When I first got into the guide business  I wasnt sure what to expect, sure I knew that if things went well I'd make a living by taking people fishing, and I in return would get to spend the day on the water chasing fish. Now I didnt know who these people would be, or where they would come from, for some reason I imagined taking someone out for a day of fishing only to never see or hear from them again. Little did I know.....
     They say that in business 20% of your customers make up 80% of your business, or something like that, and I've found that in the guide world that holds true as well. After 30 years of rowing driftboats, and 12 years now as a full time salmon and steelhead guide, I've developed some very close friendships with some of the people I've had the chance to fish, and though we may only see each other once a year, we seem to pick up right where we left off the year before.
      Those people are like Drew and his Father Mark. Drew is one of those who is obsessed with fishing. I first fished with Drew and Mark 2 years ago when Mark booked a trip for Drew for his birthday that comes every year in October. Our first year together was a horribly slow coho year and the only fish caught were two late summer run steelhead that Drew caught pitching a Blue Fox spinner into riffles, what I noticed that day was that Drew was just one of those fishy people, he had it and had it bad. Well I fished with Drew and Mark again yesterday, this was our third year of fishing together centered around Drew being another year older. This year has been a great coho year, Drew and his Father mark took turns hooking and fighting fish, even managing to put some of those fish in the box. While we spent the day catching coho, life seemed to have picked up right where we left off from last year, Drew updated me on his out of control retriever that loves to eat off the counter, it was almost as if no time had passed at all, even though a year had passed.
     While I love to end the day with a fish box full of fish, it's these friendships that have become the most rewarding, my attorney friends in Montana who a year ago one of them become a father to twins, I could go on forever with just such people who have not only fished with me but have enriched my life, and through things like social media we're able to stay updated with each other.
     Being a fishing guide has been rewarding in ways I definately didnt expect, and to those of you who keep fishing with me I cant thank you enough, my dream job would not be what it is without you......

October 22nd 2014

     Mother nature gave us the first good bout rain this fall blowing out all the local rivers this morning. Its always a hard one for me to call when these things happen, the weather forecast has been predicting this for several days now, but I always hope that maybe the Gods will smile on us and somehow WE will we not be effected by the torrential rain that is coming our way. It never happens, crazy as it may sound finally the weather man is right on these things more often than not, but still I hold on to the last hour.
     My text to Tom (did not have the courage to call at 4 am)  was tough "Tom, I hate to do this at the last minute but every river on the west side of the state is rising and will be blown by the time we get on the water, I say we cancel and reschedule". "Again?" was the reply, Tom has fished with me several times and has been the victim of Mother Nature more than once. Any time I have to cancel a trip I always feel like that police officer showing up at your door with bad news, " are you Mr Smith, I'm sorry Mr smith but there was a horrible accident, you see the sky sprung a leak and all the water ran into the Kalama River, Have a nice day Mr Smith". The bad news seldom ends there, rain storms of this size do not go away overnight, chances are I could be off the water for a week, so this means that the new XBOX 1 that come out this week, the very thing that I've been holding over my sons head for the past month to get him to do things like the dishes, vacuum the floor, is now on hold for another week at least, do you know what living with him is going to be like?!?
     On the other hand a week off  the water means I'll get all those things done that I've been putting off, like sleep, lay around and eat snacks while watching recorded episodes of "Naked and Afraid" or "Ancient Aliens", I get to get to call my Dad and get caught up on all the family gossip and hear about his winnings and losses from the Casino or who he ran into while in line at the Buffet. The reality is I NEED some time off the water, its been a great year with little time spent on doing things packing wheel bearings on boat trailers, cleaning and oiling a box of reels that have just been fished to near death, or scrubbing the inside of my car that now seems to have the permanent  smell of bait.
     As I sit here and write this my son is sitting here next to me doing everything he can to be annoying, every sentence he rambles off has XBOX in it, its going to be a long week. If I end up going to jail for shoplifting video games, would some one please send me a copy of NorthWest Sportsman?

August 17th 2014

     When we head out for a day on the water whether it be on a boat or from the shoreline there's so much to be aware of and when we do it under the influence not only does it become a safety issue but you miss out on what's brought us there to begin with.
     Here in the state of Washington as in a few other states the use of marijuana has become legal, and before I go any further on this I'll state where I stand on this. I voted for the legalization of marijuana, being illegal I feel it plugs up our judicial system, fills up our over crowded jails and is far less dangerous than alcohol, I know this because I drank a fifth of whiskey a day or MORE for 15 years which completely destroyed my life, I ended up going through an intensive inpatient treatment center, and while going through all the emotional, legal, and financial hell I was going through I never heard anyone say that they smoked some weed last night, crashed the car and abused their family, do I think that weed is the healthiest for our community. ...NO but I think its healthier for the community to stop arresting people for it. With that said.......
     When you show up to a guided fishing trip, your guide wants to give you a memorable day where your safety is most important and of course you catch fish. When you book a trip with me we are fishing small tributaries where the angler is actively involved in the success of the day, you are not sitting in a boat seat staring at a rod waiting for a fish to commit suicide on your hook, with me you're casting, you're learning to read water, you're waiting for a bite that if you don't respond to immediately you miss your chance and on a slow day that  chance may be your only chance at landing a steelhead.
     I understand that getting out to go fishing for a day means relaxing on a day off, for many that day includes drinking a couple beers with your buddy, or now here in Washington, blazing some weed, it's my personal opinion that these things are safe in moderation, but I WILL tell you that when you show up to a guided trip with me, if you're under the influence whether it be alcohol or weed, your chances of catching fish are extremely diminished.
     As a guide and probably with most guides we eat, sleep, and drink fish. We obsess over catching fish and how to help our clients catch fish, we want you to have a successful day and come back and fish with us again, but when you show up "high" , that makes our job extremely tougher. I'm writing this because now that marijuana has become legal, the number of people showing up for a guided steelhead trip under the influence is growing, and I notice that it's THOSE trips where our catch average drops horribly. It's a LEGAL right to smoke weed and I respect that, I voted in favor of those rights, but when someone fishes with me for a day and leaves having not caught fish it's hard for me to not take it personal, that I could have done something more, but if someone has decided to show up under the influence and its clear that its hindering the chance to catch fish there is nothing I can do to fix that. Drink and smoke my friends, it's your legal right, .please just do it responsibly.
    

