What should’ve been a dream trip turned into a brutal reminder of just how tough fishing can be
I STILL BELIEVED, even after our guide called it a day. Whitecaps were stitching the broad plain of the Columbia River, from shore to shore deep in the gorge, all the way to the mouth of the Deschutes. I knew the run back to the boat ramp would be a back crusher. I knew we hadn’t had a strike in four hours, despite five anglers in the boat and legendary guide Herb Good at the helm. And I knew all too well that our crew had caught just three fish in four full days of fishing. Still, I believed my fish was coming, despite Good’s concession.
“Crank them up, boys,” he said. “We’re heading in.”
Through 30 hours of relentless fishing, through the slop and chop, the long faces at the fish camp, the guides’ grimaces, and all of the worn-out “that’s why they call it fishing” maxims, I never stopped believing. I knew the bite could turn around in a single cast—that at least a few of the million-plus Columbia River chinook salmon would take an interest in my glob of eggs.
So I jerked as if startled by a gunshot when Good conceded the day. I’d focused every synapse toward my rod’s top guide as I watched—minute by minute, hour by hour—for that subtle tick that would signal a bite. It could happen. It would happen. I still believed.
FACING REALITY
Denne historien er fra September 2017-utgaven av Field & Stream.
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Denne historien er fra September 2017-utgaven av Field & Stream.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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LIVING THE DREAM
After the author arrives in Maine’s fabled North Woods with a moose tag in his pocket, an adventure he’s been wanting to take his entire hunting life, reality sets in, and he learns a valuable lesson: Be careful what you wish for
Get the Drift
How to make an accurate windage call under pressure
First Sit
An icebreaker outing in a pristine spot produces the rut hunt of a lifetime
A Local Haunt
The author finds a sense of place in an overlooked creek, close to home
A Hop and a Pump
Jump-shooting rabbits with classic upland guns is about as good a time as you can have in the outdoors
Welcome TO camp
Is there any place better than a good hunting camp? It has everything: great food, games and pranks, and of course, hunting. Shoot, we don’t even mind going to camp for grueling work days in the summer. Here, our contributors share their favorite stories, traditions, and lessons learned from camps they’ve shared. So come on in and join us. The door’s open.
THE DEERSLAYERS
Before you even claim a bunk, you need to eyeball the hardware your buddies have brought. In the process, you’ll see that the guns at deer camp are changing. What was walnut and blued steel may now be Kevlar and carbon fiber. The 10 rifles featured here aren’t your father’s deer guns. They’re today’s new camp classics
THE JOURNEY TO PIKE'S PEAK
Last summer, the author and three friends ventured off the grid to a remote fish camp in Canada. They hoped for great fishing, but what they experienced was truly something else
Stage Directions
When early-season whitetails vanish from open feeding areas, follow this woods-edge ambush plan
Rookie Season
A pup’s first year, from preseason training to fall’s big show