Screamin Reels! 6

I take some heat from time to time on the show for my so called aversion to river fishing.  While it's no secret I love to be on the salt or on the big lake, I like catching fish in any body of water, heck, I used to own a driftboat so cut me some slack.  Sometimes fishing is about choices and when it comes down to making a choice of where I'm gonna fish on any given day, it always seems that fishing on the Salmon Hawk wins out.  However, when Derek Anderson sent Robbo and I an email in early January inviting us to fish the Cowlitz with him in early March, well it didn't take long for me to hit the reply button and mark it on my calendar.  I've known Derek for a few years now but I've never had the chance to fish with him, this wasn't an opportunity that I was going to pass up. 

The alarm went off about 4:30 but I had already been awake for about a half hour anticipating the day of fishing.  The plan was for me to meet Robbo in Tacoma and carpool on down to the Cowlitz where we would meet up with Derek and one of his customers and my and Robbo's new friend, Keith Johansen of Johansen Mechanical in Woodinville.  When we got there, Derek and Keith were already in the sled waiting so we hopped out of the truck, threw on the Grundens and jumped aboard Derek's sled. 

The river was running high and fast so the plan was to back troll with divers and some cured shrimp.  About 3 minutes after hopping on board, it was lines in and we were fishing.  We hit a few spots as Derek and Robbo talked different techniques. I spent my time listening and trying to pick up as much as I could from the two steelhead pros. 

We were on about our third hole when I looked over Keith's shoulder to see one of the back rods dancing.  Robbo yelled fish on, Keith jumped on it and Derek grabbed the net.  Keith played the fish perfectly as Robbo and I grabbed our cameras.  True to form this chrome bright steelhead made a couple of jumps and put on a nice show for us.  Unfortunately my trigger finger was just a little slow as I got some almost amazing pics.  Soon, Keith got the fish next to the boat, Derek got the net around it, and it was high fives all around.

Shortly after landing the fish it was time to eat a little lunch.  We were all in for a big surprise as Derek had brought some moose steaks for the grill.  I had never had any moose so I was really looking forward to trying it.  Derek had it marinating in some steak seasoning and italian dressing.  Keith fired up the grill, threw on the steaks and started cutting some smoked cheese to go with my smoked tuna for an appetizer.  Not only did we just boat a nice fish, we were also eating like kings.

Unfortunately, even though the fishing was fun and the food was great, the weather wasn't.  With full bellies and fish in the box, we decided to call it a great day after another squall started dumping on us.  If your like me and don't get out on our many great rivers in this state very often or even if your an old dog looking for some new tricks, then book a trip with Derek. Thanks for a great day out on the Cowlitz Derek.