Category Archives: Uncategorized

We’ve Seen Forecasts…Now, Let’s See Some Kings!!!

Posted on by
1

With a damp, dreary Memorial Day weekend in the rear view window, it’s time to look north for the first indications of our actual chinook returns.

So why do we look north and what are we looking for? GREAT QUESTION!!! To answer that question, let’s have a quick review of what the University of Washington School of Fisheries catalogs as FISH 450: Salmonid Behavior and Life History.

As our juvenile chinook leave Puget Sound they “turn right” or head north to the rich oceanic pasture known as the Gulf of Alaska. Then, as they mature they eventually make their way back to the coast…and, bump right into Southeast Alaska!

So, it’s no secret that the tremendous salmon fisheries in Southeast Alaska, the Queen Charlotte Islands, northern British Columbia and the west coast of Vancouver Island are, to a great extent, driven by salmonid production in Oregon, the Columbia River, coastal Washington and Puget Sound. Therefore, if you are looking at a real indication of what our actual returns are looking like, Southeast Alaska is the place to look!

After a winter of going blind pouring over forecasts, pictures of actual, huge summer chinook is indeed a sight for sore eyes! Our good friend Derek Floyd of Reel Class Charters in Sitka, Alaska has been providing ample evidence of what looks like a great summer salmon season here in the Pacific Northwest!

Here’s Derek with a fine 39 pound specimen which fell prey to a technique he described during his interview on The Outdoor Line this past Saturday. Here is the podcast

Then, the next day, his fishbox featured a 29 and a 39 pounder!!!

The biggest fish of the week for Reel Class Charters??? How about this chrome 41 pounder! I dare you not to smile hoisting a slab of that size!

Still not convinced??? Check out Bill Vaughn’s 55.5 pound hog which is currently on top of the Sitka Salmon Derby leaderboard. 

The Sitka Salmon Derby is a two-weekend event that ends this coming weekend (June 1 & 2) and according to Derby officials, both the numbers of fish entered and average size of the chinook are up significantly from last year. In 2012, a 44 pounder took top honors in the event. This year?….a 40 pounder may fall outside the top ten.

Other significant -and unquestionably positive reports come from Rob Endsley of Prince of Wales Sportfishing. His contacts in Craig, Alaska (approximately 150 miles south of Sitka) have also reported chinook to the mid 40 pound range!

The Queen Charlotte Islands are also going great guns right now  Larry Carpenter of Master Marine Services in Mt. Vernon tells the following tale

: “After arriving at the lodge the first afternoon with only about 5 hours of fishing 25 anglers brought 17 Chinook salmon to the dock. With the first full day of fishing we had many more Chinooks  plus halibut, ling cod and red snapper  and our first tyee salmon 31lb. The second day brought more bottom fish plus Chinook salmon another tyee 32 lb and for a bonus coho salmon ranging from 6-10lb. Wow! What a treat!!! Some anglers have played up to 12-14 Chinook salmon in a day!” 

With reports like this I hope you can see what I’m seeing… One heck of a summer season!

Sharpen the hooks boys…sharpen the hooks!

Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle

For the Love of the Game!

Posted on by
Reply

By Josiah Darr

Mountain climbing…. Back to the roots

When I was a wee little lad, barely cutting my tiny teeth in the world of steelhead fishing, I used to see the armada of drift boat launching at various points in the river and think to myself that there wasn’t anything better being in a drift boat. Of course I had only been in a drift boat a few times at that point in my life and I was barely old enough to drive. Plus pushing carts and carrying out groceries at the local Fred Meyers between baseball practices put me a long way from ever owning a boat. Hell, I couldn’t even afford a Sevlor blow up rubber raft that was sure to drowned me if I’d owned one. It’s probably better that I didn’t. So, to quench my thirst for the pursuit of the flawless electric flashes I’d felt so few times in my adolescent life, I took to the bank.

Summer, spring, winter, or fall…it didn’t matter. All that mattered was if it was a steelhead!

Never catching jack squat!

I started my banking career in a tiny unnamed creek that I don’t believe is even open for steelhead fishing anymore. Of course that wasn’t due to my steelhead fishing prowess. I didn’t catch jack! What I did do was learn how to fish. Where to put my body to cover certain pieces of water. How to raise and lower my rod tip to get the perfect drift through a likely looking spot. I learned the art of falling in while crossing more times than I care to elaborate on, but I learned every day what to do and what not to do.
I’ll never forget the first time a pitched too much pencil lead, a corky that looking back was way too big and bright for the size of this creek, and a cluster of eggs the size of my 14 year old balled up fist, into a swirly hole along side of a bridge abutment.

