The early December sun had not yet crested the Cascades as I drove north to Anacortes to meet Robbo and Duane for our run to Friday Harbor and the 2012 edition of the Resurrection Salmon Derby. As I exited Interstate 5, turning west on Highway 20, memories of our, uh,…experience at the 2011 event were spinning around in my head and I was…
Humptulips and Satsop Kicking out Coho Patient anglers that waited until the end of the season to fill their freezers with coho were rewarded with great fishing this past week on the Humptulips and Satsop Rivers. Scott Sypher from Canyon Man’s Guide Service (206-518-4982) and Phil Stephens from Mystical Legends Guide Service (206-940-0052) both reported…
In the last few months I’ve fielded many questions from fellow anglers spending time in The Bait Lab. One of the most common revolves around turning baits green. I’ve been going green a lot this season, but unfortunately you can’t buy green Nectar or Fire Brine. Pautzke doesn’t make those colors. Going green requires a…
Sunshine and Springers About a half hour ago, my wife Sheri proclaims as she walked through her kitchen, "this house smells like fish". Yes honey, yes it does. It's that damn Chinook, I can't help it, if it's a Fall fish or Spring Chinook, there is that distinctive smell. I guess all things considered, that's…
Fire Brine For “Tributary Springer’s” Early in our winter steelhead season, I wrote an article explaining how well Fire Brine will work to produce an amazing steelhead egg. It was well received by many fishermen who put that information to use. Those who took advantage of this "free info" and put forth a little curing…
One of my favorite regional salmon fishing opportunities is our local summer chinook season. The Marine Area 9 & 10 selective harvest opportunity dates back to 2007 when, after several years of closures, the north central Sound again got to fish for summer kings. “I hope anglers remember how we got here” states Tony Floor,…
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…
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…
The third stop on the 2011 Northwest Salmon Derby Series was the Roche Harbor Invitational and I have to say that it is one of the best run events that I have ever had the pleasure of participating in! Start to finish from the location, to the wonderful Roche Harbor facilities, the fishing and the…