Trout Divas

Copyright 2008 Kristen Bailey

Three fish, three fish, three fish.... I’m five years old and chanting the fish count in my head as we drive home. My Dad caught three fish and I’m dying to tell mom, who swears to this day that one of the big catfish growled at her from the bucket dad had them in. The small local pond we fished was, and still is, full of cattails, catfish and trout, Canadian Geese, blackberries and memories. As a family, we had many special spots along rivers and lakes where we camped. My dad always loved being out in nature and we spent a lot of time together driving out to pick flowers, berries, shoot the gun or go fishing. As a young girl, I absorbed an appreciation of nature both from all that time spent outdoors and watching my dad.

My neighbors were a fishing family too, and they really got into it. The two boys had a huge wooden box to raise night crawlers, a fishing boat and all the tackle you can imagine. My dad was more of a go-it-alone type who likes to birdwatch while he fishes. He still likes to fish for a few hours by himself, needing that quiet time and scenery. I enjoy going alone or with company; it’s nice to have the quiet outdoors when I want serenity and also nice to have a fun day with the kids. Fishing out in nature, in an awesome beauty that doesn’t tolerate worries, focuses my mind on the task.

I grew up in Douglas County, Oregon, where the South and North Umpqua Rivers merge and head to the ocean, providing great fishing opportunities for trout, bass, shad, steelhead, two flavors of salmon and sturgeon. There are some amazing fish in these ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, and then the rivers flowing into the bays and ocean, including small mouth bass that are great for the kids to catch. Of course, not everyone will love it, but some will develop a deep and reverent passion for the sport.

In our region, we’re fortunate here to have rainbow, redband, brook, brown, coastal cutthroat and west slope cutthroat trout, all beautiful fish with shiny scales and luminescent highlights. Some are catch and release, but many fish are keepers for those to like taking home dinner. (My fishing regulations look like a well-worn Bible that we love to flip through just for the fish drawings.) The  waters here are great learning grounds, and trout come small and big, offering a thrilling first catch and challenge as you go after the bigger ones. Many women enjoy the outdoors and are discovering outdoor sports are a connection to nature and life itself.

Ashley, my eight year old daughter, loves fishing: baiting, casting, catching and gutting the fish to see how it works inside. Mostly, she loves eating her catch. Ashley is serious about taking home a fish, and I’m ecstatic whenever my children find a new interest that boosts their confidence. Time stops when they feel a tug on their line. Suddenly their small hands whip into action to reel with excitement as they exclaim, “Mom, I got one! I got one!” A fish is caught and another childhood memory added to their conscience. Catching fish involves skill and knowledge about the area and fishing gear. It reminds us of the primordial connection between hunting and eating, catching our own food and providing dinner. 

Fishing together is a great family event that everyone can enjoy and succeed at. Fishing networking sites offer the opportunity to learn new methods and meet other avid fisher persons. I love the pictures of huge catches -  many are women proudly holding up their trophies. Recently Ashley and I both sent in a picture to a fishing photo contest. In mine, I’m holding up a chrome, bright summer steelhead and she’s holding her first trout. It was her first catch on a spinning rod, a skill she mastered on family camping trip last summer. 

The kids began their fishing careers at “Free Fishing Day” that the Department of Fish and Wildlife hosts locally every spring. They stock the lake with rainbow trout and put some in kiddie pools for the younger kids to fish in. Thanks to the event, each of my children caught a pan size fish to take home. 

After Free Fishing day, they were “hooked” and we spent almost every day at the river and lake this last summer, swimming and fishing. The kids took to fishing right away, and my five year old son Caleb got to cast, hook and reel a fish in himself. Isaac is seven and enjoyed standing quietly by myself as we both watched our lines. They caught small trout, bass and perch both at the lake and river, along with many other families. Many were dads and children or entire families headed out on their boat or setting up chairs and coolers along the riverbank.

Another great thing about fishing is how it brings men and women together in the kitchen, or more specifically at the grill. I stole my boyfriend’s method for grilling fish: we lay the fillet on tin foil with a scoop of mayonnaise, onions, garlic salt and lots of mushrooms, then we wrap it tight and grill it. There is a kind of magic in catching your own food, and the kids looked so proud when they got to catch and cook a fish for dinner.

