Big Mig, the other Lone Rider

We packed our stuff and were on the road to Woodland, WA. The general plan was to drive to the hotel, park in their lot, unload the motorcycle, disconnect the trailer. From there Mike would joy ride towards Mt. St. Helens on his Harley and I would take the van to scope out a couple of fishing spots.

Before we could start our adventure in Woodland, Mike had to introduce me to the finer cuisine of a Popeye chicken sandwich. It was my first time.

Unloading the Harley is a 20 minute process that we will repeat often during this trip.

Then The Lone Rider, Big Mig Harley Davidson version is ready to ride.

I had other plans.

First, I tried my luck at the main park along Horse Shoe lake, not far from our hotel in Woodland. I gave it a try, but the wind was too strong and in the wrong direction to stay. I drove along the perimeter of the lake and stopped at 2 or 3 places to cast with the spin rod. I successfully ruined a lure snagging some of the brush on the shore.

Next, I went to Goerig Park, along the Lewis River, less than 2 miles away. On my first cast with the fly rod, I landed the branch-leaf fish above and behind me on the back cast. It completely took the lure. I tied on a different lure and saw the line dance and felt the tug in the water this time. In the next 30 minutes I caught 2 to the shore, had a couple others self release, and several other nibbles.

I couldn’t resist exploring other areas of the river. The satellite view on Google maps only takes you so far. It doesn’t show that the promising spots are in private, gated neighborhoods, or drop 20 feet down to get to the river. I was able to find a public boat launch, but gave up after 25 minutes without a hit. So I went back to Goerig Park where I saw either one of the biggest seals or smallest Sea lions hunting near the bridge.

I caught at least 8 more and had many more hits, when Mike joined me around 5:30. I don’t care what Mike says, each one was at least 5″ and some were 7″ ! After 4 tacos and 2 beers each, we checked into the hotel. Mike repeated the earlier process in reverse to store his big bike.

It was a good finish to the first day of our adventure together.

The Not So Lone Rider

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