by The Troutist, July 28, 2013
In the past month I have been asked on several occasions do I ever just go fishing for fun? My immediate response is no, it is all business for me. I owe it to my readers to use all of my abilities and talent to work the waters, let them know what I found, what worked for me. Then get as many photos as I can, not only for my columns but my face book page. I do this so not only the anglers that read my columns can get an idea of what to expect, but also for those folks that don’t fish. This gives everyone the opportunity to see what I was lucky enough to see firsthand. Now I am not complaining, I find it to be very enjoyable and challenging at the same time, but for the most part it is business.
Every once in a while things seem to present themselves to me, this past Sunday was one of those opportunities. I received a phone call from Bruce Warren of Fishing For Fun Guide Service (253-208-7433) asking if I would like to join him and Doug Dosch of River’s Edge Guide Service (253-350-2884) as ride along and get some photos and a story on the U.S. Army Hunting & Fishing Team-Washington. My response was an overwhelming yes! I had spoken to a few of these guys at the recent JBLM Outdoor Expo and found their organization and activities to be very interesting.
My day started at 12:30am as I gathered up everything I was going to need for this outing and load up on as much coffee as I could possibly choke down. I met up with Bruce and Doug, transferred my gear into Bruce’s rig and we were off. The game plan was to split the team into two groups and get in a little hook and release Sturgeon fishing below the Bonneville Dam. We were going to meet up at the Fishery Boat Launch in the Dodd, Oregon area and hopefully be on the water by 6am. Our mission was to get there early, have the boats launched, and all the gear prepped and ready for their arrival. Everything was done with time to spare. The guys arrived we got our boat assignments and off we went.
The first boat I was assigned to gave me the opportunity to meet and talk to the founder Eric Bakken. Eric hails from Minnesota and loves the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. He explained to me that this program was thought up by him and two fellow soldiers on a mountain top in Afghanistan. Out of those three Eric is the only active member left, one of them got out of the Army, the other didn’t make it home to his wife and family. These teams can be found on most major military instillations in the US and Europe.
Teams consist of 10-18 team members and this Washington team was personally picked by Eric himself. To become a team member there are certain things taken into consideration such as military records and a personal resume on their outdoor experience. This program is backed by the U.S. Army and until recently was also funded by them. Due to recent budget cuts these young men are now funding this out of their own pockets. (On a side note if any of you tackle shop owners or manufactures are reading this and are willing to help them out you can contact Eric at 509-731-5200). Their goal is to put together an Outdoor TV series to be viewed on the Armed Forces Network and hopefully a commercial network. Are you paying attention ESPN? Right now all of the filming that is being done is for their trailer of this program. Some pretty exciting stuff happening for these young soldiers.
We anchored up at our first spot using 10/0 barbless hooks, and 130lb test braided line for leader, and shad for bait. The rods set up in back had 2lb pound lead balls and the side rods with 3lb balls to hold steady. Later on the weight was switched down to 10-16oz pyramid weights. That is quite a switch in weights and I was also noticing the speed of the current was picking up and slowing down often times breaking our anchor free and then sending us into a drift. Growing up on the Columbia River I knew that this is never a good sign in helping for success in hook-ups. The dams had to be letting water in and out making the day quite trying at times.
Shortly after getting all the rods out and a little side bet between boats for the first hook-up and landing of a sturgeon (50 pushups for the losers), SPC Kyle Alexander of the 23rd Inf had his shot. He set the hook and brought in his first sturgeon of his life, it wasn’t the over sized one we were looking for but it was some action. SPC Alexander hails from Oregon and his smile was worth a million dollars to me and our guides Bruce and Doug. We moved from spot to spot throughout the day receiving hits but know real solid hits. This kept our guides quite busy keeping everything moving and trying to bring one of those monsters to the boat.
Now I don’t care what country or what part of the US you are from, and we had a pretty good representation. Germany, Oregon, Texas, Arkansas, and Minnesota to name a few, stories are going to be told. I sat in the back listening to a few of them add in some good natured ribbing and you could hear the laughter fill the air. Later in the day I switched boats and joined Doug Dosch and his crew and one story stood out above all of them. Brad McCutcheon who hails from Arkansas had the topper.
Seems as a kid he was fishing with his grandmother on a local pond for catfish and had broken the tip of his rod. Wanting to take a nap and still fish his grandmother suggested he take his line and tie it to his big toe. She explained to him that if he got a bite the line would pull on his toe and wake him up. Shortly after falling asleep he was awakened by a tug and he pulled the line in by hand and landed a 12lb catfish. I’m still chuckling about this one and the enthusiasm he told it with.
I wanted to thank Bruce Warren of Fishing For Fun Guide Service (253-208-7433), Doug Dosch of River’s Edge Guide Service (253-350-2884), and the fella’s from the US Army Fishing Team-Washington for having me along. I hope they will give me another invite in the future. As always the photos from this adventure will be posted on my Uncle Wes face book page.
So until next time may your next trout be your trophy mount.
The Troutist-“Uncle Wes” Malmberg.
Buy Western Washington Lakes Guide By Wes Malmberg Here