August 16th

     With the coming of fall every year means fall salmon, and this is by far the busiest time of the year, not only does it mean catching hundreds of salmon in a couple short months, it also means curing eggs.
     I took the day off from the river to cure eggs. Eggs are one of the best baits there are for catching salmon and steelhead. Many theories exist as to why fish will eat others eggs, my beliefs are that for fish like resident trout eggs are a huge source of protein, but for fish like salmon that do not eat once they come into the tributaries to spawn, I believe they eat the eggs of other fish to ensure the survival of their own. Again this is my own belief.
     When it comes to curing eggs or bait in general many just assume that I have my own secret recipe, but that is not so. Tackle store shelves in our area are packed with salmon egg cures with labels like "Double Neon Red" or "Bloody Tuna Recipe" , these are powdered cures where you just sprinkle the cure on the eggs, message it into the "skein" , let sit a while then your eggs are ready to use or freeze to use at another time. I use the analogy that in the race car world there are those that build race cars and those that drive them, I don't want to create a good egg cure I just want to use it.
     Over the next few months I'll need to put up nearly 100 quart jars of bait to be used the following season, this means after spending a long day on the water chasing salmon, it also means long evenings curing eggs. If your doing eggs for the first time yourself, first determine what species you're targeting whether it be salmon or steelhead, for steelhead I like "Pautzkies" and for salmon Scott Ammerman who is an Oregon Coast Salmon and steelhead guide has his own line of cures, once you've got the eggs in front of you just follow the recipe on the label and this should result in PERFECT eggs.  Good luck!

August 15th

     I fished with father and son today Chad and Mike. Right off the bat this morning they informed me they could not catch steelhead, they were both new to the sport and after several trips where they hooked fish but never landed any, they were convinced they were jinxed!
     The advantage of fishing over alot of fish, that bite, is you get to make mistakes. You get to miss a few bites, you get to leave too much slack in the line, and eventually your going to get on top of things and finally land a fish. Well that's
what happened to Chad and Mike today.
     We started out with a slow morning, casting and casting after fish after fish with not even a bite. About midmorning we came into a run and finally bobber down.....then bobber up!  In this same drift this scenario repeated itself several times before Mike yells FISH ON!  It was a nice little hatchery fish that fought well before surrendering to the net, finally they had landed a steelhead and I can't tell you what that meant to him.
     We left that spot and floated into another hole that produces fish almost daily, Chad makes a cast, his float goes a few feet before disappearing from sight Mike comes back on it...FISH ON AGAIN! This fish to would put up a great fight before the net was slid underneath it. At this point it was high fives all around, Chad and Mike, father and son had come out together and successfully landed steelhead!
     Heading out to fish steelhead a few times a year and going home empty handed doesn't mean you can't catch fish, like anything it takes practice, and lots of it. If you fish steelhead in January, chances are conditions will change when you come back in March, the same applies again in June, and when conditions change so do techniques, so in essence the learning curve starts over with every trip. Today all Chad and Mike needed was the chance to make some mistakes and then apply what they learned on the next opportunity until finally they put it all together and bobber down resulted in fish landed.
     So with anything in life, don't let a few mistakes take away your confidence, if you head to the river convinced you can't catch fish chances are you probably won't.
    
    

August 14th

     Alarm goes off at 5 am, my girlfriend and I carpool into town together, meet clients at 6:30, chase steelhead till around 1:30 pm, load up the raft and head to self wash car wash to pressure wash boat, pick up girlfriend at 4:30 make the 45 minute drive home, eat dinner, return calls and messages till 8pm then hit the hay to do it all over again the next. This has been a routine every day since father's day, thats 58 straight days of chasing fish.
     Steelhead fishing has been good this summer, warm mornings and steelhead that will bite make it hard to want to take the day off, before you know it February will be here with rainy cold days that will have us wishing for the days of steelhead fishing in shorts and t-shirts.
     It's been a great summer with plenty of excitement, at the top of the list is steelhead!  We've seen some truly great fishing with some 15 hookup days. We've had many first time anglers catch their first steelhead and some caught more than one. My Girlfriend Ginny and I headed to Neah Bay to do some fishing ourselves, we caught king salmon out at Swift Sure bank and seabass and ling cod inshore in the kelp beds, only to go home and be back to guiding steelhead trips the next day.
     Other exciting news, you've heard me mention Dave Calhoun from NW Rods in previous posts. Dave was recently given the co host spot on the outdoor tv show Outdoor GPS, CONGRATS DAVE! We fished with Dave a week later and did a live broadcast from the river for the show which was VERY COOL! Thanks again Dave.
     There's still PLENTY of summer run steelhead around, but most local anglers are getting geared up for the upcoming fall salmon return. The ocean has been fishing good for salmon for over a month now, legendary salmon hot spot Bouy 10 is producing fish and the first fall salmon were caught on my home stream the Kalama River this last week, in no time the Pacific Northwest is about to go CRAZY with salmon!
    If you like to fish I hope you've been able to take advantage of some of the great fishing taking place locally, if you're looking to get in on some steelhead fishing before summers end we have some open days and if you want to fish fall salmon with us you need to book NOW as those dates fill fast. As always if you just have a question as to what's biting where or what to use we're always willing to help, if we can't help you we'll put you in touch with someone who can!

June 30th 2014

     The guiding world has become very competitive, I've carved my nitch in the industry by catering to those who do not want a ten hour day on the water, most of my trips are 6 hour days and are very laid back, there's no screaming when mistakes are made, I do my best to praise a good cast and offer encouragement after a bad cast. But what does it take to be a great guide?
     Today my client wanted to go some place new, we had fished the Kalama the day before and he'd caught 3 nice steelhead, but his feeling is he'd rather not catch fish on the same river 2 days in a row even if it risked blanking on one of those days. Day 2 would be Blue Creek!
     I'm not a fan of the Blue Creek area of the Cowlitz River, it's big, wide, and packed with jet boats. We launched at 6am and floated a half mile downstream before we found room to fish. I'd noticed early on that the dozen or so boats we floated past not a single person was fighting a fish. While I like fishing different water for a day, unlike my client I want fish in the boat.
     4 hours into the trip we'd caught a couple spring chinook jacks and some small trout and had not seen or heard of a single steelhead caught.
     Now this is where things take a turn. I could see our take out a half mile downstream, there was one more drift to fish before we'd call it a day. A jet boat was coming from down river and pulled up on the gravel bar along side us, there was nothing special about this boat, no flashy decals but I could see the small state required stickers that said he was a guide. His clients got out on shore to stretch their legs while he hefted a large white cooler out of the boat. Oh crap I thought, this is going to hurt. He began pulling fish out and laying them on the gravel, STEELHEAD, STEELHEAD, SPRING CHINOOK, STEELHEAD, a total of 4 summer run steelhead and 2 adult spring chinook. As we floated past he seen the look of horror on my face and recommended we fish a seem just slightly downstream, "theres fish there" he said. We slid into just where he said and fish on!
     I met up with this guy at the boat launch as we were taking out, a peak inside his boat revealed only 3 rods, one for each person in the boat, and the brand on those rods, "Ugly Sticks". He asked how we did and I told him we hit one just where he said. "Theres more fish downstream" he said, " let me park my rig and I'll hop in your boat and we'll get your guy on some fish" he added.
     Now we didn't take him up on his offer, me client had to get home to family obligations and I'll admit to being a little to proud. But this guy was a guide, he didn't hide behind a fancy name brands or a boat covered in sponsor logos, he was not arrogant in any means, and yet he'd put his people on more fish that morning then I'd seen in all the other "Guide Boats" combined.
    
