Now That's Fishin

With my 4-wheeler still on the 15 day disabled list I was driving down to the launch yesterday morning listening to Bill W (bullet line Bill) rant on the local radio call in show, you know, just a routine morning.  Old Bill there calls up 'Sound Off' so much that I think I could name his grand kids and in the deep recesses of my cerebellum I'm thinking  man...I oughta be fishing. Well, as the river reveals itself to me as I approach the launch I see a fish swirl and scan upriver to see it's attached to a line. Now normally this is not an unusual sight but with the weather so cold and spring so late nobody has been fishing.  This is only the 3rd boat I've seen, and a drift boat at that, fair chase at it's finest. How's about that snow across the river?

It turns out to be a family, Brian Kaferstein and his wife Leann and son. Watching Brian run the oars and patiently move the fish to shallow water for release was like hearing Gary Alan hit the falsetto or watching Mickey Mantle run down a fly ball...a thing of beauty. This King Salmon is knarly, it runs and swirls, Leann leans on it and before long it's in the net, beached right here at Mile 14.

It's not a popular opinion with my peers but I think that drift boat holds the key to the future of our fishery. It's quiet, it can only fish the good water once so it's a little less efficient, it throws no wake, it leaves no unburned fuel and combine that with catch and release... walla...these guys have put the sport in sport fishing.

With catch and release you have to get 'the' photo and there it is. This salmon was magnificent, about a 50 pounder and shiney as a new dime. I clicked a few pics and Brian gently released it, like u-boat we watched it fin away and submerge slowly into the green, no worse for the wear. Good work you guys and thanks for sharing your fish with me, it made my day. The last thing I heard from Leann was " somebodies going to have to the land the next one because I'm a little tired"....turns out it was her second fish of the day.