Tag Archives: cannon

The 2013 Anacortes Salmon Derby!

Posted on by
2

You’ve heard it a thousand times: “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”

This year, the Anacortes Salmon Derby fell on the final weekend of March, with weather that could only be described as “spectacular” and I’m not sure that word does justice to the conditions, or the event!

There’s a darn, good reason that the Anacortes Salmon Derby sells out each and every year. It’s an extremely well run event in a world-class destination: The San Juan Islands. This year the festivities commenced with the first ever Greater Anacortes Fishing Film Festival or GAFFF.

 

Robbo did The Outdoor Line proud by winning the GAFFF’y for best video by a 6’8″ Charter Operator/Radio Show host. Strangly enough Robbo’s video was the only entry in that category…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Saturday morning came and the derby fleet departed into the fog, leaving The Outdoor Line Crew behind at Anthony’s Home Port which, by the way is our new favorite remote broadcast location!

 

 

After the show, we hustled out to the north end of Orcas Island and it wasn’t long until Robbo was into a nice fish! Here, Larry Carpenter and Duane clear the gear for the “Gringo Grande”.

 

 

Unfortunately…or, fortunately for the fish, it was wild so Robbo cradled it for a quick snapshot and it was left to swim free, hopefully to hit the gravel and make more salmon with intact adipose fins!

 

 

 

One of the best reasons to fish all the derbies you possibly can is to get your gear dialed in for summer “Hammer Time”. I’ve made the switch to Diawa Saltist reels and braid mainline with a 30-foot shot of 25lb monofilament top shot. So far, so excellent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning found us rubbing elbows with some past winners of the Anacortes Salmon Derby, Here is SJI legend Rod Nau making a close quarters pass.

 

After the fishing was done, it was a race to the sling! Big Red shows off her reverse-chine, chambered design which is the reason she is a chop cutter, not a back buster,,,

 

 

The final leaderboad tells the story with Scott Fowler win, Rich Olson place and Jay Murphy show!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over 250 fish were entered in the two day event with the top three fish carefully displayed on ice for all to look…and drool over! 


 

Anacortes Derby Founder, Chairman and Master of Ceremonies Jay Field prepares to get the award presentation underway in front of the 1000 participants.

 

Scott Fowler’s 21.5 pounder from day one held up and here he holds the coveted $15,000 grand prize! Not a bad weekends work!

 

Left to right, Rich Olson, second place with a 19.4, Scott Fowler 21.5 and Jay Murphy 19.1 comprise the top three “money” fish! Congratulations to all three!!!

 

If you have not had the opportunity to experience the San Juan Islands, this may be a great year to do just that. The Islands remain open for chinook until April 30th and will re-open for salmon on July first. In May and June there will be shrimp, lingcod and halibut seasons to keep us busy. Without question, three more reasons to head up to Anacortes and experience all this region has to offer! A big thanks to Jay Field, Terry and Keri Nemeth and the entire Anacortes Salmon Derby team. You are all first class people that put on a first class event in a world class location!

Tom Nelson

The Outdoor Line

710 ESPN Seattle

www.theoutdoorline.com

Boat trailering: Cougar Style!

Posted on by
5

Meet Robert Lee Tobeck:

His resume is very impressive. Academic All American lineman at Washington State University, Pro Bowl center of the Seattle Seahawks during the highpoint of the franchise history: the 2006 Superbowl and former host of The Outdoor Line Radio Show.

Unfortunately, none of this tremendous life experience has prepared him for what has now become the greatest challenge of his life: Boattrailerautism.

Boattrailerautism or “BTA” is a fisherman’s developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of boat ownership and affects the brain’s normal development of mechanical, spacial and navigational skills. Most fishing buddies of the boattrailerautistic suspect that something is amiss when angry motorists pull up alongside, gesturing and yelling. In extreme cases of BTA, one may even observe the occurance of the dreaded “missing fender” syndrome.