My friend Dan and I stood there in amazement as a flash like neither of us had ever seen came firing out from the shadow underneath the pillar, scarfed my eggs and disappear down a rapid before either of us knew what to do. The line came tight, the fish freaked out, Dan and I about peed ourselves and the fish was gone in a matter of a tenths of a seconds. It was over before it barely ever started, but that single unidentified flash lit a fire like a ember falling in an old hay loft. It was on…. I was hooked and I wasn’t going to stop until I felt that rush over and over again or until I wasn’t fun anymore…. That has never happened.

It was never about the number or the size. It was always about how much fun I was having.

The College Years

Besides being the most fun I ever had with my clothes on, and occasionally off, college was the perfect time to be completely irresponsible and use Uncle Sam’s dime to fish and much as humanly possible. Teachers didn’t take attendance, classes weren’t graded on participation and there was no mom and dad to give me that, “You should be doing something more productive with your time” look when I ditched a class and headed for the river. It was awesome.

It was the college years where my steelhead fishing skills were honed. They weren’t exactly razor blade dangerous, but I could pop a balloon or two if they held still.

With the limited success came learning…. I just got one. Or better yet, I hooked five today. What did I do to make that happen? What were the conditions? What day of the year is it?  What did I catch them on? The mental Rolodex of fishing information started to build and steelhead fishing became more of a math problem than a fishing trip. “If water level “A” + time of year “B” +  sand shrimp tail and a pink pearl corky “C”  all come together it should equal = steelhead “D”. That might have been the only math problem I learned in college, but unlike the ones that were taught in class, this one I was going to use over and over again for the rest of my life.

The more practice and the more techniques learned, the more arrows I had in the quiver.

Buying a Boat

It wasn’t long once I figure out how to earn a few bucks, I bought a drift boat. And the rest, as they say, is history. All the learning and tromping up and down moss covered rocks and the countless endos into root wads, sticker bushes, branches or whatever else God and left to soften my dismounts had finally been worth it. All that work climbing and learning and backlashing into tree behind me was over. Now I could float these mountainous raging rivers through the pristine glory that is steelhead water. I could position the boat where ever I wanted and cover every spot from the perfect angle time and time again until I was certain I’d caught every scaly critter in a run. I could float for miles at a time covering dozens and dozens of likely looking spots with the easy of simply pulling on the oars. I could….. wait…. All my friends are fishing…. Damn it!!! I’m just rowing!!! I’m back to never catching anything!!! This sucks!!!

Always a Brides Maid, Never the Bride!

The Guide Life

To rid myself of all the ungrateful friends and all the awesome times we had hanging out on the river, I got my guide license so I could fish with people who had more money. Of course I didn’t know them from Adam, but who cares? I was getting paid to fish. It seemed like a great idea at the time, and looking back it still was.

I’ve relearned more about the passion of the chase and the desire to learn and experience something I’ve done so many times. It’s awe was often lost on me and watching other people experience is brought it back for me. It’s that gleam and excitement that every guest bring to the boat with them that reinforced my love game. There’s nothing like it. It’s the greatest sport in the world.

There’s chance, there’s practice, there’s patience, there’s heartbreak, there’s pain and there’s love. Pure, unadulterated, unblemished, inspiring, life changing, love. A love that is hard to find or duplicate at any corner of the earth. A love that is so overwhelming it can steal a man’s mind for years and years even if he’s only felt it once for merely a second under a bridge with Dan when he was 14 years old.

I said I’d stop chasing steelhead when I stopped feeling the rush…. It still hasn’t happened.

…because watching someone else get the fish of a lifetime, is better than getting it yourself. Especially when that someone…. is your Dad.

Josiah Darr
The Outdoor Line “Young Gun”
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Hot Lap Around the Portland Sportsman Show

Posted on by
Reply

The Pacific Northwest Sportsman show is in full swing and the crowds thus far have been pretty impressive. This is the biggest Sportsman Show on the West coast and it’s well worth spending a day or two walking the isles.
I am down here once again, all week, manning the Pautzke booth with fellow Pro Staffers John Albrich and Brett Stuart.

There is never a shortage of folks stopping by to say Hi and ask questions relative to pretty much any bait that can be cured. It’s pretty convenient this year, as they moved our booth location with-in close proximity of the Bait Stage. I spend about an hour and a half each day doing the Pautzke Bait Lab seminar. My seminar has a little something for everyone, as we cover a handful of recipes on Eggs, Coon Shrimp, Tiger Prawn and Herring. You also walk away with a recipe packet and the knowledge of the “How-To” to be successful in curing any bait for Salmon and Steelhead.

