First let me say Hi to all the Northern Saltwater FNN'ers on here.

I was invited to join Exfactor and a long time fishing buddy of his, George and get a chance at the Salmon bite going on off Avila.

Mike aka Exfactor said be at his house a 3:50 am. Oh man I need my beauty sleep... Anyway I showed up on time and then off to Georges house for ride to Avila. We set out in the dark and made our way without any issues.

Arrived at the launch area. A boat sling system that was working very well. The operator was placing boats every few minutes. We waited almost an hour for our turn, but we had a great time talking to some of the other fisherman. Lots of 411 was shared and before you knew we were on the water.

These guys are long time friends. Both know the water and fishing very well. And you can tell in the picture one is thinking we need to go over here, while the other is thinking we need to go over there. These 2 were almost as much fun as the fish. I not sure that's how they would look at it thought.


We motored around a little and then set up. Trolled 3 different set ups at 3 different depths. George got the first hook up and it was in the boat by 8:30 on ice.
We didn't talk about who would be the next on a rod. Then almost exactly 1 hour later we get hooked up again. No one moved on the rod so I grabbed it out of the holder and did everything opposite of what the guys had told me. Mike had said "Bill I want you to pull and hold the rod in a sideways position. What did I do? Stand up Tuna style baby. Mike fixed that real quick. Old habits are hard to break most of the time...........

I somehow managed to come out with this beauty


At this point we had 2 very nice fish on board and were confident the 3rd wouldn't be a long wait. Sure enough its Mike's turn. I watch every move on how he handled the fish. Let me tell you all right now, He is called the Yoda of fishing for a reason. If you have the desire to learn how the experts do it, he will tell you how its done. Not many anywhere are better.
But this is where the story gets sad. For me at least. Mike "no sweat" It happens. Fish goes into the net, the hook falls out of the fishes mouth, everybody is happy. Then you see no fish in the net, HUH? It went in head first. Well somehow the fish turned around and swam right back out, without the BTW Barbless Hook.

We reset knowing the fish were here. Trolled and trolled for a good hour then what we had been waiting for. This time it was on the rig Mike had near him so it was game on real quick. George starts clearing the other 2 lines and down rigger. I am driving the boat, Mikes getting the fish in. We see the Flasher coming up and a HUGE fish right behind it. A good 25lber for sure. George has the net in hand, I am ready to turn where ever I need to turn when all of a sudden the line just above the hook is cut by the very sharp teeth. The disbelief and silence was deafening. This is not suppose to happen.
What can you do but reset and go at it again. Unfortunately it was getting late and many other boats had already headed back to port. We gave it the old college try to no avail to get that 3rd fish. Well at least Mike got to fight 2 fish while George and I got one each.

Here's some pic's of the day to go along with the story.
Thanks for reading and best of luck to everyone.
WWO




The gratuitous Wingnut shot


Mike taking a Siesta...