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This year has proven one of my best yet for putting salmon in the kayak. After a slow start in March and April, I hooked eight and landed six spring Chinook "Springers" on the Willamette River. All were hatchery fish and most were 30-plus inches. They were all caught with my red and orange hand-tied spinners and Pro-Troll 360 flashers. The Springers were caught in May and June, typically the end of the season. These two months seem to be my most productive. Two years ago, I landed six, and had two, two-fish days. This year, I never hooked two fish on the same day, although I had more days catching fish. Most days were spent focusing on the tide changes, and I was usually off the water by noon. I was fortunate because the run was about 25 percent lower than expected and many anglers had a rough season. I spent July fishing for smallmouth bass in the Willamette and Columbia, and spent a few days in August anchored in the Columbia fishing for fall kings. The fall season p...

While most of the country was chasing deals on Black Friday I was chasing fish. For a couple years now, Washington state has closed a handful of lakes the week of Thanksgiving and stocked them with larger trout. The lakes and ponds open on Black Friday providing a chance to skip the shopping crowds and catch some fish. I was looking forward to the day because if offered the chance to catch some nice trout while initiating my $250 fly fishing kayak. My destination was Kress Lake outside Kalama. There were a couple small lakes close to Portland but because I had never fished Kress, I decided it would be a perfect location to spend a couple hours while testing my latest kayak project. I woke up a little later than expected and drank my coffee while watching the rain poor down. Oh well, I thought to myself, it was the Northwest and I had everything to stay dry. Besides, the rain may reduce the number of anglers on the water. I loaded up the kayak and within 90 minutes was on the ...

The blog has been neglected while I work on videos from my summer fishing adventures. Those inquisitive enough to check my YouTube channel and the video links on this blog have discovered some videos from Harriet Lake, a how-to on my custom rod holder and some teasers from my BC trip. More recently you may have seen my Netarts Bay Crabbin' video that I posted the other day. I was hoping to add some footage from a fly fishing Tuna trip and some salmon trips to the gorge but those ended up being cancelled or a bust. And, I still have footage from a two Trillium Lake trips that I haven't used but will hopefully show up later this year. Highlighting my summer was a trip to BC fly fishing for wild steelhead. The trip proved great for both weather and fish and the entire experience could only be described as a trip of a lifetime. I am choosing to keep the river nameless primarily as a way to protect it. I struggle with this because the river is quite remote, but certainly not out...