While I had always gone fishing with men, one of my college students Jackie(on the right above) lived on a houseboat and invited me to go salmon fishing with her. Salmon run up the Willamette River in late spring, and it is legal to fish for them. Jackie and I went out in her little motor boat, dressed to get wet, but with little hope of actually catching a salmon. We joined a flotilla of similarly hopeful anglers around the base of the Sellwood Bridge near her home.
To our astonishment I got a bite on my line and the adventure began to haul it in. Between the two us we managed both to get the salmon into the boat and to keep ourselves in the boat. We nearly lost the fish and almost sent one of us into the river. Eventually we did reel in the fish and motored back so Jackie’s neighbor could give us the photo proof of our success. Jackie cut the fish into freezer size pieces and we split the bounty.
Having finally caught a huge fighting fish, I concluded my life as an angler. Future posts will discuss how I came to enjoy the fruit of others’ labors.
Saved By Words 
That’s a salmon? What a monster!
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They are magnificent fish. That was a fairly regular sized one.
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I only tend to see them oval-platter-size, for dressing
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I can see why the whole thing was startling.
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I like Salmon, and that was a big one! Well done, Elizabeth.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks. I was astounded myself.
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Wow! That’s ENORMOUS!
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Thanks.
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WOW!!!! >
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Well done!!
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Thanks.
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That salmon fell for your bait “hook, line, and sinker,”
Took one look at you and cried, “Oh, what a stinker!”
To which you confessed, “It is true that I am a sinner.
To make amends, I am going to have you for dinner.”
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Unbelievably dreadful. Thanks! It hit just the right appalling level of verse.
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Wow, very impressive!
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I like it. Ending your fishing career at a high point. Drop the mic!
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Precisely.
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Well done, Elizabeth, a fun and rewarding exercise. That salmon is huge.
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And very hard to get into the little boat.
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A lucky haul! Were you able to sell the salmon at the docks, or did you actually cook it? You could have fed a whole village!
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We ate it all both ourselves and the pieces we gave to neighbors.
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😀
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wow, wow, wow….and what a day trip that turned out to be!
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I am pleased to remember that day by writing about it.
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