Part 1 Etowah River Monsters

Just now, as the Etowah River Tule Chinook is completing its annual spawning cycle, I will bring us back a few weeks and to a time when the salmon had first entered the river in full chrome & battle dress. We knew that a key point to discovering more about the fish and the habitat it resided in we would need to do a float trip and gain access to the forbidden and un fished waters of the lower Etowah canyon that flow through ancient stands of timber few have ever seen.




There was so much to see and so much to photograph on this epic journey but for this time lets concentrate on the fishing and the fish that seemed to be rolling in many of the holes. On the previous trip we had marked out insertion and extraction points on the map well and had an easy time executing the drift after bartering with a local tribesman for a shuttle to retrieve the dory boat. On this trip I would be accompanied by a well know Northwest fishing guide "Ed Fast", whom I had known for many season prior to the Etowah explorations. Known as the "switch up king" his diverse angling methods would certainly give us a look at many of these awesome fish before this trip would come to a close.




The first thing we noticed out of the gate was that the river seemed so quiet, only the sound of the riffling water and creaky oars to fill the air. The sound of almost silence only broken by that of the omni present and rolling Chinook salmon. The later also clued us into a fine starting location. As a go to method discovered on the last Etowah exploration we went directly to out float and weight setups baited with salmon roe of another species of salmon. About 4 passes into the first hole and while not paying attention my float vanished into the dirty green waters the Etowah is named for. Well it runs dirty some of the time...



The river's first offering was a striking male of about 7 or 8 kg. with an all but predatory look about its elongated beak. I imagine not wanting to be a small baitfish in the deep blue oceans where hordes of these awesome creatures might be feeding. The Tule's only real predator aside from man is the Orca or Killer Whale as it is know in the U.S. Salmon sharks may also prey on this species of salmon where their ranges are overlapping.



A few minutes later Ed took a small jack from the hole on a spinner but the real treat came after a switch up in bait and Ed then hooked a wonderful chrome bright female!







What a magnificent female...shining chrome in the morning sun light. Keeping the fish in the water while we take a few photos. Ed expresses to me her willingness to go on her way. The release was as exciting as the battle knowing we had once again obtained what we came for.



Off she goes! What a wonderful sequence of photos. Ed's enthusiasm for the release of this fish was heartfelt. I know he can clearly understand the importance and need for such places where we do not always have our hands in Mother Nature’s cookie jar. There should indeed be reserve for some special places and the creatures within those places. To us seeing this fish was like seeing the spirit bear of Canada for the first time, even though we had both seen scores of female adult Chinook salmon before.

In the tradition of resting a salmon hole, we moved on. Several more holes down river and in a long slow stretch of water I landed another colorful male with teeth as large as a small shark, yes a really small shark but just as sharp, and even more colorful.






Another spectacular Tule salmon released unharmed and caught by way of challenge as the local refer to.

As we floated through the Etowah River valley the salmon just kept coming. Switching up methods allowed us to concentrate our fishing efforts to just a few certain holes that seemed to harbor more secrets than others.




Tule Salmon in this large river have taken a liking to salmon roe. Does this lead us to believe that there is an amount of cannibalism in their genetic makeup. Do they eat the eggs of their own or like in the 'bass' species, do they wait for the hatch and then eat their young? Only a higher power by any name would have such an answer. For now we would use this to our advantage in an effort to study their habits and life cycle.







Again the safe landing and release of yet another large male. This was a common scene and our encounter with the bright hen a few hours before proved to be something to behold.

One such large male comes to mind as we drew nearer to the end of our journey. A fish so large that Ed and I both would share the duty of battle as not to wear the fish out to much for a safe release. We have done this with other fishes such as white sturgeon with great success and so we pay it forward here to honor this giant Etowah river Tule... Hooked from the boat and then the rod brought to shore for a landing. I am shown here with the fish, landed and release just before dark. This is truly an Etowah river monster that even locals would call "The One"




From here we drifted into the evening sun recording data and reviewing photographs taken. Talking about how fortunate we are to have seen this place so special. Devoid of human life and yet far from uninhabited. Once again we leave with only our photos and memories and leave nothing behind but our foot prints in the sand.. and maybe a few hook marks.




Long live the Etowah River Tule, god bless.


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Northwest River Guide Ed Fast can be reached at
http://www.edfastriveradventures.com/