This is the first year in a very long time that they decided to bring back the Steelhead River. This is a staple and well attended by many, for the Puyallup Sportsman Show. They finally brought it back down here to Oregon and the seminars have been nothing short of packed.

 Here is the one and only Buzz Ramsey, giving his well-known seminar on “Drift Fishing for Steelhead”, always a crowd pleaser.

I took a few minutes to catch up with our friends Scott and Tiffany Haugen. The Haugen’s are always great to talk to and one of the busiest outdoor couples that I know. I look forward to having them on the show again in the near future.

Here is my buddy Cody Herman, of Outdoor GPS down in Portland. Owin Hays and Cody, have been doing Outdoor GPS for a number of years which is a well-respected outdoor show that airs on Comcast Sports NW, several times a week. Cody has also started a new adventure with the creation of “Day One Outdoors”. Go to http://www.dayoneoutdoors.com/ to find out all about what Cody offers for both local and international trips relative to hunting a fishing.

Walking around the sportsman show you realize just how big this show actually is. In my opinion, it owns the bragging rights to the title, “Mini Boat Show”.

It also has an extremely large selection of ATV’s and RV’s like no other show.

Sometimes you stumble onto unique finds. I was amazed by the work of Joanne Graham of Gundog Productions. Joanne creates very life like replicas of your dog. I watched as she simply held onto a couple photographs of someone’s dog and began to create this very life like chalk portrait in no time. Great stuff and reasonably priced.

 Another gem of a find that everyone is grabbing a hold of is the very popular “Gun Mug”. OK not really, but something tells me that I know what Nelly and Robbo might be getting for Christmas in 2013.

 Something which was a bit of a surprise, was the running of the Rainer’s. Yep they are still around and if you had the luxury of growing up in the Northwest, then you are well familiar with the history of these Northwest icons.

We have talked about it on the show before and I was glad to see them here at the Expo Hall. Bore Snake is in the house. I was impressed with the fact that they actually make 27 different models to choose from which will pretty much cover any size of rifle, handgun or shotgun manufactured.

Of course all The Outdoor Line favorites are here; the Lowrance booth and learning center has been well attended.

Daiwa is here in full force and pretty much has a reel for anyone.

The latest with Cannon is here, the staff was on break, but they are available to answer any question you may have.

Of course our favorite rod manufacturer is here and believe it or not I actually caught the boss man himself John Posey, working the crowd… Looking good buddy…..

If you have never been here, you need to put forth the effort and check it out. There is a lot to see and do there are also tons of seminars everyday, given by the pros and they are all free. Do yourself a favor and make the drive…

Duane Inglin
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Going with the “Flow”

Posted on by
Reply

By Joseph Princen

The past few weeks have been nothing short of challenging, trying to persuade those silvery ghosts to commit to the presentation you spent hours prepping, tying, wrapping and curing. One thing is certain, when it all works out there is nothing more spectacular than rolling fresh chrome in shallow gin-clear water. Its an image you’ll never forget. Its burned into your mind and it will replay over and over in slow motion bringing you back again and again for more.

One moment its just another slated gravel bottom and you can see every rock, every detail, your mind telling you its too shallow and you should move on. All of a sudden those thoughts are pushed aside as you see the shallows exploding with big bright flashes and white water foaming on the surface as a thick steel tail slices through the cold winter water. Its only in these conditions that a steelheader will get to see the strike first hand from the bite to the finish. An angler never forgets these moments.

A steelheader must think smarter, harder, and longer about how he’s going to spend his time on the river though. Even if its just an afternoon trip to the local home-river or a 3 day excursion to the coast to backpack or drift boat into his favorite water. Low water means you need to consider all the options, such as which section of the river you will choose to fish.

Here’s some things to consider when searching for low water winter steelhead:

- Does the river fork anywhere? East or West fork? Does it have streams and small creeks that dump into the main stem?

In low water it is MOST important to try and gain as much flow as you can get. This means to fish below any forks, streams, creeks or major sources of water that relay into the main stem of the river system you are fishing.

Get to know your river! Google Maps on your smart phone will show you detailed satellite imagery of small creeks, streams and river forks that dump into the main river.

That means to concentrate your efforts on those lower portions of the river and spend very little time higher in river systems. Staging fish will be below those forks in appropriate deep water areas making it easier for you to locate water that is suitable to hold multiple steelhead. These fish are far too smart to risk being attacked by misjudging safe living conditions and hurrying up river to hold in shallow, exposed areas.

