A fishing expedition was part of a cheap getaway that centered around the states\u2019 spectacular natural beauty \u2014 with some quality food in the mix.<\/b>
\nThe fishing rod on the starboard aft side (or back corner \u2014 I was proud of myself for learning some navigation terms) of our little vessel sprang taught, like a bowstring. Our guide, Shane Moon, jumped to his feet with a quickness I didn\u2019 t expect from a guy who looks like he could play lineman for a college football team. \u201cO. K., we\u2019 ve got one, \u201d he said. The sun hadn\u2019 t yet shown its face in the purplish-blue sky, but it was light out, maybe 5: 30 in the morning, and dozens of boats dotted a wide section of the Columbia River where it forks. I was excited. I had gotten a fish, and it was still pretty early, so I was feeling good about the prospects for the day. The question: Would I be able to keep it?
\u201cLet\u2019s hope it\u2019s a king, \u201d Mr. Moon said as he scooped it up into the net. It was not a king, or Chinook salmon. It was a fat, silvery sockeye salmon, and Mr. Moon shook his head. He cut it loose and the fish wriggled away, disappearing into the bluish-gray water. It wasn\u2019 t the first time this would happen. Washington State carefully monitors its rivers and lakes, giving constant updates on what fishermen are and are not allowed to keep, and sockeye had just been placed on the no-fish list. The catch-and-retain window, I was learning, is extremely narrow. We were looking for king salmon, but it could not be wild \u2014 it had to be from a hatchery (a clipped fin is the giveaway) .
Patience and acceptance were just a couple of lessons I learned during a not-always-fruitful but highly instructive fishing expedition, part of a cheap getaway in Washington and Idaho that centered around the states\u2019 spectacular natural beauty \u2014 with some quality food in the mix. I\u2019 d booked a \u201cLong Weekender\u201d package through the Hilton Honors app, which offered a 50 percent discount on Sunday night during a three-night stay. My first two nights at the Hampton Inn & Suites Spokane Valley cost $139, and so the third night was a mere $69. The hotel was comfortable enough, but, most importantly, it was a good home base for heading back and forth in my $22-per-day Alamo rental car between Spokane, Wash., and Coeur d\u2019 Alene, Idaho, 25 minutes away on Interstate 90.
My first order of business was to explore Coeur d\u2019 Alene, a small city with a cute, compact downtown area. It also has beaches \u2014 not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Idaho. I parked on Sherman Avenue, downtown\u2019s main drag, and walked over to the prosaically named City Park and accompanying beach, along Lake Coeur d\u2019 Alene. The slightly gravelly shoreline isn\u2019 t going to give Oahu a run for its money anytime soon, but it\u2019s a fun, lively scene: lots of swimmers and picnickers, and I enjoyed wading in the cool, but not cold, water.
Lounging and sunbathing (it was hot that weekend) was the pastime of choice when I was there, but other outdoor activities are widely available: Cruises on the Saint Joe River are offered, as well as kayaking ($9 per hour) , parasailing (from $65 per person) and something called a SUPsquatch \u2014 a massive paddleboard that fits up to 9 people ($50 per hour) . The park also hosts weekly summer concerts; I attended a fun performance by Bram Brata, a steel drum ensemble.
I wanted to do a little kayaking, but decided I would hunt for a slightly better deal. I found it at Fun Unlimited in Post Falls, which offers a three-hour, early-bird kayaking special from 9 a.m. until noon for just $22. After signing a quick waiver, I paddled east on the Spokane River, toward McCabe\u2019s Island, then turned back around and went toward the site of the town\u2019s first lumber mill, now the Post Falls Dam. It was a perfect day for kayaking \u2014 just be careful of motorized watercraft.
After kayaking, it was easy enough to visit Post Falls Park, a small but picturesque green space on the Spokane. The views of the dam are great, as well as those of the pretty-but-inaccessible Avista Bridge. You can, though, do what I did and trek down past the rocks to the Spokane itself and hike a bit along the river.
Tubbs Hill, 120 acres of hiking trails and public park, offers a great way to stretch your legs and take in panoramic views of Coeur d\u2019 Alene and the surrounding area. I parked on South 10th Street, on the hill\u2019s backside, and entered the trails from there. I spent an hour or two on the hill before realizing how hungry I\u2019 d gotten.
Fortunately, Hudson\u2019s Hamburgers, a no-frills spot that\u2019s been in business for an impressive 110 years, wasn\u2019 t far away. Best of all, the simple double cheeseburger with onions, pickles and spicy mustard ($5.60) , was everything a burger should be. Service was efficient but cordial. \u201cNever had a TV ad, a radio ad, nothin\u2019 , \u201d said Steve Hudson, the owner, from behind the counter.
