Fish On! in Washington

For the past couple of years I have been fortunate enough to head up to the homeland (well, one of my homelands) and go fishing for a weekend.  This homeland happens to be Tri-Cities, Washington where the mighty Columbia , Snake and Yakima Rivers all meet.  When people drive by the Tri-Cities they quite honestly don't think much of the city.  In fact, most people really poo-poo the whole region.  It used to really bother me growing up.  I'm okay with it now because the city is growing a lot anyways and more people means congestion and this hidden gem being found.  I realize there is a lot of sagebrush, rattlesnakes, and ticks (see picture below).  But hey,...my parents complain if you have to wait for more than 2 cars at an intersection!  It's a great place with lots of water activities and fertile soil thanks to Mt. St. Helen's blowing up a few years (decades) ago.  Heck, there's even deer and some really cool big barges that go up and down the river!

 An oil barge on the Columbia River

A few deer besides ticks and rattlers!

In October the weather was mild, sunny, and beautiful.  One of the fun things I always remember about this part of the world is that in the fall cobwebs float by all the time.  As a kid I didn't care for them, especially when walking home from school! But now, I think they are fascinating as they float and shimmer in mid-air.  I have never encountered this phenomenon elsewhere.  Well, the cobwebs were floating by all weekend! 

We fished not far from where I grew up on the Columbia River.  Most people go up to what is called "the Reach" at this time of year so you can catch a really, really big king salmon.  We've done that in past years but it is a long (but beautiful) boat ride up to the free-flowing part of the river and there tends to be a gazillion people.  Really, even in the small town with no more than 2 cars at an intersection.  Instead, everyone is out in the same small area of the river.  So, we took a more laid back approach and hit McNary Dam.  The fish aren't as big but they are more plentiful.

Fishing was really good.  We caught many fish each day.  Steelhead and salmon tend to be a one or two per day sort of event so it was great to reel in a lot!  The only problem is that we had a few issues with the pole setup and had to let several go (ok, we lost them but hey you can't land everyone of these bad big boys) on the first day.   Thereafter we did much better.  The freezers are full.

Ya!  One of the many...

Fishing goes on until dark and the sunsets on McNary Dam are truly spectacular.  I've put several in the picture gallery for viewing pleasure or purchase (CLICK HERE -SCROLL to "UNITED STATES").