Having lived in Oregon almost my entire life, fishing has been a constant activity that has brought my father and I together.
When I was little, he would take me out into the bay at Garabaldi and we would bounce around in a little 12-foot boat, waiting for a salmon to strike.
Once I entered high school, I no longer wanted to spend time with my dad - girls were more important - but as I entered my 30s I found myself wanting to hang out with my father more.
So when he called one evening and asked if I wanted to go fishing, I took him up on his offer. We had so much fun that day, in a friend's boat, that I decided to purchase a boat.
After talking my wife into the expense, we purchased a fairly large boat that would be stable for my dad and his bad knees. This boat had to have a slip (a place where you dock the boat), gas, maintence and, of course, new trinkets.
For two years my dad and I hit the Columbia River, fishing at least one dayevery weekend. Vacations were spent staring at the end of our fishing poles, waiting for that elusive salmon.
When my wife and I found out we were having Violet, the boat was a casuality of economics.
All totaled up, I figure I spent about $35,000 on that two-year fishing expedition and caught a grand total of ... one fish. In fact, that $35,000 fish is still in my freezer, I can't bring myself to eat it. I didn't say we were good fisherman.
Right now in Oregon, steelhead and salmon are starting their runs up the Columbia and other rivers. If you visit any of the dams, such as the Winchester Dam fish ladder in Roseburg or the Bonneville Dam fish ladder in the Columbia Gorge, you will catch a glimpse of the ones that got away.
Trust me, there's a lot of them.
