Hi, my name is BreAnna Alley.  I am 11 years old, and I want to tell you about a fishing trip and bear hunt that I took with my family on May 10, 2008.

     My dad, Loren Alley, had a bear tag and so he uses every excuse, oops, reason, he can find to go fishing and hunting.  See, if he takes mom, (Lori), and us girls, (Brittney and Brooklyn), he gets to go more often.  So we went on a cast and blast trip. 

     We invited our assistant pastor from Faith Evangelical Church in Boise, Philip Knisley, and his family to go with us.  They moved to Idaho from Arizona in August 2007.  We knew that they had never experienced anything like what we were going to show them.  Phil was interested in catching a salmon also.

     My dad’s good friend, hunting and fishing partner, Shawn Stewart, wanted to go along.  The more the merrier, at least sometimes.

     None of our family, except Dad, like to get up early just to go hunting and fishing, so everybody planned on meeting at Wal-Mart at 6:30 A.M.  Dad was not too happy with this, but he couldn’t complain too much.  He was at least getting to go to the mountains.  It was like 7:30 before we left the store, and then it takes 2 hours to get where we needed to go.  Needless to say, it was WAY after daylight before we saw our first bear.  It was almost noon.  Dad could have shot it, but it was not the size he wanted - maybe 150-200lbs.  Whatever Dad!  So we continued on to where we were going to fish.  We were within 1 mile of the fishing hole, and we saw another bear.  It was maybe 2-3 years old.  Again, not what dad was looking for!  He did get about 5 minutes of great video of it.   

     After lunch, we finally started fishing.  We were just catching little steelhead smolt and smallmouth bass.  After about 30 minutes, Dad, Phil, and Shawn decided it was time for them to go and catch some real fish: SALMON.

     The other kids and I went with them, but we were downriver a little way.  The river bank curves in and we call it the carp hole.  We had been fishing in the carp hole and catching little smallmouth, when somebody got snagged on the rocks and broke off his spinner.  So I gave them my rod, and I took theirs and went to get a jig from my dad.  Now, this rod is a Diawa 5’ ultra light with 6lb test line.  I had hooked and Dad landed a 28” steelhead with it a couple of years before, and I really liked this rod.  My sister, Brittney, age 9, picked out a jig that was my favorite color, blue.  Dad tied it on and I went back to fishing the carp hole.  From where I was fishing, I could not see the guys.  I cast out the jig a few times, and then WHAM!  Whatever it was felt really big.  I did not have a clue what kind of fish it was, so I just set the hook and hung on.  I yelled for someone to come and help me, but no one could hear me.  The fish jumped out of the water, and that was really exciting.  I don’t have a clue how long I fought the fish, but my arm was really starting to hurt.  I didn’t know what I was going to do.  Shawn finally showed up to do some fishing in the carp hole, and when he saw my 5’ rod bent in half, he thought I had a giant smallmouth bass.  When he got a good look at the fish, he realized that it was a salmon.  So he relayed a message thru someone else, to my dad, that we needed the net.  My arm was killing me by now.  I asked Shawn to take the rod, but he said, “just keep fighting the fish”.  He wanted me to land it.  Since I only had a 6lb line, it was a good thing Dad had the drag set perfect.  Shawn was afraid that I would lose the fish before the net arrived, so since the fish was so tired out, he just stuck his fingers in its gills, and lifted it out of the water.  Finally, a rest for my arm.  Dad was really excited about my first salmon.  It was 29.5 inches long, and weighed 8 pounds.  Dad still can’t believe that I landed a fish that big on such a small rod and light line.  So much for having the biggest and the best equipment.  Nobody else caught a salmon all day.  I guess it was my day to shine.  On the way home, we saw 5 more bears, but Dad still has not got one.  Oh well,  it was a great trip.  Dad, whenever you need an excuse to go fishing or hunting, just tell Mom you are taking me.  Thanks, I love you.                                               BreAnna Alley