In years with normal springtime temperatures, the middle of May would represent nonstop action for bass. There is no better time of year to target big bass in shallow water. It's no wonder that even the average weekend warrior has to feel they have a chance of winning when fishing a bass tourney this time of year. This…
This year's much anticipated Columbia River spring chinook run has been a mirror image of our "spring" weather: underwhelming at best. April was a near bust for both the sun and the springers as low water temperatures slowed the early running chinook's accent up the Columbia to a mere crawl. In fact, the sport anglers…
Pacific Northwest anglers looking for something new should turn their attention to the carp of Eastern Washington. That’s right, I said CARP! I’ve hooked these things incidentally while fishing for trout and smallies on the Snake River years ago and either got spooled or came close to it every single time. Gary Thompson, manager at…
BY RAY GOMBISKI. Smoking fish and game has forever been a pastime of the American sportsman. Smoking can be traced thorough out American history from the Native Americans to George Washington’s home at Mt Vernon. Today, smoking has become a cherished part of the outdoor experience. The modern smokehouse has made smoking easy and efficient…
It's not too often that a fishing fanatic like myself gets the opportunity to see the birth of a destination fishing resort. Add the fact that this destination is designed to be affordable, accessible, available to anglers with or without their own boats and it becomes a once-in-a-lifetime event! When I heard that a group of…
The biggest fishing event of the year will occur this weekend as a quarter million plus anglers hit the lakes of Washington in search of easy limits of stocker trout and perhaps a few of the jumbo-sized trout that are planted along with them. There are a lot of opening days in Washington, but this…
Walleye are coming off their full-moon spawn in Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir in Eastern Washington, which means the best walleye bite of the year is upon us. Walleye will congregate where the water spills out of Moses Lake into Potholes Reservoir, at Frenchman’s Wasteway, and in Lind Coulee as they cruise back into the…
Approximately 300,000 anglers will swarm the lowland lakes of Western Washington for "opening day" on April 30th, the largest attendance of any opening day here in Washington. Hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout ranging from pan-fryer sized eight to twelve inchers to the coveted and beefy triploids are pumped into over a hundred lakes west…
Spring is upon us and with it lingcod, rockfish and halibut seasons. So, if you've still got fish in the freezer… You, my friend have a problem that is probably starting to look more like Styrofoam than fresh fish. Fortunately, there is a much better solution than deeming the contents of your freezer "Crab bait"….
By Tony Floor What is it about big salmon? I mean big salmon in the 25-50 pound class that brings an angler to the pinnicle of happiness. As reported in this column, I’ve invested around a half century chasing chinook and coho salmon in Pacific Northwest waters, not including Vancouver Island and SE Alaska. I…