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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 Herald Sports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Gabriel Guides STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Fishing guide Kimo Gabriel wipes down his boat after returning from a fishing trip Wednesday in Boardman. Fisherman uses experience, knowledge for ultimate day on the river By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ STAFF WRITER ong-time fishermen John and Ray have set out on the Columbia River many times before. When it’s just the two of them, they often come up short or even leave empty-handed. But with the help of a local guide, Wednes- day evening each fisherman took home a gallon Ziploc bag full of walleye fillets — cut and cleaned by the expert himself. Kimo Gabriel is in his 11th year as a guide. His business, Gabriel Guides, has taken mostly novice anglers as far as 40 miles out on the Columbia River in search of walleye. After he relocated to Herm- iston from Selah, just north of Yakima, Washington, Gabriel began the guide service after success on the tournament fish- ing circuit. He has used Gabriel Guides to supplement his income as a science teacher at Sandstone Middle School in Hermiston, a 32-year career from which he is retiring from this year. “The success in the guid- ing made it easier to step away,” Gabriel said. “This is a pretty good supplementary income, and it’s nice being your own boss. It’s nice, you know, where I can’t pick and chose who and what I deal with at school, I can pick and chose here.” Until now, Gabriel’s choices were limited. He would come out L most weekends and a few months in the summer. When it would get closer to the start of school, Gabriel had to prepare a class- room and come fall, he would hardly touch the river. “Usually around June it starts to pick up and in July I fish every day,” Gabriel said. “In August, I fish half of August or more and then school starts. It feels like I really have to jam a bunch of fish- ing into a short period of time.” Now that Gabriel’s teaching will move from the classroom to strictly the river, he’s looking forward to growing the business, which has hosted clients from as far as Montana. What attracts even experi- enced anglers is the abundance of walleye and the opportunity to even catch salmon, steelhead and sturgeon, but even with the increasing number of guides — experience and knowledge show on the river. “The fish just aren’t from bank to bank,” Gabriel said. “They are in real specific spots and some- times it’s just a matter of 10 or 15, 20 feet — moving one way or the other makes all the difference.” Gabriel is very familiar with the Columbia River. Even before making Eastern Oregon his home, him and his father would make the nearly 200-mile round trip to the 1,243 mile long river. Gabriel’s earliest memories where fishing for catfish on the weekend, but his dad remembers another time when Gabriel was just three years old. “It seems like every time I talk with my dad, he brings it up,” he said. “My dad is 96 and he likes to reminisce about fishing. He keeps reminding me that when I was about three years old, we were fishing below the Wickiup Reservoir over in Central Ore- gon and he says that he put some kind of bait on the line for me, I threw it out — and he was fishing his own line — and said I started yelling to him, ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy,’ as a six-pound brown trout was dragging me into the river.” Now Gabriel commands the water, bringing in haul after haul with his clients. Each person is limited to 10 fish apiece, which is a limit that is often exceeded causing anglers to release their catch. On Wednesday, the three-man crew reached their limit fairly early and decided to take to the water to fulfill their allotted time. “It’s an eight-hour day unless people get to the point where they are like, ‘Man, this is too hot,’ which happens a lot, or they catch what I consider their limit and sometimes they are happy with that and want to come in,” Gabriel said. The early wake up call, around 6 or 7 a.m., is followed by a usu- ally unpredictable day on the water. Gabriel always starts at the Boardman Marina and will con- tinue down the river “until some- things happens,” as he says. “Sometimes it doesn’t hap- pen until I get down to Crow Butte,” he added. “Today they were biting really well real close, we didn’t have to go anywhere really.” Location, current, water tem- perature and food are key in STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS The haul from a days worth of fishing walleye on the Columbia River on Wednesday out of Boardman. Gabriel keeping clients happy, and at $200 a pop, they are mostly paying for the experience. “It’s getting real competi- tive and if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s going to show. It’s quite a learning curve,” he said. “If you know what to look for in a current, you can find the fish, I think. Once you do it for so long it starts to become sec- ond nature but then again, I know what I’m looking for.” If interested in Gabriel Guides service, he can be reached on his cell (541) 571-4343. Hoopsters hit the streets in Hermiston B asketball players of all ages and ability levels will hit the asphalt this weekend during the 13th annual Takin’ It To the Streets. Hermiston’s three-on-three basketball tournament also fea- tures a slam dunk competition and a 3-point shoot-out. The event runs all day Saturday and Sunday in downtown Hermis- ton. Food and drink vendors also will be on hand during the event. Previously, there was a three- on-three tournament called the Shake N’ Bake in the mid-’90s. It was held for a handful of years during SpudFest, a now defunct festival. A board of commu- nity members was founded in 2005 for planning of the inau- gural 2006 Takin’ It To the Streets tournament. The goal is to support youth basketball in Hermiston. More than a decade later, Takin’ It To the Streets is still pounding the pavement — the 2017 event attracted 166 teams from all across the region. Registration is already closed for this year’s tournament. Sometimes last minute cancella- tions provide a chance for teams to join the event. Check out the event’s Facebook page for details. For more information about Takin’ It To the Streets, contact 541-720-2561, info@hermis- ton3on3.org or visit www.herm- iston3on3.org. FILE PHOTO The Skeeterz and the 509 Leakers battle it out during the 2017 Takin It To the Streets 3-on-3 basketball tournament. In its 13th year, this year’s event tips off Saturday and Sunday on Main Street in Hermiston.
