Three Top Gear Combo’s for Puget Sound Winter Blackmouth

November 3, 2016

By Rob Endsley Winter blackmouth season is upon us here in Puget Sound and it’s time to talk about a few lethal rigs to catch these immature king salmon. In the winter months the bait size in Puget Sound is generally a lot smaller than during the summer months and “matching the hatch” can be […]

Fly Fishing Bears

April 24, 2013

By Dennis Dickson Fly fishing BC steelhead rivers is so magical. Sure, we have had our rain outs, wash-outs, busted boats, and broken vehicles. Somehow, these memories all jumble up in a warm and fuzzy place, and I can enjoy them time and time again. As I get older, I find myself pulling out these […]

Flyfishing Leaders – The Steelhead Connection

March 7, 2013

By Dennis Dickson I would like to think my success in helping anglers find and catch steelhead has improved over time. I will openly admit, as a biologist I study  “cause and effect”, “stimulus and response”. I don’t mind adhering to tradition as long as my personal experience concludes that it is the most effective […]

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 […]

Floatfishing Tip: Fly Line Floatant for Better Mending

November 7, 2012

This is an old school floatfishing tip that I’m surprised more people don’t know about. If you do any amount of floatfishing for salmon or steelhead then you know how much of a pain in the arse it can be to mend the last thirty to fourty feet of line. And the further away your […]

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 […]

$49 Plus Tax and a Column Idea

March 4, 2012

I’ve been known to be indecisive. So Friday after school I headed north on Interstate 5 but needed some direction once I hit Sacramento. Would I go right and fish the Truckee River, turn left and spend the weekend on the Russian, or simply stay the course and end up on the Upper Sacramento? I […]

Washington’s Freshwater Bonefish

May 22, 2011

Pacific Northwest anglers looking for something new should turn their attention to the carp of Eastern Washington. That’s right, I said CARP! I’ve hooked these things incidentally while fishing for trout and smallies on the Snake River years ago and either got spooled or came close to it every single time.  Gary Thompson, manager at […]

D.I.Y. Flyfishing at Canyon River Ranch

November 1, 2010

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 […]