Quite unfortunately, I was to bear witness to Tobeck’s latest BTA flare-up on what was to be merely a simple transducer installation. We met at his marina and due to high winds, Robbie was unable to get the boat on the trailer by himself so he requested my assistance and I was only too happy to help my friend out.

Tobeck’s trailer for his 30-foot Seaswirl Striper “Salmon Hawk” is a monster 5th wheel style extra heavy duty model with a “goose neck” design which requires the hitch to be placed directly above the rear axle to reduce tongue weight and increase trailer maneuverability.

While I remained ground level to crank the trailer up to above the ball height, Tobeck backed the truck up and then jumped in to hook up the lights, safety chains and secure the hitch…or so I thought…

We towed the empty trailer about 100 yards to the ramp and I jumped in Robbie’s boat to drive it on the trailer. Once the boat was secured to the trailer winch and cranked up tight, Tobeck returned to the truck. Little did we know that the unfortunate malady BTA was about to rear it’s ugly and mortifyingly embarrassing head.

I remained aboard as Robbie pulled the boat and trailer up the ramp. As the trailer started bearing the weight of the boat, I happened to be looking forward and BOOM!!! Simultaneously the trailer hitch jumped off the ball, landing in the bed of his truck as a geyser of Starbucks coffee hit the inside of Tobecks windshield.

Someone other than my friend Tobeck then emerged from the truck, hurling a blue streak of epithets and dripping with the remains of his mocha.

“Thank goodness for safety chains” was all I could utter as the bed of Tobeck’s new truck now appeared to be,…well… used.

As we cranked the tongue winch up, the hitch came up alright but the truck bed remained somewhat depressed.

Once we got the hitch back on the ball we found that Tobeck has a little bowl in the center of his truck bed that, once filled with rainwater, will be a handy and very mobile bird bath!

Always good natured -until he’s not- the Crimson Crusader takes his Boattrailerautism in stride and lets this latest “flare-up” roll off his back.

The rest of the morning and the transducer installation proceeded without incident. Heck, it could have been a lot worse….It could have been my fault!!!

Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

 

Gearing Up for an Alaska Charter Season

Posted on by
1

It’s March 13th and while I should be thinking about steelhead fishing or something “current” my mind is already preoccupied with all the little things that could make my life easier on the boat this summer in Southeast Alaska. If you didn’t already know I own and operate Prince of Wales Sportfishing in Craig, Alaska during the summer months. I leave the Outdoor Line radio show in the trusted hands of the very-capable Tom Nelson and head north to Alaska to make a living doing what I love…fishing.

You’d think after ten plus years of running charters in Alaska I would have just about every gizmo known to man. That’s partially true, but there’s always something that will put more fish in the boat, provide a higher level of safety for my customers, and possibly make my job easier.

Here are just a few of the items that are on order for the coming saltwater charter season in Alaska:

I just picked up two new retractable steps from North River Boats for getting into and out of my 28′ aluminum charter boat, the “Polar Bear”. It’s a long step down from the dock to the deck of the boat and stepping onto a bucket, well, that just isn’t safe. It’s high time I installed some of these steps to make that transition in and out of the boat a lot easier. Plus, I’m not a spring chicken anymore and these steps are just as much for me as our guests.

A new custom bait station is on order from Three Rivers Marine and Tackle in Woodinville, Washington. The constant bending over cutting herring or simply reaching down to pluck a cut plug herring out of the cooler can put a serious strain on your back. Last summer I went thru 20 cases of bait, which means I had to bend down around 8,800 times. That, folks, is a recipe for major back problems.

The bait station will attach to the stern of the “Polar Bear” and can be adorned with any number of attachments. I’m thinking cup holders and rod holders on the side will work great. I’m very much looking forward to this upgrade to the boat.