Don’t waste your time fishing the fast 2-3 foot gin-clear sections or those 1-3 foot “long runs” on the sides of the river that you would normally beat up all day in medium to high flows. Even with overhanging trees and shaded cover those fish simply are not there in any fishable numbers when the water is low.

Its a numbers game and by numbers i mean… how many feet deep! In low flows steelhead will lie in deeper water making it safer for them to break cover from the safety of the depths to hit a plug or lure. After all, the most important thing in any steelheads tiny little mind is to ensure that their genetics are passed on from generation to generation. Deep water with a bottom covered in boulders provides the cover they need to feel safe.

As soon as it rains these types of runs will be full of migrating fish and I specifically target those long runs that dump into deep canyon holes that low water fish have been hunkered in during periods of low flows.

- Which water holds low water steelhead?

It’s imperative to find those slots that have water with walking speed flows that you could physicality walk into and the water would be over your head, especially those runs with shade and size to the pool that gives steelhead an element of safety. These fish will set up shop in these areas when water visibility increases past the 5 foot margin to well below median stream flows.

Why risk the threat of their journey being cut short laying in risky, shallow water when you can lay in a deep, “walking speed” canyon slot that’s 5-15 feet deep, preferably shaded, with structure and most importantly a riffle at the head of the pool.

Riffled surface water provides full, all around cover from the sides, top, and bottom.You have to think that most the time in low water conditions its sunny, cold, and clear out so having riffles or choppy water on the surface of a hole is vital to feeling secure from anything that poses a threat looking down into their holding area.

- How do I fish for low water steelhead?

Going small with your baits, jigs and plugs will always pay off. A good rule of thumb for 7-10 feet of visibility is using nickle-size baits and decreasing your Cheater or Corkie sizes to size 14′s or smaller. Using neutral/natural color schemes with your presentation really helps and pays off too.

By neutral I simply mean colors that aren’t neon, radiant, or vibrant. This includes shrimp pink’s, peaches, whites, and that opaque and translucent look that looks like worn out egg skein (peach/white). Using small sand shrimp and very lightly cured medium sized tiger prawns that are coated with just Mike’s Gel Scent and sugar can be deadly in this situation also.

Here’s how I cure my tiger prawns for low water steelheading:
- 1 Bag raw medium-size tiger prawns
- Leave the shells on, but cut off 1/4 up from the tail end
- 1/4 Cup Orange Borax O’ Fire
- 1/2 Bottle Mikes Pink Gel Scent
- 1/4 Cup Sugar and Sprinkle salt on top.

Mix, mix, mix this all together by shaking the container gently until product is evenly distributed and then simply put the cured prawns into a fridge.You can even throw them into your boat on your drive out to the river and the prawns can be ready in less than 2 hours. Remove the shells and cut the prawns down the middle of the slit in their back or cut them in half into small chunks. Either the flap or the chunks will fish just fine but I prefer using the flap style because they bend and flex with the flow of the river giving them a more natural “free-flowing” appearance.

Over the past few weeks my boat has been on the Satsop, Wynoochee, Queets, Humptulips, and Hoh rivers. Call me a groupie, but I love to get around! Knowing each rivers positives and negatives gives a guy an advantage over just fishing one river and being limited to a small fishable area.

On the coast the Queets and Hoh rivers run through giant open gorges with classic gravel bar runs and giant boulder strewn stretches. One thing for certain that gives these rivers the “nod” in low water and that’s the fact that they are fed from grey clay cliffs!

These clay cliffs constantly bleed grey clay sediments into the river 24/7 giving the river the “carbon emerald green” appearance in ALL conditions. This carbon green look is IDEAL for low water conditions because it gives the fish a sense of security and they are more willing to continue their journey up higher into the systems. Fishing those 1-2 foot travel lanes can still produce in these systems and you’ll find me here more often then not in low water. Plus these rivers have naturally higher flows in terms of CFS than almost all of the others in our state so they fish better in low flows.

Below are some photos of the past 14 days in my driftboat. They are pictures of only some of the steelhead that have been caught in my boat, but each one was special in its own way. Steelheading is a lifestyle for me. It’s gotten into my blood and there’s no cure to get rid of it. Salmon season is just a time filler anymore and during spring, summer and fall I dream about those cold crisp wintery mornings when I finally get to hook those cold silvery steelhead once again.

Capturing the shot, sometimes we take 20-30 photos and only one works out

Wynoochee hatchery buck, this fish was caught by Daniel Hubbard and it was hooked way under a down tree. This fish was jumping into brush and we were able to pull it out from structure and get a solid net job

This enormous steelhead took over 225 yards of line at one point

This huge hatchery steelhead caught by John McCleery was just shy of the 20 pound mark

2ynoochee hen! this fish took red Borax O’ Fire Eggs!

