AROUND THE WILD FIRE: Just showing off
Aug. 26, 2007

The concept for the Wild Fire page took awhile to coalesce, but the final product is almost exactly what I envisioned in the first place: this is an online journal for the extended Wild Country family, friends, and interesting people we've met on our journies.

This page will be bloggier than the Wild Blog, and it won't be nearly as newsy as the Fish Wire. But it'll damn sure be a good place to pull up a chair and spend some time.

Welcome to the Wild Fire.

-JS

WILD FIRE: Trey Carskadon on the mend following heart attack
NEW Nov. 18, 2008 / 7:45 p.m

PORTLAND, Ore. - I just got word that Pacific Northwest fishing champion Trey Carkadon suffered a heart attack last weekend. Trey, who currently serves as president of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association and is one of the primaries of BDC Advertising in Oregon City, is resting comfortably at home after being treated at Meridian Park Hospital in Portland over the weekend.

Trey has been a longtime trusted source on West Coast salmon issues, and served as an in-studio co-host during the Everett Coho Derby a couple of years ago. He's been a good, good personal friend, an enthusiastic supporter of Northwest Wild Country, and a tireless soldier in the battle to save PNW salmon and steelhead.

Sincere wishes on a speedy recovery to a great friend of the Wild Country crew, and a great friend of Northwest fisheries.

You've worked hard enough for awhile, Trey. Time to take a long-overdue break. We'll save your spot in the hogline for you, buddy.

See the Ifish thread about Trey, and leave your comments here.

-JS

WILD FIRE: Shelton's new album hits stores aross the country this week
NEW Nov. 17, 2008 / 8:00 p.m.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Yeah, yeah, I know. A NASHVILLE dateline, and a headline about a country music singer?!?

Even though my bio page is laced with references to Metallica and Eric Clapton, I'm from country roots. My dad is one of the best country-rhythm guitar players I know, and I grew up listening to Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins and Chet Atkins.

So, get off me, already!

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of spending some time with Blake Shelton researching a magazine story on celebrity outdoorsmen. I liked the guy instantly: he was gracious, down-to-earth and funny, and proved to be a total bow-hunting fool. I took Blake and his tour manager out to Skookum Archers in Tacoma, and watched him shoot the hell out of the target course down there. He was more excited about showing me videos of his big Kansas whitetail buck than talking about music.

This is a dude I'd gladly invite to elk camp.

Heads up to all you Wild Country country-music fans out there: Shelton's new album - titled "Startin' Fires" - is available in stores as of today (Nov. 15). I've blazed through the album, and am pretty sure that, if you liked his previous stuff, you'll like this one.

And, just for old time's sake, I think I'm breaking out "Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs" for intro music this weekend.

-JS

WILD FIRE: Hogasaurus Rex - which is bigger?
Oct. 29, 2008 / 10:15 p.m.

A recent thread on Piscatorial Pursuits got me looking through old photos of Hogasaurus steelhead, and I stumbled across a photo of Eli Rico with a Skykomish steelie (left) that taped out at roughly 30 pounds.

Which begs the question: which of these two fish is bigger? The Sasquatch-sized buck on the right, or the deep-bodied Sky bruiser on the left?

We'll never know ... but it sure is fun to argue about it, ain't it?

-JS

WILD FIRE: Forgot about this YouTube video with Kevin Gogan ...
Oct. 12, 2008 / 5:30 p.m.

We've cajoled Kevin "Pro Bowl Ejectee" Gogan out of bed and into the Wild Country studio several times over the past few years, and they've always been some of our funniest shows of the year.

We don't talk much about Gogan's two Super Bowl rings or his 14-year NFL career, blocking for Hall-of-Famers like Emmett Smith and Troy Aikmen. We don't even talk much about fishing.

Oh no. None of that. Our on-air conversations with Gogan ALWAYS come back around to his ejection from the Pro Bowl, and his Sports Illustrated cover as "The NFL's Dirtiest Player".

I stumbled upon this old gem from YouTube today, filmed with Gogan and Jackass alum Danger Ehren. Classic Gogan.

For those of you who don't remember Kevin Gogan, go check out his Wikipedia entry for the basics, and then add these facts to flush out his bio: 1). He's a fishing fool who roomed with Wild Country co-host Tom Nelson at the University of Washington; 2). He's served as an NFL analyst for an online entertainment website NBX.com; 3). He was the first player ever ejected from the Pro Bowl after an ... ahem ... "altercation" with Neil Smith that resulted in Gogan kicking Smith in the yarbs on national TV.

We'll probably convince Goges to hit the studio again around the Super Bowl, but in the meantime, check out the YouTube video above (and I dare you, try NOT to laugh at "check the oil").

-JS

WILD FIRE: Our Wild Country buddies hit the killing fields for 2008 season
Oct. 11, 2008 / 3:00 p.m.

ARLINGTON, Wash. - They're killin' me. Just absolutely frickin' killin' me. They're coming to full draw and firing a broadhead right through my heart.

I'm referring to the far-flung members of the Northwest Wild Country family, and the sudden deluge of photos and "you shoulda been there!" messages that hit my inbox this week.

Antelope, trophy Wyoming muleys, a trio of eastern Oregon muleys ... aarrgh! Killin' me, I say!

Hunting season just kicked off throughout the West Coast, and as the photo of Del "Tuna Dog" Stepens (above) attests, our Wild Country buddies have already put some big, big bucks on the ground.

Season of firsts: Buzz Ramsey of Pure Fishing kicked it off in September with his first-ever Oregon antelope (pictured at right), and then followed it up this week with an Oregon mule deer (as did his son Wade). Stephens picked up the baton last week with the first big-game animal of his archery career: that beautiful Wyomine muley at the top of the post.

