This was my second trip out after a two week lay off due to tough conditions, off color water and poor weather. I took Dennis and his friend Tim, a couple of ODOT managers, for a day at LBC. The weather this week had improved a lot with building high pressure and let me tell you a 60 degree day feels wonderful after the winter we have had!

It was perfect conditions with only a slight breeze until later it the afternoon. We hit the island first and I saw Chuck Jones from Roseburg as we pulled up. We hadn't seen each other since last year and exchanged some fishing stories and then got back to it. BTW, thanks for the smoked salmon Chuck!

There was an obvious lack of kokanee activity since I was at the island two weeks ago and the biggest concentrations are in the Box canyon area right now. We did see a few other boats working the same area. It had been a slow morning without a even a strike. We had just swung a turn off the point out in front of the bay and I had just put the B-16 down, but only to 30 feet because of the balls of kokes we observed. It was about two minutes before I saw the rod bob. I was right next to it so I popped it from the release and got tight on it before Dennis got to me for the rod. The bull stayed down which is often an indication of a bigger fish. When he did get it up and we got some color, I went for the net like "flies on stink," it was a really nice deep bodied bull of about 28-29 in. In the net it weighed 14 LB. which nets out to a solid 10 LB. bull.

The rest of the day was unproductive but we had an enjoyable time getting to know each other a little better. I guess we had a good enough time of it because they have rebooked for two weeks out. I'm hoping the bite heats up by then.

Tight lines,
Rick