey put him down, he tore off at breakneck speed into the deep fast water for cover...released, unharmed, and free, as they should be.

What a fun thing it is to witness someone getting their first ever steelhead...and on a home made float to boot! 

Congrats Fishey, well done... 

The smile says it all...

[coryandtrevor]

First day hunting for Coho right after the floods, cast my Bikini Croc into a very small hole that seems unsuspecting and WHAM ! I got this beauty, my first Coho(first Salmon ever) and I felt like a million bucks ! My buddy starts shouting that I had hooked a steelhead and I started jumping around screaming like a retard " I GOT A STEELHEAD < I GOT A STEELHEAD !" Until my other buddy called it what it was but I was still stoked. My blood was boiling. I think that was the moment I got hooked on river fishing. After having a few days catching Dollies up to 6 lbs on the river I got this gem of a Coho, man is she pretty ! I hooked her right close to the bank and it literally took me 15 seconds to reel her in cuz she was so close. Put up a decent fight compared to the even the largest Dolly I had caught previously. I hope you will enjoy the picture as much as I do ! CandT

[Jimmy]

this is a picture of my boy just before his 2nd birthday. We had just brought home his little sister and he wasn't too happy about it. So I asked if he wanted to try to catch his first fish. Well of course he did and he has been fishing with me ever since.