New Fishing Buddy

Took Lexxy fishing yesterday and all-in-all she was very good. Only one near-miss. I had just baited my hook with some salmon roe and she was close to eating it....later she ate some of it that had fallen on the rock ledge I was on.

Other than popping in the water for a few seconds at a time, she pretty much just laid in the sun next to me. We parked about 1/4 mile from the fishing spot so we had to hike in. She seems to love to catch falling leaves and chase noseeums.

I tried out my invention and it seemed to work for a while before I lost it. I need to make more of them and try it in different places on the river and at the lake.

Fishing was generally lousy for everyone. Before I got there, I heard there were around 30 boats and many had just left. I talked to some people that said they caught a 25 pounder and saw another one caught while I was there. While I didn't catch one. I did hook one up and got a 4 min thrill. Never saw it but at the moment the line broke it was pulling out line faster than I could wind it in. I was using 17lb test so it had to be at least that big.

Most of the afternoon I was entertained by all the fish jumping out of the water. Salmon are quite the clown. They jump because they can. Not because they really need to. I should have brought the video camera but you never know where to be pointing it to get "the shot".

The bumble bee that stung me for no reason got away. To kill the sting, I rubbed mud on the location and in about 10 min the stinging like fire sensation was gone. It's still sore this morning though several hours later.

We stayed until sundown. Both me and my fishing buddy ate dinner and crashed out. We had quite a day.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Today Salmon Fishing....

Salmon_copy

This is a photo from Battle Creek from last year when the salmon were heading for the hatchery. The creek itself is protected so no fishing is allowed where this picture was taken.

This week I invented a little item that I need to test the prototype. Since the idea is not patented yet...all I can say is that it is designed to help save your hook setup when your weight gets caught in the rocks of the riverbed. It takes me around 5+ minutes to put a hook on because of the special knot required for using salmon roe as bait.

My invention is a slight variation of the same setup the guys out in the boats use. The main difference is they drop their lines straight down and I have to cast out. This in itself changes the angle of retrieval when your lines get snagged. And usually when fishing from the bank it is my weight that gets snagged.

If my idea actually works it should be able to be produced for about $0.05 or less each. The prototype of course cost me around a buck to make using stuff I purchaced at retail prices...you can see the markup potential.

My test area is a place called the Barge Hole which is located on the Sacramento river near the mouth of Battle Creek.  Developers of the area, dug a 50 foot hole so they could barge across materials too expensive to truck around the other way. The cost of taking stuff across on Jelly's ferry or the extra distance being the decision. These days you can't do such things.

Anyway the Barge Hole is a place where the Salmon sit and rest prior to going up Battle Creek. During the season, there is usually 15-20 boats and lots of fisherman trying their luck all at once over the hole. Talk about a zoo!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Salmon festival respawns at Coleman hatchery

If your in the area, it's a fairly big tado! I've never been to the festival for the bake (this year probably) but I have been to the hatchery several times. I fix thier Dell's under warranty. I'll be taking the camcorder this year to share.

 

Salmon festival respawns at Coleman hatchery

By Michael Woodward, Reporter (Contact)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Photo by Coleman National Fish Hatchery

FISH STORIES: Children take a seat for story time during the Return of the Salmon Festival at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery.

The Coleman National Fish Hatchery will hold the 17th Annual Return of the Salmon Festival Oct. 20 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the hatchery, located at 24411 Coleman Fish Hatchery Road in Anderson. Free parking and a free shuttle will provide transportation between the Anderson Wal-Mart and the hatchery.

The free festival involves an open house of the entire hatchery to the public. At the one-day festival, visitors will have an opportunity to observe spawning operations, fish jumping at the fish ladder, fish tagging, children’s activities and an aquarium.

“It’s our way to celebrate with the community the beginning of spawning season and the return of Chinook salmon to northern California,” Scott Hamelberg, the hatchery project leader, said.

At least 40 agencies will be on hand to inform visitors about environmental and recreational issues affecting northern California.

Last year, 14,000 people attended the festival.

The hatchery, which was built on Battle Creek in 1942, aims to offset the loss of spawning grounds since the construction of Shasta and Keswick dams. About 50 percent of the spawning ground was cut off by these dams.

Although the fish would spawn elsewhere if they had too, the conditions of the Sacramento River south of the dams is not adequate, according to Hamelberg.

“Salmon need cold, clear water for spawning,” he said.

This year, the hatchery’s production goal is to spawn 12 million juvenile fall Chinook salmon, 1 million late fall salmon and 600,000 steelhead. The collection of eggs from 3,500 female salmon for the fall salmon goal is just beginning at the hatchery.

In conjunction with the festival, the Anderson Rotary will hold its annual Salmon Bake from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart parking lot.

For information about the hatchery, call 365-8622. For information about the Salmon Bake, call 365-2797.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend