Fish On!

Did my one annual trip for salmon yesterday on the Pere Marquette river with friends. I've written plenty about my feelings on salmon. Not my bag, but fun for a day.

Turned out to be a nice, warm day. Breezy, but very pleasant. Given the NASTY forecast of 80 degrees and a high chance of violent thunderstorms, it was stunning. Last year's trip was on a day of high 40's and continuous drizzle.

My companions on this trip love salmon fishing. And they put up BIG numbers. Between three of us in the boat, we'd landed 10 by 9:30am! Lots of fish, many pretty fresh.

But my reward was something different entirely. I noticed some trout below a pod of salmon feasting on the egg buffet. On one long drift, BAM -- hit one. Turned out to be a great 20" male in full pre-spawn Fall color. This was a gorgeous fish with rich brown and gold tones, and some red accents. Probably the prettiest fish I've ever caught. And, for 2010 my largest brown thus far! After a quick revive, he happily sped back to take his place below the egg conveyor.

I can't explain how much this fish made my day. I was grinning from ear-to-ear after that one! Such a pleasant and beautiful surprise. Another bonus was a little steelhead skipper. Small, but more imporantly my first chromer of the year!

A great day. On the drive home I was thinking -- "Gosh, I needed that!"

-Sean-