Rounding out my firsts from last week was the Giant Super Crazy Fishing Trip.
Not only did I learn how to make lures and tie and weight and bobber the whole operation (not that I could pass any sort of pop quiz), I learned the skill of acquiring dinner.
First, getting ready.
You have to know how to tie fancy knots and find colors that fish are attracted to to make them go for the lures. A girl can handle that. Salmon like pink. That makes me laugh. Anyway, so we got the stuff all ready and went down to the beautiful river. We were in Monroe, an hour away from Seattle.
We’re all fun and games until this little guy walks up and says hi and leaves, and it takes us a bit, but we realize HE STOLE OUR BAIT. MK went after him with a murderous look on his face but to no avail. We had more. But seriously, who does that? Punk.
We changed spots (yes that is a plane in the background), got burgers, and started fooling around, giving up on the getting any fish part. This is me after I went fishing for the little baby fishies with a french fry.
Then, NN notices Frank, who will forever be immortalized as “Guy we end up standing next to actually catching stuff and THROWING IT BACK”. He goes with a little of this “Man, I am here from AUSTIN and just can’t catch a fish…all I wanted was to eat some fish from this river tonight, this is my only chance…” just loud enough, Frank offers us a fish.
Matter of fact, Frank is so cool he catches TWO (yes, Frank 10, Us 0) for us.
Then you learn how to kill a fish. Avert your eyes if you don’t want to know:
you bash them over the head with a rock. Eew.
That didn’t bother us though, we had dinner ready to go! Thanks, Frank.
NN taught me how to clean the fish, also new to me. Then MP taught me how to marinate the fish. I made some rice and corn, and we went up to the roof with butter lemon garlic and teryaki salmon. Salmon is usually a little strong for my taste, but let me tell you, there is something about spending all day staring at a river full of fish and getting the guy next to you to make you feel like you caught it that makes it great.
UPDATE: Here’s the link to the video of ‘catching’ a fish.
Cat Killfoil 
You forgot to mention, that I made an offer to pay $5 for anyone willing to give me their fish!! Poor MP, he felt so bad when I said, “You know, its been a life long dream of mine to catch a salmon in washington…I FLEW ALL THE WAY FROM TEXAS FOR THIS!!” I think my sap story made Frank drip a tear 😉
Can’t wait to go “fishing” with Frank again. MP, you’re fired, I got me a new fishing guide.
Nice, nice. It’s true, if it wasn’t for you, we would have starved. I wasn’t going to cook unless we (sort of) caught it. Frank’s gonna be calling you expecting TX catfish.
I am shameless, and I am proud of it, cuz we ate like kings (and queen) that night. I can’t wait till MP posts a youtube of me faking my catch!
When I get it I’ll add it here too.
I used to fish with my grandpa. . . and I don’t EVER remember ANYONE SMASHING a fish head with a ROCK! 😦 I believe they always chopped their heads off with a big, clean knife.
Are you sure you weren’t fishing with cavemen?
I’ve seen Les Stroud and Bear Grylls smack the fish’s head against a rock, but not the other way round. Looks to have been a great time.
I kinda felt a little like I was on Survivorman, Jane. 😉 I think we just forgot the knife…