Patience and experience are crucial to successful springer fishing. Not having the luxury of time, or living in the area, Oregon springer fishing has proven frustrating for me over the years. The closest I've come to catching one was to get it to the boat only to have a friend knock it off the hook with the net.

The spring run king salmon have the highest fat content of any of year's runs on the Willamette system. This makes them outstanding fighters and outstanding dinner fish, if you are fortunate enough to land a hatchery fish (keeper). The possibility of catching one of these quality fish manages to draw me to Oregon every spring.

"I'm sure we can find a few fish," John Gross of Roaring Fork Guide Service told me. "They aren't stacked up much anywhere but they are here," he said. John guides most of Oregon's rivers west of the Cascades. We met at Leaburg Dam, the furthest up the McKenzie River you are allowed to fish salmon.

The first challenge of the day was just getting the boat in the water. The ramp is a forty-foot concrete chute with 4 x 6 skids bolted to it, running down the bank at a 45-degree slope. You use your trailer winch to work the driftboat as close to the river as possible. Then you use the bow rope and muscle to work it the rest of the way. The trick is not to let the boat get away from you and crash into the rocks on either side of the ramp. This put-in is unique.

We anchored near the top of the first hole downriver from the dam; back bouncing roe and sand shrimp along the edge of the fast water entering the hole. Five minutes later John's rod doubled over with the slow strong deliberate take of a springer. After a line burning fight, John got the fish close and I was able to net it. The 15-pound hatchery buck was soon in the box (you are allowed to keep 2).

John worked the boat a few feet further into the hole and we back bounced our baits. After a number of bumps and short takes, I finally got a solid hit! I set the hook and the Ambassador sang the sweet sound of a strong fish on the run. As I worked the Chinook close to the boat, we could see the adipose fin of a wild fish. John skillfully unhooked the 15-pound class king without taking it out of the water.

John had found us fish. I was surprised, we had hole full of fish and we were only about 30 miles from a major city. We continued working the hole because it was still producing action. Then it happened...

The king hit my bait so hard it almost pulled the rod out of my hands! I buried the hook and the fish responded by making a run in the strongest current and headed for the river bottom. John had pulled anchor and we followed the fish downriver. The fight seemed to go on forever. The springer appeared to tire so John beached the boat as far away from the fast water as possible. Five times I worked the fish close to the boat only to have it go on another impressive run. Eventually she was exhausted.

John again unhooked the wild springer without taking it out of the water. I could feel the strength of this tired brute as I revived her. John grabbed the camera and I lifted the slug out of the water for a photo. I released her and she swam upstream to spawn.

Then action stopped totally, like someone turned off a light switch. We didn't get another salmon strike the rest of the day. We worked the salmon holes then switched over to steelhead gear as we floated downriver to the next. A steelhead made a fool out of me. By the time I set the hook, it was in the next county, but I managed to catch and release a 14" redsides trout.

The river provided entertainment in the form of a family of Canadian geese feeding on the riverbank and "ladderboy" sight fishing steelhead from atop a ladder in the river. Definitely a "don't try this at home" technique. As silly as it looks, the technique has been productive for him.

Skill and patience paid off. Fresh cedar grilled salmon was excellent that evening. Look for the recipe here next week. Fish Sniffer Recipes

If you would like more information on fishing the McKenzie, contact John Gross' Roaring Fork Guide Service at 541 726 7234, EMAIL him, or visit his website, www.oregonfishingtrips.com.