Salmon Fishing on Elk River, Port Orford, OR Dec. 4-7, 2015

[El Pescador]

WHAT a Salmon fishing trip this one was!!!!
Yes, we caught Salmon - Yours truly and son John


My lifelong buddy, Jerry, have known each other since we were age 4!  Next year, we turn 60 yrs. old, and we will post a "Wild & Remote 60th BD Trip"


My son, John, yours truly & our fishing guide, Kenton - this tall guys knows this river!


Jerry's wife made this GALLON bag of caramel corn & Limoncello - ONLY made from Everclear 190 proof, the Calif. version of 150 proof does not create the same bright lemon yellow color!  This stuffs good!


GO TIME is 7am from our San Mateo home, stopped by Starbucks to fill up my Stanley Aladdin themos, the young barista charged me $2.25, what a deal!
GPS has 3 turns for the entire 470 miles to Steelblue Lodge on the Elk River -
1) Turn left on Hwy. 101
2) drive 463 miles, past Port Orford, OR, turn left on Elk River Road
3) drive 6.3 miles, turn left at Steelblue Lodge
Around 10am we all had a hankering for that big bag of Caramel Corn!


Back on the river, our guide was a Shimano & GLoomis guy, used 250, 251 & 400 reels & GLoomis salmon rods - nice gear


Lodge owner, Mark Kimball with his clients for the day, netting a nice salmon for themselves


It is 4pm, 48 degrees and winds blowing 30, gusting to 50 knots, time to get off the river.


But not before a Oregon Dept. of Fish & Game fish counter wanted to view my license & catch for the day.  I had her authorgraph my 2 day OR License ONLY because I've been purchasing Calif. Fishing licenses since age 16, and other than a party boat trip at dock, HAVE NEVER BEEN ASKED TO SHOW MY LICENSE!!!  So I took advantage of the moment.
She took several scales off the fish to send to their labs for analysis.


Back at the lodge, time to cut up the fish.  This chrome bright one we will make Salmon jerky from it.  And it just arrive yesterday, I'll provide a sample to Dominick for his expert opinion!


Here is the cutting station, everything you need to cut, bag & seal your catch of the day.


Lets check out the 3 car garage - Man cave- work area!  Work bench envy anyone??


Here is another shot of the work area, comfortable chairs, pool table, there is a beer keg and sound system with 500+ CD's!


OH, and check out the fish smoker!  During its 32 year lifespan, it has ended up more than once down the river after a flood!  Last time it left the lodge was 1996.


The fish smoker is a cold smoker style, firebox is 5 feet away, and the smoke travels thru a pipe in the exposed weather into the smoker.  Alder wood is being used.


The end product is FAN... Tastic!!!


The lodge fed us like pigs, tonights dinner is Prime Rib Roast smoked in a wood smoker using hickory chips, some Santa Maria red oak brought up by a Los Angeles-based fisherman and Cherry wood - MAN O MAN was fantastic!!!!


Here is my son, John and fellow angler, Wally, who is a farmer in the Sacramento Valley and plans his planting & harvest schedule to allow him to hunt Elk in the Chama, New Mexico region each fall.  


Nice Blacktail shot just the next canyon over from the lodge!


and a large Elk shot in California near Orick, CA - Big Rack!


Second day fishing - here is a photo of spawning salmon near the far shore.  Always magical.


and the circle of life continues.


Here are a few shots of quality fishing holes or slots - here is Coyote Canyon, it is always productive.


and everyone's favorite it is called the Mitch Hole but with a B.  You figure it out.  Great story behind the name!


We are waiting for this boat to complete their drift before we move into the slot and drop our gear.


last day, we enjoyed a great Prime Rib Roast hash breakfast with egg floaters - packed up in sheeting rain, and headed home,
but not before stopping by Eureka, CA to visit with John's (his Mother's Mother) 92 year old Grandmother!  We enjoyed an hour with her then heading back to San Mateo.


Great trip, I have been handing out fresh frozen King Salmon to friends & family.  I go on TOO many trips only to hear guys telling me they still have fish from LAST YEARS trip - frozen fish is NOT like wine, it does not get any better then the day it is caught.  So my goal in life is to consume and/or give away all my freshly-caught fish within 90 days after coming home, but it is more like 30 days!  

Enjoy the post!  Wayne

[Shark Hunter]

Great Report Wayne!
Looks like you guys had fun.
Thanks for taking us along.

[Alto Mare]

Nice report Wayne, looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.
That first pic makes a good candidate for photo of the month... nice fish!
On that fifth pic down, I thought you were impersonating Luciano Pavarotti .

Nice job buddy!

Sal

[Keta]

Nice!   Glad you missed the rain and high wind.

[Newell Nut]

Sure looks like a good time in some pretty country.

[Tightlines667]

Looks like a great trip.  Great report too.  I like thE looks of that snooker too, very functionsl, & it looks well used.

[theswimmer]

Looks like a fun trip Wayne!
Sad to say I got zero salmon this year.
With changing jobs I feel lucky to have gotten 1 Smith river trip early this year, net 1 Steelhead and a couple of nice Rainbows but no salmon.
We should drag Dom on a trip like this.....
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Best,
Jonathan

[El Pescador]

Looks like a fun trip Wayne!

We should drag Dom on a trip like this.....

Jonathan

Dominick in a pair of neoprene waders???  THAT would be the photo of the month!!!!

Great trip indeed!

Wayne

[foakes]

Great trip and great narration, Wayne.

Thanks for sharing!

Best,

Fred

[Keta]

Looks like a fun trip Wayne!

We should drag Dom on a trip like this.....

Jonathan

Dominick in a pair of neoprene waders???  THAT would be the photo of the month!!!!

Great trip indeed!

Wayne

Seeing that would be worth the 5 hour drive over.

[Dominick]

Go ahead and pile on.  Just for spite I am going to post a picture of me in waders and no shirt.  So if you sign on to the site don't do it soon after breakfast.  BTW this trip was over a week ago and I still have not seen any smoked salmon.  I have the bagels, cream cheese, onions and capers for a champagne breakfast.  But no salmon.  Get the hint Wayne?  Dominick

[Alto Mare]

I still have that pic of you with thongs, I photoshopped it with wader chops and my appetite went away  .
I will not  be posting that shot.

[Steve-O]

Looks like a fun trip Wayne!

We should drag Dom on a trip like this.....

Jonathan

Dominick in a pair of neoprene waders???  THAT would be the photo of the month!!!!

Great trip indeed!



Wayne

Super deluxe report on your FAN- tastic salmon trip! Thanks for sharing.

A picture of Dominick in neoprenes with his shirt off?!?!?  

ARE YOU GUYS CRAZY?!?    That would break the intereweb!!!

Just finished breakfast...still enjoying my morning libation of Diet Mtn Dew mixed with orange juice....so thanks for the warning big D...i will keep some napkins close at hand in case said picture is posted and I blow my drink out my nostrils.

[Bryan Young]

Thanks for sharing the trip with us.  Boy, smoked salmon sure looks good.  I can ALMOST taste it (hint, hint, hint).

I've always wanted to do a drift boat trip.  Those guides work really hard and they are just awesome guys.  I spoke with a few in Oregon a few years back when we had a family trip down the coast.

[Keta]

Thanks for sharing the trip with us.  Boy, smoked salmon sure looks good.  I can ALMOST taste it (hint, hint, hint).

I've always wanted to do a drift boat trip.  Those guides work really hard and they are just awesome guys.  I spoke with a few in Oregon a few years back when we had a family trip down the coast.

I know several good Oregon guides if you want recomendations.