Starting The Season With A New Fleet


The blog has received little love over the past year, so it was time to write a post. It's not that I have been fishing less, it's that I haven't taken the time to post and work on the videos. The 2022 salmon season was not nearly as epic as the 2021 season especially with the limited fall salmon season. This was mainly due to a unique hatchery Tule Chinook salmon return where the Spring Creek Hatchery upstream of Bonneville Dam had about 100,000 Chinook return - twice the average. The Tule is an endangered species in the rivers below Bonneville Dam and due to some complicated issues,  caused a closure in the lower Columbia River during the height of the season.

Hobie PA17t
The 2023 salmon season is off to an unseasonably cold start with winter holding on and March coming in like a lion and going out like a lion. No lambs this year. Hopefully better days await in April and beyond.

I did reorganize my fleet buying and selling some kayaks while still ending up with a tandem, inflatable and the best fishing kayak on the market - the Hobie Outback. The most unusual kayak of the three is the 2016 Hobie Pro Angler T17. The kayak is the largest fishing kayak ever made and at 17 feet and a capacity of 900 pounds, it's quite the adventure machine. I have taken it out alone and with a friend and it works well either way and is incredibly stable. It also lives on a trailer due to its size and weight. I look forward to hooking and landing my first fish on the PA T17.

The inflatable is an i11s and it was a revolutionary kayak when it was introduced because it combined the platform of a standup paddle board and a kayak. The design is now the standard for all Hobie inflatable kayaks, including the Fiesta, a big four-person party platform. 

I outfitted the i11s with two rod holders and fish finder. It's a very stable platform and I am also looking forward to landing my first salmon on the kayak. I purchased it because it is much lighter than the hardshell kayaks and can be folded up for easy transport.

Of course, my favorite is still the Outback and it is the perfect fishing kayak. There will be many more fish landed in it I am sure.

Time to check the forecast, prep the gear and get ready to put the first salmon in the kayak for 2023. 

Go farther. Catch more. 

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