Today, Captain Don Graham and I had the pleasure of hosting the Henneveld group. Although the salmon run is over and the remaining fish are way less than pristine, the guys wanted to fish salmon, so a-weeding we went. Both boats had lots of fish to which to cast. Action was nearly non-stop as we quickly broke off foul-hooked fish and played those hooked in the mouth. The “hooked in the mouth” competition between the boats was won by Don’s guys with their five boated. My guys had their shots (including on a chunky rainbow), but they finished with three in-the-mouth fish. However, Brent, who is confined to a wheelchair, blasted the big fish honors out of the water with the 21 lb. buck he holds in the picture below. The fish was very strong and for a considerable amount of time, despite Brent’s really laying the wood to the fish, he had trouble moving it. The fight was protracted and replete with numerous close calls, reminding me of the fresh run King battles we guides witnessed weeks ago. Brent prevailed, though, as his #10 chartreuse egg fly stuck smack-dab in the mouth did the trick. Needless to say, this was Brent’s largest Chinook ever. Congrats, Brent! Happy for you!
Also pictured are Jeff and Joe, who was new to it all but did a great job fighting and boating salmon. Now Joe is hooked and hopes to make it out with us for steelhead.
Thanks for a great time, guys! We thank you for your long-time support of RiverQuest and look forward to hosting you for the Spring steelhead season.
Captain Tom Kuieck
