By Tim Callahan
It’s on! Cool nights and warm sunny days; Mother Nature’s putting on her fall fashion show, and everybody’s up here enjoying the U.P. colors. Yellow, orange, red, maroon, purple, and pink!
That’s right, “pink”, as in my first pink salmon on the big Two-Hearted River.
The mouth of the river was my first choice, but after seeing the parking lot, I backtracked to the campground steps. The 58 steps to the river will make you pause and take in the view before your descent down. My destination was downriver to the first bend and the rapids; I’ve had good luck there. Because of the long hike along the bluffs, I left all my painting stuff in the truck. This stop was for fish, but I brough the camera and sketch book along.
I was the only one there and got to work rigging up my flyrod with an imitation egg and drift it through several deep pools, and then the rapids, with no results. I switched to my ugly stick rod and a Mepps spinner with a real spawn bag and bam, I’m hooked up. My first coho of the season got free as fast as it got hooked. Time to let this spot cool off and do a little field research.
I took a few photos and made a quick sketch of my favorite spot on that stretch of the river. My eye caught a fish rising in the quiet shadows to my right, so I grabbed the pole and cast just up from the spot. Bam, a snag, but it was moving toward me — at least I’ll get my lure back, I thought. Then I realized it was a fish and he wasn’t even putting up a fight. I got him in the net and was elated to see he was a pink salmon. Not too pink though, mostly green, and lots of teeth. He was a male with a humped back.
My original plan was to fish and paint the last couple of hours, but I was too excited to get back to headquarters with my pinky to paint!
I took a couple of photos and another quick sketch on shore for the colors of the fish — because like the colors on the trees, they don’t last long.
For that reason, enjoy your fall, because the blues and grays of winter are fast approaching.
