What Does the Fall Salmon Run Mean to You

[hookncook]

About 4 years ago, I was working as a pharmacy technician to fill in some time and make a few bucks. One of the guys that delivered our products to the various homes we served was an avid outdoorsman and we would swap stories every time he came around.

One day, he came in excited about the upcoming salmon run. I told him that I never fished salmon before and he hit the floor. “Well shoot son, you gotta go!” he said as he grabbed a piece of paper off my desk and drew some maps of places to go.

He explained the ins and outs of salmon fishing and the simplicity of it all. “All you gotta do is get some jumbo marshmallows and hair nets. Rig ‘em up wolf river style, so that the marshmallow floats just above the creek floor. When the salmon comes, he runs into the line and gets snagged up on the marshmallow.”

With the shared excitement of the weekend upon us; my girlfriend, dad, and I headed over to the spot that Bill drew on the map. We started out using marshmallows and hair nets, what a mess that was! There we met Leon, a guy that lived in the La Crosse area and he showed the ear plug technique. “you don’t need nothing fancy” Leon explained, “just SOMETHING that floats.”

Aside from learning how to fish King Salmon on the banks of the Anaphee River that year, I learned about fellowship. We met Larry, a guy from Steven’s Point that comes every year to fish with his sons; Steve from Madison, and so many others. I found that people across the state makes the annual pilgrimage to their favorite spots to fish for the vulnerable, yet elusive King Salmon.

A co-worker of mine, Nichole, goes to Two Rivers with her dad every year. “we take our camper and boat and camp out.” says Nichole as she talks about her annual salmon tradition. “Every year, we see the same people at our spot in Two Rivers; it’s nice, like one big family. We recognize the campers and say hi. We have a big grill out and party to kill time until daylight”

Every year, we all head to the Algoma and Keywaunee area located just off Lake Michigan and fish for the King Salmon. Every year, we look forward to seeing Leon, Steve, Larry, and new faces to the hole. We all greet each other at the fishing spot and share stories of the year past and catch up. Sometimes one of us will run to town and pick up a slab of smoked salmon from Bearcats, a local meat processing store to share some mouth watering fish and remind us why we are there. We all cheer and jeer when a salmon gets on or gets fouled hooked; and at the end of the day part ways until the next run.

Aside from the fellowship that the fishing hole brings, the fish themselves find a way to bring people together. I like to bring Salmon to work after I have it smoked. It’s fun to watch my co-workers and clients dig into the fish and share stories about outdoor adventures. It’s the one biggest thing before deer season for many people.

[hookncook]

My Son and I with his first salmon

This on almost got away! Note to self: when posing with a 20lbs fish, do it on shore!

All that hard for for a slab of pink meat

[hookncook]

Heard the CO-HO's are in. Kings are now in the zombie stage and not a pleasure to catch.

Looking forward to taking son on his first Co-Ho mission this weekend. With the success of this year's king run, I suspect the crowds will be down.