Nothing like Limits in the fish box! Let the chrome shine!

A hatchery buck from the Wynoochee system just prior to release

14lb Wynoochee buck that fell to a yarn ball

My father with a beautiful hatchery buck that hit the Dr. Death K-13 Kwikfish

Spots for days

Limits by 9am!

John McCleery with a big buck caught at first light

Limits of huge hatchery steelhead that fell for backtrolled plugs

I swung by to take some photos of Duane Inglin and limits of hatchery steelhead

Rain or Shine – a true steelheader will fish in any conditions on any day just to feel that tug, see that float dissapear or the chance to capture the moment with a photo of the most elusive fish in the pacific northwest!

The release of a native steelhead very high on the Queets River last week.

A fine wild hen steelhead caught by fellow Outdoor Line “Young Gun” Lael Paul Johnson.

One of the many primitive launches on the Washington coastal rivers.

A hatchery hen with blue haze on her back, fresh as can be!

A customer with his first steelhead…and his second steelhead!

If steelheading is in your blood as much as it is mine please feel free to drop me a line to chat about your addiction or perhaps book a day of fishing with me on the Washington coast. Hope to see you out there and don’t be afraid to stop by and say hello!

Joseph Princen
Outdoor Line “Young Gun”
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

(Joseph Princen operates Rainforest Wild Guide Service on the Southern Olympic Peninsula and he will be a regular contributor to the Outdoor Line. He can be reached at (253) 347-5300.)

 

Northwest Outdoor Report

Posted on by
Reply

Razor Clam Dig This Weekend
The second razor clam dig of the season will take place on the Washington coast October 27th thru the 30th. Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, and Mocrocks beaches will be open over the weekend of October 27th and 28th and Twin Harbor’s beach will remain open thru Tuesday. The digs are scheduled for evening tides, so don’t forget your LED Lensor headlamp and check the WDFW regulations before you hit the beach.

Bayside Marine Blackmouth Derby Next Weekend
Tickets are on sale now for the Bayside Marine Blackmouth Derby next weekend in Everett. Glenn Helton took first place and $2000 in last year’s Bayside Derby with a 15.52 pounder and Dave Buckley and Dave Pitcher from Sims Honda took the two-day team weight prize with 31.1 pounds of winter blackmouth. Tickets are $30 per angler and can be purchased at Bayside Marine in Everett. Anglers can get 5 dollars off the ticket price by donating 5 cans of food.

Chums Prowling Minter Creek
Tom Pollock from Sportco in Fife (253-922-2222) reports that the chums are starting to show up in front of Minter Creek near Purdy. He says the fishing has picked up there this past week and he expects it to get really good in the coming weeks. He recommends fishing a whole green label herring under a slip float at the mouth of the creek for cruising chums and he also said to bring along some Vibrax spinners and purple and pink jigs. Anglers have been catching a lot of Minter Creek chums the last couple of years twitching jigs at the mouth of the creek.

Snohomish System Pumping Out Chums
Derek Anderson from Screamin’ Reels Guide Service (206-849-2574) has been tearing up the chums on both the Snohomish River and the lower Skykomish this past week. He’s been catching woofers into the double digits almost daily backtrolling Kwikfish with a sardine wrap. He says the best colors have been the Double Trouble Kwikfish and any Kwiky’s with pink on them. Anderson has also been catching a handful of silvers every day casting Wiggle Warts on the lower Skykomish. He expects the chum fishing to hold up into early December and commented that he’s already heard of at least one winter steelhead being caught on the Skykomish.

Skokomish and Chico Creek Festooned with Chums
Ben Rogers at Defiance Marine (360-813-3600) in Bremerton says theres plenty of chums and a few silvers in the Skokomish River right now. The bulk of the fish are being caught driftfishing Corkies and yarn.  He’s also reporting excellent chum fishing in front of Chico Creek near Silverdale. The Chico chums have been hitting an anchovy under a float so well that he’s had to order more bait at the store to restock their freezer, which got cleaned out last week because of the good fishing.

Black Bear Trapped in Entryway
Alaska State Troopers responded to the call of a black bear trapped in the entry way of a home last Sunday in Ketchikan, Alaska. The bear had snuck into the entryway of the home during the night looking for food when it tipped over a garbage can that blocked the door. The bear knocked over a freezer and did $1000 in damage before troopers showed up to free the bear in the morning. The bear fled the scene immediately and they are hoping it learned its lesson. Unfortunately it won’t be able to repair the damages to the entryway.

