onchorynchus salar

I have only caught Atlantic salmon once in my life. Fourteen inch
juveniles in Gull Lake, Michigan about 10 years ago. I had been
fishing for smallmouth bass and was surprised to tie into a pod of
these surprisingly strong fish. They faught frantically. Alas, no
jumps. That's all I know of the great leaper ... that and Lee Wulff's
tales of salmon in that eponymously titled book.

Now I've caught plenty of rainbow trout and I can attest that they
jump quite often. When a good sized rainbow belly flops after going
airborne you can feel the heft of the fish and the slap of the water
telegraphed back to your line hand which is desperately trying to
maintain control of the fly line. That's a great feeling. I've also
hooked into big rainbows while trolling for salmon in the Great
Lakes. It's amazing to stand witness to an unlikely sequence of
events which begins with the captain yelling "fish-on" while we drag
silver-plated spoons using downriggers. The rod holder is only 5 feet
away from the bench where I am seated so it takes less than a second
for me to get to the transom and make sure that the barb has sunken
solidly into the jaws of Mr. Onchorynchus. Before I can even blink I
am staring at a 12 lb steelhead that has rocketed from 60 feet below
the surface into low earth orbit. Well it might be a "very low" orbit
but an altitude of 10 feet is nonetheless impressive for a freshwater
fish.

Even a century of hatchery breeding has failed to induce a genetic
amnesia of its prediliction for leaping among the rainbow trout.
Yesterday I took a leisurely drive into the Santa Cruz mountains
arriving quite late for a fisherman, 1 PM, at the boat rental at Loch
Lomond, not Scotland but California. Unlike most impoundments near
the San Francisco bay area this one actually has a natural feel to it
reminiscent of a Sierra Nevadan lake or a midwestern spring pond.
There are no powerboats and the shore is rimmed with plenty of
greenery. I asked to rent a motor boat and was offered a choice of
foot or oar. I guess all the battery powered boats were already
rented out. I rigged up not knowing what to expect as it was my first
time there. I let out about 90 feet of my Airflo Depth Finder
integrated shooting head line with a size 8 marabou streamer wearing
Mickey Finn colors. Nobody was having much luck except me. I rowed
back and forth for about 3 hours continuously and hooked a fish about
once every 30 minutes. Maybe it was my syncopated rowing, the pauses
and stops, the quiet splashing of oars that led the stocked trout to
my fly instead of the broken back Rebels and jointed Rapalas being
pulled behind the steady mechanized hum of the MinnKotas. All I know
is that even a 12 inch, hatchery raised rainbow can jolt the rod
nearly out of a rowboat and pull a 200 grain sinking head up to
surface while it decides to take a gulp of air in its attempt to lose
the hook. That and the fact that the guy working at the dock was
impressed with my "skills" as he called my luck.

Today my arms and back are sore but that is a small price to pay for
the recent imprint upon my mind of a quiet Sunday afternoon filled
with visions of jumping fish. Leap on little rainbows and big ones.
Til next time.

Mu Young Lee
Santa Clara, CA