Good luck trying to find one of these in Alaska. This is a long-shanked stainless hook remover that happens to be built by Calcutta, although there are several others on the market that also work. When we’re salmon fishing in certain areas we are constantly, and I mean constantly having to release ping-pong-paddle sized halibut and this tool is a must for that chore. Reaching down the throat of a gyrating halibut with mooching hooks flying everywhere results in barbed hooks right where you don’t want them…in your hand. This tool is a must for that task!

I’ve got two Lowrance HDS Touch 9′s going on the boat this summer too. I mounted a Touch 7 on my jet boat this winter and all I can say is this machine is the cat’s ass. They are super easy to operate and have a much brighter display than the Gen 2 HDS 10′s that are currently mounted on the charter boat. I thought the 10′s were bright…I will have no problem seeing these all the way from the stern of the boat. If you’ve operated a touch screen iPhone you will have no problem dialing in one of these units.

A Lowrance 4G radar will replace the 3G radar that’s mounted on the boat now. These broadband radars don’t require any warm-up time and the image you get with this technology is second-to-none. My Lowrance gear has treated me great over the years and I have the same high expectations for the new Touch 9′s and 4G radar that I’ll be mounting on the boat in May.

I’m making the switch to Daiwa Saltist line counter reels this summer. I’ve used their spinning and small levelwinds for years for steelhead and salmon fishing on the rivers in Washington and they have never let me down. I have some old Daiwa Laguna spinning reels that are pushing a decade old and remarkably they still work. That’s unheard of for a spinning reel that get’s that much abuse!

The new Saltist’s are built with a one-piece aluminum frame, alloy gears, and a drag that can hold up to 22 pounds of pressure. You simply can’t test them in a more harsh environment than Southeast Alaska and I’m hopeful that these reels will perform just as well as all the other Daiwa products I’ve used over the years.

I finally broke down and added Cannon downriggers to the charter boat last summer and I am so glad that I did. The fish were scattered early in the season and we tore up the king salmon using Cannon DT5 downriggers to cover large chunks of water. We simply couldn’t have covered that much water mooching.

This year I’m upgrading to Cannon DT10 downriggers for one very important reason…they have the Bottom Track feature. I’ve used this on my partner Tom Nelson’s boat on numerous occasions and it’s nothing short of a lethal weapon.

In the beginning I was skeptical of this new gizmo and being the stubborn sort I decided to run the downrigger on my side of the boat manually while Tom ran his on Bottom Track. What was the end result after multiple days of testing? He soundly kicked my ass. Bottom Track is da bomb!

Another news bit about Cannon downriggers is that they just redesigned their boom-ends, so they won’t jump out of the track. This is welcome news!

That’s just a little taste of what I’ve been up to folks. I’ll be diving into a huge pile of Mustad 92568 black nickel hooks here shortly too, as I begin the task of pre-tying all of our mooching leaders for an entire summer of hardcore saltwater fishing. More on that later.

Good fishing to you and thanks for stopping by!

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

 

2013 Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby -Day One

Posted on by
2

Last year was our first time at the Olympic Penninsula Salmon Derby and after experiencing the event, the location and of course the fishing… there was no way I was going to miss this year!

The Harborside Inn was very generous to host us and we did a remote broadcast of The Outdoor Line Radio Show from the lobby over the excellent complementary breakfast! Many anglers competing in the event stayed at the Harborside Inn and took no small enjoyment in pointing out that they were heading out on the water while we were stuck in the lobby to do the show. To make matters worse, our cell phones started blowing up with fish pictures from our “friends”…Brutal!

When we finally got out on the water, Robbo was still getting reports… and while he was on the phone…  Hey ROBBO! YOU GOT ONE!!! …Uh, just a sec Nelly…I’m on the phone…

Needless to say, we lost that first fish…and it was a good one… but it wouldn’t be too long before the good ol’ Coho Killer produced a nice blackmouth for me.

 

Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby rules call for a 3pm weigh-in deadline so after a late start…it was an quick trip to the scale where lucky anglers were lined up to enter their fish.

Tony Dobson of Snatchin’ Lips Rods, fishing aboard John Keizer’s Team Lowrance boat, shares a laugh with the crew at the weigh in.

