by Jason Brooks Bank bound anglers often feel they are at a hindrance to those floating buy in drift boats or having the wake of a jet sled slap the shores as they zoom by. But just because one is on foot doesn’t mean they are at a disadvantage as long as the bank angler…
by Jason Brooks If you ask me what is the most versatile watercraft to pursuit salmon and steelhead I would have to say it’s the drift boat. With its distinctive up curved ends and flat bottom designed and built to float in skinny northwest rivers it also handles bigger waters such as mainstream rivers, estuaries,…
By Jason Brooks The cold days of January creates clear waters on the drop and for the steelhead angler it is time to hit the rivers. This time of year brings in fresh fish that are nickel sided and black backed ready to bite. Mixed in the bag are hatchery brats and wild fish, both…
My first taste of the annual lower Columbia salmon bonanza known as Buoy 10 was over a decade ago and ever since, the challenge of this huge river mouth fishery has captivated a part of my thoughts and, an increasing part of my fishing plans! After a season of deep downrigger trolling for chinook –which…
Last season was a tough one for big coho in local waters but hot on the heels of a large pink salmon run is a very solid showing of chunky coho salmon! With the Edmonds and Everett Coho Derby looming in the coming weeks, let’s brush up on some silver slaying strategies! The name of…
One of the most underrated aspects of life in the Great Northwest is harvesting and enjoying Dungeness crab with friends and family. This wonderful tasty privilege comes with a responsibility to fish your crab pots in a way that prevents gear loss and a wastage of this valuable aquatic resource. Many pots that folks assume…
I cannot really recall the first time I heard of the magnificent fishing in the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) but I’m certain that I was a very young angler that was quite impressionable. However, the reverent tones that this incredible location inspired among the anglers that I deeply respected left a mark, a lifetime…
Every year of our annual sojourn to southeast Alaska, I seek a pattern, a clue or a theme to the location and distribution of fish that may lead to an understanding or “edge”, eventually guiding us to a successful season. We’ve all read -with varying degrees of interest and concern- of the changes in sea…
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…
Here in Washington state we have a huge problem with scum sucking varmints stealing boats, outboard motors, and marine electronics. Washington regularly ranks in the top 3 nationwide for property crimes and as much as we like to think our boats and cherished marine equipment are safe while they’re on our property they simply aren’t….