    
    
    
    

June 25th 2014

     Today I fished with Carl and his Grand son Ben. Though Carl has fished with us before this was Bens first in a driftboat chasing steelhead.
     Any time I hear there's going to be a teenager joining us I'm on guard, kids today are not the outdoors people that my generation was and still is. Video games, cell phones, and the Internet has taken the place of bicycles, BB guns, and fishing poles. In some ways I get it, the gadgets of today are far more than I ever dreamed of as a kid.
     Ben is one of those rare kids of today who is a blend of both worlds, while he spends his mornings with grandpa in the boat catching Kokanee, he admits going home to his electronic world.
     We started off the morning fishing coonshrimp under a float, an hour into the trip Carl's (aka grandpa) float went below the surface. ....FISH ON!  Without a second thought he handed the rod to Ben, who was now attached to his first steelhead.
      The fish did what steelhead typically do, it went CRAZY! Run after run, jump after jump, till it finally wore itself out, Ben was able to lead his fish boat side where we slid the net under it and pulled it in over the gunnel.
     There was nothing fake in Bens smile when that fish was laying on the bottom of the boat and I can't blame him. We fished hard for the rest of the day, we had a couple other opportunities at fish that just didn't stick. I went home and posted Bens photo on Facebook, a short time later I accepted a friend request from Ben who shared the photo of his fish for all of his FB friends to see, I took a moment to scroll through his Facebook page and lt looked alot like my own teenage sons. But what I did notice was that while Ben had done a lot of Kokanee fishing with his Grandpa and had had some banner mornings there wasn't a photo anywhere of him holding a single kokanee. Thats Okay with us Ben, we understand!

June 26th 2014

     Fished with Kevin and his son Jack today, who are here from New Mexico to visit family.
     We got on the water around 7am this morning, the conditions were PERFECT, I was expecting a fruitful day. This unfortunately would be another day when fish wouldn't bite, the only action we seen was while pulling divers and bait the left rod bounced then went to the water only to come right back up.....nothing. As I've said before these days do happen and that's fishing!

June 24th 2014

     I fished again today with Dave Calhoun from NW Rods. Now if you're not up to date, Dave is building custom salmon and steelhead rods on Gary Loomis' new North Fork Composite blanks and he has been building us new rods in exchange for trips. (I think I'm getting the better end of this deal).
     We didn't start real early today, 8:30 am and I can tell you it sure beats the heck out of the usual 4:30 am. Dave is one of those infectious people who you just want to fish with, he's not afraid to cast, cast, and cast again all the while smiling.
     Dave fishes a coonshrimp on a leader tied to the shank of a pink worm or steelhead jig under a float and this works for him, he has confidence in it so of course it produces fish for him. Our first fish we got to watch as it came out from behind some boulders to run his shrimp down. ...FISH ON!  A scrappy 8lb steelhead that gave a few great runs before coming to the net. NICE ONE DAVE!
     About an hour later Daves float disappeared, he came back on it and fish on again. No, fish OFF, it came to the surface and thrashed just enough to throw the hook. We were still in the same spot sitting on the anchor when Daves very next cast would give him another chance, the float slipped below the surface and fish on again! This fish would not be as lucky as the last and his fate would be laying in the fish box as well.
     The trip lasted just a few short hours before Dave was limited with a couple beautiful summer run steelhead, and me? Well while Daves fish were destined for the smoker to be consumed shortly after, my reward was another of Daves graphite works of art that will help produce limits of fish for many years to come....
   

June 24th 2014

     I fished again today with Dave Calhoun from NW Rods. Now if you're not up to date, Dave is building custom salmon and steelhead rods on Gary Loomis' new North Fork Composite blanks and he has been building us new rods in exchange for trips. (I think I'm getting the better end of this deal).
     We didn't start real early today, 8:30 am and I can tell you it sure beats the heck out of the usual 4:30 am. Dave is one of those infectious people who you just want to fish with, he's not afraid to cast, cast, and cast again all the while smiling.
     Dave fishes a coonshrimp on a leader tied to the shank of a pink worm or steelhead jig under a float and this works for him, he has confidence in it so of course it produces fish for him. Our first fish we got to watch as it came out from behind some boulders to run his shrimp down. ...FISH ON!  A scrappy 8lb steelhead that gave a few great runs before coming to the net. NICE ONE DAVE!
     About an hour later Daves float disappeared, he came back on it and fish on again. No, fish OFF, it came to the surface and thrashed just enough to throw the hook. We were still in the same spot sitting on the anchor when Daves very next cast would give him another chance, the float slipped below the surface and fish on again! This fish would not be as lucky as the last and his fate would be laying in the fish box as well.
     The trip lasted just a few short hours before Dave was limited with a couple beautiful summer run steelhead, and me? Well while Daves fish were destined for the smoker to be consumed shortly after, my reward was another of Daves graphite works of art that will help produce limits of fish for many years to come....
   

June 24th 2014

     I fished again today with Dave Calhoun from NW Rods. Now if you're not up to date, Dave is building custom salmon and steelhead rods on Gary Loomis' new North Fork Composite blanks and he has been building us new rods in exchange for trips. (I think I'm getting the better end of this deal).
     We didn't start real early today, 8:30 am and I can tell you it sure beats the heck out of the usual 4:30 am. Dave is one of those infectious people who you just want to fish with, he's not afraid to cast, cast, and cast again all the while smiling.
     Dave fishes a coonshrimp on a leader tied to the shank of a pink worm or steelhead jig under a float and this works for him, he has confidence in it so of course it produces fish for him. Our first fish we got to watch as it came out from behind some boulders to run his shrimp down. ...FISH ON!  A scrappy 8lb steelhead that gave a few great runs before coming to the net. NICE ONE DAVE!
     About an hour later Daves float disappeared, he came back on it and fish on again. No, fish OFF, it came to the surface and thrashed just enough to throw the hook. We were still in the same spot sitting on the anchor when Daves very next cast would give him another chance, the float slipped below the surface and fish on again! This fish would not be as lucky as the last and his fate would be laying in the fish box as well.
     The trip lasted just a few short hours before Dave was limited with a couple beautiful summer run steelhead, and me? Well while Daves fish were destined for the smoker to be consumed shortly after, my reward was another of Daves graphite works of art that will help produce limits of fish for many years to come....
   

