I will say that it was a lot of fun to watch my father-in-law -- Harold Long -- drip sweat in the hot sun while cranking in a 300-pound blue marlin. Truth be told, Harold's my favorite fishing partner, and it was terrific to see him live an angling dream.
The trouble is that Harold now wants to land an even bigger marlin. It's a disease with no cure, I guess.
I'm glad to be home, and I'm glad that you all are sending me messages.
Jacob Hartough wonders whether crawfish on the bottom of the river scare trout away from his worm.
You know, I think that the mudbugs might keep the small trout away, and the big trout probably would eat the crawfish. But all this is just speculation. I know that whopper trout eat a lot of crawfish.
Jacob, I believe you'd catch more trout by drifting your bait along the bottom. The sinker should tap, tap, tap the bottom. Trout are used to eating food that is drifting in the current. However, sea-run cutthroat in fresh water do love that quiet "frog water."
Jacob also wondered whether small trout gathered around his bait attracts or discourages larger trout. I think that small trout wouldn't hang around a bait if a big trout were nearby. Big trout eat baby trout. Again, I'd have that bait drifting through the seams between fast and slow water.
Craig Richards noticed that I'm in the market for a fishing kayak. Richards says that he loves to use his kayak to fish chinook salmon at the "Green Can" area where the Nisqually River flows into Puget Sound. "I can tell you it's a blast to catch a big fish from a kayak, have them tow you around, and then land it in front of guys in $60,000 boats," Richards says.
That sounds like my kind of fun! Speaking of fun, I bet a lot of you wallowed in the great snowboarding and skiing last week. This is a winter of winters, and I can't wait to get back out on the slopes this weekend. I'd also love to cast a fly for a winter steelhead, so it looks like a busy weekend ahead!
