Thursday, May 9, 2013

The bachelor party (a fish story)

By Charlie Pottenger

In early May my son Andy was invited to a campout bachelor party on a sand beach up the Snake River from Lewiston. Traveling upriver from Clarkston in boats and on waverunners or jet skis, the group of young men made camp, pitched tents and prepared for the bachelor party.

After making camp, relaxation became the center of interest. A couple of heavy-duty fishing rods were set in holders stuck into the sand while the lines with 16-ounce sinkers baited with “Sturgeon Candy” were taken to the center of the river. As the relaxation set in, one of the lines twitched, twitched again and then jerked so hard the sand spike holder was flattened. The rod was grabbed by one and all, but Andy and another, Don Crea of Grangeville, jumped into boats and set out to fight a sturgeon down the river.

Don and Andy were given last minute instructions and the armada left them. Neither had ever caught a sturgeon. Five minutes passed and there was a first twitch, then another. Andy had seen the first fish flatten the rod holder so he jumped up and held the pole. Sure enough, in a second it felt like he had dropped his hook off a bridge and caught a train.

Since there were no boats, Don and Andy took turns and fought the fish from the sand beach. At least once, the fish was actually pulling Andy on the sandy river bottom like he was skiing!

After 30 minutes, as the fish was finally tiring, Brayton Zipse of Clarkston showed up on his waverunner and helped hold the fish for pictures. The guys then released the magnificent giant!

Andy Pottenger of Lewiston (left) and Don Crea of Grangeville with a 90-inch sturgeon they caught on the Snake River.
 
Andy Pottenger (left) and Brayton Zipse (the groom-to-be) of Clarkston with the sturgeon.

2 comments:

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