June 23rd 2014

      Bobber and jig fishing, I believe, is the single most effective way there is to catch steelhead. Recently we've seen jigs cross over into salmon fishing, especially for coho.
     When in the boat I repeatedly have people ask, did you tie these jigs, and for a moment I have visions of my tieing desk, that at times is MOUNTAINS of feathers, rabbit fur, and all the other material that can be tied on to a hook to entice fish to bite.
     PINKS aka Humpy salmon, means pink jigs. Pinks show up in the Puget Sound area in odd years by the MILLIONS, literally! When on  roll I can pour, powder coat and tie 400 pink jigs in an 8 hour day. In 2009 I actually supported myself for 6 months just tieing pink jigs, I felt like a drug dealer, I'd tie 1500 jigs in a week, then meet a guy in a parking lot who'd buy the jigs from me in cash, no bill larger than a 20, then re sell them to Humpy fisherman 100 miles up the freeway. The whole thing seemed very seedy.
     Today I no longer tie jigs on that scale, but I do tie all the jigs we use, plus all the jigs we offer through our website, this is a manageable amount, and I'm not selling them to a guy in a sleazy parking lot while looking over my shoulder for the "Jig Task Force" to come out of the bushes, guns drawn, yelling FREEZE SCUMBAG! I know that some will argue the effectiveness of jig fishing for steelhead, there's now those who are fishing a single plastic bead that resembles a single egg, I've used it myself and at times its deadly. I CAN tell you this, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has revolutionized the way we fish for steelhead more than the art of bobber and jig fishing. Today you can buy rods, reels and even high tech braided lines designed just for bobber and jig.
     If you're wanting to learn more about bobber and jig fishing give me a call, we offer an on the water introduction to float fishing, where we go over reading water, gear selection, and presentation, you'll leave feeling confident I promise. I think I've said enough on this topic, besides I've got jigs to tie, and if you already fish a jig for steelhead, save some fish for the rest of us!

June 22nd 2014

     Ginny and I had the day off together so we loaded up the dogs and headed to the beach for the day!
     Our first stop along the way was just outside the small town of Skamokawa Wa at Skamokawa Farmstead Creamery. The story behind this place is heartfelt, the owners rescued roughly 50 goats and began their dream of making cheese. Now this is a GREAT story of a couple of amazing woman doing the right thing, they have a love for animals that you feel as soon as you arrive, their animals are so spoiled and so loved that for a moment you'd like to be a goat. Then there's the cheese, WHO DOESNT LIKE CHEESE? This stuff is good, cheese like Feta, and my favorite the Garlic Dill Chevre. Everything they use produced or grown locally. They are still under construction as they rescued their first goat less than a year ago, even so the Skamokawa Farmstead Creamery is worth the stop. You can find them on Facebook.
     Once we got to the beach we did the usual beach combing, eating ice cream in Long Beach, and of course a stroll out to the North Jetty where we came across an angler packing a 20lb king back to his car. He posed for a photo and when I asked him what he caught it on I was surprised to hear Blue Fox Spinner, not a herring or anchovy under a float, not a Buzz Bomb or Pt Wilson Dart Jig, but a Blue Fox. ..Hhhmmm, I think I have some of them!
     Here in SW Washington we live in a great area, there are SOOOOOO MANY things to do and see all in a days drive. Im sure in your area , where ever you are it's the same. So in the words of my late mother, YOU KIDS GO PLAY OUTSIDE!

June 21st 2014

     Prepared for the Saturday morning regatta we were on the water this morning before daylight, this would give us at least a half mile of river to ourselves before the Saturday crowd showed up.
     I fished today with brothers Buzz and Jerry, this was a Christmas gift from their sister Joice who has fished with us several times over the last 6 months. An hour into the trip while pulling divers and bait Buzz's rod buried. ...FISH ON! Buzz grabbed the rod from the rod holder to be latched into his first steelhead, but I didn't last long. A fresh summer run steelhead is a wild fish that is sometimes out of the water more than it's in, our fish made a hard charge at the boat, put some slack in the line and came off......DAMN BARBLESS HOOKS!
     Jerry's rod would be the next to get bit, another crazy fish that ran, jumped, wrapped around a rock and broke the leader all before the rod was out of the rod holder.
     Another hour later Buzz's rod buried again, Buzz grabbed the rod only to find nothing there.
     Steelhead, especially summer steelhead are a crazy fish. For someone who's not fished steelhead before it's hard to explain to them that this is not a fish where you set the hook and then just lead them to the net, on the Columbia River and all its tributaries barbless hooks are mandatory, KEEP THE LINE TIGHT, OR LOSE THE FISH!
     For a fish that is often called the fish of a thousand casts, hooking 3 on their first venture in steelhead fishing isn't bad, but going home having been beat is frustrating. Buzz and Jerry will be back, they are fisherman, and that's what we fisherman do.

June 20th 2014

     When I get in the boat in the morning with someone for the first time I never know who I'm fishing with. Now sure we've talked a bit before the trip, names exchanged, times to meet are set and directions are given but beyond that it's a roll of the dice who I'm spending the day with.
     This morning I had the privilege of fishing with Walter, Walter was an intelligence officer during WWII, and had some amazing life stories to share. Normally my day is focused primarily on one thing and thats putting fish on rods, I keep a constant watch for safety issues, share conversation, but underneath I'm doing all I can to find fish. Today it was Walter who stole the day, listening to him was beyond what you see on the history channel or more real than what you read in history books. Walter has a very unbiased view of the world and how it's run, today at the age of 78 he may not be on top of his game but he's still very up to date on what's going on in the world. Walter is a very well read and well traveled man, he shared with me stories of luncheons with various foreign dignitaries, and heads of states, he was in Dallas watching JFK roll past him the day he was assassinated.
     For Walter, our day was not as fruitful as he had hoped, we had gotten a late start in the morning and most of the water had been fished over before we got to it. For myself, the day was priceless, it was over before I knew it, and I left feeling like I got the most out of our day together. It goes to show you can't judge a book by it's cover, you never know who you're sharing space with, whether it be a seat in a boat or who is in line ahead of you in the grocery store. We all have a story to tell, and when we take the time it's amazing what we hear when we listen.
     

June 15 2015

     I wound up this morning with the day off, let's go for a drive!
     Now while alot of anglers I know look forward to spending this day every year fish with their Dad, this is NOT what I do! You see while I am a father to a GREAT teenage Boy, Sage, we do not fish together.
     When I learned I was going to be a father, and to a boy to boot, my thoughts of the years ahead ran crazy.  I imagined spending weekends with my son to be, outdoors. I imagined him one day learning to row ME down the river chasing steelhead and even the day when he'd be taking the boat on his own with his buddies.
     When his mother and I were first discussing baby names I had friends who were giving their pets names Like "Loomis" and his mother asked if I'd ever consider naming our son after something as tacky as a fishing rod.....Of course not I replied! Now she was or is not a fisherperson, so when she came to me with the name Sage, and was explaining to me the meaning of its origin, all I could think of was high end graphite rods from right here in the Pacific Northwest. ...PERFECT!
     This may have been where I went wrong.  You see I didn't share this info until after the birth certificate was signed, where after I bought Sage hats, Sage T shirts as well as Sage stickers for the car. I was the only one who appreciated all of this, and my son who by the age of 5 made it clear he was not a fisherman (preferring video games) once told me "Dad, I can't believe you named me after a fishing rod".
     Today my son and I are very close, and even though he'll neve chase winter steelhead, I love him as much as any father can love a child. And our drive today? Well we headed east to Goldendale Wa to visit the Stonehenge replica, stop for occasional snacks such as alligator jerky,  and just by coincidence, of course, the drive took us right past the Home Valley Grocery store where they do the hottest coon shrimp steelhead bait I know of, was it wrong of me to stop, I mean it was Father's Day right!?!

