A Daughters First King Salmon


I had previously purchased a new tent and this was the trip that I decided to break it out on. It is a Go-Lite Shangri-La SL8 with an SL8 nest. The key to getting this thing setup correctly is to stake out the nest corners and sides pretty tightly. This wasn't hard to do on the sandy bank. Once the nest is tight, you can get the inside poles setup and adjust the height of the tent to suit your needs. We didn't expect any wind so I set the poles to the maximum length. Unfortunately Go-Lite has discontinued this model, but I know many folks who have other versions/sizes of the Shangri-La and if you're looking for a lightweight tent that offers quite a bit of versatility in setup options, this is a great option.






Early the next morning, I woke up to Kyle saying "Are you gonna get the net!" and some scurrying around our tent. We were up and at 'em in no time as I knew the bite was on! We were greeted by biting kings, a smoky river, and blue-bird skies.
Between wrangling kids and cooking the mornings oatmeal, Nicole got a chance to get some fishing in and quickly caught her first King Salmon, and immediately went back to kid wrangling. We all know good wives/mothers are worth their weight in gold and its safe to say she is no exception.
I caught a nice little male a short bit later as well.

Without any other successes and fun we had on this trip, I would've been more than ecstatic for a successful fishing trip with my family, but to top it all off, my daughter caught her first King as well!
Because she had to catch the fish by herself, all I was doing to 'help' her was casting and helping mend her line. She followed my instructions and after that bobber sunk all the way under the surface of the water, she gave that rod the best lip-ripping yank a 4 year old could and the fight was on! I helped keep the rod tip up and made sure she didn't get pulled in. Kyle was quick in on the action as well, running to get the landing net all while she was squealing, screaming, and yelling at her little brother to "CHECK IT OUT!!". You could say it was a special experience for her since she told every person she encountered about it for the next week. She also insisted on bonking it herself.


We left the river with a handful of fish and a truckload of memories. We stopped for ice cream on the way home and soon we had 3 kids sleeping in the truck, ice cream on their dirty, sun-kissed, summertime faces. Nicole and I soaked in the moment as we knew we had just shared an unbelievable family experience, even if it was just two days. It doesn't get much better than this...
2 comments
Nice trip.
Great way to parent and thanks for sharing. Fish on!