 

After my 8.9 pounder was weighed in, WDFW personnel were there to scale sample and measure the hatchery chinook entered in the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Lowrance heads for its slip at Point Hudson to get ready for day two of this three day event… Three solid days of fishing… No wonder they call this derby the “Iron Man”!

As of the end of fishing Saturday 2/16/13, 123 fish have been submitted; top three are 15.90, 14.80, and 14.30. With a “sporty” forecast for Sunday… it would be nice to be sitting atop the leaderboard.That 15.9 pounder is looking good for the ten thousand dollar first prize!

SHOW BIZ 2013!

Posted on by
Reply

For those of you that have not yet had the opportunity to attend, here’s a “Virtual hot lap” around the 2013 Seattle Boat Show at Century Link Field!

 

Stabicraft is here in Boat Country’s booth, showing off the new Pilot House design. One very salty ride here…

Master Marine of Mount Vernon has a huge display of Osprey’s and Weldcrafts just take your pick and Big Larry Carpenter will hook you right up!

 

Defiance Boats in ‘da house! In a relatively short time, Defiance has become synonymous with offshore success and with Arima joining the line they have added versatility to the mix!

 

Power to weight ratio is a HUGE aspect to choosing your next outboard. Look no further than Evinrude for trouble-free, dependable, low-maintenance power!

 

Three Rivers Marine is sporting a new logo and a new line with North River Boats joining the TRM family of brands!
Jeff Lalone and Annie from Bayside Marine are ready to answer any and all your questions and make your boating life a whole lot easier!

Looking for tackle and accessories??? Everything is right here in the Sportco/Outdoor Emporium booth and the gang is ready, willing and able to get you the right gear…at the right price!

I don’t know if the word “accessory” quite fits the Lowrance label… If I didn’t have a fishfinder as effective as my Lowrance, I wouldn’t catch as many fish…

Harbor Marine… “right on your way no matter where you’re going”, is showing heavy duty marine diesel power and transmissions to get you where you’re going dependably!

Cannon Downriggers? Don’t leave the dock without them… ’nuff said!!!

I sincerely hope you can make it to my seminars at the Seattle Boat Show! Here’s the rundown!

Tom Nelson – Seminar Schedule at the Seattle Boat Show:

Triple Threat Salmon Angling:

February 1st – 2:00 PM

February 2nd – 3:00 PM

Dirty Downrigger Tricks:

January 31st – 7:00 PM

February 1st – 4:00 PM

February 2nd – 1:00 PM

SEE YOU AT THE SEATTLE BOAT SHOW!!!

Two Days With Tobeck…

Posted on by
1

“Salmon, salmon and more salmon! That’s all you think about Nelly…”

If I had a dime for every time my friend, former co-host, Seattle Seahawk and WSU Cougar Robbie Tobeck hit me with that blast….

“Seriously Nelly, have you ever taken that boat of yours out for anything but salmon???”

Uh oh, new Tobeck material… and, it made me think…

“You mean like halibut or lingcod?”

“No Nelly… T, U, N, A  tuna!”

Oh, that…Well, he had me there and really, I have no excuse since my Stabicraft “Big Red” has serious blue-water bloodlines including a live well, 150 gallon fuel capacity, oversize fishbox and a kick ass chop-busting reverse chine hull. While these features were initially intended for off-shore action, the way they enable my salmon fishing addiction is remarkable and to be quite frank, a boat like this never, ever should have fallen into the hands of a guy like me.

So, as I saw it the only self-respecting response to Tobeck’s blunt chidings was to hit salmon in my stomping grounds with my gear and take Big Red to Westport with Tobeck’s tuna gear.

The plan was hatched and right before the Marine Area 9 & 10 closure, we hit Midchannel Bank…and were not dissapointed!

Tobeck's common complaint about salmon fishing often has to do with the time between strikes. On this day, he wouldn't have long to wait!

