The annual gathering known as Buoy 10 at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River is a special event every year but this year’s forecast of 1.6 million chinook and nearly a million coho added even more anticipation and participation! Evidence of the “participation” aspect of this year’s Buoy Ten fishery was evident at ol’…
This year’s edition of The Outdoor Line’s annual Sitka trip was a very special one. We had some Alaska “first-timers”, (I was going to say “Greenhorns” but…) some of our wives made the trip for the first time in several years and 2014 marked the Alaskan arrival of the 710 ESPN flagship, the Weldcraft 280…
With a damp, dreary Memorial Day weekend in progress, it’s time to look north for the first indications of our actual chinook returns. So why do we look north and what are we looking for? GREAT QUESTION!!! To answer that question, let’s have a quick review of what the University of Washington School of Fisheries…
If there is a more popular fishing “rite of passage” than the lowland lakes trout opener, I sure don’t know what it is! The Nelson Clan at Perrygin Lake in Okanogan County a few seasons ago… I would venture to guess that more “first fish” are caught on this final weekend of April than at…
The ability to quickly, effectively and safely anchor your boat is a fundamental aspect of seamanship that will help you catch more fish, enjoy a restful time on your vessel and most importantly, keep all aboard safe and sound in the event of a grounding or complete power failure. My main focus for this project…
A sure sign of spring after a long winter is the annual arrival of our salmon forecasts and the “North of Falcon” meetings. I await the salmon forecast numbers like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. Hello, my name is Tom and I am a “salmon sicko”. After watching the numbers for a number of…
Like clockwork, every February, saltwater salmon fishing for winter blackmouth gets better and better in the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Sekiu east to Smith Island. As the microscopic tag, inserted in tip of the snout of about 10% of Washington’s hatchery produced chinook salmon indicates, these winter fish that gather in the Strait…
When you get right down to it, there are only a couple things you can absolutely control on your boat: One, the amount of fuel you have on board and two, the health of your batteries. For the former, I’m a habitual tank “topper”…for the latter, I’ve always been a big proponent of on-board battery…
I sincerely look forward to “show season”. I get to meet a whole bunch of new people and talk fishing and boating. The boating conversations often lead to answering questions regarding design and layout of various fishing hulls. During these discussions, one of my recurring challenges is trying to effectively explain the importance -and effect-…
I’ve always been chided by, well, everybody for my lack of fly fishing expertise. The sad fact is, I really have no defense to the criticism. Most anglers careers follow some type of meaningful progression. You know, dunking worms as a kid in the local pond to fly fishing in some exotic destination. Unfortunately, my…