Here’s A Fish Story That Carries Its Weight

In 1952, Ernest Hemingway wrote a novella about an epic battle between an old man and a big fish. Today’s little melodrama, certainly not an epic, is about four men and a big fish with a big heart. In the end, an observer may wonder who won the great battle: the big fish or the four men.

The characters in the yarn are Chuck DeBruin, news director for radio station KGA; Lenny Frasure, an investment advisor and writer; Reginald Morgan of Coulee Dam, and Gabe Cassels, one of the boat captains for Beamer’s Hells Canyon Tours and Excursions.

The battle with the huge sturgeon took place under a relentless sun Saturday along the Snake River in Hells Canyon.

Cassels threaded a chunk of rainbow meat on a 6/0 hook, attached an 8-ounce lead weight to the 80-pound-test line and, swinging a 12-foot-long rod, lobbed the bait and lead into a deep hole. DeBruin and another angler left the 24-foot fishing sled and started casting for smallmouth bass.

The temperature in the canyon climbed toward the 90s and the fishermen began shedding long sleeved shirts. The steep rock walls on either side of the river reflected more heat on the fishermen.

It didn’t take long for a sturgeon to pick up the rainbow meat. Cassels suddenly set the hook and, a moment later, yelled “It’s a big one.”

DeBruin, wearing insulated chest waders and an insulated, camouflaged hat, ran for the boat. He had been designated as the fisherman who would fight any sturgeon hooked.

Every angler who has fished extensively knows there are super fish among each species. Those are the fish that create memories. They fight their hearts out.

The sturgeon on the other end of the stiff rod was one of those super fish. DeBruin soon realized he was fighting a big, powerful fish that he could lead around wherever it wanted to go.

The rod was so stiff a person could climb it without bending the fiberglass, but DeBruin, one end of the rod tucked under his right leg, was soon leaning back and pumping and reeling while the rod bent into an arc.

As time passed, sweat began pouring down his forehead and his left arm started aching. Frasure filled DeBruin’s hat with water and poured in on the sweating fisherman.

A few minutes later, DeBruin asked for help. He was dehydrated, his left arm was trembling and he barely could keep his fingers closed on the rod. Morgan spelled him for a few minutes, pumping and reeling then watching line melt from the reel as the sturgeon surged downstream.

By that time, the fight had attracted an audience.

A Beamer tour boat, carrying about 25 passengers, stopped. Then another tour boat pulled over when its captain saw the battle. Eventually, there were more than 60 spectators, many cheering the anglers and some rooting for the sturgeon.

DeBruin took the rod again after gulping down a can of pop. Then it was Frasure’s turn. Frasure, accustomed to fighting sturgeon, leaned so far back, trying to move the fish, that an angler standing behind him moved away when he realized Frasure would fall backward if the line snapped and might knock him off the boat.

DeBruin resumed the fight after several minutes and pumped and reeled until he was exhausted again. The young boat captain took over and fought the sturgeon for several more minutes. Then suddenly, the sturgeon surfaced and rolled over.

Although the fight seemed like two hours, the actual recorded time was 50 minutes.

DeBruin reeled until the fish was alongside the boat. Then he handed the rod to Frasure while he got into the water to pose for pictures and, finally, release the exhausted fish.

Someone asked DeBruin to turn the fish over. After all, who wants pictures showing a fish’s belly? DeBruin started to turn the sturgeon around. Suddenly, with a sweep of its big tail, the sturgeon knocked DeBruin into the water and swam away, the hook still in its mouth.

DeBruin surfaced, gasping and sputtering. His waders were full of water, his hat had been knocked off and he wore a big grin.

Frasure brought the sturgeon around again and someone measured it. The fish was more than 7 feet long and weighed an estimated 300 pounds. After Cassels extracted the hook, DeBruin turned the fish toward the water and shoved it out.

As the great sturgeon vanished, DeBruin and the fishermen who had helped subdue it knew the fish with a great heart deserved freedom.

How did DeBruin react? For once, the popular newscaster was speechless. But not for long. He was soon his loquacious self, telling, retelling and embellishing the story each time.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Fenton Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 3814.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review