Going Green & How to Get There

Posted on by
Reply

In the last few months I’ve fielded many questions from fellow anglers spending time in The Bait Lab. One of the most common revolves around turning baits green. I’ve been going green a lot this season, but unfortunately you can’t buy green Nectar or Fire Brine. Pautzke doesn’t make those colors. Going green requires a little work. Rest assured, though, creating green herring is easier than you’d expect. It doesn’t take a Mixologist to do so.

The green craze has evolved over the past few years. Historically, we’ve had good success on chartreuse herring and anchovies. Knowing that, I really wanted to fish green herring. I knew by simply mixing blue and chartreuse Fire Brine I could create green. I just wasn’t sure on the ratios. Fortunately, I did my homework in The Bait Lab and figured it out.

I’ve conducted many experiments in the last few months and believe that exact measurements aren’t vital when it comes to getting the green color we all want. It’s more important to mix blue and green until you achieve the exact color you’re looking for. Through trial and error I learned that I could create several shades of green depending upon the amount of blue and chartreuse used. Nonetheless, I always start with chartreuse in the bag (or container) and watch the color change by slowing adding blue. Doing so allows me to get any darkness of green I want.

There are many different ratios that work, however, for this blog I wanted to provide many points of reference, which should aid your efforts to create green herring/alewives/sardines/anchovies.

Here’s my published study:

The following are the four comparisons. All four containers started with ½ bottle of chartreuse Fire Brine. I left some herring chartreuse so we have a base comparison (C). The three levels of green created were as follows.

G-1: ½ bottle chartreuse Fire Brine, 2 tbl sp. blue Fire Brine
G-2: ½ bottle chartreuse Fire Brine, 4 tbl sp. blue Fire Brine
G-3: ½ bottle chartreuse Fire Brine, 2 tbl sp. blue Nectar

After a 20-hour soak time I compared the darkness of green achieved.


When I compare the different shades of green the color I’ve seen the most success with is G-1.

When compared closely it’s apparent: the more blue added the bluer the herring is. On the other hand, if you are wondering how adding the blue may affect the UV the results are positive. The UV properties in chartreuse Fire Brine are so strong that it maintains the UV level regardless of how green you make the herring.

Here’s a recap of what I do to make the perfect green:

I start by filling a gallon Ziploc bag with a ½ to full bottle of chartreuse Fire Brine. Then, it’s time to blend chartreuse and blue Fire Brine. After pouring them in the bag, add the herring and let it sit for 18-24 hours. Sometimes I add 1 teaspoon of Fire Power (krill powder) for additional scent.

Bonus Plan: Adding Bite Stimulants To The Brine

If I plan on adding Nectar to my Fire Brine as a scent additive/bite stimulant on my herring, I can also use that as my color change. Pour chartreuse Fire Brine into the Ziploc and add the blue Nectar to achieve green. Keep in mind that the dye properties in the blue Nectar are every bit as strong as the Fire Brine. So your ratio may be the same, more or less, based on the previous information.

Give this a try and “Go Green” I think you will like the results.

Duane Inglin
Strong Arm Guide Service
The Outdoor Line, 710

The Secret To The Sound

Posted on by
Reply

Add Green To Your Diet!
By Chris Shaffer | 08/05/2012
Those of us fortunate to know Pautzke pro staffer and Outdoor Line co-host Duane Inglin on a personal level know nothing excites him more than being in “The Bait Lab” which has taken over a portion of his garage.

Knowing this, it was no surprise the Inglin arrived almost 30 minutes late to pick me up at the new Sea-Tac car rental facility two weeks ago.

“Sorry Shaf, I was doing some mixing. We are running herring in the morning and this bait is going to be awesome,” he told me, while opening the cooler and lifting a Ziploc bag filled with what looked like antifreeze.

I’m accustomed to seeing Inglin show me wild color combinations and wasn’t surprised to see this, even though we didn’t sell a green Nectar or Fire Brine. It’d been a year since we last made green Kokanee Fuel and I figured Inglin again had his measuring cups and Tupperware out. His drive to remain a leading Mixologist continues to burn.

“Do you see this green?” he asked me. “You like that, huh?”

Inglin had made the green herring and anchovies to be drug in the Puget Sound the following morning when we met Inglin’s co-host and saltwater guru Tom Nelson. The herring and anchovies were brought to imitate candlefish, the salmon’s main food source right now in The Sound, Nelson said.

“I don’t care what you are running in regards to hardware, it’s never going to be as effective as bait,” Nelson told me.

While lures remain common having a good looking bait is tough to beat.

