It was November 1992, just a few hundred yards downstream of the Rapid River. Same river, and same exact hole I took a friend to catch her one and only steelhead about 5 years later.

I drove to the river with high expectations. I even packed an oversized cooler into the trunk of one of the most uncool cars I've owned. A 1980 Datsun B 210, mine was faded tan and looked like the one in the pic below. Except for two important distinctions; There was a massive dent on the drivers side door, and on the passenger side door vomit had eaten away at the paint. I used a quarter to put some finishing touches on the etching that the puke had started. It looked just like the silhouette of Abraham Lincoln.




The cooler didn't fit, so the trunk lid had to be roped shut over it.

I picked up the fish right away on a gold pixee spoon, with the orange insert. Lost a second fish a few minutes later. And still when I tell people I caught that fish on the Little Salmon river in November, they say "But that river doesn't have any fish in it in the Fall."

I've been catching fish where there weren't supposed to be any for a time now. They taste sweeter.

And my B210? I had it for 2 more years. Summer of '94 I stuck a 100+ pound bluefin tuna in the bare trunk, and poured 75 pounds of ice over it. Drove from San Diego to San Berdoo with it leaking tuna juices on interstate 5. And on those rare occasions when it rained, my car smelled like cat food. I liked it.


VHAwk