8NWWC TUNA REPORT 8NWWC HOT BITES REPORT 8NWWC BASS REPORT 8NWWC STEELHEAD REPORT 8NWWC CRASH TEST PAGE

NWWC FEATURE: Prepping for July 1 crab opener, "Deadliest Catch" style
NEW June 30, 2009 / 12:45 p.m

SEATTLE - I feel like I’m about to ask Tiger Woods how to hit through the windmill on the local putt-putt course. But, I find myself at the lunch table with Capt. Keith Colburn of the 156-foot, Seattle-based crab vessel Wizard – you may have seen him on a little program called “Deadliest Catch” – and, dammit, I can’t pass on the opportunity.

Dungeness crab season has been quietly percolating in some West Coast fisheries since June. The Puget Sound season opens July 1 from Sekiu to Tacoma, and the summer Dungie fishery is at full, raging boil (pardon the pun) up and down the West Coast shortly after Fourth of July. So, here I have access to a guy who drives one of the most productive boats in the history of the Bering Sea’s infamous crab fishery.

What do you think I’m going to ask him … something about his fan club?!?

8CLICK HERE to read the rest of our exclusive "Deadliest Catch" crab Q&A with Capt. Keith Colburn.

-JS

NWWC FEATURE: Which PNW outdoors towns are the best? You decide!
NEW June 28, 2009 / 11:05 a.m

ARLINGTON, Wash. - I'm biased, of course, but my buddies back in New York at Outdoor Life have some 'splaining to do. Perusing the second annual "Top 200 Towns for Sportsmen", which OL published late this spring, my pride was a little bit wounded.

So should yours be if you live in Forks, Walla Walla, La Grande, Republic, Brookings, Wenatchee, Hermiston or Astoria. Your towns didn't make the list. Matter of fact, only a handful of locales from the outdoors-mad Pacific Northwest squeezed into the Top 200.

Lewiston, Idaho was ranked No. 1, Idaho Falls and Pocatello came in at No. 3 and No 5, respectively, but only five towns in Washington and Oregon made the Top 100 (Tillamook was the highest Beaver State town at No. 49, while Moses Lake was the Evergreen State's highest ranked at No. 52)

Which brings me to this debate: which towns in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia) are the very best to take residence in if you're a dedicated outdoorsman or woman? What are the PNW's best zip codes for hunters, anglers and outdoor geeks like you and I?

Help me rank them: There's a new list starting, as of today: the Pacific Northwest's Top 20 Outdoors Towns. But, while the boys at Outdoor Life relied on the black-and-white of a spreadsheet to build their Top 200, THIS new list is all up to you and your brothers and sisters in the blinds, jet sleds and tree stands throughout our great region.

Help me out here. Give me your best suggestions, and the reasons why Curlew or Roseburg or Klickitat or Kamloops should be ranked in the PNW Top 20. Go surf around your favorite Pacific Northwest discussion boars, pick up the threads on the PNW Top 20, and chime in.

8Or, drop me an e-mail: joel@nwwildcountry.com.

-JS

BASS REPORT: Russell takes home winner's check at Umatilla FLW
NEW June 27, 2009 / 10:05 p.m

UMATILLA, Ore. - Fair warning: If Neil Russell ever challenges you to a friendly bass-fishing wager on the Columbia River, just hand him your wallet.

The Nampa, Idaho-based Ranger pro added $105,000 to his bank account Saturday afternoon after weighing 10 pounds, 09 ounces of smallmouth in the final day of the WalMart FLW Series Western Division tournament in Umatilla, Ore. Russell’s five-fish limit pushed him to 47-10 overall for the tournament, just ahead of Oregon’s Cody King (47-05) for the championship of the richest bass event ever held in Oregon.  

8 CLICK HERE for our exclusive coverage of the final day of the FLW Umatilla event.

-JS