“Anchovy are a soft belly bait and they like to blow out so a lot of guys don’t run them, but we brine them up with the Pautzke’s Fire Brine, which does a real nice job at firming them up, plus it has the UV properties, which is real important when you get those baits down,” Inglin added. “We’ve also done the same with red label herring.”

Inglin later revealed he mixed chartreuse and blue Fire Brine to achieve the perfect green.

“The key to successful bait trolling is having a tough and dependable herring down there and Fire Brine does that,” noted Nelson.

 

It proved to be our recipe to success that day.

And, it could be yours, too.

Editor’s Note: Co-hosts Duane Inglin and Tom Nelson can be heard on The Outdoor Line Saturday mornings on ESPN Radio 710 in Seattle. This week, Inglin’s newest Fire Blog will explain how to make your own green herring/anchovy.

Northwest Outdoor Report

Posted on by
Reply

Nice Weather and More Trout on Opening Day
Good weather and big trout helped to boost catch rates on opening day of trout season last weekend. WDFW planted bigger trout this year on average the statewide catch rate soared to an average of 3.99 trout per person the opener. The top three producers in the state were Ellen Lake in Ferry County where anglers averaged 5 trout apiece, Warden Lake in Grant County with 5 trout apiece, and Panther Lake in Kitsap County with 4.6 trout apiece. The department expects good trout fishing to continue on many of the planted lakes until well into June.

Puget Sound Lings on the Bite
Nick Kester from All Star Charters (425-252-4188) said it took him longer to catch bait this week than it did to catch his limit of lingcod every day. He and partner Gary Krein have been fishing Possession Bar and getting limits of Puget Sound ling cod every day using live sand dabs.

Cowlitz Springers Slow
Todd Daniels from Tall Tails Guide Service (206-437-8766) has been picking up a few spring Chinook on the Cowlitz, but overall he reports that springer fishing has been noticeably slow. Todd thinks the fishing will improve if and when the river drops down to 5500 to 6500 cfs again. The springers he’s caught so far this season have fallen to either a Cowlitz cocktail or wrapped Kwikfish.

Last Razor Clam Dig of the Season
Twin Harbors beach between Gray’s Harbor and Willapa Bay is open Saturday, Sunday, and Monday for the last razor clam dig of the season. The tides for the digs are all morning tides and check the WDFW regulations for more information about the open digging area.

Cougar Killed in Seattle Neighborhood
The Seattle Times reported that a cougar that recently wandered into the Kennewick neighborhood of Seattle had to be killed Wednesday when it ended up in a tree in someone’s back yard. Officials from WDFW said the cat weighed about 110 pounds and appeared to be a young male that had wandered into the neighborhood during the night looking for food. Since the area was surrounded by houses and an apartment complex the state had no choice but to kill the animal.

Ruger and Cabela’s Report Big Profits
Not every sector of the American economy is on the fritz. Sturm, Ruger and Co. reported profits for the first quarter of this year that were nearly double last year’s profits. Following suit was Cabela’s who reported that its first quarter profit soared 62 percent as strong retail sales of outdoor gear and sporting goods offset a decline in online and catalog sales.

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

It’s Oyster:30 in G-Town!

Posted on by
1

It didn't take long to polish off 6 dozen oysters at my good buddy Geoff's going away party last night here in Gig Harbor. Geoff just got called up for 400 days of active duty in Afghanistan and what better way to send him off than with a bunch of fresh Hood Canal oysters cooked up Endsley-style on the barbecue. Oh, and a little 15 year Glenlevit scotch didn't hurt either!

My aunt and uncle have a waterfront cabin on the Hood Canal with a beach that is literally polluted with oysters. When the tide goes out the filter feeders are 18 inches think and it's nothing to pluck a couple of 5 gallon bucket-fulls for a feast. And before you accuse me of poaching oysters it's perfectly legal to take them shell-and-all from a private beach. On public beaches, however, you must shuck your limit of 18 oysters and leaves the shells on the beach to reseed the area. Not to worry, these shells will also end up back on the Endsley oyster beach where they belong.

I rustled up all the ingredients for a killer batch'a barbecued oysters before heading off to Smyth's house last night. I posted the Endsley family oyster recipe here on my Outdoor Line blog a couple of years ago and it's to die for. If you're looking for a new way to barbecue oysters…this is da bomb!  

Geoff got first dibs on the tastey oysters as soon as batch numero uno was finished. Uncle Pete called to tell Geoff thanks for his service to our country as we were gorging our bad selves on his oysters. That goes for all of us Geoff…thanks man!