This has been an excellent chinook season in Puget Sound and the fish are not only numerous but there have been some large specimens as well!

Rob's first fish was a dandy that blew out of the release clip and spit the spoon at the boat, Tobeck was not amused...

Early that Midchannel morning we experienced a solid bite but landing them was entirely another story! We started the day a dismal 0 for 4!!! Thankfully, that was about to change!

Walt Hylback broke the ice in a big way with this fat 22 pounder and the fishbox started to look better in a hurry!

Tobeck would soon forget about the big one that got away as the action really made a sunny Sunday morning fly by!

The next occupant of the fishbox was a few pounds lighter than the first, but the fact that it "lightened" Tobeck's mood really made my day!

 

Most of the fish came on hardware but the one that I'm holding (far left) took a half-hitched whole herring fished in the middle of the water column on the middle downrigger!

With our “salmon day” in the books, it was time to put the boat on the trailer, strip the salmon gear off the boat including Cannon Downriggers and cannon balls, fuel up and head to Westport!

One of the key differences between salmon and tuna is the temperature of the water they live in and the speeds at which you fish for them. Sixty degrees (60 F.) seems to be the break point and tuna will be slightly warmer than the water in which they live. After a hook and line fight, albacore will be several degrees warmer than their environment. So, if you want tuna fillets and not “fish soup”, you must ice your catch immediately after bleeding them. You’ve got to have ice and a whole bunch of it!!!

Unfortunately, by the time we got through traffic the ice house in Westport was closed… Do you know what fifty-five bags of party ice looks like? Well, we found out…

Along with the aforementioned ice, live anchovies are essential to a successful tuna outing. Fortunately, my Stabicraft is equipped with a live bait tank that will hold two full scoops of live anchovies and keep them frisky all the way out to the tuna grounds which are 30 to 50 miles or more offshore.

To find tuna in the vast, open ocean, you need to watch surface temperature, water color (you’re looking for a cobalt blue), find feeding birds and “FAD’s” or “Fish Attracting Devices” which is basically anything that floats! In this year of tsunami debris, it’s not hard to find! The basic tuna technique is to troll until you get a strike, then stop the boat and throw stunned live anchovies behind the boat to bring the school of tuna in close.

Fortunately on this day, we wouldn't have long to troll! Here's my son Matt Nelson with the first tuna ever landed on the big, red Stabicraft! Robbie Tobeck in the background begrudgingly allowed the photo despite the fact that we "should have had gear in the water catching tuna!..."

After a couple trolling hookups followed by a few productive bait stops the fishbox started to get full! Here's Mason Tobeck and Matt Nelson dumping the final bags of "party ice" on our catch!

After all was said & done it was a very memorable two days of angling in two different locations, in pursuit of two different species with two different sets of rods and terminal gear.

Gotta love a successful father and son outing! Rob Tobeck, Matt Nelson and Mason Tobeck share a smile over the results of Big Red's first tuna run!

Are there easier ways to fish salmon and tuna? Heck yes! One can get the job done in the same day by launching in La Push, Westport or Ilwaco to name but a few. Our two days on the water were simply taking advantage of an opportunity. Not to mention the fact that Tobeck can never call me “Salmon-only Nelly” ever again!!!

Tom Nelson 710 ESPN Seattle’s The Outdoor Line 6-8am Every Saturday!

www.theoutdoorline.com

Release Me!

Posted on by
Reply

When the conversation among fishermen turns to downrigger releases, it seems there are as many opinions as there are fishermen…and, almost as many brands as there are opinions!

My approach to fishing has always been to keep things as simple as possible and when it comes to releases I firmly believe that simple is best! In fact, if you search my boat, you’ll find one style of release and we’ll get to which one in a moment but first, lets talk about why.

There is an old frontier saying that has always stuck in my head: “Beware the man with only one gun, for he surely knows how to use it!” So, it is with downrigger releases. If you have a variety on board your boat, how will you ever become familiar and therefore effective with them all?

