Salmon Page
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$125.00 |
 $125.00 |
$85.00 |
| These are small Salmon from a mold*
I made from the actual Salmon I caught. One is Porcelain, with a back
ground and the other Stoneware. They are signed and dated and ready to be
hug with a heavy gauge wire attached to the back side. |
This is a large Porcelain Salmon from a
mold I made from a male Chum I caught on a fly
in the Salt water in Puget Sound. I have glazed it with "rubbed Iron"
only. It is approximately 30 inches long, signed and dated and can be hung
from a 150 pound test wire attached to the back side. |
Stoneware Salmon made from fish I caught
rubbed Iron oxide and ready to hang with heavy weight wire on back. About
30 inches long. Signed and dated. |
Stoneware burnished with Iron rubbed
finish. A Smaller Salmon I caught and made a mold of. Ready to hang from
heavy gage wire on back. Signed and dated. |
*Note the casts are one of a
kind. The displayed fish above are made and ready to ship, so what you see is
the same as will be shipped.
Ordering new ones can result
in slightly different versions due to the hand made nature of the ceramics
business itself, the high fire kiln, and how
I feel about the one I'm
working on at the time I'm making it.
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I have a tendency to fish for Steelhead in the rivers during fall, when
sometimes Salmon are there also. Once in a while I catch one on a Steelhead
fly. The Silver (left) was caught in one of my Steelhead runs, in the deepest,
slowest part, and I just happened to get my fly right down there in front of his
nose. Salmon hold in deeper slower water than Steelhead. |
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This
male is in full spawning display. His jaws are very kyped.
He
thinks it makes him handsome to the ladies! |
It is my opinion
that many times the strike from a Salmon or Steelhead in fresh water is coming from a
territorial defense reaction, rather than a feeding reaction. I often have thought,
"now if I was a fish and wanted to fight an intruder away from my lie, what tool
would I use?" The only answer is, "my mouth and a slashing attack
move." It would mostly be designed to drive the intruder away. Watch
some fish someday as they are holding in a pool, especially regarding how they react to
each other, and you'll see what I mean. I also use the word reaction purposefully.
A fishes ability to reason is very low. The response to a stimulus, like a
colorful fly, is not a carefully thought out one. It is rather, on the same level as
anger, fear, or the famous, "jerking back from a hot stove"
reaction. Only, in this case, the reaction is "attack." |
I have tied some flies that
are "intruders," not food imitations that work well. I'm trying to take
advantage of that stimulus response mechanism. I also see size of fly sometimes as
an advantage when provoking an intruder reaction. These are, after all 3 foot long
fish, who would likely attack any sized fish that threatened
their lie... so a 3inch fly is not too big. But, flies bigger than that get
too difficult to cast. (and dangerous, as the fly comes whistling toward the back of your
head!)
The mystery to all fishermen is: some days the fish
are feeling territorial, or hungry, and some days they are not. That is
fishing. Some have resorted to calling the lack of predictability...
luck. But I know from personal experience it's more in the category of, "just
not giving up, and learning the ways of the fish, until you are expert."
Experience replaces mystery very quickly. Understanding itself, lets one be more
patient. After all, if you give up and quit trying, you'll never
understand...guaranteed!
Silver Salmon caught on a fly in a major western
Washington river and released unharmed to spawn.
Chums
There are a few
spots where schools of Chum Salmon return to Hatcheries that are near Salt water.
They school up (still in the salt water) and stay there. Their way up the fresh
water stream has been blocked by the hatchery. The most famous of these is on Hood
Canal in the Southern Puget Sound. On a peak weekend, there can be hundreds of
fishermen all pounding away at huge schools of Chum Salmon, that mill about in very
shallow water. The fish are driven to find the freshwater stream they can smell,
but can't find. It makes an almost unbelievable situation. This
is true Combat fishing.
However on some days the crowds are smaller and it is possible to have a very good
experience there. It is an excellent place to practice, with your gear, on heavy
fish. Since Steelhead strikes are so rare, it is possible to get in a years worth of
practice in one day. It is possible, because you can catch 10 or 12 Chums, in a
day! The practice I'm referring to is; how to get the fish on the reel, (get
the loose fly line reeled in so the drag from the reel is helping to tire the fish,
without tangling); how to set your drag for a big fish; how to let the fish
run when he's determined and not break him off; how to gain line back when he's not
fighting you; how to not think he is landed until he is landed;
and how to revive and release a fish. (and how to avoid sharp teeth as you are
unhooking!)
This place is one
of the those you sometimes have to go home because your arm and wrist are so sore you
dread having another fish on. (great problem heh?)
| A beautiful fall day in 04 on Hood
Canal early enough to miss the crowds and have fresh fish. |
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Chums at Hoodsport Hatchery (above and below). See me smile?
A fresh Chum who has
realized he's hooked can make you (and your reel) think he is not going to stop!
They are very strong fish and fight to the exhaustion point slowly. I've had
Chum's make the longest runs of any fish; way into my backing.
Then just as I get the line reeled in, they do it again...but just not quite so far.
I feel they are underrated as a sport fish, as is fishing in the Salt for
Salmon. The frontier of Salt water Fly fishing is being slowly understood by
"mainstream" (pun intended) fly fishers.
More Chums in Salt water at Hoodsport Washington.
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(Above)2001 Chums at Hoodsport... were great this year. I had to quit
fishing because I was too tired and sore to continue... they wore me out.
I noticed the fly fishermen were catching the most fish, especially fair hooked...
not hooked in a fin or tail. |
Humpies
In odd numbered years, in the Seattle area, the
Humpy's (below) come in much larger numbers than even numbered years. In years past
I bothered to find a place where they would congregate in the lower reaches of our coastal
streams. When you find such a place it is possible to see hundreds, maybe thousands,
of fish in football field sized area. I don't advocate fishing in a spawning
area. If the fish are on their redds (spawning nest) go somewhere else. But
there are times when they are schooling up before spawning and that is a special
day. Again, it is possible to catch and release as many fish as your arms can
handle. (Don't expect them to be good to eat.) Odd
number years are good years for Humpies and I stumbled into a schools of them on the Sky and
caught a few for show and tell below. It's fun to see what they will hit.
You'd be suprised.
Copyright 1998 - 2008. Larry Bruning. All rights reserved. All
pictures and text in this site are the property of Larry Bruning. You may not use
the pictures or text, for any purpose except your own viewing pleasure, without written
permission from me.
$95.00 each
$125.00
$125.00
$85.00