These oysters usually don't make it off the barbecue. Just grab a fork and put the hammer down! If you cue up a bunch'o oysters on your barbecue make a big aluminum tray like you see in the photo below to cook them on, as the oysters juice will destroy the barbecue in a short amount of time. Oyster juice is 14,000 times more salty then reg'lur old saltwater, or so it seems.  

Montana transplant Justin and his girlfriend Bob diggin' in. Halfway thru the feast I ran out of Tillamook butter and we switched over to olive oil, which is ten times more healthy and just as tastey.

A couple of rounds of oysters actually made it past all of us vultures and into the house where the other party-goers could enjoy them.  

This is the absolute best time of year to eat oysters from the Hood Canal, as they are firm, cold, and clean during the winter months. With this recipe in your cooking quiver you can grab a cheapo portable barbecue and some local micro brews and impress your friends or family with one heckuva cookout at one of the public beaches on the Hood Canal.

And to my friend Geoff who is heading to the middle east as we speak…godspeed my friend! We'll have some oysters waiting for you when you get home safe and sound.

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com 

Sweaty Socks, Leaky Waders, and Rainbow Trout

Posted on by
Reply

BY JEFF LUND. Saturday morning when I couldn’t sleep past 6:30, I decided to head east because even though the water would be high, still, and there would be a ton of people, I hate excuses.

I looked back through my fishing log from the summer and wondered what kind of lame excuse I made on the days I didn’t fish. Sure I had to paint the house, chop firewood, sand and stain the deck, but there were trout two miles away and some stupid reason kept me at home.

Not Saturday, because California's Sierra Nevada are filthy with beauty and fish.

The river banks were packed in the most fishable spots as I expected, but I found a stretch of river on the Upper Stanislaus not being assaulted by anglers with spinning rods, and caught a little brown trout.

I continued hopping up highway 108 until the road left the river and went up. I followed, deciding shortly before reaching Sonora Pass that I should keep going all the way to Bridgeport and scout the East Walker River. Time on the water would suffer since even without the distracting enormity of the Sierra divide, it’s about an hour beyond the pass.

I stopped more than a few times to snap photos and dip Wheat Thins into peanut butter for lunch.

The road dropped me down into a valley, at the bottom of which was the West Walker River. Since it is unsafe to look out the passenger window while driving down a steep curvy grade, I stopped at a pull-out. The two Euro-looking dudes getting back in their Mustang eyed my shorts, wet from leaky waders, and socks split by flip-flops. I smiled and nodded hello, because they were probably going to tell all their Euro friends that they saw a guy that not only had an accident while driving, but had a medical dictionary grade case of athletes foot. I decided to just be polite and let them conjure up whatever story they wanted.

Anyway, I stared up at the snow still stuck in sunless creases that birthed the West Walker and followed the jagged erosion lines down as best I could to the blue river that carved back and forth through the valley.

I felt small.

I like moments like that.

The road leveled and turned a few more times before I made it to Bridgeport, then took a left past the lake to the East Walker.

There are a ton of little trails from pull outs and dusty roads that provide access to the river.

I picked one for no reason in particular then stood on the shore, and was clueless. I had no idea where to start.

If I was at the Thorne, I’d put on a bead-headed prince nymph or orange scud-type pattern. I’d tie on a Jimmy Legs if I was on the Upper Sacramento, but I was on the East Walker, and felt unprepared.

I went through the normal battery of prospecting flies, red and blue Copper Johns, prince nymphs, birds nests and even a few dry flies. There were fish, just none that wanted what I had. After a few hours I retreated to town for a tri-tip sandwich and advice from the local experts at Ken’s Sporting Goods – probably should have gone there in the first place, but I was too excited.

I found that my fly selection wasn’t off, but the size were. I bought some size 18 zebra midges and Copper Johns, things smaller than pinky finger nail clippings, but obviously prettier.

The prospect of catching a 20-inch trout on such a tiny pattern drove me back to the river for another session.

It went the same, so I headed back over Sonora Pass and the familiar Stanislaus, and got into some rainbows.

I fished my way back down the western slope toward the central valley, watched the sunset then finally made it home, rank with the stench of sweat from the ridiculous day trip.

I couldn’t believe I had almost talked myself out of a day on the water.

Not only had I caught fish and seen serious nature, but scouted two new rivers and it only cost a tank of gas, one meal and a couple flies.
Days don’t get much better than that.

Jeff Lund
Teacher/Freelance Writer
Manteca, CA

"Its the coming back, the return which gives meaning to the going forth. We really don't know where we've been until we've come back to where we were. Only, where we were may not be as it was, because of whom we've become. Which, after all, is why we left." – Bernard Stevens  Northern Exposure