June 14 2014

     I fished with angler Seth this morning along with 2 of his closest buddies, this trip was a Father's Day gift for Seth from his Wife. This is Seth's first Father's Day, as his baby boy was at home with Mom waiting for Dad to hopefully bring home dinner.
     Weekends are tough, so we decided to launch up high this morning hoping it would give the weekend crowd who was congregating in the lower river to clear out before we drifted down to them.
      Right out of the gate this morning we had a bobber disappear. ...FISH ON! Not  bad way to start the morning. After a few hard and powerful runs we got our first look at the fish....SALMON. Yes we're still closed for salmon, the fish made a couple more runs before we were able to pull the fish boat side and release it.
     The three of them fished hard the rest of the day, and though we heard of a few fish hooked (mostly salmon) we would not hook another fish. We talked about the upcoming fall salmon return (one of the best return predictions since the 30's) and they set a date to come back and chase Coho.
     See you in October Seth, this trip salmon will go in the FISH BOX!

June 13 2014

     When we got off the river yesterday it opened up and started raining, when I got up this morning there was 6 inches of water in the bottom of the boat. ...THATS A LOT!
     When we got to the river it had come up, not a lot but some, and it had definitely colored up. Now im not one to believe in wives tales, one of the best steelhead days I've ever had my clients had been eating bananas one after another, setting bananas down to set the hook. Then there's others such as wind from the east fish like it least, wind from the west fish like it best, the list goes on.
      My clients today we're GREAT fisherman, on the surface they play many roles, but their core is fishing, and right away they bring up the topic, will fish bite on a rising river. Now I can't tell you yes or no on that, I can tell you I've spent thousands of hours fishing in what I thought to be perfect conditions never to produce a bite. My clients today we're NOT on the fence on this theory, our river was still rising from the night before rain showers and every cast they made (despite the fact that fish were caught in front of them) was worthless effort. Now I've been on fishing trips where my heart is just not in it, for what ever reason, and I'd do about anything to swim to shore. Knowing the signs of this, that my clients were thinking of the truck not the water in front of us we made the decision to call it a morning and reschedule when conditions were more favorable.
     Now again I'm not one for wives tales, but I am one we believes in confidence, confidence in your presentation, the water your fishing, as well as the conditions, in fact I've seen more fish caught on confidence than anything else. If one is to believe in wives tales, today was Friday the 13th, maybe we were doomed from the start.

June 12 2014

     Being on the water everyday one season just rolls into the next and while for the most part I'm on the same river year around the way we fish it changes.
     Our mornings are starting at daylight in beginners hole, casting into the same drift alongside the same people who've been fishing the same area for years. There's anglers such as Big Paul, who until this year has floated the river in his black Fishrite with the pink pinstripe, a boat that originally belonged to Guide and Fishrite rep Rick Johnson, I still remember the day in early spring of 1992 when that boat rolled of the truck at Mahaffeys bait n tackle. Last year Big Paul sold that boat again and is this year riding front seat with his fishing buddy Arlin. In mid June every year I start looking for Neil and his wife Wong who fish from the bank in the rainbow park area, they to are here fishing summer run steelhead, today was their first day back and for the next 6 week they will be part of my daily life as we fish together with in the same area where they walk the beach. Wong reminisces often and tells the story of the 31 pound steelhead she caught on the Quinault River, it was February and just the day before she had landed a 22 pounder.
     Today I fished with Merle and his son Roman, it was a slow day, Merle managed a beautiful chrome steelhead to the net that took a coonshrimp under a float. Through out our day we had a few more opportunities that were missed.  This year marks 30 years of rowing the Kalama, while in hindsight it seems like forever ago, it still seems like yesterday when Rick Johnsons Black Fishrite driftboat with the pink pinstripe was parked in the parking lot of Mahaffeys store and I thinking who would row such a boat, then when hearing it belonged to the Guide Rick Johnson, pink pinstripes all the sudden became cool!

June 11 2014

     I fished again today with local rod builder Dave Calhoun of Northwest Rods. Dave is carving his way into the custom salmon and steelhead rod business by building very quality no frills rods, and I can tell you he's doing it RIGHT!
     Today Dave delivered us 2 new custom rods that are designed just for twitching jigs for coho, 8ft one piece with a light tip and heavy backbone, along the lines of a steelhead plug rod only in a spinning model. Tied beautifully on Gary Loomis' new blanks, these rods are going to deliver exactly what we want them to do.....PUT COHO IN THE BOX! Thanks Dave, as always these rods are a home run!
       Today we fished coon shrimp under a float in low water conditions. Dave managed to put a limit of chrome summer run steelhead in the boat while using one of his custom float rods.
     As I've stated before, high end rods will not guarantee fish, but having the right rod for the application is a must and Dave is dedicated to building just that. If you're looking for a new rod to chase salmon and steelhead I'd recommend you talk with Dave Calhoun at NW Rods.

June 6th 2014

     Back on the water this morning, not wanting a repeat of yesterday we needed to change things up.
      Today there would be no bait, no bobber n jigs, just spinners! Two guys who can fish a spinner well can do some damage, you can cover water with a spinner like nothing else, no need for light leader, even in low summer conditions I run braid right to the hook I know some anglers insist on using a piece on mono as leader but I've never felt the need to.
      Today did not feel like the same river we fished yesterday, right away a chrome 5 pound steelhead slammed a #4 vibrax , after some crazy runs it spit the hook just feet from the net. A few casts later and another fish on again a chrome fish that wasn't as lucky as the first and ended up boat side. We hit several fish through out the day all of them spitting the hook, the disappointing cost of barbless hooks.
     If I had ONE lure to choose from to chase summer run steelhead, a spinner would be my only choice!

June 5 2014

     Back on the water today after being sick for the last week.
      We were on the water at daylight this morning to get in on the bite at the lower hatchery creek in beginners hole. When we pulled in there was already a boat leaving which told me that nothing had been hooked yet and that he was moving to look for fresh fish downstream leaving this dead water for us. What happens here at daylight is usually a precursor to what the rest of the day will be like, and after an hour and seeing nothing hooked we too moved on, "its going to be one of those days" I thought to myself.
    We worked every piece of water for the next 4 hours like it was a plate of ribs, it always amazes me how a river or piece of water that you know has fish can almost seen void of life, cast after cast after cast and not even a bite. After 5 hours we had that talk and agreed we call it an early morning and reschedule.

