by Jason Brooks Big wild steelhead are starting to show in our Northwest rivers. This means it’s time to go fishing folks. Here are five quick tips to make your trip better. Upsize your gear – Once you set the hook and realize you have a big steelhead it’s nice to know you can handle that fish and…
Potholes Reservoir is currently locked up with more ice than the lakes seen in quite a few years. It’s been awful chilly in Eastern Washington since early December and that bout of cold weather continues to this day. So why are we talking about walleye then? The second the ice comes off Washington’s Potholes Reservoir and the…
Let’s Go Ice Fishing! by Jason Brooks The recent cold temperatures have thickened the ice and a winter pastime is creating memories once again. Ice fishing is going strong in Eastern Washington with the trout bite being consistent on Roses Lake near the tiny town of Manson. Those that prefer to catch a mess of…
When it comes to getting geared up for a big game hunt in the backcountry there are few people that know this drill better than Ryan Lampers. For most of the year he can be found running the family business, Ray’s Baits, in Granite Falls, Washington. Ray’s Baits delivers night crawlers, herring, sardines, anchovies, salmon eggs, and…
Smoking salmon can be as easy or difficult as you make it. By using the highest quality salmon, however, you can produce a very high quality smoked fish product using even the most basic recipe and ingredients. Don’t be fooled into thinking the spawned out old boot that you just caught on the river is “good…
One of the enduring charms of hunting and fishing, one of the things that keeps you coming back year after year is that every now and then you experience something that is completely unexpected, out of the ordinary and inspiring. Now, if you have a trip that provides you one of the aforementioned experiences each…
Early Winter Steelhead – They’re Here! by Jason Brooks Reports of early winter run steelhead have been blowing up my phone lately. Most notably my buddy Ted Schuman of Winter Run Guide Service and has been teasing me with photos from a few recent trips. Ted has been concentrating on far away Olympic Peninsula rivers…
It’s December 8th and we’re getting a steady stream of hatchery steelhead reports pouring in from around Western Washington. A handful of the big name rivers that routinely pump out hatchery brats this time of year are doing just that. When it comes to hatchery brats we typically talk about jigs, jigs, and more jigs. Hatchery…
I find myself hunting solo quite a bit and I’m always looking for a new gizmo to help capture the moment. Ram Mount’s manufactures a slick X-Grip to hold a cell phone and a one inch ball adapter that will screw directly into a camera tripod, or in my case, the tripod from my Vortex spotting scope. The camera on the new…
Yesterday I picked up our oldest daughter Ava from school with the Can Am Outlander 6 x 6 in tow and fully loaded with all the fixin’s for an quick afternoon adventure into the woods of the Kitsap Peninsula. The mission at hand was to teach her five things about the outdoors – pine cones,…