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 […]

Building a Custom Smokehouse

May 5, 2011

BY RAY GOMBISKI. Smoking fish and game has forever been a pastime of the American sportsman. Smoking can be traced thorough out American history from the Native Americans to George Washington’s home at Mt Vernon. Today, smoking has become a cherished part of the outdoor experience. The modern smokehouse has made smoking easy and efficient […]

(Not too far) North to Nootka!

May 2, 2011

It's not too often that a fishing fanatic like myself gets the opportunity to see the birth of a destination fishing resort. Add the fact that this destination is designed to be affordable, accessible, available to anglers with or without their own boats and it becomes a once-in-a-lifetime event! When I heard that a group of […]

Go-To Techniques For Taking Stocker Rainbow Trout

April 28, 2011

The biggest fishing event of the year will occur this weekend as a quarter million plus anglers hit the lakes of Washington in search of easy limits of stocker trout and perhaps a few of the jumbo-sized trout that are planted along with them. There are a lot of opening days in Washington, but this […]

Now’s the time to target Potholes Walleye

April 26, 2011

Walleye are coming off their full-moon spawn in Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir in Eastern Washington, which means the best walleye bite of the year is upon us. Walleye will congregate where the water spills out of Moses Lake into Potholes Reservoir, at Frenchman’s Wasteway, and in Lind Coulee as they cruise back into the […]

Prepping for the Trout Opener

April 13, 2011

Approximately 300,000 anglers will swarm the lowland lakes of Western Washington for "opening day" on April 30th, the largest attendance of any opening day here in Washington. Hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout ranging from pan-fryer sized eight to twelve inchers to the coveted and beefy triploids are pumped into over a hundred lakes west […]

Deep fry done easy!

April 4, 2011

Spring is upon us and with it lingcod, rockfish and halibut seasons. So,  if you've still got fish in the freezer…  You, my friend have a problem that is probably starting to look more like Styrofoam than fresh fish. Fortunately, there is a much better solution than deeming the contents of your freezer "Crab bait". […]

Talkin’ Big Chinook

April 1, 2011

By Tony Floor What is it about big salmon? I mean big salmon in the 25-50 pound class that brings an angler to the pinnicle of happiness.                                                                                                                                                                                                As reported in this column, I’ve invested around a half century chasing chinook and coho salmon                                                                                                                                                                                              in Pacific Northwest waters, not including Vancouver Island and SE Alaska. I […]

The 2011 Salmon Forecasts!!!

February 28, 2011

I know, I've got it bad… I await the salmon forecast numbers like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. Hello, my name is Tom and I am a "salmon sicko". After watching the numbers for a number of years (never mind how many…) I've found that you can "call some shots" by digging into the forecast […]

Seven Things I dislike About Nature

February 24, 2011

I know, I know, you’ll give me the ol’ “you’ve got to take the good with the bad and accept everything in nature” drovel that I would expect from all of you that love the outdoors as much as I do. Shoot! I’ve even said it ma’self. If there’s a thousand, or even a million, […]