It’s show season again and that means I’ll be doing seminars at the upcoming International Sportsmen’s Expos in both San Mateo and Sacramento over the next couple weeks.

For those of you looking for a place to get off your feet and take a cat nap, my seminars are just the ticket! Here’s the upcoming schedule:

San Mateo

Thursday, Jan. 8
• 2:30 PM: Steelhead Rigging in the new Fishing Workshop
• 4 PM: Steelhead Tips for Success at the Eastmans’ Journals Adventure Theater
• 5PM: The GLoomis booth

Sunday, Jan. 11

• 2 PM: Steelhead Tips for Success at the Eastmans’ Journals Adventure Theater
• 3:30 PM: Steelhead Rigging in the new Fishing Workshop

Sacramento

Thursday, Jan. 15
• 12 Noon: Delta Stripers Techniques and Tips in the California Sportsmen’s Theater

Saturday, Jan. 17
• 3PM: Alaska Fishing Panel in the California Sportsmen’s Theater

Sacramento ISE, Sunday, Jan. 18
• 2 PM: Delta Stripers Techniques and Tips in the California Sportsmen’s Theater

Are downer steelhead really…well…”downers?” Lots of folks think so because when you catch them they’re usually skinny, colored up and not the greatest of fighters. Some people even get bummed out when they hook a downer (also known as runbacks, kelts or spent fish) but there’s actually a lot to love about ‘em.

Check out my Tips of the Trade column in the March issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine for the “skinny” on downer steelhead. In the March issue of FISH ALASKA Magazine, I cover how to gear up for river king fishing and in the March issue of Western Outdoors Magazine, I’ve got a story and photos of the Prospect Island (CA Delta) fish rescue that took place back in December.

Check out the Feb. issue of Western Outdoors Magazine for my article of fishing the American River for steelhead like this one and all the other species that call the river home (though I left the carp and squawfish tips out). And if you’ve got a rotting old set of oar blades on your driftboat or raft shafts (like I once did), you can learn how to quickly replace them in my Tips of the Trade column in the Feb. issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine.

Also in that same issue of STS, look for the photo essay I did on the Stanislaus River Restoration project I worked on last fall.

In the Feb. issue of Fish Alaska Magazine, you’ll find my article about chasing road-side silvers in Cordova and the first installment of my Salmon Sense column in which we’ll take a look at why kings bite in freshwater.

Whew…just thinking about all that makes my typing fingers sore!

Looking for an awesome do-it-yourself Alaskan fishing trip this summer? Look no further than Cordova and it’s sick, off-the-charts coho fishing — most of which can be easily accessed by car! Trusty side-kick Reilly and I explored the Cordova road system thoroughly last fall and found 60-plus fish days without much trouble at all…on chrome, snowbelly silvers. Read the full report in the January issue of FISH ALASKA Magazine.

Hey, don’t forget that I’ll be doing seminars at the International Sportsmen’s Expositions over the next couple of weekend. The San Mateo show starts today and I’ll be there yakking away about steeies @ 4 PM. Here’s the rest of the schedule:

SAN MATEO
• Jan. 10 @ 4 PM: Steelhead Techniques for Success
• Jan. 13 @ 1PM: River Salmon Techniques

SACRAMENTO
• Jan. 18 @ 6 PM: Steelhead Techniques for Success
• Jan. 20 @ 11 AM: River Salmon Techniques

I’ll expect to see all my buddies out there again, in the audience, acting as hecklers….as usual!

So, if you want to hook into more metalheads (the fish…not the afficinados big hair and loud, distorted guitars) this winter, grab a copy of the January issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine and check out my “Tips of the Trade” column — this month’s topic: Pulling plugs for steelies.

And if you’ve got even more time to spend on the john, read my “Angling Adventures” column on Side-Drifting for Steelhead and my feature on fishing Nor Cal’s Smith River, both in the Jan. issue of Western Outdoors Magazine.

I’ll be yakking with the motley crew (that’s c-r-e-w, not c-r-u-e) of the No. 1 rated outdoors radio show in the country, Northwest Wild Country Radio, Saturday morning sometime between 6 am and 8 am. If you’re in the great Northwest, tune into Sports Radio KJR 950 AM in Seattle.

Redding, California doesn’t usually come to mind in conversations about top-notch fishing destinations, but it should. Whether it’s the world-class rainbow trout fishery below the Sundial Bridge on the Sacramento River (seen here), the huge number of big Chinook salmon that come back to the river each fall, the varied and exciting salmon, trout, bass and panfish possibilities in huge Shasta Lake, California’s largest kokanee in nearby Whiskeytown Reservoir, the salmon and steelhead of the Trinity River or all the classic blue ribbon trout fishing within easy reach at places like Fall River, Baum Lake and Hat Creek, Redding’s got it all.

Check out the latest issue of Western Outdoors Magazine for the in-depth article I did on fishing the Redding area.

Before you quit your day job and give full-time guiding a go, you first need to get an inside glimpse of what the gig’s really all about. Hint: being able to catch fish on a daily basis is actually a very small part of the whole deal. To find out more, check out my article on guiding in the latest issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine .