News — tips & techniques

2017 Goes Down As One Of The Most Challenging Spring Chinook Seasons To Date

Posted April 28, 2017

Let me start this article by saying that the first person this summer that complains about it being too hot, should be tarred, feathered and drug through the streets...... I don't know what we did to tick Mother Nature off but at least all our little baby salmon are making it to the ocean at record pace. If there's food out there for them, we could be in for some great fishing in the coming ye2017ars. This 2017 main stem Columbia Spring Chinook Fishery is going to go down as one of the most challenging, temperamental, and toughest fisheries we've...

The Quickest Way to Fillet a Kokanee

Posted April 17, 2017

Fillet a kokanee QUICK with this short tutorial video. In this video Marlin shows how he fillets kokanee. When you get back to the dock after a long day of fishing, you want to make sure you save as much time as possible during fillets - especially if you landed a lot of fish! Kokanee are typically on the smaller side but some can get larger - this technique works very well for getting the best possible kokanee fillets in the shortest amount of time.&t=1sRemember to use a sharp blade and use caution when filleting. The sharper the knife, the...

Columbia River Springer Fishing Extension 2017

Posted April 12, 2017

The exciting news has hit the the Pacific Northwest! The Columbia River gets a Spring Chinook Salmon Fishery Extension per the meeting from Washington and Oregon today. The fishery thus far has been hit or miss with some salmon around to be caught but this extension should prove to be the best fishing we have seen yet! Two, separate seasons have been given to us. April 13th to the 17th & April 20th to April 23rd. The water is still set to be pretty high, so make sure you concentrate on great anchor spots or look for seam lines...

The BEST Way to Fillet a Salmon or Steelhead

Posted November 22, 2016

Preserving and preparing your catch with efficiency helps at the end of a long day. When you get home from a long day of fishing whether on the bank or boat, it's nice to have some tricks up your sleeve to get a quick but well-cut fillet. In this video, Cameron Black explains, in detail, a few shortcuts to better have control of your fillet. As always, a well sharpened and quality fillet knife helps the process.Filleting salmon & steelhead properly allows for high quality table fare. As always, bleed your legal keeper fish right away and put on ice...

Is Using A Wobbler Float Necessary??!!

Posted August 30, 2016

Over the last 5 or so years there’s been an increasing presence of brightly colored floats aiding the wobbler fishermen on the Columbia out in the hog lines dotted up and down the river. This technique started with the bank fishermen casting and running lines out over the steeper river drop-offs while trying to ensure their wobbler was suspended off the bottom. Using larger floats has been proven effective off the banks, and here’s some of the reasons why boaters are making the switch... The basic setup that I prefer when running a float is a 3x3x3. The dropper length...

Bucktail Spinners...#1 for Muskies!

Posted February 23, 2016

Bucktail Spinners.....#1 for Muskies!As winter draws to a close and the weather warms my thoughts turn from chasing winter Steelhead to hunting Tiger Muskies. Musky fishing and throwing big Spinners with dressed up hooks (Bucktails) go hand in hand, and most times during the season is the #1 way to put a big Musky in the net. Bucktail is a generic term for a group of larger spinners with a treble hook that can be tied with Marabou, Flashabou, Bucktail, rubber skirt material or a combination of these materials. Blade sizes can range from a #5 in the smaller Musky...