You know it’s True Love when I give up a perfectly good day of sleeping in and instead I get up at 6am to drive 3-1/2 hours to the Columbia River near Bonneville to go sit in a boat for hours in 40 degree weather punctuated by rain.

We got a little wet on the ride up river. This wasn’t rain; it was the huge waves coming over the bow as we smashed our way through the chop. I was laughing pretty hard at this point; if I’m geared up for a day of “suffering” and physically prepared, I tend to enjoy it rather thoroughly.

Brock really likes fishing. We used sand shrimp and smelt. The shrimp were definitely the winners.

Too small to keep, this sturgeon only measured 34″. The legal range is 38″-54″. Back into the water he went.

This guy was a solid 40″. We didn’t have the whacking stick with us, so Brock just put him in the bottom of the boat for the ride home. I guess we know why this species is still around after 200 million years ~ these suckers are bulletproof. He was still alive 7 hours later and looked at me quite reproachfully as we took him out of the boat. I started to feel a bit guilty and briefly considered releasing him into Lake Union (well, I didn’t think it SERIOUSLY). I begged Brock to please put him out of my misery and he was quickly dispatched after multiple hard blows. Oog ~ these are the moments I consider being a vegetarian. Until I remember how much I like fish.

It was great having Brock’s little boat out again. He’s had it since he was 16 and just loves it. Good times!