One Didn't Get Away!

Very EVENTFUL trip. As you see, I caught a fish!! It's now resting peacefully (along side the grouse) in our freezer. I guess I should start at the beginning.

We started out at about noon on our appointed day to leave. We got within 15 minutes of our Son's house when I asked Larry if he packed the pontoon boats to which he replied, "No....". So he deposited me, the dog (Tippie) and the trailer at Aaron's house and he went back home (1 1/2 hour drive) to get them. 4 hours later he shows up with the boats. YIPPEEE! We stayed the night at Aaron's and left in the wee dark of the next morning. We had our camp set up and on the river fishing by NOON that day!! Beautiful weather, no fish... Every morning, get up, eat breakfast, suit up and go fishing. The mornings were COLD, so after layering long johns, t-shirts, sweatshirts, 2 pair of socks, pants, jackets, fishing vest and a coat, we looked like 3 stuffed ticks, stumping around on the river, trying not to fall in while flailing our fly lines out to that "perfect spot" where the "BIG ONE" had to be! No fish... Aaron went home on Monday. As he went to get into his car, he noticed he had a flat tire. So, he and his Dad took it down the river to Boggan's (a little restaurant on the highway where we turn off on the river), and got air in the tire. So, now Aaron is on his way home for the week and will be back the next week-end for 4 more days of fishing.

On Tuesday we took the day off and drove up the mountain to where we used to hunt elk. Didn't see any but the drive was beautiful and we ended up at Troy, Oregon, where dinner and a much needed shower were a welcome treat.

On Wednesday we got up to a generator that wouldn't start. Larry didn't bring any tools, so the generator got loaded up and we took that day off, too. We drove 40 miles into Lewiston to get the generator fixed. A fouled spark plug was the only thing wrong, so it didn't set us back financially (only $20). While we were there, Larry decided to get the oil changed on his pickup. The pickup is fairly new and this was the first oil change. He couldn't get it done at home (they were all booked up for a month), so we got right in at a dealer in Lewiston. Since we'd killed the day for fishing, we decided to drive down to Heller's Bar on the Snake River. That's where the mouth of the Grande Ronde is. We'd never been there and didn't think it was too far from where we were, so off we went. An HOUR later, we finally got there! Not much there except lots of campers and fishermen. But no fish.....

Thursday, back at camp, the wind kicked up on the river and we quit fishing early. We got back home to find the wind had torn the canopy half off the trailer. That will get fixed next spring! Friday, Aaron and a couple of his friends showed up and off we go fishing. His friend, Mike, got a nice steelhead, so we had that for dinner that night. It was sooooooooo GOOD!!! When they went to leave on Monday, their pickup wouldn't start...dead battery. No big deal except........ nobody had any jumper cables!! So the guys take off for Boggan's or anyplace they can find someone with jumper cables. Wouldn't you know it, the only person on the river with jumper cables is the guy who knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING!!! He would show up at your fishing hole and procede to tell you how to fish it, and how many fish he'd taken out of there in past years, and come over to your camp site and help himself to your wood while telling you all about the great fishing in Alaska he done and how he's traveled all over the WORLD catching HUGE fish and blah, blah, blah!! He was camped by us for a couple days and then finally moved on down to Troy. THANK YOU GOD!!! So........Aaron and his buddies are finally on their way home and we return to fishing. No fish..... The day before we left, Larry caught a nice Chinook salmon (which he released) and that afternoon I caught my fish (which I DIDN'T release). All in all, it was a great trip. Never a dull moment, as they say. I say "no fish" meaning no BIG fish. We caught lots of small steelhead and trout but no "keepers".

We saw LOTS of deer. Larry even watched 2 big bucks get "harvested". Deer season opened while we were there and there were lots of hunters around.

AND........the sheep were down, so we got to see a couple bands of them. A ewe and a ram even came up behind us while we were fishing and got drinks of water from the river. They couldn't have been more than 6 feet away from us. I had my trusty walking stick to ward them off if they decided I belonged out in the middle of the river, but Larry only had his fly pole. Of coarse, I didn't have my camera with me!!

The river was beautiful, as it always is and on the whole, the weather was great, so until next year we'll just remember that we left LOTS of fish for future trips!