Schooled and Spooled by my chum (salmon)

[islandbass]

Despite waking up to see snow on the ground, I headed out the door determined not to let the frosty outlook deter or deny me from fishing for some dog (aka chum, well known for their fight than table fare) salmon today. It had been too long since I last went fishing. My wife thought I was crazy. A quick glance at the car’s thermometer brought a smile to my face as it displayed a reading of 33 degrees F. At least it wasn’t freezing, I thought to myself!

I arrived at Metzlers shortly afterward and was relieved to see other cars parked in the lot. I felt as ready as I could be with my ever so trusty Norwest Special and mated it to my new Curado D HSV. My other rig was a newly acquired Okuma 9’6” Celilo ML spinning rod and standby size 30 Rapala reel.

A chum was being fought when I got to the clearing and I took it as a good sign.

I positioned myself at the upstream end of the clearing (close to the tree that will force you to make a sidearm cast lest you get tangled up in the branches above) and worked my casts fairly close to the shore into that sweet spot. I used with a double lime green corky and pink yarn, a choice I made based on what I thought would be a good bet given the water’s color and conditions set before me.

Among the thoughts of concentrating on each and every bit of data sent to me through the rod and line, recalling the bout I had catching my first chum last year in this same area, and the 10 minute fought it gave me popped into mind on occasion, and I was in for a great treat. My notion of a chum’s fight would be taken to the highest level ever.

The Drift of Drifts
I placed my cast into the drift keeping just a wee bit of belly in the line and between hops I saw my line race downstream faster than the speed of the river. Although I had yet to experience catching a fish running away with the line like this, instinct took over thought and I set the hook. As soon as I did, I knew immediately something very large and powerful was on the other end, stronger than anything I had ever battled to date. Patience was going to be key in this battle.

The fight was on! The Curado D HSV 201’s drag was performing flawlessly and I let it take the line. Before long my spool was at half capacity and the darn bugger was still pulling off line. I wasn’t too concerned at this point but I will concede the thought of getting spooled was started to cross my mind.

Five, Ten, Fifteen . . .
The fight was definitely intense, as my chum forced me to move to the opposite end of the clearing. For every yard of line I gained it took about three and the only time I gained line was when it decided to come upstream for a spell. In-between the runs up and downstream were mega-stalemates.

Five minutes pass; then ten minutes, and before long, 15 minutes expire and this hawg still has more than half of my line out and showed absolutely no signs of tiring. The only signs that could be seen were the wearing on my poor thumb and glove.

In the twentieth minute I started to get a bit worried. The holes in my spool were becoming visible and I was still losing line. I lessened my drag to compensate for the small amount of line I had left.

This awesome chum took more and more line with every run. It seemed as if this was its way telling me, “I might have taken your lure, and you might have hooked me, but I’m too powerful for you to bring me in. You will not see my Barney purple stripes on the bank today!”

By the 22nd minute, my heart just about dropped. My spool was just about down to nothing. So there I stood at the edge of the downstream clearing, and my chum at the other end out in the middle of the river far, far, away. It rolls on top of the water a few more times as if to take a glance at me to say farewell before making its final run . . . In one last energy tapping moment, snap!! The line broke and the battle was over.

I tipped my black hat with the name ‘gamefishin’ to him and mumbled, “Thank you for the fight. You won fair and square.”

Oh man! I was still excited despite losing that battle. My biggest regret is that he’s running out there with a lot of line still attached to the hook.

I showed the guy next to me my curado and his eyes popped out when he saw this:



His eyes popped out and he was shocked. Fortunately, geeky 'lil 'ol me always comes prepared. The curado was done for the day but my Pfleuger Trion was ready for duty. I hook into another chum 10 minutes later and land him shortly afterward.

I packed up my stuff and headed home as the cold was beginning to serve as a catalyst for bringing on the soreness from my right shoulder to forearm from the first fight.

Going one for two isn’t two shabby for a newbie like me. Yes, I got spooled and schooled but I learned so much.

Metzler’s is doing alright for chums. I have a picture the second one I caught but the picture was taken on a disposable camera so it will take a while to develop the roll.

Thanks for bearing with the post.

Conditions: Burrrrrr! Cold! 33 deg F - Over cast, occasional drizzle,
Rig: 8’6” H Lamiglas Norwest Special/CuradoD and Pflueger Trion
Line: 12” Pline CX Premium
Lure: double lime green corky with pink yarn and smelly jelly

Note: There is no knocking the curadoDHSV 201. I think this chum could have taken on a 300 size baitcast reel or size 30 spinning reel with ease.

Sunday 11-26-2006

[ToPwAt'R GuY]

It sounds like it was exciting to say the least. I have played fish for 20 minutes plus on light line. It is always nice to have a big fish on your line.

[Vabass22]

Sounds like a great fight! Put on some braid, with a mono leader!