June 1st 2014

     I woke up this morning feeling much better hopefully this is the end of it.

May 31st 2014

I'd rather get stitches than be sick.

May 30th 2014

    I woke up at midnight coughing with the chills, aw shoot I have the flu, so I sent a text message off canceling for the following morning. Now in my previous life, before I decided to really disappoint my father and quit a great union job to become a fishing guide I would periodically call in sick to GO fishing, with phrases like " I have salmon ella, or my arm is in a cast, now here I am calling in sick to NOT go fishing. Something is wrong with this picture!
 

May 29th 2014

     Back on the Kalama River today with regulars Big Greg and Big Dave. Now these guys are BIG very BIG, the combined weight of the two of them is pushing 600 pounds and not an ounce of fat on them. For shits n giggles every time we fish together, the night before I get a text message "See you in the morning, and be sure to eat your WHEATIES!
     We were on the water and in our spot by 5am, on our third pass through the drift Gregs bobber went submariner, with ten and a half foot of graphite combined with Gregs 6'3 height, that fish had zero chance. ..FISH ON! These summer fish are hard fighters, after a good ten minute battle we slid the net under a beautiful chrome ten pound hatchery steelhead. Not a bad way to start the day.
     We left that spot and floated downstream, mixing it up between bobber and jig, and diver n bait. After a couple hours Daves bobber takes the plunge. ...FISH ON! We got a few runs out of it before losing it....Have I mentioned I hate LOSING FISH!!
   A short time later it was Daves float that again disappears, thinking its bottom he doesn't set but instead just pulls back, as the three of us watch ANOTHER chrome steelhead shake it's way lose. Number one rule in float fishing. ....ALWAYS SET THE HOOK!
     We fished hard for the rest of the day but seemed all the chances we were to be given we'd already used up. Not a bad day at all for Summer Run Steelhead considering it's not even June!

May 28th 2014

     Got off the oars and into a jet boat today with a friend and headed out on the Columbia River, known locally as "The Big C"
     When we decided to fish the Columbia we knew we were on the downhill side of spring chinook and the summer chinook were still not here yet, but there is still enough springers going over Bonneville Dam to make it worth while. Fishing a river, any river, is like playing a round of golf, and the Big C is a course I'm not on very often but with every fishery on any river there are rules and techniques that are time proven. So we launch and headed downstream till we spotted some boats sitting on the anchor, we pull in and found 25ft of water, put the anchor down and let back some tuna wrapped k13 kwikfish, put them in rod holders and waited, which typically means EAT!
    After an hour the right rod bounced then went to the water. ...FISH ON....right?
No, I grabbed the rod and set the hook and nothing, I tell myself that's springer fishing.  I reel in and re wrap with some tuna, bounce it back and let it sit. 2 apple fritters and a cup of coffee later down the rod goes again, this time line is peeling of the rod before I get to it I grabbed the rod and again NOTHING!!..... WHAT THE??
    Ok now I HATE losing fish, I checked the hooks rebaited and bounced it back again and immediately went back to the food bag.
     Another hour went by when my buddies rod took a sharp dip then DROPPED. Then in udder disbelief it came back up and assumed its relaxed stand. I DON'T GET IT!
     We sat out the rest of the tide with no more action, the food ran out, the tide slowed and started to turn, with our tails tucked we pulled anchor and pointed the bow towards the launch.
   Had we landed just one of those fish it would have been a good day, all three fish and it would have been banner. What I walked away thinking was "There's kings out there, and they'll BITE!

May 27th 2014

     I took the day off to do that fun stuff, like scrubbing the boat, tying jigs and mowing the lawn. In the early afternoon the phone rings its my stepmother saying my Dad had fallen and couldn't get up I dropped what I was doing and sped the 15 miles to Dads house.
   When I got there I found him in his recliner void of all color and unable to stand on his own. I helped him into the jeep and headed to the emergency room. My dad was a smoker nearly all of his life, like any professional he started at a young age, 13, and didn't decide to quit till he was 70. Now that he's in his mid 70s the years of his smoking has caught up to him.
    My mom passed away at the age of 63, my fathers sister passed away at a young age, COPD,  the results of years of smoking.
     Once we got to the hospital where they checked him in they poked and prodded, test after test, the end result was he's paying the price for the years of smoking.
My dad was always the super outdoorsman, we worked hard his entire life and retired well in order to spend his golden years traveling. After a night in the hospital he was sent home, back to his recliner.

May 26th 2014

We fished the Kalama today and it was one of those days when the bite was just off. No matter what we did the river seemed void of fish. These days don't happen very often, but they do and that's why we call it fishing

May 25th 2014

     Last night I was going through the freezer and found several packages of what at first appeared to be mystery meat, but closer inspection revealed a package of pork chops, an elk roast, a pork roast, and a couple pounds of hamburger that had somehow gotten pushed clear to the back and forgotten. Not wanting to throw all of this away, and knowing no one in the house would eat this prehistoric meat only one thing came to mind. .....SAUSAGE!
     I love making sausage, and its much easier than one might think. Our local outdoor store carries kits to make everything from breakfast sausage to jerky, our choice today would be summer sausage.
    The first step is running the meat through the grinder, the grinder attachment on our kitchen aide proves just fine for our task. The next step is to add some water, the pre measured cure and spices and mix by hand. When mixed thoroughly you stuff into the casings and chill over night. The next morning you following the smoking directions that we did in a Little Chief smoker. Once its smoked long enough and the internal temp is right, remove from smoker and again chill overnight and there you have it....SUMMER SAUSAGE!
     I won't tell you that by using the variety of meat I did that this is the same sausage you'd get in the grocery store, but its still very delicious and best of all that Siberian frozen meat did not go to waste!

May 24th 2014

     I took this weekend off from chasing fish to spend some much needed time with my family. Now I know this is the kickoff for camping season and being the outdoors family we are you'd of thought that we'd be somewhere pitching a tent and collecting firewood. Not the case.
    Instead I found myself today touring cemeteries, yes you heard me.....CEMETERIES! You see my girlfriend and her family are those that are truly selfless, the type that are always there to help, praying for others, and yes visiting cemeteries.
     I've always believed when you die you die, and when that person is gone you put them in your past and move on, not really imagining that someday I'd be put in the ground and forgotten, that there might be a marker of some sort to mark my place of rest with a couple words describing who I was, and God forbid those words might be honest. .."HERE LIES MARK ERVIG, AN ALCOHOLIC SOB THAT LIKED TO FISH".
     I learned today that there are some who don't forgot their lost loved ones, they show up at grave sites with flowers, weedeaters, scrub brushes with soapy water to clean headstones, and as they tidy up these tiny little plots of land they laugh and cry as they tell stories of the lost family member or close friend, I learned today that Memorial Day is not about camping or BBQ'ing, its about just that...remembering. I also learned that if it were to happen, that I'd be buried away in some far corner of a cemetery, the part where the grounds keeper doesn't mow when he feels like leaving early to go fishing, that there are those like my girlfriend and her family who once a year take time out of their busy lives to remember you, plant a flower, do a little weedeating....