Is there an inherent advantage to having several release brands and styles on your boat? In my opinion, there is not. Unless you’re comparing trout or kokanee tackle to saltwater salmon gear or using braid mainline instead of monofilament, I cannot imagine a single benefit from stocking your boat with anything but a single release style.

So, what release?

The Offshore Release in basic black for whole or cutplug bait presentations:

The Offshore Black is a single-spring, medium tension release with replaceable rubber pads.

…and the Offshore Red for faster trolling of large flasher gear and plugs:

The Offshore Red is a double-spring, heavy tension release designed for deep saltwater trolling.

Whichever release you choose, to optimally function, the correct release for you must keep your rod fully bent in a full arc and dependably, predictably hold your gear at all depths and trolling speeds. If you’re experiencing “false releases” your release is costing you fishing time while you reset your gear.

Your time and effort on the water shouldn’t be wasted on a downrigger release that doesn’t work as hard as you fish!

“Hawg Questing” the San Juan Islands!

Posted on by
4

It's been said by wiser men that I that "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".

Well, the Marine Area 7/ San Juan Island opener is surely an opportunity and all the fishing we've been doing up north definitely counts as preparation.

Bolstered by our experience in southeast Alaska and the reports coming from Nootka and points south, the chinook are coming. Large in both size and numbers, this year's chinook fisheries are expected to be epic and in my mind, the Area 7 opener couldn't come fast enough!

The summer chinook fisheries around Puget Sound are easily my favorite time of the year and on the various openers, I will usually be found somewhere on the water.  This time however, my on-air pard Robbie Tobeck was not about to be left behind. Despite his  tough "Tuna Tyrant" exterior, Robbie Tobeck is really a "salmon softie" and was as fired up for this trip as I was!

Fortunately our "Anacortes connection" Jay Field had offered up a slip at Skyline Marina and we were set! Jay treated us to dinner and drinks at his restaurant Village Pizza which ajoins the Wheelhouse Bar and it was off to bed, bracing for that 0300 alarm…Brutal!

Running up Rosario Strait we quickly checked out Thatcher Pass and Tide Point but the chinook were stacked in and on the snap at Obstruction Pass.

Jay Field aboard his 26' Osprey "Dash One" drew first blood with this fine 22 pounder and the San Juan chinook season was quickly in full swing!

 

We came right back with this 21 pound chromer that grabbed a Silver Horde Kingfisher Lite 3.5 "Yellowtail" fished 44" behind a Q-Cove Jim's Breakaway "Green Dragon" flasher.

 

Tobeck, ever the competitor,  filled our limit with this dandy 25 pounder that inhaled a cut plug!

 News of the scorching action in the Islands quickly spread and soon, my phone rang.
 "Nelly, Glenn Hall here. I'm going to be up your way and I heard that there might be a fish or two in your neighborhood."
"Well, you've got that right Glenn," I'm sure he could hear me grinning through the phone. "Can I assume that this will be an official visit with cameras rolling?"
"Yes Nelly, you assume correctly…"

With the Northwest Salmon Derby Series in town in the form of the Bellingham Salmon Derby, The San Juan Islands were being worked over! Now, I have to show up on Sunday, behind a full two days of Derby anglers and produce a "Quest-worthy" fishing trip.

Fortunately, there were enough chinook to go around, Here, Glenn Hall hoists the first fish of the day while Rob Hyatt mans the HD camera.  

 

Rob got out from behind the camera long enough to grab a rod! Here's a dandy white king that has a date with the smoker!

 

Ray Gombisky broke his San Juan cherry with this fine chinook and ended up with a boat limit!

 

Day two of the shoot resulted in five hookups and these three chinook in the box. Left to right, Bill Boyce of Fetha Styx, Glenn Hall and Wade Peterson who runs a little place called "Cowgirls Inc." in Seattle.

Our local chinook fisheries are off to a great start and it's shaping up to be a season for the books. Don't miss out… Go limit out!


 

Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com