I can, too: A true fishing story

未晓雨 · 发表于 2004-12-3 14:37:00

I can, to A true fishing story

James H. VanSant
Reedsport

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<TD><IMG src="http://www.theworldlink.com/trektracktroll/NewFiles/megot1.jpg" border=0></TD>
<TD>It's easy to spot a true fisherman, as evidenced by the Oregon salmon license plate on this pickup truck pulling a fishing boat.
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<DIV align=left>World Photos by Lou Sennick
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One cold and rainy morning, like most October mornings on the Umpqua River, Jim climbed aboard his small runabout fishing boat that was moored at a Brandy Bar dock and began plying his way to the river. He kept asking himself, as he had so many times before, “Is this the day or will it be just like all the others?”

In his quest to catch the first salmon of his life, he made this trek daily for nearly a month in all kinds of weather. That year, there was a heavy salmon run in the river and all of his fishing neighbors were having good luck almost every time they went out. But not Jim. Even though he used the same fishing techniques and lures that they used and followed their advice, nothing seemed to work. No matter what he did, he wasn’t having any luck, not even a nibble, at experiencing that once-in-a-lifetime thrill of catching and landing his first salmon. This made him feel quite discouraged, but he was determined not to give up.

He often told himself, “If they can do it, then surely I can, too. Maybe today is the day.”

Jim hadn’t done any fishing worth mentioning since he was a farm boy in northern Idaho. He had spent most of his adult life going to school, supporting a family and working as an engineer. It was only last year that he retired and soon after, he and his wife bought a condominium at Brandy Bar Landing so that they could spend their summers fishing, golfing and enjoying the beautiful Oregon Coast.

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<TD vAlign=top align=left><IMG src="http://www.theworldlink.com/trektracktroll/NewFiles/riverboat.jpg" align=left border=0></TD></TR>
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<DIV align=left>A boat curves across a river after launching from a boat ramp on a recent Sunday afternoon. Salmon are moving up local rivers to spawn and are attracting fishermen.</DIV></TD></TR></TABLE>

But his neighbors regarded him as nothing more than an engineer, or a
golfer, and certainly not a real fisherman — more like a tenderfoot. To them, there was a big difference. They believed a special kind of innate skill is required to be a successful fisherman, especially to catch the elusive river salmon. Their assessment of Jim was obvious and he sensed it.

On that special day, Jim decided to try something different, hoping that his luck would change. He had always used the same “secret” lure that his neighbors used with great success. Only this time, Jim tied some plastic streamers onto the lure and then coated it with some herring scent he bought at the local hardware store. He thought that it might better attract the fish.

His fishing gear was a light rod and a spinning reel loaded with 10-pound line, both hand-me-downs that were at least 50 years old and nearly worn out. No one had told Jim that he should use heavier gear and fresh line if he hoped to land a big one. Also, they neglected to tell him that he should have a net suitable for landing a big fish. Maybe they wanted him to learn the hard way rather than disclose all their secrets.

As always, Jim went downriver to a section that had shallows near the bank and cast his lure in that area while the boat drifted with the current. That’s how his neighbors fished because they found that the salmon preferred to make their run by the shortest route and through the slowest moving waters. He casted toward shore, upstream, downstream and out into the river. Cast and reel, cast and reel, over and over, just like always, and still no results.

After casting and drifting for what seemed an eternity, Jim felt his arm getting very weak, so he decided he had better not continue. He didn’t want to quit fishing, so he decided to try trolling for a while, even though his friends didn’t recommend it. He dropped his little kicker motor, started it up, cast out his lure and began trolling in deeper water.

After about an hour of slowly zigzagging back and forth across the river, he was getting tired and his back was staring to ache. Holding his pole with one hand and steering the motor with his other all the time was not easy. He was about ready to give it up and try again the next day, when he felt a tug on his line.

“My lure has probably hit bottom,” he thought.

But, there was another tug and then his pole tip began to jerk, a little at first then harder and harder — so much the pole almost flew out of his hand. He knew then that he had something live on, so he quickly killed the trolling motor and held onto the pole with both hands. He realized that finally he may have caught a salmon and the excitement of what was happening made his heart beat faster. He had never experienced anything like this before!