The Umpqua River has salmon in many shapes and sizes. I chased after Chinook this last fall, dropping the kids off at school and heading out to my favorite spot to spend an hour or so on a chilly morning drift fishing. Quite a few drift boats floated by on those mornings, pausing to discuss the fishing and show me their catches. Some fishermen along the river bank yelled a hello and we’d talk. I heard many tips and more than a few good stories of someone fighting a big fish right there, which spurred my quest even more.

This determined pursuit of a big fish became my metaphoric mountain to conquer, proving to myself I can set my mind to anything and accomplish it. These rivers in the Umpqua Valley have always represented a family history to me, a history that was formed partly along the banks at our camping spots. The river supports life, and fishing solidified that connection by providing fish. How many times had I sat by these streams to meditate, especially during the hard teenage years? I somehow needed this fish from “my” river. So yes, I was as serious as one can get as I casted,  never taking my eyesight from that line swinging across the current. Some people stand and hold a pole; I however was ready to fight a fish.

I’ve staked a claim to a rock where other Big Fish Chasers go, casting and hoping, and sometimes wrestling a giant fish from the river. From my spot, I reeled in a Jack Salmon one yellow-hued Sunday morning in September and then a steelhead the next Saturday.

The Jack was a special catch since I went out with my boyfriend Lem, who hooked it and let me reel in my first salmon. What a rush to feel the pressure on the line and the fight of the fish. That same day, we hooked a Chinook that fought hard until we lost it, but not before it jumped out of the water to show us just how big of a monster we had on the line for an exhilarating ten minutes. We both had a chance to reel and fight with it, and that was my first taste of fighting a big fish - Lem estimated it was well over 25 pounds.

A week later, I was back on the Umpqua River by myself, once again after that thrill and rush of landing a fish, not to mention the enticement of the “one that got away.” I had arrived just a few minutes earlier and climbed down the bank, surrounded by trees with orange leaves so bright they stood out in the fog. Luckily the fog hung back by the trees to make a backdrop around my fishing hole. I had a good feeling about the day but for extra luck, I chewed on homemake elk jerky. I had cast across the current for the third time that morning, letting it drift back downstream, when the line stopped.

I yanked hard and fast to set the hook, and grabbed the reel. The pole bent over and I knew I had a big one on the line, surely the biggest yet. I reeled more, pulled up, reeled down some more, and I can’t say how much time passed as my heart raced and my excitement level went sky-high. I alternated between pulling the rod up and reeling to get the line in.

Then a flash of white surfaced, fighting, twenty feet away.  A big fish! Seeing that monster made me shake in excitement and think It’s mine, I’ve got it!

Now I’ve pulled smaller fish out with a trout or bass gear, but I’d switched to a heavier pole for salmon fishing and hadn’t caught anything near this big before. As I pulled it in closer and watched it writhe in the water, I felt locked in a life-and-death battle. That sounds extreme, but at that moment I only knew I wanted that fish and felt so close to my goal.

My rock is the boulder closest to the current and the river had worn a crevasse into it. It happens this made a great place to pull the fish in. I wanted to see the fish on dry land so bad, I ignored the net and  reeled the bright summer steelhead clean onto the rocks through the crevasse, then poked my finger through its gill. So even though it thrashed around, I kept a death grip on it.

Wow, what a fish, all shiny with pinks and green undertones around the face. It measured two feet exactly! Adrenaline still pumped through me as I started off with my fish, plus I couldn’t wait to show it off to my entire family at my son’s seventh birthday party later that afternoon. Didn’t I say I had a good feeling on that special day? I knew we’d be eating freshly caught fish for Isaac’s birthday dinner since fish is one of his favorite foods.

The cold and wet weather hit shortly after that and fishing politely stepped back for deer season. But winter steelhead season is just around the corner...

Author Bio

Besides fishing and raising her kids, Kristen Bailey runs Bravado Publishing, freelances, writes books and cycles. She set her young adult novel, The River People, in her home area and researched local Indian tribes for the writing. Her kids get involved in many of her hobbies so they join her for family bike rides or hikes, and they also enjoy learning about writing and publishing. If you’d like to read more about Kristen’s writing or publishing company, visit her websites at www.kristen-bailey.com and www.bravadopublishing.com.