The rest of Coeur d\u2019 Alene doesn\u2019 t skimp on quality food, either \u2014 I had good drip coffee ($2.30) from Vault, the resident hip coffee shop, and enjoyed the Greek Village Salad from Olympia Restaurant on East Lakeside Avenue, a mountain of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion.
The most surprising spot was Daft Badger Brewing, a fun and busy brewpub smack in the middle of a residential street. (\u201cIt might be why we close relatively early, \u201d my server told me.) They have a refreshing (and potent) Blood Orange I. P. A. that is hearty without overdoing it on the hops ($5) . It went well with a Not Your Mother\u2019s BLT Sandwich, which adds sundried-tomato mayo and provolone cheese to the classic formula ($11.95) .
Lest Idaho take all the glory, there was just as much good grub and quality suds on the other side of the border. In fact, the deal I found at The Wandering Table in Spokane was probably the single best deal of my trip. The chic spot just west of Riverfront Park allows for a near-luxurious lunch experience for a pittance. Customers can choose three dishes that individually range from $12 to $20 on the menu for a total of $15. I had a salad of charred broccoli with drop peppers and pine nuts, a healthy portion of albacore tuna in rice wine with pickled pears and a jalape\u00f1o aioli, and two immodestly large chicken wings slathered in a sticky Vietnamese glaze. It was all quite good, and entirely too much.
Garageland on West Riverside Avenue is another good spot to grab a quick bite, in a slightly more casual setting. And I can also recommend Zola\u2019s as an option for a solid meal and a beer, especially on Sundays when there\u2019s an all-day happy hour. If the collegiate vibe at Zola\u2019s is not your thing, head to The Observatory, where the mood is more tattoos, board games and microbrews.
With such a bevy of food and natural splendor in the Spokane\/Coeur d\u2019 Alene area, it does raise the question \u2014 Why did I travel so far (Brewster, where I booked my trip with Moon\u2019s Guide Service, is 130 miles from Spokane) to go fishing? Believe me: I asked myself the same question as I drove bleary-eyed toward the Grand Coulee Dam in the middle of the night.
The answer, naturally, was price. Mr. Moon offered an eight-hour trip for just $200 \u2014 about half of what some guides were offering. Additionally, salmon fishing wasn\u2019 t quite as weather-dependent as fly fishing, also popular in the area \u2014 I reached out about fly-fishing lessons to a shop in Coeur D\u2019 Alene, only to have the class canceled at the last minute because it was too windy.
By sunrise, I could see at least 50 boats on the water. Our craft was typical \u2014 four poles, a complicated downrigger system and a collection of high-tech screens and remote controls that I couldn\u2019 t begin to understand. Fishing, I learned, is as expensive a hobby as you would like to make it. \u201cBy the time you get yourself a truck and boat, \u201d Mr. Moon said, \u201csome of these guys are a hundred grand in the hole.\u201d
The downrigger system, Mr. Moon said, allows for accurate targeting of a specific depth. It essentially looks like a miniature building crane that accompanies the fishing pole, and drops a lead weight in to your preferred depth, attached with a clip to the fishing line to keep the hook at the specified number of feet below water. When a fish bites, the clip breaks free and the pole springs up.
After my initial sockeye bite, things slowed down considerably. Still, the river was serenely beautiful, even with dozens of other boats on the water, and the deep purple sky had become a pale yellow. Mr. Moon was philosophical. \u201cBites will turn on, bites will turn off, \u201d he said. \u201cThe thing with instinct and aggression is that one day the fish\u2019 ll like one thing, next day they won\u2019 t touch it.\u201d
We caught a couple of more sockeyes and a Dolly Varden trout, but threw them back. Mr. Moon admitted that some people cheat, keeping illicit fish, but he stuck to the rules. \u201cSometimes I find myself saying, \u2018Man, I never thought I\u2019 d be throwing back a 40-pound king,\u2019 \u201d he said. By 11 a.m., the sun was pounding down on us. \u201cNice day, \u201d he shouted at an acquaintance in a passing boat, and snorted. \u201c \u2018Nice day\u2019 means \u2018this fishing is \u2013\u2019 \u201d he said to me, finishing the sentence with an unprintable word indicating it was not good. But he tried to turn things around: \u201cC\u2019 mon, let\u2019s catch something!\u201d
Alas, the elusive hatchery king salmon we were looking for weren\u2019 t cooperating. A sizable king teasingly jumped out of the water a few meters ahead of us. \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d he asked it. Over eight hours later, it was nearing 1 p.m. and we decided to call it a day. Three sockeye and one Dolly Varden later, the little cooler I\u2019 d bought from Wal-Mart on the way over remained empty. \u201cI tell my customers, \u201d Mr. Moon said, \u201cI guarantee you will catch a fish.\u201d He emphasized the word \u201ccatch\u201d \u2014 no promises about keeping. I would have loved to keep a fish but I left happy, feeling vaguely instilled with a kind of wisdom: What is it they say about teaching a man to fish?<\/p>\n

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