Fishing for salmon along the Klickitat River is in Ira Lee Yallup鈥檚 DNA.
An enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Yallup catches salmon with dip nets, a method his family and ancestors have been using for generations.
He stands on a hand-built wooden platform about 40 feet above Lyle Falls. Then he maneuvers a 30-foot pole with a large hoop and net at one end 鈥� imagine a butterfly catcher on steroids.
With skill and precision, Yallup swoops the net through the rushing river before he sweeps it up, and with a little luck, harvests a Chinook or Coho salmon, sometimes weighing up to 40 pounds.
鈥淔ish is a livelihood. Fish is our food. It鈥檚 in our ceremonies,鈥� Yallup said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important in our culture, our tradition, way of life, food, you name it. You know, it鈥檚 valuable, very valuable.鈥