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!