Billy Chinook 2-10-2024
Another perfect day on Billy Chinook. It was a busy launch ramp this morning; at one point, three guide boats were waiting for clients. It was good to see people getting out and fishing. The morning started slow for the first hour or so. There were only two kokanee in the boat, which was not good. That was outside of the launch ramp, typically a good fishing spot. I was marking plenty of fish that wouldn’t bite, so I pulled up all the gear and headed upriver to find fish.
I found small schools of fish just past the Deschutes arm and started fishing toward the Metolius. It’s still not an on-fire bite, so I picked up a couple more. I added a bull trout rod to the mix to see if we could catch one, seeing the Kokanee weren’t cooperating. Another hour went by, added two more Kokanee, and then the bull trout rod snapped loose from the downrigger clip. I grabbed the rod and handed it to my nine-year-old client, almost10 years old, and he showed that bull trout what for that bull trout was about 21 inches long and would have been a legal fish if it hadn’t been missing about 90% of its tail fin completely healed up that the 2nd one I’ve seen like that. And then, without warning, the kokanee bite took off.
We got a few double hookups and some triple hookups, and then all of a sudden, Greyson, my 9-year-old, almost 10-year-old, screens. Fish on ! he removed the rod from the downrigger. Started to reel, then that rod bent in half, and I told him, thats no Kokanee, you’ve got a bull trout hooked up. Like a seasoned professional, he landed that nice bull trout on kokanee gear, not a legal fish, but darn close. We ended the day with 20 kokanee in the boat and lost just as many at the end of a great day with my 9-year-old, almost 10-year-old Greyson and his grandfather chuck, great day guys.
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