A day on the HOH !!

[robodad]

Well after some extra curricular activity at the boat launch and a lengthy search for the turn-a-round take out LazyDrifter and I got off to a late start on our search for a wallhanger steelhead, (By the way LazyDrifter is a great guy to hook up with, be prepared to shut up and listen up if you get the opportunity to enjoy a great day with him on the river, he is more then willing to share all his knowledge I assure you !!!) So here we are not a 1/4 mile from the boat launch and he tells me OK get ready cause right here is where were gonna hook up (mind you as previously stated we got a late start so there were already 10 or more boats ahead of us several of which were guides) needless to say I was not that confident there would be any fish had by us when no further did that thought get through processing in my mind and WHAMMO "Fish On" he yells as I'm fiddle fumbling around trying to get to the rod and through the deafening sounds of the anchor being tossed over the side and the oars creeking in a panic to not lose any more ground I hear a barrage of commands of which sends me into a panic I thought of yelling "Sir Yes Sir" as if I were on my last ounce of strength doing push-ups on the parade field in my dress blues at boot camp again, "Don't let him get away" "Hold the rod up" Don't force him" Don't pull so hard" "Give him line if he wants it" "Let him go if he runs" and just as that last command was being uttered the fish leaps out of the water and looks me straight in the eye and says "Later Sucker" and spits the Gamagatzu laden 24 carat gold coated plug right back into the boat !!!

Now comes the guilt trip, "You shoulda did this or shoulda did that Blah Blah Blah yea yea yea I know I know if it were a perfect world I wouldn't be fishing here anyways so get over it already, we lost him lets move on !!!

Oh I forgot to mention I talk to myself quite a bit, LazyDrifter didn't say any of that *censored* so ..................... In fact he just said I told you so, about hooking up in that exact spot and he also called the right rod that would "hook-up"

OK so now I sorta believe him that he knows his crap and never question his judgement again on that trip (remember the extra curricular activities mentioned earlier, well I'll leave that story up to him !!!)

So we blow through a bunch of water to get to some more "good spots" and I start casting some drift gear into some riffs and slots as we fly by and I manage to hook into what can only be described as a bullet I think he peeled off at least 2 to 3 inches of line as I set the hooks into the side of his mouth, Just look at the shoulders on him !!!

Next was LazyDrifter's turn to hook up on some drift gear,


then I was able to snag into this beauty
which I released without touching for those of you that care !!

 It wasn't soon after this that the weather turned from quite comfortable actually to a steady drizzle and a bit of a breeze that had a real bite to it and we were still a couple miles from the take-out so we blew down to an area that usually produced some fish and we passed a boat that was releasing a 20# fish which was refreshing to see. We set up the plugs again and drifted through the rocks at a snails pace credited to a great oarsman and here we go again, "Fish On" comes the screems from behind me as the rod tip to my right is bouncing uncontrollably so I grab onto it and lift the tip into the air and can feel the pulsing sensation of the fish trying to shake the hooks when he leaps into the air and does a triple back flip which in slow motion seems like an eternity then WTF !!! Nothing, rod went limp and line went slack and I thought OH NO not again, Mike would never let me live this one down !! and then I saw the problem, he was coming straight at me like a pimp on a mission so I reeled as fast as I could to catch up to him and just as I reached that point he turned and peeled off almost 50yds of line and leaped into the air again, by now I think he had all the hooks fully embedded onto his skull so he wasn't getting away so now I was finally able to get the stink off and a nice 8# buck in the boat confirms it !!!

Thanks LazyDrifter for a wonderful day on the river, I'm tellin ya Teacherman missed out on a great time fo sho !!!

No field pics but here is one right before the butcher !!!! 

[Huntbear]

Sounds like it was an excellent day on the river.  Oh, and do not feel bad, steelies, have spit a lot of hooks back at me too.   

[cohoho]

Way to go robo---  Looks like the casted spell is gone...     I like the part of "like a pimp on a mission" were you the target?   should we call you Steeliepimped for now on...

[robodad]

Way to go robo---  Looks like the casted spell is gone...   

Indeed !!! No more Juju !!! Now will you let me on your boat ?? 

[cohoho]

Absolutely.  Yes..  Just watch out for little angry men driving real fast to say you can't do that in my yard...

[carpsniperg2]

so when is the fish fry bud

[robodad]

Absolutely.  Yes..  Just watch out for little angry men driving real fast to say you can't do that in my yard...

Your a crack-up !! 

[rasbo]

wow good times for sure,when I first read the topic thought it was a tiger woods joke..I love to fish the hoh.glad ya broke the spell

[lazydrifter]

Ok, Robo isn't a jinx.  He kept telling me that this was sure to be another fishless day.  But I knew better.  My boat always catches fish.  The day started out bad. My trailer wiring wasn't long enough to hook up to his truck.  But that decision didn't take long to make.  We drove to the hoh without trailer lights.  Then we drove down into Oxbo to launch the boat(just as I have done a 100 times) but we got stuck.  We unhooked the trailer and he  finally got the truck out.  We had some other guys help us get the trailer back up out of the hole. So we decided to help them drag their boats down to the river.  But then one of the boats broke their eye bolt on the front of the boat.  So we took the top one off of my boat and got them going.  Then they offered to give us a turn around(which saved us 25.00).  Well I didn't know that none of them had ever been to the take out at G&L.  Well they finally found it, dumped the trucks and trailers and made it back to Oxbow around 9:30.  We actually had been the 1st boat to launch but we were the last one to finally take off.  But I still had confidence that he would get a fish.  Persistence paid off and he caught a nice one.  He handled it like a pro. I had such a good time on this trip that he is welcome in my boat anytime. ( he doesn't know this yet but next time he's gonna row). PABEN, I'm sorry I didn't see your post about wanting to come but I will definately save you a spot.  I enjoyed meeting you up on the hill the day we were shooting and you're welcome in my boat anytime also.


Brant

[robodad]

( he doesn't know this yet but next time he's gonna row).

I'll row you under the table anytime you want !!! 

Just joking !! Here is what I propose, Me and you grab a couple other guys from here and take both boats and have a little friendly competition ??

What do you think !!!

[calawahsteelie]

God I hate reading the fishing forum on this site. I was born and raised in Forks and my old man was a guide for 25 years. Work and family duties keep me from getting over there as much as I like to. But keep posting because I love to live vicariously through you all.

[robodad]

God I hate reading the fishing forum on this site. I was born and raised in Forks and my old man was a guide for 25 years. Work and family duties keep me from getting over there as much as I like to. But keep posting because I love to live vicariously through you all.

Heading to the Sol Duc on Saturday, maybe you could share some tips to try !!!

I'll be reporting with pics when we return !!

[lazydrifter]

You taking your boat Allen or you going bank fishing?

[washelkhntr]

Damn.... "A Day on the Hoh", I thought this thread was gonna be about something else. 

[robodad]

You taking your boat Allen or you going bank fishing?

Will be climbing the bank this time hopefully learning a little more about this river so I can get out there with the boat !!!