Northwest Outdoor Report

March 2, 2013

“B” Run Steelhead Trickling into the Cowlitz Phil Stephens from Mystical Legends Guide Service says there’s some really big three-salt hatchery steelhead cruising up the Cowlitz River right now. The “B” run on the Cowlitz just got started and while most of the guides are only picking up a few fish a day it won’t […]

River Etiquette 101

February 27, 2013

By Dennis Dickson I was floating a popular run on the Sauk River one spring day. The April morning found the river in prime shape and I knew the flyboys were going to be out in numbers. As we rounded the corner of a long bar, there near the bottom of the half mile run, […]

Skagit Steelhead

Dickson’s Flyfishing Report

February 16, 2013

By Dennis Dickson The Bitter Sweet The good news is: A very nice pulse of late winter native steelhead have shown up in the lower Skagit river, just before the season closure. Big brawly steelhead. The kind that when you see them you think, “Must be Sauk fish with their thick caudal peduncles and broad […]

Dickson’s Flyfishing Report

February 12, 2013

By Dennis Dickson And so it goes. Well, I am back to writing weekly fishing reports again. I hope you find them informative if not entertaining. The Puget Sound river season is coming to a close early, again. The bright news is, The Queets on the Olympic Peninsula is posed to have another stellar year. […]

Northwest Outdoor Report

December 15, 2012

Duck Dynasty Sets Ratings Record A&E’s breakout hit Duck Dynasty just set a record for the network of 6.5 million viewers in the season finale last Wednesday. The reality show about a quirky Christian family that makes duck calls and decoys is A&E’s most-watched telecast ever and has topped ratings for even the major networks. […]

Northwest Outdoor Report

September 15, 2012

Westport Wide Open for Silvers Darin Koob from Outer Escape called in yesterday with a hot coho report from Westport. He was fishing with Bret Ferris of Ferris’s Guide Service and said they couldn’t keep the silvers off in 175 feet of water in front of the Quinault Casino. Darin said most of the fish […]

The Sweet Smell of Success

March 29, 2012

BY JEFF LUND. Before I could even sit in the driver’s seat Sunday morning, I was astounded at the smell permeating from my truck. It didn’t reek, but the unique odors mixed with such harmony, I couldn’t help admire it. It was microwaved gym towel and concession stand complete with sour cream and union potato […]

Four Techniques for Schwacking Chum Salmon

November 2, 2011

I was talking to guide Phil Stephens of Mystical Legends Guide Service last week about how the fishing had been recently on the Humptulips River and he exclaimed, "There's plenty of kings and silvers in there but you can't get past the infestation of chums to get to them!" Eeek…tough duty Phil! I'm still chuckling […]

Rockin’ the Shore Lunch

October 6, 2011

Back when I was a full time river guide here in Washington one of my favorite fisheries was the Skagit River catch and release season for wild steelhead. The season was set up for March and April when the majority of those big bruisers were headed upstream and man-o-man do I have some memories from […]

Sweaty Socks, Leaky Waders, and Rainbow Trout

August 29, 2011

BY JEFF LUND. Saturday morning when I couldn’t sleep past 6:30, I decided to head east because even though the water would be high, still, and there would be a ton of people, I hate excuses. I looked back through my fishing log from the summer and wondered what kind of lame excuse I made […]