Species: Red Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus) Location: Off the coast of Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 14, 2011 I began this blog with the first story I ever recorded. That story took place in 2004, and I wrote about it afterwards in a spiral-bound notebook by hand. My last story from those hand-written journals takes place seven years…
Species: Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) Location: Big Butte Creek, Butte Falls, OR Date: August 14, 2010 I debated how to record this species. The reason being that there are 10-to-14 living subspecies of Cutthroat Trout (depends whom you ask), and many anglers document and note each subspecies separately. Obviously I do. And while I’d like them to be…
Species: Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) Location: Brookings-Harbor Marina, OR Date: September 10, 2009 Rashomon Effect 4-of-6: My Eyes Black. I rubbed them. Gray. I rubbed them again. Rheumy, blurry darkness. I blinked a few times and then fumbled in the darkness for my glasses. Rheumy, clear darkness. I shuffled through the cold morning fog to the shower, the…
Species: Yellowtail Rockfish (Sebastes flavidus) Location: Brookings-Harbor Coastline, OR Date: September 10, 2009 Good and bad often go hand-in-hand. This was one of those days. In less than 12 hours, I landed 26 fish representing 11 species (six of them new). Since this series on my blog showcases a story for each individual species, I was presented with a…
Species: Northern Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) Location: Umatilla River, Pendleton, OR Date: July 21, 2008 We’ve established I hate baseball. I respect it and those who play it, but it bores me to tears. So, when my brother Gabe’s team made it to the Little League state championship tournament for a chance at the Little League World Series, I…
Species: White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis) Location: Gerber Reservoir Date: July 15, 2007 If you’ve kept up with this blog, you probably know that I started keeping fishing journals when I was 14. Let’s be real. I’m quite confident in my writing abilities now, but my early teenage prose wasn’t always the best. Still, as I look back, a…
Species: Kokanee Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Location: Odell Lake, OR Date: August 6, 2005 As a kid, I think I fished from a boat maybe half a dozen times. For that reason, I remember every time I had this opportunity afforded only to the wealthy very clearly. *** When the family headed to Odell Lake for the first time, I…
Species: Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) Location: Lost River, OR Date: June 18, 2005 Lost River is so named because it bubbles up out of the ground, wanders around for 60 miles, then goes back into the ground not far from its origin. It is rumored to have once held a great Redband Trout fishery, but those days are decades…
Species: Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) Location: Brookings Coastline, OR Date: May 26, 2005 It had started the day before. My first time on the ocean, I rode out in a small Bayliner in the afternoon. The handful of students and three chaperones who decided to brave the afternoon waves thought it would be worth it. The newness of the experience…
Species: Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinis) Location: Brookings Coastline, OR Date: May 26, 2005 This part of the trip was uneventful. After catching several of the larger Black Rockfish, I pulled up a much smaller fish with a bluish tint and faint stripes on its face. I was told “That’s just a small blue,” and I should “throw it back.”…