By now, his line was running out very fast toward the middle of the river. The reel whined at a high pitch because it was spinning so fast. Jim knew that his line and pole were weak and that he shouldn’t do anything, like increase the reel drag or put too much stress on them or they might snap. Also, he knew that he had only about 150 yards of line and already about 100 yards was out and the fish was still running like a frightened deer. Automatically, he reached down with his right hand, while holding the pole with the other and pulled the trolling motor starter roped to get it going again. Then he steered the boat to follow the fish just enough so he could keep the line only a little tight. He knew that if the line went slack, the fish could throw out the hook and if he pulled on the line too much, it would break.

Managing the motor and pole at the same time was a bit tricky. This was a time when he needed another pair of hands for one or the other. But, he kept following the fish across the river, upriver, downriver, toward the boat, then away from the boat, zigzagging in wild pursuit. Anyone who might have been watching him would surely have wondered, “What is that crazy man doing?”

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the fish slowed down and Jim began slowly reeling in some line while using the motor to get closer to the fish. He couldn’t reel it in to the boat because it went to the bottom and refused to budge in obvious defiance. It rested there for a couple of minutes then took off again on a fast run like before, the reel singing as the line again flew out. There was no way to stop it or even slow it down. So, again Jim followed it to keep too much line from going out.

Then about 100 yards out from the boat the fish suddenly broke water. It jumped completely out, shaking its head violently, trying to throw out the hook or snap the line. Fortunately, neither happened because Jim was very careful not to pull too hard. He now knew he had a big salmon but he didn’t know how big. It was too far away to really tell, but the excitement of seeing it was almost too much to control.

After making several more runs of chasing and reeling, both Jim and the fish were really getting tired. Also, Jim thought his reel was about to give out because when his hand brushed against it, he felt the heat generated by the internal drag. So slowly, he carefully followed the fish and reeled it in close enough that he could see it and the fish could see Jim. The fish and Jim looked at each other, eye to eye, as if one was saying, “You’ll never get me,” and the other saying, “Now I’ve got you.”

Then, all of a sudden, the fish dove and made one last furious run, using up almost all of the line. Again, Jim repeated the process of following the fish and slowly reeling it in. Now the fish was really exhausted and couldn’t run any more, so Jim was able to bring the fish up alongside the boat. For the first time, he got a good look at it and was aghast at how big it was. “Is that a fish or is that a FISH?” he said to himself.

He was so overcome that he had to sit for a moment and think about what to do next. Remember, he didn’t have a net to capture the fish and get it into the boat. Also, he couldn’t lift it with the fish line because it would definitely break. And, he wasn’t about to put his hand close to the fish because it might thrash and hook with the lure. He recalled that this recently happened to a neighbor who ended up in the hospital emergency room to have a hook cut out of his hand. So what to do?

Looking around his boat, Jim saw what he had to do to keep this fish. While holding the pole in one hand to keep the line barely tight, he grabbed the boat tie-up rope with the other and managed, with great difficulty, to tie a lasso loop. Then he carefully slipped the noose over the fish’s head and pulled it tight. The fish was definitely not going to get away, so Jim could now lay down his pole. Next, he pulled on the rope to lift the fish out of the water and into the boat. It was so heavy that he had to use most of his strength to get it up and over the side, but finally he landed it. It was now in the bottom of the boat and he knew that he had in fact caught his first salmon.

It was true at long, long last. He did it! And all by himself.

All he could do was sit and stare at the monster while his heartbeat slowed down and recounted what had just happened. It was an experience that he would never forget.

He couldn’t tell how big the fish actually was, but it was obviously a big male Chinook. Right then, he wished that he could weigh it, but he didn’t have a scale. However, he had a rule. When he measured it from nose to tail, the total length turned out to be about 44 inches — not a bad catch, indeed. So, right away he dutifully recorded the required data on his fishing license and headed back to the dock.

As Jim maneuvered his boat back into its slip, one of the neighbors on shore saw him and yelled down asking if he had any luck. In response, Jim reached down and lifted up his catch just enough to be seen. The neighbor let out a big yelp and immediately came down to the dock to have a better look. Soon someone else came, and then another. They asked all kinds of questions.

“How did you catch it, Jim?”

“Where did you catch it?”

“What kind of lure did you use?”

“How did you land it?”

They were amazed at his answers and soon after repeated them to other neighbors. Only then was Jim accepted as a fisherman among fishermen. He had passed their litmus test. No longer was he that “engineer nerd.”

After that, he caught as many salmon as anyone and sometimes more. He always knew, “If they can do it, then I can, too.”

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<a href="http://www.theworldlink.com/trektracktroll/icantoo.html" target="_blank" >http://www.theworldlink.com/trektracktroll/icantoo.html</A>

hailizi · 发表于 2013-6-25 21:55:23

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