B10 2012...Long Days doing what we love to do!

[Canyon Man]

Well Sleddder, Paker, myself, and Mrs. Canyon just returned from a 5 day bender down at B10. Although not completely off the hook all the time, it was still pretty amazing!

We started the trip off on Friday morning with Sleddder, Parker, and myself heading out of chinook for the maiden voyage in Sleddder's new 21' x 82" Super Vee from 3 Rivers. Let me tell you that after 5 solid days in every weather and water condition imaginable, that boat is a machine! One of the best handling, well designed sleds I have ever been in. Even after Sleddder's 0 for 6 start we found out that the "Great White" definitely has some fish catching mojo! Parker and I decided that Randy had to get the first fish in his new boat, but at 0 for 4, 0 for 5, and 0 for 6 we were beginning to wonder smile! Parker and I stuck to the plan though and on attempt 7 not only did he dechinook his new boat, but he also dechinooked my new B10 designed Lamiglas and new Diawa Saltist! Oh well, get the gear back down and get after them. After a few small kings and a few wild coho it was my turn to get one on the new rod and a 20ish youngs bay hatchery fish comes aboard. Next Paker gets in on the action with a beauty 25lb URB and after a few more chinook releases we decide to go set up camp and wait for Mrs. Canyon to get there. Mrs. Canyon shows up around 4pm and it's off to the launch. About 4:30pm we put the lines back in and around 4:45pm she starts her trip off right with a 25lb URB o of her own to cap off a solid first day. Finally tally for Day 1...4 Kings kept, 5 released, and 5 wild coho released for a grand total of 14 for 22.

Day 2 starts off a little slower with a few wild ho's, a couple hatchery ones and several 8-10 lb nooks, but nothing we really wanted to tag out on. We did finally put a couple low teener kings in the boat and lost a 20-25 just before the net shot. We decided to hover into the incoming in front of chinook towards Ilwaco when all hell broke loose. It was a frenzied coho bite that lasted about an hour with a couple more hatchery coho kept and multiple wilds released, including some dandies to approx. 14lbs. This was capped off by a triple that had everyone scrambling and laughing so hard it hurt! The icing on the cake came at the end of the incoming tide at the bottom of the sands with a dandy 25-26lb URB for yours truly that decided to inhale a hot red/white spinner that Parker had to rebuild a couple times due to Chinook abuse! Final Day 2 tally: 3 Chinook kept, 6 released, 3 coho kept, and 9 or 10 released for a total of 21 or 22 for 30.

Day 3 was Sunday and probably a day most of us would like to forget, including Doc(see twitches video on the other B10 thread)...sorry buddy. Our crew started the day trolling up the Sands on the incoming with a couple misses, a couple native coho released, and a few missed strikes. As we were just coming under the bridge Parker gets bit by a spunky little 5lb, barely legal nook. Everything is going smooth, when "IT" happens. Just before the net shot the hooks pull free and a 16 ouncer snaps back, lobs over Parker's head and cracks Mrs. Canyon right under her right eye! Of course I don't see any of it happen because as the fish comes off it circles around right by the net and I pluck it out of the water. (We would not have normally netted this fish, but one of our crew was heading back early and wanted the fish as it was of legal size). Mrs. Canyon starts shouting that she is hit and I am thinking it is a hook. With her hand cupped over her face and eye I am thinking the worst. I run up to the front of the boat and know instantly that our day is done and we are off to the ER for stitches. Although the whole episode really SUCKED we were very lucky. #1 it was the lead and not the hook, #2 it didn't hit her in the head, #3 it didn't break her cheek bone or nose, and #4(the most important one) DOC was only a couple hundred yards away! He was, as usual, simply amazing! Doc jumped on board, checked her out and then personally called each hospital in the area and grilled the doctors until he found one that had a plastic surgery background to stitch her up with just the right procedure that it will never be noticed. You are an amazing friend Doc and we can never thank you enough! Believe it or not after this whole sequence was over the only thing Mrs. Canyon asked me was "did we get the fish"...I definitely married right. After we got Mrs. Canyon all stitched up she said I am going to go rest at the condo(our friends have one on the water in Astoria) while you go get some more fish. Although I had no plan to fish any more that day, Mrs. Canyon insisted...5 pm found us back on the water in front of Astoria for a torrid coho bite where a couple more hatchery fish made it into the box along with one 12lb nook. Final tally for day 3: 2 nooks kept, 2 jacks released, 3 hatchery coho kept, and 10 wild coho relaeased for a total of 17 for 25ish(kind of hard to remember all the takedowns with the events of the day).

Day 4 and 5 were the marathon days. Day four got off to a quick start with a nice 16-17lb nook for our Jr. soldier, Ryan that day. This was Ryan's largest fish ever and he was completely pumped! This is where the grinding began. Up river, down river and everywhere in between we were only able to manage one more king and one hatchery coho in the box with a couple wild ho's released. Around 5pm I get a call to get our asses up to the bridge in front of Astoria. Considering we had been on the water for 10 hours and were about 2 minutes from where we launched in Chinook with a worn out 11 yr. old the decision was pretty simple....GO FOR IT! 20 minutes later we are dropping into the second best bite of our trip. One and a half hours of nooks, hatch coho, and wild coho...simply awesome. Started the day 5 for 8 and finished the day 20 for 30! Best part about the whole thing was that there was only two boats in there...thanks Dave!

Day 5...the final frontier. With the torrid bite the evening before and a very similar tide first thing in the AM we figured, perfect we will whack them and stack them early and get home at a decent hour. Well things don't ALWAYS go as planned at B10 and you have to figure out how to adapt. We had our slowest morning of the whole trip and had a jack chinook(caught above tongue point), a hatchery coho, and 3 missed strikes when we got blown off the water at 1pm. Time to get some lunch, regroup and get an early start home, right? NOT! Wind goes from 4 footers to 2 footers and Sleddder, Parker, and I are thinking...what if last night repeats itself. We call up Rick(Mrs. Canyon's dad) and his buddy Jim and we are all back in the boat pulling out of the east mooring basin at around 4:30pm. Sleddder and Parker run the rods like a pro crew and I just bait and try to keep us on the trolling line(which can be very specific at times). A hundred yards into the troll first fish, hundred yards later #2, a hundred FEET later #3. In two hours we burn through 4 dozen herring, have 3 doubles, limit with 5 kings, and add a couple hatchery coho to the tally. 5-7pm ended with the highlight of the trip for Parker as he looks back and watches me yard an 11-12lb. nook over the side of the boat by the leader because they had a nice teener in the net! Hey what is 40lb test for smile. Final tally for Day 5: 10 kings, one jack nook, 3 hatchery coho, and 2 wild coho ending the trip 16 for 27. That's 22 bites in TWO hours...only downer was a couple beauties lost at the boat, but we won't talk about that right Sleddder and Parker smile...lol.

Once again thank you to sleddder, Parker, Doc, and especially to Mrs. Canyon for being such a trooper. Overall it was a great annual trip and although we had some longer days on the water than in years past, this will definitely be one of the most memorable! It was also great to see many other PP members down there. I apologize for no pics but I am hoping Parker can throw up a few as I forgot my camera. Hope to see many of you for B10 2013!

See you on the water!

CM

[Salmonhawk]

Nice report, where is my filet?