A fishing guide buddy invited me to fish for salmon on the Clearwater River in Idaho. He had tale after tale of fish measured in feet instead of a few inches. I'm used to fishing small streams and mountain lakes so catching a 18 inch trout was a big deal. He said he'd probably throw back anything 18 inches or smaller. My eyes lit up.

We set out early in the morning. As a pro, he put his boat in the water with ease and rigged up his rods and other gear in minutes. There were other boats on the water but he new where he was going and traveled up the river a ways. 

He finally got to his prized spot and looked at me, "You ready for this?"

I smiled back. He and our other fishing buddy let me go first since this was my first salmon fishing trip. He navigated the river so the bait was at just the right depth. Within minutes he yelled, "FISH ON!"

I grabbed the pole and started to reel. The fish on the other end was definitely larger than the small mountain trout I was used to. It put up a great fight. Within a minute I had secured the fish at the boat. It was definitely the largest I had caught. 

That day we caught our limite with the largest measuring 42 inches. 

At the boat dock we cleaned the fish and stowed the meat in ziploc bags. It was more fish meat than I'd ever seen. When we got home we grilled the salmon up on the grill. It was the best fish I'd eaten. It lasted for several delicious meals. 

Can't wait for the next fishing trip!