Salmon plus

[el_carpo]

Hello,

Went out for a few hours again today here on a chilly, windy day. We did all right and met lots of people from all over including a few Australians. Well, I called this post salmon plus so I guess I'll start with the salmon. We caught two different species. Actually, my brother Steve caught them Chuck and I didn't fare too well. This first one is called a Coho salmon.

[el_carpo]

This next fish is what we were really after today. It's called a Chinook or King salmon. This one is a big male. It went about 15 pounds and was 33 inches in length.

[el_carpo]

O.K. now for the "plus" bit. I didn't get skunked, but I came pretty darn close. Here's a little smallmouth bass that nearly gave me a heart attack. I was expecting to hook one of those big king salmon and when this little guy hit my silver spoon, I nearly launched him out of the water with my hook set. I also snagged a small gobie.

We were using medium heavy action seven foot rods and 14 pound test line. All fish caught today were on silver colored spoons about three inches in length.

[el_carpo]

Quick side note. They were holding huge auditions for that goofy, "American Idol" television show today at Soldier Field which was very close to where we were fishing. There were zillions of aspiring Britney Spears and Ricky Martin types flooding to the stadium to audition.

Here we were, three fishermen, loaded with gear--nets, rods, tackle box, etc. and a traffic officer looks at us and asks, "You here for the Idol thing?"................................ ................................. I tried my best not to laugh but no such luck. I said, "Uh, no, just going to try for a few fish today."

What do you guys think, do I look like the next "Pop sensation?" Maybe I should have tried out!

No. No, I definately shouldn't have. I'll think I'll stick to fishing, thanks.

E.C.