The Story Of A Day

Tuesday evening Andy found out he didn’t have to work on Wednesday and we immediately made plans to go fishing.

Fishing in China Poot Bay is very dependent on tides because at low tide the bay is too shallow to get a boat into. So with high tide at 4 pm, we loaded up coats and waders and life jackets and headed down the road with the boat around 12. The day was beautiful, the sun warm, and the ocean not very rough, all good ingredients for a perfect fishing trip.

After launching, the children and I stayed with the boat while Andy went to park. We all got our coats and life jackets on and gear stowed where it wouldn’t fly out and then we motored our way slowly out of the harbor. Once we got out of the No Wake Zone, Andy revved the engine and we started across the open water to the bay. The water was rolling and Gabe didn’t like it at first because it threw the boat around a little, but soon he followed his daddy’s example and started singing.

We got back into the bay and the water was much calmer. Sea gulls and loons flew overhead and the mountains rose steeply from the blue green water. I never get over how beautiful it is back there.

When we got to where the creek comes down to the bay we were amazed at how many people were already there! Probably 30 boats or more, some tied up along the edge, others anchored in the bay with people catching salmon. As we got into the shallow water we could see schools of salmon beneath our boat. I’ve never seen that many fish in one spot! It was like a solid carpet of fish!

We briefly talked about snagging some salmon, but decided to hike up to the falls and try to dip net our limit and then see if we had time left. We were trying to get our fishing done and get out by the time the tide turned at 4 pm. Sometimes when the tide is going out it makes the ocean very choppy and we have to be careful with our small boat.

Andy strapped Oscar into the baby carrier and carried the net while I came behind holding Gabe and Jasmine’s hands. Soon we got to the rocky shoreline of the creek and then Andy carried Jasmine as well. A little ways up the bank got too steep and we had to cross to the other side of the creek. Andy and I both had chest waders on, so we carried all three children to the other side. After a little more hiking up a steep trail we got to the lower falls and decided to try fishing there before going to the work of hauling everyone up to the upper falls.

We had a good net, having learned last year which type of net works best, and Andy cleaned out the hole in short order. He would wade in, dip the net in deep and pull up 4-5 fish each time. The thing that took the longest was freeing the salmon from the net, cutting the gills and putting them on the stringer. It took maybe half an hour to catch 19.

We were allowed 6 per person, but the lower falls didn’t seem to have any more fish, so Andy took the net and a stringer up to the upper falls while I waited down below with the children. It wasn’t boring to wait. There were nine people and a dog in the water trying to catch fish, so it was pretty interesting to watch.

Andy came back in twenty minutes with ten more fish. It was one fish less than our limit but he said people were packed in at the upper falls trying to fish without hurting each other and it just wasn’t worth going in again for just one fish.

Now came the hard part. Getting three children, a long handled dip net, and 29 very heavy fish down to the boat. We kinda did it in shifts. Andy took the fish and the net while I took all three children down to the crossing. Then Andy left the fish on the other side and came back to help me carry the children over the creek. (Btw, the creek is over knee deep with a strong current. It would be called a river in some states.) It took a while, and there were a couple times the children tripped and fell in the rocks and screaming ensued, but eventually we made it down to the shore.

It was high tide by this time and the trail was gone. Andy left the fish and us and headed down the shore to where he had tied the boat. Soon we saw him coming and made quick work of hopping in. Back on go the coats and life jackets while Andy put the fish in coolers with ice.

There were still a lot of people there, and a few of them we recognized from the year before. One lady we had helped last year gave us a fish so we would have our limit – 30 salmon.

When we got out to where the bay met the ocean I was relieved to see that there weren’t very many whitecaps. Andy still took it pretty slow on the way back so the boat wouldn’t slap the water so hard, and we all got sprayed with ocean water when we hit those extra big waves, but I didn’t think it was too bad and I’m usually the first person to freak out. All three children went to sleep on the way back even though we were all bouncing up and down a lot. I guess we wore them out!

We motored slowly through the harbor to the dock relieved to be back and excited to have so many fish! Again the children and I stayed with the boat, taking off life jackets and coats while Andy got the vehicle.

Then we drove over to the tent with filleting tables and while the children and I waited and ate a snack he filleted, and filleted, and filleted. Actually it only took him an hour to fillet 30 salmon. He’s gotten really good at it.

Soon we were all loaded up and headed home after a quick stop at McDonalds for some ice cream cones. It was a great day.

Andy weighed the cooler of salmon fillets once we got home and it was 100 pounds.

Last night Andy called up his boss. “No, we’re not working tomorrow,” said the boss. “It’s the Fourth of July so we’re taking a break.”

Andy got off the phone and looked at me. “Want to go fishing again?”

“Ummm…yes, but there are 30 salmon to can!”

So I stayed home and canned salmon today (it made 45 qt!) and Andy and Gabe took our neighbor and his little boy fishing. Andy just texted and said he caught their limit (12 fish) plus one in one dip of the net! That’s 13 fish! I think maybe I’ll be canning tomorrow too.