May 23rd 2014

     If theres anyone who understands an obsession with high end graphite rods its me, I'd even go so far as to say that a high end rod that's been reeled and lined up right is nothing short of a work of art!

    But high graphite rods will not guarantee fish, its kinda like those who spend a small fortune on a shotgun yet shoot more birds on their old beat up favorite and our trip today was proof of that.

     Fishing has been tough as of late, spring chinook are winding down and summer run steelhead are still in no great numbers. So to fish this time of year and say you'd rather not use bait, no matter matter what the brand of your rod is or how perfect your cast is can make for a long day.

     Today I fished with Chris and Mary Ann. Chris is a dedicated fly fisherman, who like me, has an appreciation for rod builders with history, in this case RL Winston. Chris ties impeccable flies, his casting is enviable of nearly anyone who has picked up a fly rod and has a passion that has carried his love for the sport to nearly anywhere a fish will take a fly.  Marry Ann on the other hand is one of those people who loves to fish but most of all is along for the ride, rain or shine, and though loves to fly fish admits she's willing to use what ever is fish are biting, in this case a bobber n jig rod.

     We spent a long day on the water, Chris changing rods and techniques, cast after cast hoping, praying, even willing for just a tug to give a little faith that you know what you're doing. We hit just two fish the entire day and those went to Marry Ann who was fishing a bobber and jig with an old weathered Lamiglas float rod.

     We who fish are always in search of that magical lure, that custom rod or secret scent that will produce fish when nothing else will. When really the secret to catching LOTS of fish is to simply go where there's lots of fish!
    

May 22nd 2014

     Today I shared the boat with just one guest, a local gentleman who is a school bus driver. Fishing with just one client has its advantages, the boat weighs less so it doesn't take as much effort to row, I need to worry about filling only one limit of fish as opposed to two, and best of all....I GET TO FISH!
     We started off the morning in a long drift perfect for pulling divers and bait, we set up at the top and sent them out. Once the rods were in the rod holders I pulled the anchor, grabbed the oars and started backing them down. It wasn't long before the left rod bounced slightly, let it go I said, don't grab the rod till it buries, just then the rod tip went to the water! He's on there I said, my client grabbed the rod and nothing, somehow the fish didn't stick. This always amazes me how this happens, but it does, and you just rebait and keep fishing.
   Later in the morning we floated into a stretch of that's classic textbook steelhead water. We grabbed a couple of bobber n jig rods and on the third cast my client was hooked up, and then he wasn't. .DAMN!  Now we're zero for two.
     Towards the end of the day the bobber slid below the surface one final time, with a good hookset.....FISH ON! After a few short runs and going aerial more than once, we slid a beautiful chrome hatchery summer run steelhead into the net!
     Throughout the day we missed a few other fish that gave us just enough encouragement to look forward to the next cast, all in all just a typical day on the Kalama River.

May 21st 2014

I woke up this to the alarm blaring at 3:30 am, after hitting the snooze a couple times I managed to get out of bed, downed my morning dose of Ibuprofen and thought. ... MAN IT SUCKS TO GET OLD!
After getting dressed I noticed that blue light blinking on my phone,  you know, the one that says you have a message. It was a text saying my client couldn't make it, an emergency had come up and he wouldn't be making the 200 mile one way drive to Kalama. 200 miles I thought, what time would HE have gotten up to meet at the prearranged time of 5am, then it dawned on me that while I was pondering all of this my would have been client was still in bed, sound asleep.....DAMN HIM! Well, looks like I'll get that lawn mowed......

May 20 2014

     For anyone who's been reading this I apologize for the lack of updates, the constant rain has left me with the same response. ...BLOWN OUT AGAIN!
Hopefully we have all the high water behind us and we can get on with what we do best and that's putting you on fish.

     Even though we are closed for Spring Chinook here on the Kalama River due to a poor return forecast, there seems to be no shortage of them. Right off the bat this morning we were hooked into a 20 plus pound chrome king that fought hard right up to the point where we released it. Now as I'm sure you can understand releasing chrome hatchery kings goes against everything I believe in. As we continued on throughout the day this scenario repeated itself over and over, which wouldn't be so bad if these fish weren't one of the best eating fish on the PLANET!
Now there are some highlights in all this disappointment and that's that we're beginning to see so hard fighting crazy Summer Run Steelhead. We are seeing one of these a day right now and will only get better as we move into June.

     If you're looking to get out this summer and enjoy a day on the water or even just have a question with where we are and what's working for us feel free to call or text us at 206-972-FISH!

April 5 2014

Fished the Kalama this morning with anglers Jake and Josh. ....
     We started of the morning with a small wild steelhead that engulfed a pink worm fished under a float. Being a downstream fish one that's spawned out and heading back to the ocean also known as a kelt it wasn't much of a fighter, we brought it to the side of the boat and was released.
     Later in the morning we switched to diver and bait. Coming into a long deep hole we let them out and began backing them down. About midway through the drift the right rod dipped, a typical salmon bite, but Josh was quick on the draw pulling the bait out of the fishes mouth. "That's a salmon" I said, we reeled in to find the bait stripped. Re baited we sent them out again and then the right rod buried, Jake set the hook "fish on"! A king it was, our first spring Chinook of the season. After a long battle the chrome beauty posed for a pic and was released. It goes against everything I believe in to turn fish like that lose, the kalama River is closed for kings . We fished the rest of the day with no more opportunities, if we're going to put any springers in the boat this season, I'll need to go elsewhere. Cowlitz River?

April 2 2014

Got out on the water today we had great color and about 2 feet of visibility but the river was still running very high making conditions tough. We fished pink worms under a float, 3 times we watched floats disappear below the surface only to come back on the rod to find nothing there. The forecast is calling for some GREAT weather over the next week with that conditions are only going to get better. There has been some Spring Chinook caught on the Columbia River over the past couple of days, should be any day now before we start seeing them on the Kalama.

