Some Columbia River preliminary 2021 salmon forecasts could be a bit of positive news anglers need during these turbulent times

December 21, 2020

By Mark Yuasa Are you getting tired of all the bad news? I’m totally worn out from the pandemic, joblessness, economic crisis, presidential election turmoil, fake news, protests, what’s really left or right and the statewide fishing ban this past spring. Despite all the commotion, I’m feeling good about surviving the madness that 2020 threw […]

Take Care of Your Catch

February 17, 2020

Proper Fish Care by Jason Brooks After years of fishing all over the Northwest, from local ponds to remote fly-in camps, I have learned that you must take care of your fish the proper way to be able to enjoy it for months afterwards.  Bleeding the fish by cutting the gills is just the first step […]

5 Tips for High Water Steelhead

January 30, 2018

5 TIP’S FOR HIGH WATER STEELHEAD by Jason Brooks Two weeks of rain and counting with more to come. It seems like our rivers and streams will never come back “into shape” and our winter steelhead season continues to dwindle down from months to weeks. Rain and high water makes it difficult but it doesn’t […]

5 Quick Tips for Trophy Steelhead

February 10, 2017

by Jason Brooks Big wild steelhead are starting to show in our Northwest rivers. This means it’s time to go fishing folks. Here are five quick tips to make your trip better. Upsize your gear – Once you set the hook and realize you have a big steelhead it’s nice to know you can handle that fish and […]

Early Winter Steelhead Have Arrived!

December 12, 2016

Early Winter Steelhead – They’re Here! by Jason Brooks Reports of early winter run steelhead have been blowing up my phone lately. Most notably my buddy Ted Schuman of Winter Run Guide Service and has been teasing me with photos from a few recent trips. Ted has been concentrating on far away Olympic Peninsula rivers […]

Using a Side Planer with Plugs

December 8, 2016

It’s December 8th and we’re getting a steady stream of hatchery steelhead reports pouring in from around Western Washington. A handful of the big name rivers that routinely pump out hatchery brats this time of year are doing just that. When it comes to hatchery brats we typically talk about jigs, jigs, and more jigs. Hatchery […]

Luhr Jensen Tech Tip – Using the Jet Diver

October 19, 2016

Our good friend Carmen Macdonald at Luhr Jensen just produced a great video describing how to properly rig and use a Jet Diver. These divers are widely used in salmon and steelhead fisheries throughout the northwest, the Kenai River, and Alaska’s Nushagak River. If you’re serious about salmon and steelhead fishing you’ll at some point need […]

Brooks Top Three Winter Steelhead Scents

February 29, 2016

By Jason Brooks Winter steelhead is one of the most popular fisheries in the northwest, mostly because we start catching them around Thanksgiving and continue clear into springtime. It is the longest run timing of any or our anadromous fisheries and gives anglers the most opportunity at catching fish. With just about every type of […]