We left town about 4:50 last night and arrived up in Riggins around 8:30. Went down below town and started fishing. It's a beautiful place, a huge rock outcropping diverts the water and creates a large eddy pool. In the middle of the eddy pool, Rice creek flows out of the rugged mountains and creates a nice circling flow in the pool. At the confluence of the two flows lies a pool roughly 20 feet deep where the fish stack up.

We were using roe bags (2 kinds: fresh salmon eggs, and cured salmon eggs. These are tied in mesh netting, creating 1 inch diameter balls). With the rigs tied up we eagerly awaited our first fish of the trip... No luck, not even a bite... Finally, as the sun was setting, we (My self, Karl, and his friends Patrick and Diane), headed off to a camping place they found further downstream. A nice place, right on the river, the rushing water sounds were fantastic to sleep to!

Unfortunately, the rumbling semi's were not (right on hwy 95 is not a nice place to sleep we found out, or was that my snoring everyone heard?)... Eventually I think we all got some sleep, and the next thing I knew, Beep Beeep BEEEP as my Alarm woke me up at 4:00am... I rumbled out of my tent and woke up Karl. We proceeded to break down camp and head off to the fishing hole. 5:15am, poles ready? 5:25am, roe bags on? 5:30am, Cast Away! We were getting a few hits, then at roughly 8:45 am Pactrick gets a solid hit. He's hooked up solid with a bruiser!

5 minutes later, Karl netted the fish, a beautiful 10-12 pound ocean run salmon. It had it's fin on (hatchery fish have a fin clipped), so we had to return it to the waters to continue it's journey to the spawning grounds... We all High fived, took photo's... and then I mentioned to Karl, "see? I knew that pole was a lucky fhishing pole!!!" (Karl caught 2 fish on it the previous trip, and the first salmon trip he caught one along with a solid fight with another).

A little while later Patrick hooks up with another, but as this one get's close to shore the barbless hook slips out of its mouth (ya that lucky pole!)...

Then it's my turn! We were fishing on the bottom with trhe roe bags, chartreuse yard, corkies (little balls of plastic in different colors) and sliding sinkers. I had a few hits early on and after not getting any for a while I decided to put on a slip bobber and try floating through the pool. I set the depth for 8 feet and started to drift the bobber through the hole... After about 15 minutes, Bloop there goes my bobber under water! I set the hook hard and Fish on!!!

It fought, it struggled, and it came in quick. I had a feeling it was not as large as Patricks, and sure enough, it flashed it's side to us and we all saw it was a Jack Salmon. Whats a Jack? it's a returning salmon that is under 20 Inches (I guess they had a rough time finding something to eat in the Ocean!)... Karl netted it, we took some photo's and... It's another Wild fish!!! Back to the water we sent it!!!

Karl, struck out! No fish... but he did have the great pleasure of seeing two of his good friends catch their very first Salmon!!!

Glenn