See You Next Year

Waking up today was no problem. Someone kept beating on the door... or so we thought. I went downstairs and opened the door.

Nobody there.

I went to the other front door to find the same. I looked out the back door. Nothing. I head back to bed a little peeved. I'm almost back asleep when the knocking starts again. Robin hears it this time. I go back downstairs, but the street seems very quiet.

Well, I'm glad we're moving.

Since it is 7:30 am, that means College Gameday is starting the broadcast from Austin. I turn on the TV and snooze off and on until 9:30.

Kickoff... 21 to 3... WOOOHOOO!!!

24 to 24... OOOOOHHH SHHHIITTT!!!!

41 to 24!!!!! M-I-Z!!! Z-O-U!!!!

I'm out the door and on the water for the last day of the salmon run by 2:00 pm. Later than I wanted, but I think the wait was worth it.

I walk down the path to the prime spot on our little stretch of the Yakima and a group of 7 people are packing up and leaving empty handed. Not a promising sign.

"Been here since sunrise," one of them says as they walk away. "The spot is yours. We're headed to Horn Rapids."

Although the fishing is supposed to be better there as well as other places, I am content not to use that much gas. Besides, I just got the primo spot on the whole damn river to myself. I wade on out.

I notice my buddy Joe upstream on another good spot that sits at the mouth of a creek. I wonder how he has done today. When we first met, he had not caught any this run either. Then I took two weeks off... he caught six.

Behind me I notice that someone from downstream noticed the others leaving and made his way to "the pipe spot" where I am.

Great. I got five minutes alone.

I cast my line for the second time.

When you are salmon fishing with bait on a river of this size, you cast upstream and let your bait drift through deep water until the line is just about as far away as you can let it go before setting the hook gets too difficult if you get a bite. Not easy to do if you are next to someone that lacks the edicate necassary not to tangle both your lines. When done right, you can get four or five people within just a few steps from each other.

The guy says his name is John and he doesn't get right in. He drinks a couple of beers.

About 20 minutes go by and he decides it's time to throw out a rattle trap lure. Not cool. This will cut my drift in half. What an ass.

On about my fifth cast my bobber disappears and I rip my pole up to set the hook. NAILED IT.

BOOM! This salmon is pissed and runs hard. I'm not using my $60 salmon/steelhead rod because the reel has been sticking. I'm using Robin's bass rod.

Since I am using 30 pound Spiderwire with a 30 pound test leader, I'm not too worried about the line snapping. I've seen idiots come out here with 10 pound test and pull in 20 pounders.

John watches me battle for 15 minutes and shouts advice at me. "Take your time," he says, "Don't force it. We'll get your first one in."

At this point I notice he has put his pole down on the bank. I assume he is grabbing a net. Since I don't have one, I'm glad. As I walk closer to the bank, others arrive to see me battle what we can now see is at least a 40 inch hen weighing 35 pounds easy, if not more. The other guys stand where they are, engrossed I suppose because I'm using a bass rod.

I get the hen on the grass, which is a good five feet from the dry bank still so my work is not done. Now, John has no net I notice as he has been getting in my way. Not cool.

I begin to drag the fish over the grass toward shore and John steps right next to the fish and spooks it. He steps again almost stepping on it. It tries to run, but I've got the drag on the reel closed since I have it halfway out of the water.

I mean, I should be home free. 25 minutes on the river and I got my first salmon and it's a monster.

SNAP.

The leader is clipped. The salmon is out of my reach because asshole John, whom I have never met before, is in between me and MY FRIGGING FISH. Needless to say, it slips by him and disappears.

I don't know what exactly I said to this guy, but I can tell you it envolved words I've never used before. I was making them up as I ranted. I'm trying not to kill this man and I throw the pole down next to the rest of my gear and walk away.

I call Robin and she talks me down. I gather myself as I walk to the car and back. I have to get my head back in the game because this push will end soon.

The others that came in all nail and bank one. By the time I get reset, the push is over.

John gets one half way to shore and says, "This one is yours."

Just then his boober pops back out of the water. He hadn't set the hook good enough.

I am angry, heartbroken and spent. But I'm not leaving this spot until I get my one.

About 5:00 pm my bobber takes a dive. I feel the roll of a 20 pounder just on the other side of this huge rock. He immediately snags my line against the rock.

Whif.

Another broken line. This time I don't know what happened, there is no sign of my tackle on the end of my line. I guess I didn't tie the knot good enough. Tying Spiderwire is a pain in the ass, especially when you're in a hurry. I should have been more careful.

I see my bobber pop up down river.

My buddy Joe comes by after he uses the last of his bait. Nine for the year. "Not bad," everyone says.

"Where's she at?" he asks.

I am unsure to whom he is referring. Then I am revisited by the pain of earlier in the day.

"Ask the dipshit over there," I respond.

I wade back to shore and tell Joe what happened. I can see John listening to the story.

Since Joe is done for the year, everyone says their goodbyes.

"See you next year."

About a dozen others I have spent the last couple of months with come and go. Not me. Not John.

He stays the rest of the day as well trying to make up for his... whatever.

I don't get one. He doesn't get one.

He finally decides to leave at sunset.

"That's too bad, man. I'm really sorry," he says as he leaves. "See you next year."

"Yeah, probably. But your next one is still mine."

I leave at 7:00 pm, which is well past sunset. I couldn't see the bobber anymore.

I had planned on this being the last day of the year for me. Most of the rivers are closed. If I want to get one, I'm gonna have to do some driving.

Guess I'll have to wait and see if I get over coming up empty handed locally first.