Reality of a fishing trip to the Eel River....

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Here is an email report of a days fishing for two friends who live near Eureka, California:




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Bill as an aside I'm 73 Phil is 65 We each have fished the Eel river for 50 years
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Fishing on the Eel River Oct 15, 2011..


1) Phil...gets a big salmon on and breaks his rod... rod was gift from me.. ( Phil however does skillfully land the fish with just the butt section of his rod.) salmon is black so no pictures... even if we had remembered cameras...

2) I didn't attach the anchor correctly to the anchor rope and anchor goes to the bottom of the river at 8 AM when Phil is fighting his fish.... I figure it's not the time to mention it to Phil, since he just broke his rod and is trying to land the fish with only his butt section ( not knowing it's black at that time) All I hear from Phil between #%**&! is "I'm gonna order a good rod from Bill Kiene as a soon as I get home !!! . I'm glad this piece of %#@*^& broke".. ( I think Phil forgot it was a gift from me)? Phil lands the fish. He's not happy he broke his rod and the fact the fish is black,,, I quickly decide there will NEVER be a good time to tell him about his anchor being on the bottom of the river so I just blurt it out.. and wait... Phil says nothing but there is a very strange look on his face??? So we get out of the boat and start to look around in the water... ... ..After 10-15 minutes, we locate anchor.. which was in the ONLY section of the river that was covered with scum/foam.so we can't see the bottom we have to spread the foam away with our hands..... Phil has to remove his coat, sweat shirt,.and shirt to sick his arm, up to this shoulder, in cold water to retrieve anchor ...that is after he spent 15 minutes pushing it around with an oar to get it into shallow water...all in all counting landing the fish with only a butt section of the rod, finding the anchor and getting it back, about 45 minutes of prime fishing time lost...

3) I'm trying out a "new wading system" using sandals over my waders... they come off in the water so I'm slipping down over rocks..when looking for the anchor...

4) When this fiasco is over, we decide to relax and have a coffee to warm up...It's then I discover I left my lunch, with hot coffee, , in my car... Phil doesn't offer to share, might have something to do with his teeth chattering from the cold water... or me not connecting the anchor properly in the first place...????

5) When we started down stream and the current was hitting the stern of the drift boat.. well, it was then we noticed , because of the water around our feet, Phil had forgotten to put the plug in the drain hole.. We made it to shore where we found a 6 ounce paper cup and bailed about 5 gallons of water out of the boat... with a 6 ounce paper cup...

6) Later that day Phil's son in law was suppose to shuttle the pick up so we could get boat out.....Problem was, he and Phil were not quite in sinc as to where he would leave the pick up...... he left it 1/2 mile UP RIVER from where we thought it would be.

7) Phil gets out of boat, climbs up a steep bank and walks 1/2 mile back to pick up .... in his waders...

I take drift boat down river and immediately get "high centered" on a rock,. most dangerous thing that can happen to one in a drift boat.. something only a beginner would do, mot someone with my boating experience..... I finally have to get out of boat in three feet of fast moving water.....( I .loose both my "new wading system" sandals doing so, I'm slipping on the rocky bottom)..., and push the boat off the rock .. I forgot to hold onto a rope to control boat so I have to throw my self into boat at the very last minute before boats drifts away.. smashing my shoulder on the seat...

9) Safely back in Eureka , Phil unloads my gear in Safeway lot, and he goes speeding off.. I then discover I'd left my lights on and battery is dead , it's then I also discover I left my cell phone at home..can't call AAA

10) I ask some guy in an old beat up pick up if he'll jump start me , ( I have a jumper cables in my hand) he says no.. I ask another guy he says no... finally the third person I ask says yes I get home without any more accidents

All in all, a typical fishing trip for Phil and me ..(OK broken rod was not typical maybe not unusual but not typical ) no fish and a lot of excitement ... can't wait to go again

Rich
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[Cmcculloch]

Good story, thanks for sharing it with us.

[SHigSpeed]

Stories like that are worth a bad catching day!

Thanks for the report!

_SHig

[BobVP]

How refreshing....The story of a "real" day on the river.

I love the Eel!

[Darian]

Good story!!! Kinda reminds me of all of the trips I've taken up there for Salmon, leaving on a Friday night (after work), arriving at Singley, sleeping in the camper van 'til just before dawn. Then fishing all day in bad weather, periodically bailing out the pram and then, late afternoon on Sunday driving all the way back home.... If the fishing was as good as it was then, I'd go again in a second....

Trouble is I can't eat all of the good stuff I used to eat in Eureka any longer. e.g. Samoa Cookhouse, burger joints with chocolate malts/garlic fries/chili dogs, etc. So, that part of a trip up there isn't in the cards any longer. Still lotsa good seafood tho.

[BillB]

Great story. Patrick Mc Manus could not have done a better job.