See You Next Year

Another year of fishing on the Yakima River comes to an end.

What a year.

The first trip out to the Yakima was the most memorable, despite coming up empty handed. There is nothing like fishing with your dad, even if it was too early in the year for any active fish.

Next time you're in town dad, we'll make it to a hot spot.

The Yakima was really high during the early months and into the first part of summer, which made fishing a little harder.

By the end of May we were able to float the river safely, which is the best way to fish the Yak.

Robin and I hooked into some really big bass this year. On any given day we would hook into at least four or five good size fish in the 3lb - 5lb range. Of course, there was an unofficial new state record set on the Yak this year when a 9.5 lbs Smallmouth was brought in.

I say unofficial because the guy that caught the fish was accused of putting weights inside the stomach of the fish before taking the fish to a state certified scale. Others said he froze the fish first, which is another no-no. The main problem with the catch was that the only witness was his girlfriend. To have a record count in Washington there need to be at least two winesses to verify whether the fish was legally caught, foul hooked, or even caught within the state.

Either way it goes, I've never caught an 8 lbs bass let alone anything close to a state record. But I know I've hooked into some that were close while floating the river.

I managed to hook into a few salmon this year, and though the numbers were extremely low I caught two.

As I spoke to my group of fishing buddies down at the spot in Prosser last Sunday, that was no small feat this year. I didn't fish the spot in Prosser nearly as much as I did last year. Ok, I only fished it three times the entire salmon run.

But all the usual suspects were there on closing day, including the asshole that made me lose "The One" last year.

My old buddie Joe didn't make it out that much this run either, having had a heart attack back in May. With the new stint put in he seems to be doing well, albeit a little slower.

It was nice being able to show off my pics of the beauties I reeled in this year.

Well, here is looking to next year. I'm not waiting around for the fall run, since I learned this year that the spring run is the most fun. (The Yak is only open during the fall)

We'll be hitting the Deschutes, the Klickitat, and maybe some others closer to the sound.

Although I quit fishing all together this time last year, I hear there are a lot of steelhead running on the Columbia right now.

With a couple of pounds of roe left, Robin and I plan on hitting it tomorrow.