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Droppers: The Long & Short of It
Droppers: The Long & Short of It With spring chinook season comes a variety of ways to pursue them. From backtrolling plugs and bait, to backbouncing bait, spinners and plugs, to bobber-fishing,...
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Many seasoned plug-anglers I know still have their ol’ favorites hanging in the garage. On many the paint has been worn off due to excessive fish hits. But they still catch fish. Why? It comes down to...
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Sporadic Movement = More Springers
Sporadic Movement = More Springers If you think about what catches salmon, it comes down to smell, sight and sound. Cured eggs are some of the best scent-delivery packages there are when talking...
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Boulder patches and large rocks are also good habitat, as they create ideal steelhead holding zones. These obstacles break up current flow and create areas where fish can hold while conserving valued...
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Reading Summer Steelhead Water
Reading Summer Steelhead Water Early June offers some of the best, most enjoyable summer steelhead fishing of the season. Daylight hours are long, temperatures warming, and fish are stacking in prime...
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Pumping a fish to full recovery may take several minutes. I’ve worked them as long as 15 minutes before setting them free. Don’t be in a rush. Preserving the health and survival of that fish is the...
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Warm-Water Releases
Warm-Water Releases Last month marked 46 years since I caught my first summer steelhead. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to travel to many great fishing destinations, and never in my wildest dreams...
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If crabbing in bays with a strong tidal current, use heavy-gauge pots or affix a five-pound weight to light-framed pots. The extra weight is to prevent the pots from being carried to deep waters or...
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Crab, Fish, Feast!
Crab, Fish, Feast! September is here, a month ending in “ber.” While crabbing has been good throughout much of the Pacific Northwest, it’s the months ending in “ber” that old-timers use as a...
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By now I was fishing, writing and hosting TV shows for a living, so I was investing in a lot of gear and had to keep it organized. My shop transformed into a tackle storage unit from which I pull gear...
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Then Cabela’s came out with a storage system similar to Flambeaus, but it was bigger, better quality and allowed me to store even more gear. Soon after that, G. Loomis produced a line of multi-box...
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Invest, Organize, Repeat!
Invest, Organize, Repeat! Growing up, I had one tackle box for summer and winter steelhead, spring and fall chinook. It carried a mix of hooks, some plugs, sinkers, a couple flashers, an extra spool...
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Where the Curado I series really shines is in the new Infinity Braking System which offers anglers unmatched brake settings. With this, anglers have the ability to adjust the angle of the brake collar...
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Battery charges last up to five hours, but to extend this, try turning it on only when you’re cold, usually when sitting in a boat or wading in one spot for extended times. When driving from hole to...
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New Gear...More Fish
New Gear...More Fish Another year has flown by, and with it, more fishing experience gained. One of the aspects I most love about salmon, steelhead and trout fishing is there’s always something to...
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As for keeping the head warm, I’ll take hand warmers and stick them between the fold in a stocking cap. With one placed on each side of the head, you’d be amazed at how warm you’ll be. Feet are one of...
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When I started winter steelhead fishing with my dad and Granddad, back in the 1960s, our heater was briquettes in a metal bucket. On most days, uninsulated boots and fingerless wool gloves found the...
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Winter Steelhead Fishing for the Kids
Winter Steelhead Fishing for the Kids In the May 2014 issue of STS, I wrote a feature on getting kids hooked on fishing. Happily, the story generated great feedback and a lot of interest. Since then,...
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Because silver salmon often congregate and travel through estuaries in large numbers, they can successfully be caught in these environments. Flying out on a float plane to a secluded bay or river...
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If looking to target coho near the Anchorage area, prime time is a bit earlier than on the Kenai River. Bird Creek, for instance, has its best coho fishing from mid-July through August, while Campbell...
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Alaska’s Coho Run Timings
Alaska’s Coho Run Timings No matter where you pursue salmon or steelhead, success comes down to being on the water when the fish are in. It doesn’t matter how good an angler you are, if fish aren’t...
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“I really like plugging the flats this time of year,” offers good friend and noted guide, Jody Smith (www.jodysmithguideservice.com). “Most guys pass right by these spots, figuring it’s too shallow to...
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Last-Chance Steelhead
Last-Chance Steelhead With winter steelhead season winding down, there are still fish moving into some rivers. While numbers may not be what they were a month or two ago, steelhead are still out...
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From littering on the river, to overindulging in alcohol, to carrying on with foul language in front of children, or anyone, is something all of us should be cognizant of. As anglers, and as people,...
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Respectful Representation: Public Perception of Anglers
Respectful Representation: Public Perception of Anglers Leading my second springer of the evening into the net, I punched my tag and pulled anchor. Rowing across the riffle I’d been fishing, I was...
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Egg Cures for Summer Steelhead
Egg Cures for Summer Steelhead As summer progresses and low, clear water prevails, catching finicky summer steelhead becomes even more challenging. While steelhead can be fished a number of ways this...
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The Octopus-style barbless Trokar comes in sizes #1/0-6/0, and is good for mooching herring, trolling bait, and more. The Siwash-style barbless Trokar comes in sizes #1-7/0, which I personally tried...
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Fishing Barbless Hooks
Fishing Barbless Hooks Just pinch down the barbs and call it good!” I hear it so many times over the course of the year, and have been doing it myself for decades. But with today’s specialized...
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Buoy lines stretching 100 feet in length are ideal for offshore crab pots, though if working close to shore, 75 feet of rope will suffice. It’s better to have too much rope than not enough, keeping...
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Salmon & Crab: Offshore Double
Salmon & Crab: Offshore Double A year ago in this column I shared tips on doubling-up on salmon and crabs while fishing inside bays. This time, let’s take a look at offshore opportunities, where...
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