That still left me with coming up with a special, yet also healthy menu for Mother's Day. I love pasta in every variety and theme, which apparently is not appropriate for waistlines. Vegetables are de rigueur for those hoping to shed excess pounds, as everyone in our family is hoping to do, and my "vegetable blitz" recipes consist mainly of broccoli soup and stir-fry, not suitable for Mother's Day. What to do?
Dad came to the rescue! For Christmas and my birthday, he had given me a guided fishing trip that just happened to be scheduled for Saturday, May 12. We headed out at o' dark five hundred to fish for salmon at the convergence of the Clackamas and Willamette Rivers with a professional guide, Chris. And the morning couldn't have been more glorious - a pristine blue arc warmed by a brilliant burst of golden sun, promising the kind of heat we hadn't seen since....we couldn't remember when. We pushed off and admired the gorgeous houses that flanked the rivers while Chris readied the cocktail of bait, then settled in for some serious fishing.
Chris caught us up to the rivers' temperament - the fishing was great on Thursday, but slow as a stream flowing up a hill the day before. Well, I grinned with stretched-out legs, it is sunny and I am far away from my work computer - no matter what happens, the day will not be misspent! There were quite a few boats out on the water, a breeze was blowing (I was glad for the sweatshirt and fleece jacket I brought, despite the sun cresting above the trees), and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. Just then, Chris jerked his head in my direction - "Grab your line! You've got something!"
And "something" I did - I caught my very first spring Chinook salmon, and had to fight him all the way to the boat! Dad coached and took pictures while I brought him over onto the deck and Chris got him into the net. It was the biggest fish I've ever landed, and the biggest grin, too!
Chris moves us along the river:
Dad keeps an eye on his line:
Elegant homes along the river - I'll take the one in the middle!
Unbeknownst to me, we have a sea lion problem on the Willamette. These buggers will swim right up to your boat and take your catch. Chris's buddy brings a paintball gun with him to keep them away!
Checking out the falls on the Willamette River in Oregon City (we saw sea lions swimming and diving in the rapids):
Keeping an eye on my line:
The guts:
Ready for cutting into steaks:
I was so proud to come home and tell my mom, "I hope you like fresh salmon, because I caught something just for you for Mother's Day!" (In my head, I hear Napoleon Dynamite's voice, "I caught you a delicious bass...") She was so excited, especially when I pulled off grilled salmon with a mustard maple balsamic marinade, rosemary potatoes, summer salad, and Hawaiian rolls with grilling help from Jim. She also really liked the jewelry organizer and the card with two kitties on it. I also made sure Dad had salmon steaks of his own to take home - he deserved it after taking me on such a great fishing trip! Thanks, Dad, for helping me bag my first salmon and making my fishing trip weekend and Mom's Mother's Day so memorable!!!
5 comments:
That thing is freaking HUGE!!! (That's what she said!) Mom told me you'd spanked everyone by catching the only fish on the trip! I wish I could have been there--I love everything about boats and tiers and sitting in the sun. We went out of Jeff's speedboat, which was amazing, but I had Tamsie on my lap and was worried the whole time that she'd be scared (yet she had a blast). Next time I come up, let's go fishing!
Um, the word "tiers" is actually supposed to be "rivers." Thank you, iPad autocorrect.
jealous, I love salmon! My mom's treat was she got to choose what I made for dinner (since I make dinner every night, and decide what we are having for dinner). But she chose sausage (although if we would have had salmon, that is what she would have picked!).
Katie, you stand proud as a fisherman (person - whatever)and you are a whale of a writer. But you need to learn the other part of fishing - bragging! There were easily 500 people out there fishing, boats everywhere, and probably not one in ten caught a fish that day. You did it perfectly - rod tip up, tension of the line, followed Chris's instructions to the letter - way to go for your first salmon! Me, I had two shots at one and couldn't keep one on for more than 30 seconds of mayhem. You out-fished the guide and your dad - way to go! (And it was tasty!)
It's about time I commented here! That salmon was to die for, and Katie outdid herself with the marinade. The dinner was absolutely perfect. I loved every minute of it!! And this week, now that our visitors are gone (boo hoo), I'm getting that jewelry organizer out and whipping my closet into shape!!
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