by Jason Brooks If you ask me what is the most versatile watercraft to pursuit salmon and steelhead I would have to say it’s the drift boat. With its distinctive up curved ends and flat bottom designed and built to float in skinny northwest rivers it also handles bigger waters such as mainstream rivers, estuaries, […]
I just ran across this photo from a flyfishing trip I took years ago to the Green River in Utah. While the Utah Parks Gastapo was busy searching our boat for beer, order cigarettes, and porn this rig pulls up with two driftboats in tow. “Where the hell are we…Mars?”, I jabbed towards the uptight […]
By Josiah Darr. When it comes to drift boats there are a fairly endless number of options and accessories available if you have the money and are willing to spend it. Do you want a metal boat? Fiberglass? Maybe a classic wooden boat? Willie and Koffler make great aluminum boats and Ray’s River Dories makes […]
I ran into Ron Reed at the Washington Sportsmans Show in Puyallup back in January and he was kind enough to hand me a set of his spiffy new oar locks to try out. Ron is the maker of Swivellock Oar Locks, an innovative driftboat oar lock that pivots, swivels, and has an oar-right built […]
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 […]
The June first river opener on several area streams has been marked on many an anglers schedule for many a day. Why??? Most Puget Sound rivers closed on February 28th -if not earlier- so to the opportunistic angler paying close attention might observe that the salmon and steelhead have been unmolested for at least three […]
I'm lucky enough to have a wife that enjoys the outdoors almost as much as I do, so when she asked "When are we going to go to Forks?" I didn't hesitate to hook up the driftboat and get the steelhead gear ready. It was more like a sprint than anything. When your wife demands […]
Forks, Washington Guide Mike Zavadlov with a chrome Bogachiel River winter steelhead I've been watching all the coastal steelhead reports lately like a cat staring at a bird. Reports of hammer-time steelhead action were pouring in with regularity. By last weekend my tail was switching back and forth in anticipation of batting some steelhead […]
My luggage has been packed for three weeks now. King salmon on the coast, mule deer in the Okanogan, honkers at Potholes, blacktails on the Oly Pen, and just as I'm unzipping my travel bag to empty out a backlash of hunting and fishing attire my new Droid does-everything-but-dishes phone buzzes half away across the […]