April 1 2014

Things are looking good plan to be on the water tomorrow

March 31 2014

Rivers are on the drop should be fishable in a day or two

March 30 2014

Still too much water

March 29 2014

I woke this morning to the sun poking through the clouds, rivers are still running high wide and muddy with a little luck we'll be back on the water by mid week

March 28 2014

Looks like a small break in the rain is on our way, its possible we'll be on the water this Monday the 31st

March 27 2014

Yup its still raining

March 25 2014

Took the day off the oars to pull a little maintenance on the boat trailer

March 24 2014

     I fished with anglers Bernie and Rick this morning, a little rain last night put the water in that perfect "steelhead green" condition, you could feel it was going to be a great day. .....
     We made the decision to fish WFO worms under a float. We hadn't been on the water long when Bernie was into the first fish of the morning, a hot wild fish that was all over the place. Bernie was on the reel when a hard charge at the boat left slack in the line, one more jump and he was off.
     We floated into our next drift and first cast Ricks bobber slid below the surface, this was Ricks first trip river fishing for steelhead and was not prepared, before he could bring the line tight the bobber was again on the WRONG side of the surface. It's ok my friend, there'll be more!
     And more there was, it was one of those days where bobbers were down time and time again but for the life of me nothing would stick there were rods crossed, too much slack or leaders breaking, at one point two bobbers disappeared almost at the same time at that point I had chest pains and my left arm went numb, when the floats reappeared and lines were slack I stated "Gentleman, you're killing me, LITERALLY!"
     At the end of the day it was 8 fish with only one to the boat, a nice little wild fish we released. Even with that it was a great day, how often do we get that many chances at a fish thats been called one of a thousand cast. ...
    

March 23 2014

     Spent the day on the water with anglers Steven and Mark and though the weather was on our side the fish made us work for them....

     We started the morning fishing beads under a float and Steven hooked up in no time only to get a couple good head shakes then spit the hook. After another hour we decided to switch to diver and coon shrimp, we sent them out a gave a few strokes on the oars and Mark (who by the way is just 14) had his rod bury and with NO hesitation had the rod out of the holder and the hook set. We fought the fish downstream maybe 50 yards, got it up to the boat where we could see it was a gorgeous wild fish, I grabbed the pliers and released the fish, we gave some high-fives and got ready to do it again.
     We moved the boat back into the current and sent the divers out again. We were halfway through this drift when Marks rod hammered again, and like a well oiled machine had the rod in his hands and control of the fish. It was another wild fish that put up a great fight before being released.
     We fished hard for the rest of the day, switching up tactics to no avail. All in all a great day, the weather was perfect, we caught a couple nice steelhead and shared the day with a couple GREAT anglers and even BETTER people!

March 23 2014

     Angler Rob joined us today to get in on some March steelhead, what he got was a lot of practice casting.......

     You see Rob had just treated himself to a custom steelhead rod built on one of Gary Loomis' new state of art North Fork blanks which is undeniably the best fishing rod blank on the planet, and to compliment it he attached a Shimano Stratic loaded with braided line. Now a fishing rod of this caliber combined with a day with us on my home stream in the middle of March SHOULD be a day to remember ....that's what I thought to.

     We fished as hard as one could fish, we hit every seam, tail out, and slot we could find. Rob casted in water I'd never seen before. Cast after cast after cast we watched a float that just refused to go down. It's hard to say what turns a bite off and on, some say barometer, others the moon phase, or it could be just dumb ol luck. What ever the answer is, these days do happen and that's why we call it fishing

March 22 2014

     If you're reading this blog then you may remember Justin, he fished with us last week on March 15 he brought his Brother and Father. Well Justin returned again this week with his Father in law and brother in law.
     When we got to the river it was evident that the word was out that there was some steelhead to be caught as there was I line to launch at nearly every launch. We decided to go high and slide the boat in over some rip rap hoping to have some water all to ourselves even if it were to be short lived and short lived it was. After an hour we tucked into a tail out that had not been fished yet and after pounding it with pink worms to no avail Justin grabbed a rod rigged with a 10mm bead and his first cast the bobber slid below the surface, Justin came back on it and fish on....fish off...the leader snapped! We re rigged and next cast fish on again. Justin handed the rod to his brother in law who fought his first steelhead up to the side of the boat it was wild and was released.
     We fished that tail out another for one more bobber down that was missed. We spent the rest of the day fishing behind other boats and while some would have a great day it was the end of our hookups.

March 21 2014

     Another great day fishing steelhead! Despite a brisk morning the sun came out and gave us a beautiful spring day. Today anglers Terry and Rick joined us for a great day on the water. We fished WFO worms under a float to produce three gorgeous steelhead, two of them were hatchery fish that we retained and the third was a scrappy wild fish that gave us a couple long runs before we were able to bring it boat side and release it.

     With some great spring weather in the forecast we'll be on the water for the next week, any day we could see the first spring Chinook or summer run steelhead of the year!

March 20 2014

     Lately here in the Pacific Northwest chasing steelhead has been a battle with mother nature we've fought sub freezing temperatures where lines freeze, guides on our rods freeze and reels freeze. We've had snow accumulations making traveling almost impossible. And we've had rain, rain, and still more rain causing rivers to blow out and stay out.
    
     Today finally the weather was on our side, the sun came out the river was in perfect shape and most importantly steelhead were on the bite!

     We hit 8 fish today, and for angler Tom it wasn't a big deal since he had fished with us earlier in the season and had some great days but for his partner Steve it was a different story as it was his first time on the butte end of a steelhead rod. Steve hit a beautiful wild fish on a diver and bait rod then he missed his next couple chances on a pink worm under a float. We came into a short slot Steve made a well placed cast the float went a few feet and down it went. Steve was on his game, he closed the bale, set the hook and was locked into a CHROME hatchery steelhead. We fought the fish downstream and after a few runs we slid the net under it and it was in the boat. Way to go Steve, not to shabby!

     At the end of the day we had hit 8 fish and landed 5, 2 were wild and released, 3 were hatchery fish that ended up in the box. March can offer some fantastic steelhead opportunities, especially when conditions are in your favor!

March 19 2014

     Fished with father and son Pete and Jake today. Got to the river this morning at daylight to find it a bit high and off color. The trip started out with Pete hooking up on his first cast, a small downstream steelhead that we released. A couple hours later jake hooked a chrome hatchery steelhead that ended up in the box. Shortly after that Pete was into his second fish of the day, another chrome hatchery fish worthy of putting in the fish box.

     The last fish of the day was again hooked by Pete, a wild fish that took us for a ride downstream where we got out of the boat and caught a quick photo before releasing.

     All our fish were hooked on WFO worms fished under a float.

March 15 2014

Today was the last trip of the season to those little streams out west, in the past month even with all the adverse water and weather we still managed to hook over a hundred steelhead, some of them will reopen June 1 for summer run steelhead but that late in the year they are far to small to get a boat down them so we will not return till next year.

     Today we fished with Justin who as a Christmas gift takes his brother and father on a guided steelhead trip. The water had dropped into perfect shape but the bite was tough, a hard day of fishing gave us 5 hookups, not a bad day at all!

     Tomorrow we are Kalama bound, back to our home stream, and we'll stay there on through the summer.