It's Day 5... and today Team eyeFISH = Eric, Keith, f4b and yours truly.

I'm a little fuzzy on the fishy details of the day, only that I remember that for the first time all week, the team's coho encounters outnumbered chinook, and virtually all of them were taken at high water. Were they finally here in strong numbers? Only time would tell.

A bit short on coho pics largely because once hooked, they come in so damn fast that we almost never capture the fight.... or the angler doesn't want to bother with a pic of another cookie cutter coho. Regardless I was able to convince a reluctant Keith to pose this one briefly for my Canon D10.



Action on the outgoing was a bit more spotty... at least for us. But I seem to recall at least several "other" boats on the hunt for the elusive bite. If you look carefully, you can spot fishy dudes Steelies-R-Us, Canyon Man, Neal M, and Stam.





On the other hand, the weather was HOT HOT HOT. I offered to put up the top to give my crew some much needed shade (like I did for Twitch and f4b two days earlier), but they politely declined. I was already half-nekkid long before high noon and the sun was just killing me.



Even the steady flow of microbrews was NOT enough to cool me down.

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DAMN, we were sucking eggs! But you know if you start goofing off on a boat for long enough, fish is bound to happen. Drive by here.... half a hit there.... but then finally something decent sticks.... HARD!

YEE HAW! f4b rescues the team reputation with this platinum pig! Orygun 40 = we no longer suck! Damned fine fish, Murray! So mirror-bright that it's reflecting my red shirt!








Check out the electric green back in this meat-hook shot of a prime Columbia URB! Gorgeous buck!



Orygun 40? Who am I kidding man? That pig was at least 50 once f4b put it in the bleeder bucket!



Nice as that fish was, it was a struggle on the WA side of the river and we decided the prospects might be better repeating the Hammond Hover on the incoming that afternoon. Took a lunch break and relocated to the OR side. Achewter Sr took an open seat with Team Rosales, our campmates at Ft Steven St Park. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, but the bites were far and few between. Perhaps just another sign that we were swinging out of the soft tides that favor the chinook bite.











The fishin' was slow, but the company was superb with a bunch of dedicated Grays Harbor dudes on board.



Before we knew it, the sun was getting pretty low on the horizon.



If those crazy fish were ever gonna show with this incoming tide, they'd better do it PRONTO! With only 1/2 an hour to sunset, Keith's rod finally took the plunge. The stubborn fish bull-dogged for the depths and was determined NOT to come to the surface. Keith had other ideas and slowly worked the king to the top. At that point the wild tule decided to take an entirely different tact.... straight into the air multiple times. The final jump would seal the deal.... fish 1 Keith 0

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