So Friday I had hoped and planned on fishing with a couple of lake guru's Djbutler and Wafishman20 for some Lake Sammamish cutthroat chasing but alas the four letter word (work) dashed my hopes as all heck broke out at work so had to cancel. Glad they still went and demolished them! I had made plans a month ago to spend this weekend with life long buddy Craig down on the Columbia river to target the June hawgs so after finally tying up all loose ends, got packed and headed down I-5 Friday late afternoon for the bumper to bumper drive down to Longview!

Got to Craig's around 8:30 and he had the boat loaded, rods set up, leader tied, tuna bellies prepared and coffee set to go off on the timer at
3 am! So after some quick catching up on how our families were doing we made sure we had lots of water and food as it was going to be a hot one this weekend and went to bed in anticipation of some screaming re! els to come!!

Day 1- This was a 2 day trip so will post day 2 on another report. 3 am came quickly and my phone started playing that wake up song I set it too and soon could smell coffee brewing! Craig was up and had already loaded the bait and beverages in the boat so soon were rolling down the hill to pick up his buddy Kyle who I have fished with many times. We got to the boat launch around 4:45 and there were already 4 or 5 rigs in the parking lot!

Got the boat launched and headed for his first spot of choice but water level was higher then he wanted plus someone was already in his prime spot. Plan B was to run up to the lower part of Puget island and anchor there and work through the outgoing tide; so found a spot and set out the Columbia river anchor system and soon we had all 3 lines out and sat back in anticipation of that adrenaline pumping take down! After about an hour my rod goes down and it's fish on! Craig and Kyle reeled there lines in and soon I had a nice little jack in the net which is cool because they are great eating and don't count towards your adult limit out here- plus the skunk was off the boat! it wasn't that vicious take down we had come here for but got our hopes up for sure!

Saw a couple fish caught below us so knew they were heading our way and sure enough, my rod buries into the water and starts ripping off line!! Fish on ! Yea baby it's a screamer!! This fish had some muscle and knew how to use the current to his advantage so took a while before getting it close to the point we almost threw anchor but I got it turned and Kyle did a great netting job to close the deal! Checked for fins and yes it was a hatchery hawg! Bonked it, took a photo then bled it out over the side of the boat and got the rods back out as quick as we could since a school of fish seemed to be working through the area.

After another hour or so Craig's rod buries down and this fish goes crazy making a jump ( which is never a good thing) and on the second jump throws the barbless hooks from his maglip and it's fish off! This one seemed bigger then mine but we consoled Craig telling him it was probably a native anyway haha!! Got the rods back out and after a couple drive-by's my rod buries again and start peeling line ( love that take down!) and again the battle is on! This fish wants to run to shore so had to go over Craig and Kyle to get on the other side of the boat to fight it but then makes a turn and starts to head out to the middle of the river. So back we go to the other side and finally tire out this beast and it is in the net for another fin check- yep another hatchery fish so in she comes!

I am limited out now so sat back planning on filming and netting or whatever was needed to help land a fish but by the tide ran out we didn't touch another fish. So at 1:30 pm we pulled anchor and headed in for some cleaning and filleting and home to get some rest to start again in the morning. Now we actually had more action on our boat then most people around us so decided we needed to start earlier tomorrow to secure our spot on the river. Dropped Kyle off and told him we would see him at 3:30 in the morning and it was off to the house to get ready for another day on the water!!

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