The "How was your weekend?" thread...

[Jake Watrous]

We lost power for two days (and counting) and in the process two chest freezers stuffed with fish, deer, elk, beef, pork, game birds, chicken, and crab—basically all our meat for the next year.

For the first time in years we will be buying meat instead of catching, hunting, or trading for it. Since when does a whole chicken cost $15?!

Looking forward to next weekend.

 

[Coach Potter]

The learning curve is STEEP (pun intended) in my new hunting grounds. My head is swimming…it’s going to take me a minute to figure this out. OnX says I logged almost 20 miles on my feet over the 3 day weekend. I love the adventure and struggle. I had been seeing the woods through a straw the last 20 years. The scenery is a nice consolation prize.

 

[Hem]

Not the weekend, instead today.
Incredible few hours on a home water.
Caught a big whitefish, walleye, a few rainbows, and two good browns.

 

[Salmo_g]

Caught a big whitefish, walleye, a few rainbows, and two good browns.

The browns look like "hammer handles." Are these post spawners by this time in November? What's the water temperature?

 

[Hem]

The browns look like "hammer handles." Are these post spawners by this time in November? What's the water temperature?

Pretty slender fish. I would guess these are post spawners. Caught in deeper water but general proximity of redds.
Water temp im guessing 33 degrees

 

[Evan B]

Went to Canada early Thursday morning for a weekend of eating delicious food around Vancouver, staying with good friends just east of Vancouver, and just plain having a nice, much needed trip.

Also saw my business partner @Josh on the drive home today.

 

[Peyton00]

Moulin Rouge at the Paramount Theatre today.

Excellent, incredible show.

 

[Northern]

Just being Mom this weekend
My baby (22) just got home from college for winter break. Baking 6 kinds of cookies with her while singing along with Taylor Swift (a holiday baking tradition), drinking hard ciders, decorating the tree, wrapping presents.
Good times!

 

[Hem]

Last fish of 2022. Fiesty rainbows.
Good to get out on 30 degree weather.
Looking forward to 2023.

 

[Coach Potter]

Got out and did some Idaho stuff with my boys, a buddy and his boys. That included getting our Jeeps stuck twice, torching our Christmas trees, burning some wild meat over an open fire, shooting 5-600 rounds of ammo, and some explosives to top it all off.

 

[HauntedByWaters]

The local river had an emergency closure announced at 3:30 Friday afternoon and so my much anticipated day on the water away from toddler nightmare was over before it started. Couldn’t they close it on a Monday at least? I decided to do about 4 hours of driving round trip to a different spot a lot closer to the ant hill. Not a soul in sight other than my buddy, and 1/2 on steelhead. So I am on the board for 2023. I already feel a lot less pressure to perform.

 

[Pink Nighty]

The local river had an emergency closure announced at 3:30 Friday afternoon and so my much anticipated day on the water away from toddler nightmare was over before it started. Couldn’t they close it on a Monday at least? I decided to do about 4 hours of driving round trip to a different spot a lot closer to the ant hill. Not a soul in sight other than my buddy, and 1/2 on steelhead. So I am on the board for 2023. I already feel a lot less pressure to perform.

Can confirm the closure sucks and Friday was the first day of the season that the river was legitimately perfect flow and color wise. Infuriating.

 

[Josh]

Can confirm the closure sucks and Friday was the first day of the season that the river was legitimately perfect flow and color wise. Infuriating.

But sadly not surprising. The returns to that hatchery are shit and have been for years. This closure seemingly happens every season.

The counter argument is that without that hatchery, the river wouldn't be open at all. But that's not exactly comforting.

 

[Pink Nighty]

But sadly not surprising. The returns to that hatchery are shit and have been for years. This closure seemingly happens every season.

The counter argument is that without that hatchery, the river wouldn't be open at all. But that's not exactly comforting.

As far as I'm concerned, that hatchery provides zero fishing opportunity in the river. It's a ranching operation to get eggs to stock the lowland lakes. Fucking ridiculous.

 

[Josh]

As far as I'm concerned, that hatchery provides zero fishing opportunity in the river. It's a ranching operation to get eggs to stock the lowland lakes. Fucking ridiculous.

I think the argument is that if the hatchery were gone, the fishery would be closed completely to protect the wild fish. I have no idea how valid that is or not. But it's what I've heard.

 

[Salmo_g]

I'm sure you're right Josh. The Nooksack hatchery steelhead program has seldom produced decent adult return rates. I really don't know why it was one of the rivers selected to continue stocking Chambers Ck steelhead. I guess the best that can be said for it is that it allows a person to fish CNR for bull trout and early return wild steelhead, as opposed to a complete river closure.

 

[Josh]

This emergency rule is necessary to close all game fish seasons in the Nooksack River and all
forks. Current hatchery steelhead returns to Kendall Hatchery are well short of steelhead broodstock needs. The hatchery
has received less than 20 percent of the 160 fish needed to reach the broodstock goal. Closing game fish seasons in the
system will increase the odds of meeting the hatchery steelhead program goals and perpetuation of the program. There is
insufficient time to adopt permanent rules.

Delightful. They have gotten fewer than 32 fish back. The price per fish in that program is abysmal.

I guess the best that can be said for it is that it allows a person to fish CNR for bull trout and early return wild steelhead, as opposed to a complete river closure.

True facts.

 

[Evan B]

17hrs of class time this weekend to get this bad boy.

 

[Zak]

17hrs of class time this weekend to get this bad boy.

View attachment 50439

Congratulations!

 

[HauntedByWaters]

I went 1/2 on wild steelhead. I think the season is going to be pretty good. I haven’t had 2 wild steelhead to hand by mid January in years. The Skagit CnR season is going to be fire.