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finally killed my skunk. fished upstream of hwy 18 today. this morning was frozen trails and freezing eye holes on poles. many left the hole early due to no action. the fish just hadnt had their coffee yet! had guys next to me catching fish before noon. typical bobber, jig, prawn setup up and down the bank. after no luck on string, corky and eggs i asked myself if maybe the corky was the problem, taking the bait out of the bite zone. on goes a random small pink/orange/red jig and some plain shrimp. first or second cast bobber goes down, hook gets set and the fun begins. first salmon ever with a bobber. not a lot of jumping or zipping across the river tho. i can tell its a heavy fish tho. finally get him up to the bank in front of me but then it takes 10 minutes to get the guy into the net. he just wouldnt budge. wont get pulled upstream. wont get pulled into the shallow just below me. finally grab the net and hand pull him in. monster chum was the description everyone had of him all day as they walked by my stringer. ends up being 15 lb buck after gutting so probably a 17-18 lb fish. rebait and within a few casts i catch another. this time i was still letting line out with an open bale when the bobber goes down. had to move fast to close it and set the hook. fish on! much smaller 8 lb buck this time. much easier to get into shore. that was it for me. saw about 20 fish caught for the day among all anglers. beautiful day but cold. now i get to try smoked chum, another first for me. bbq'd a chunk after i spiced it up. tastes like fish but certainly not fine dining. still food in the belly tho.

Mike Carey

11/23/2013 6:27:00 AM

atta way!

tele_maniac

11/23/2013 8:47:00 AM

Right on Hepker!!! Your persistence paid off. Thanks for sharing your report and your pictures. That is one BIG fish. See you on the river. Tight lines...

BentRod

11/23/2013 8:53:00 AM

Right on! Nice fish....ugly, but nice! LOL.

RiverChromeGS

11/23/2013 1:19:00 PM

Nice job!

djw0414

11/23/2013 3:04:00 PM

Great job! I was fishing just above you and you helped me save a lot of gear by netting a chum I could not turn which was threatening to spool me. I held the spool of my reel hoping for a cheap breakoff but my 12 lb ultragreen leader would not break even though I still could not move the fish. The fish then swung into the bank around 50 yards downstream and "hepker" went down and netted/released the fish and saved everything including my jig. Thanks!! Not that big a chum from what I could see 50 yards away but it had game.

Ladyclipper

11/23/2013 7:28:00 PM

Deep fry the chum with a crisp batter, you won't use it for anything else after that.

Hepker

11/23/2013 8:23:00 PM

djw glad i could help. gotta say part of the reason i helped was cause i couldnt fish with your line in the way. but it all worked out. my apologies if you wanted the fish.

bentrod how dare you call my monster ugly. i still have the head. you will find it in your mailbox tomorrow!

lady thanks for the suggestion. if only i had something to deep fry with.

tele thanks for your support. its been great fishing with you

tele_maniac

11/23/2013 10:22:00 PM

LOL!!! Hepker... it's been fun!

FishingTenor

11/25/2013 12:11:00 AM

Hey Hepker, I want to congratulate your for taking away the skunk from the farm. Impressive fish! Done the right way. More impressive than from the entry to a fish ladder...;-) I have been taking a little time off, but would love to get in on some steelhead. Have fun!

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