Hookin’ up on the “Hoochie Hook”!

January 20, 2011

Marine Area 9 opened up on Sunday January 16th and the weather forecast was calling for south winds 10-20kts. Instead of pushing the forecast I decided to stay home and watch the Seahawks playoff game. In retrospect, it would have been less painful to ride whitecaps in a cartopper. Monday was a national holiday and […]

Setting up the J-Hook Decoy Spread

November 21, 2010

You'd think a bird with a brain the size of a tomato seed would find it's way into the decoys no matter how they are arranged, but as we all know that's seldom the case. Ol' "bird brain" isn't as gullible as you'd think. Here's some tips from frequent Outdoor Line guest Robert Strong, owner […]

Rattle Up a Late Blacktail

November 14, 2010

  Gerald Sexton downed this 4×4 blacktail with guide John Koenig in the Skagit valley Big blacktail bucks seldom leave the confines of their worm holes in the jungle on the wet side of the Cascades and when they do most of their movements are nocturnal. They are big because they don't make many mistakes. […]

Twitching Jigs for Fall Salmon

October 1, 2010

Guide Bill Meyer with a dime brite silver salmon caught on a twitched jig. Twitching marabou, zonker strip, and hoochie-skirted jigs for fall coho has proven to be a deadly technique on the rivers of Western Washington for fickle, lock-jawed silvers. 1/8 to as large as 1/2 ounce jigs in sizes 1/0 and 2/0 are […]

Pull Out the Hardware for Early Season Silvers

September 6, 2010

It's September 6th here in Seattle, Washington and guess what…it's raining! For those of us nut-cakes that grew up in the soggy Northwest this early rain means one thing, that salmon will be hitting the rivers pronto. It actually means more than that, but for the purpose of this blog and to keep my A.D.D. […]

A new Downrigger “Spin” on Herring!

May 31, 2010

With chinook fisheries opening up in Puget Sound, out on the coast and going strong in British Columbia and Alaska, a technique refresher is definitely in order. Known as the "remote" or "dummy flasher" rig, this downrigger setup is a great way to reap all the fish attraction benefits of a flasher while enjoying the […]