Here in Oregon the Fish and Wildlife experts predicted a very large Coho salmon return and so for the first time I decided to fish it hard and get moorage for my Widebody (21’ center console) in Newport in the Yaquina bay. I was also fortunate enough to get a space for our travel trailer just across the street from the marina which made it very easy to just walk over to the boat each morning we fished. I considered it all a grand experiment because although I’d had the Tolman off shore a few times, I had never fished it hard nor moored it for an extended period.
As it turned out, the prediction was spot on and the Tolman handled like a dream. Over a 7 week period I took her across the bar 30 times. Overall we were blessed with great ocean conditions but we also had our fair share of snotty seas. About 3/4 of the time I fished with only one other person aboard but the rest of the time there were 3 of us. In total we brought 101 salmon back to the dock and the boat was never skunked. During the majority of the season anglers are only allowed to retain hatchery fish that have had their adipose fin clipped and any “natives†that are caught have to be released unharmed. We didn’t keep track of the number of salmon that we had to release, but the ratio was at LEAST 3-4 to one. Do the math and you can see how many fish were actually caught.
Although I now have a LOT of salmon to distribute to family and friends who normally don’t get it, the most fun came from being with fishing friends and sharing good times, laughs and crazy stories. As already mentioned, the boat handled perfectly and my confidence in this design grew as the days went on. I can also say that if I just had a buck for every compliment on the boat that was thrown our way both on the docks and out on the water, I could have more than paid for the whole summer. Over and over I heard people ask what kind of boat it was and what beautiful lines she had. Renn really got it right!
And of course it’s hard to be on the coastline or on the ocean without experiencing nature’s beautiful sunsets and sunrises. These are just a few of my favorites. Enjoy!
