The Luck ofThe Fisherman

I was visiting with an old fishing guide friend of mine yesterday, a man I've known for over twenty - five years or so now. Irv, is a true keeper of the river and has caught more Rogue River Salmon and Steelhead than you or I will catch in this lifetime.

Or the next, if you believe in reincarnation.

He is a meticulous man, one who has kept a journal on his daily catch and river levels well back into the 60's.
That includes all the guides that have worked for Irv over the years , and that's a lot.When fish and wildlife needs to know some statistical information and river data, they sometimes just call Irv, and within minutes he will pull out his little black book and give you numbers. How many fish they boated, released, thumped on the head, or lost.

"Hey Irv, it seems like the Salmon run is down this year?"

"Well, actually the twenty year running average is just about 100 fish under what we normally have at this time of year." He will fire back--sometimes without the use of the black book!!

Irv took me on one of my first REALLY successful Salmon trips back in 1982. I was just young pup of twenty -four and it was early in the Spring Chinook Salmon season. Irv had a day off and knew I liked to fish, so he called me and said "If you want to catch a Salmon-- tomorrows the day." Technically, I was supposed to be at work in the morning.

It didn't take me long to develop a cold.

Actually, I only had to develop a morning cold, since Irv has always been the benchmark for when it is time to go fishing on the Rogue. That meant up at 3:30, on the river at 4:30 and fishing at first legal light. Irv knew first legal light, so if you were fishing before he was-----you were poaching!! That also meant you were usually off the river pretty early also. For me, it meant I could fish the morning and be back behind a printing press before noon. Actually it was more like 10:30 that day since we had six bright and big Salmon in our boat before the roosters were done streching that morning. Most of the trip was just a nice scenic float since we(Irv's son was with us also) were limited out, and meanwhile Irv would float by the other guides and boats and ask how they were doing, most were not doing that great.

Irv always seemed to have good luck.

There were not many blank spots in that black book of his, and he always attributed it to his special "roe cure" which he would jot down for you on a moments notice.

I still have that tattered sheet of jello, kool-aid and whatever sitting in my desk. Of course it never worked for me the way it worked for Irv.

Irv always made his own luck, and knew the river so well that he could point things out to you, like "jerk your line" before you even had a clue that a fish had your bait buried deep in it's lips. The first time he told me to"jerk" I thought he was crazy.Then my line took off in a screaming frenzy.

I never questioned him again.

Anyway, Irv and I were talking about river flows and I was making him some copies of this years scheduled releases of water from the dam on the upper river. Seems there was this meeting the other night and of course Irv was the only guide there.More data, and this for a guy who plans on retiring this year.

"Keep a copy for yourself, and I'll pay for it." He said.

"You don't have to pay for my copy Irv." I replied.

"No, I insist." He pretty much demanded.

I rang up $7.81 in copies from Irv, and when I handed him his change I noticed an old "wheat back" penny that I gave to him. "Hey Irv, looks like it's your lucky day-- I gave you an old "wheat back " penny, maybe it will be older than you!" I chuckled.

"Hey, how 'bout that." He said. Then he flipped it over and said, "Whada ya know, it is, but just barely---1919!!"

Irv always seems to have good luck.

"Ya know Irv, if anybody deserves that coin it's you, " I said, "but if that thing turns out to be worth a million bucks --you better bring me ten dollars back!!"

Or at least his latest Salmon roe cure.