by JD on November 29, 2006
There’s absolutely nothing like getting a chance to fish in closed waters! That’s exactly what I got to do the other day with the Department of Fish & Game. The DFG was in need of 20 trout/steelhead for a research project and asked a few of us to help them catch them. Here’s the cool part…we got to fish with bait in a river that’s been closed for a few months. As a bonus, this particular section of stream is governed by artificials-only regulations. Needless to say, we put a pretty good hurting on the rainbows, most of which were in the 2-pound class. There were also some small steelies in the mix to 4 pounds. The hot ticket? Roe under floats was absolutely deadly! A few fish were taken on spinners, spoons and flies, but the bait & bobber routine was pretty unstoppable. It was painful to kill those fish, but the Department is using them for a genetics study so that they may be able to better manage the fishery in the future.
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by JD on November 23, 2006
He got the idea from a Zane Grey novel he had read a year prior. It was just a passing phrase in which Grey, who spent a good chunk of his time in a cabin on the Rogue River in Oregon, mentioned something about killing a steelhead for Thanksgiving dinner. The old man didn’t think much about it at first, but then the thought of a steelhead instead of a turkey began to intrigue him.
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by JD on November 19, 2006
Big Fred Contaoi, one of my best friends and guiding/writing partner, has recently joined the Orange County Choppers Team and will be appearing on Discovery Channel’s American Chopper in 2007.
He’s going to fish the FLW Wal-Mart professional bass tour as a member of the OCC team and will also be helping the guys customize a Ranger bass boat on the show.
Fred is scheduled to fly to New York and start filming in early December and then will fish his first tournament in Florida in mid January.
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by JD on November 19, 2006
Here’s a king we caught this fall that munched a sardine-wrapped Kwikfish. After a quick couple of photos, the fish was released to go do what salmon are supposed to do in the fall…
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by JD on November 18, 2006
You just gotta love it when kids catch the big one!
And that certainly was the case when fifteen-year-old Breann McIntyre caught this giant king salmon on Oregon’s Chetco River on a sardine-wrapped K15 Kwikfish out of her dad’s driftboat on 11/18/06.
Afterwards, Breann’s father Dave was extremely excited…(duh!)
“After she caught that fish, I think it will be harder for my buddies to get a seat in the boat,” said David. “It was a far better experience than if I had caught it — she was so proud!”
by JD on November 16, 2006
As I was filleting salmon for some successful clients one morning along the banks of the lower American River, a lady I did not recognize walked up to me. I could tell from her attire that she had been jogging along the bike trail. Apparently, she’d seen me cleaning fish and came over to investigate. Her scowl told me her visit wasn’t going to be a pleasant one.
I looked back down at the issue at hand and finished removing two beautiful fillets from the salmon and then I took its carcass and tossed it back into the river. At that point, the woman decided she need to stick her nose where it had no business going.
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by JD on November 16, 2006
Gill McKean of West Coast Fishing Adventures sent me this photo of a near-miss with a giant steelhead.
That’s Gill, wading out into the glacial waters of a Northern BC steelhead stream (at great risk to life and limb because of the raging rapids just outside the frame), trying to slide the mesh under a monster steelie that may have been close to 30 lbs.
We’ll never know because the fish hopped right out of the next and eventually broke off…
by JD on November 2, 2006
I’ve got a couple fishing rods in my collection that are very near and dear to my heart. They’re custom-built sticks that I’ve had for over two decades and they’re kinda like old friends. We’ve been all over the world together and have caught some incredibly memorable fish over the years.
Ever considered having a custom rod made for yourself? It’s a pretty sweet concept when you think about it – not only will you have a stick that you’ll be able to make some cool memories with, but it will also built to your exact specifications.
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