The funny think about Del's trophy is that he was stalking a whitetail buck when this big mossyhorned brute wandered by.

With the deer season just starting this weekend in Washington, I'd expect more of these cyber "neener neeners" to be in my mailbox soon. Endsley, you're on the clock!

Check back later for more.

-JS

WILD FIRE: Swanny goes coho loco on Cowlitz, gears for Chehalis system
Oct. 3, 28 / 4 p.m.

CAMELOT PARK, Wash. - Some guys really know how to hurt you. Take Bill "Swanny" Swann, for instance.

Last Saturday, Swanny was sitting in the Wild Country studio as a guest co-host, talking the talk about coho on the Cowlitz River. By Wednesday, he was also walking the walk.

The following text message hit my phone on Thursday from the wandering Swanny. Turns out that the coho fishing in southwest Washington has been ... eh ... pretty damn good this week, to say the least.

"Yesterday on the little C we caught 9 samon. 2 kings 8 silvers. Today 12 salmon, 2 kings 10 silvers 5 jacks. Water's come up brought all fish in."

As has been the case throughout the West this year, Swanny's Cowlitz coho have routinely run bigger on average than previous year classes. There aren't nearly as many fish headed down the Puget Sound pipeline through Sekiu, but the Columbia and Grays Harbor systems are apparently the places to be for teener coho like the one Swanny's holding above.

-JS

WILD FIRE: A & A = B.C. guides with the "women's touch"
Aug. 28, 2007

Girls and boys, meet Adrienne Comeau and April Vokey, the head guides for Women Sportfishing in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.

Girls, you want to grow up to be just like Adrienne and April. You want to be able to dress in pink, have nice nails, and be able to cast a spey rod a country mile.

Boys, you just wish you could cast like Adrienne and April.

Women Sportfishing operates out of Chillwack, B.C., and offers profesionally guided sturgeon, steelhead, salmon and trout trips on the Fraser, Pitt, Harrison and Vedder rivers, and on various interior B.C. lakes. The WS crew operates out of custom North River sleds, and provides their female clients with the cat's ass in fly and casting/spinning tackle, waders, etc.

These trips - and the whole Women Sportfishing business philosophy - are based on two undisputible facts: 1). Female participation in sportfishing is one of the biggest sources of potential growth in the sport; 2). Sometimes women just want to learn from women. No offense, guys, but sometimes we're just crappy teachers.

Not so with A & A.

"It's so amazing, the number of women who are getting into the sport," Comeau says. "I love to help them realize that they can fish, too."

US Fish & Wildlife Service statistics support WS's philosophy: roughly 7.6 million women fish every year in the United States, and one out of every four anglers on the water is female. If that's not proof enough, check out the national success of the Women's Bassmaster Tour, and the growth in women's outdoors events and organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

Washington Outdoor Women hosts upwards of 130 women every September for their two-day fishing/hunting/outdoors clinics. Northwest Women Flyfishers has 120 members.

Adrienne will be at Cabela's this Saturday, 2-3 p.m, for a seminar on the opportunities for women in Pacific Northwest fisheries. Dudes, you owe it to your daughters, sisters, wives, moms and grandmas to bring them out to see her seminar.

-JS

WILD FIRE: Fish that don't bite ... on hooks
Aug. 27, 2007

Anybody else here a diver?

I've been diving since I was 18, and have had my share of face-to-face encounters with fish like the moray eels shown on this page. If you want a sincere appreciation for saltwater fish, spend a little time in their environment.

The moray eels in the following pictures were snapped by Wild Country buddy Chris Shaffer, who's job description is as follows: 1). Travel the world; 2). Have fun; 3). Take photos.

Shaffer has been a repeat guest on Wild Country, and I've travelled with him on fishing excursions to Ireland, B.C., the Yukon Territory and Panama. We've had our share of adventures (including almost being eaten by a grizzly bear in the Yukon), but I've been on his ass for years to get his open-water dive certification. Shaffer finally took the plunge this year, and he's obviously taking his study of fish to a whole 'nother level.

These photos are from a trip last week to the Republic of Dominica, where Shaffer and some buddies made multiple clear-water dives and encountered everything from rays to sharks.

FISHOLOGY 101: Morays will eat your fingers if you screw around with them. Check this out: the title is "Moray Eel Eats Thumb." Doh!

WILD FIRE: Rico and the Lake Sammamish suave
Aug. 26, 2007

"Here fishy fishy ..."

Every e-mail I get from Eli Rico is the same. No chatter, no jokes, no nothing. He slaps "here fishy fish" in the subject line, presses the "SEND" button, and delivers a load of fish porn.

And this time of year, there's a whole lot o' porn to go around.

For the next 2-3 weeks, Rico's official nickname is "The Butcher of Sammamish". You want a glimpse of the best salmon bite in the Pacific Northwest? Forget about Buoy 10 coho and head out to Lake Sammamish, where Rico puts on a Chinook-catching clinic from mid-August to early September. This fishery is surrounded by Pugetropolis: the lake's shorelines are lined with million-dollar homes, and I swear you can smell the corn dogs from the nearby 7-11 while you're fishing. It's as urban as it gets.

And, it's Rico's personal playground. Year after year, I watch Eli dominate this fishery, while everybody else struggles to figure it out. I've watched angler after hotshot angler roll into the parking lot at Sammamish State Park, spend the next 6 hours trolling around without a nibble, and load up at the end of the day, fishless and cursing.

Eli isn't shy about sharing, either. Wild Country co-host Bill Herzog muscled his way onto Rico's Wooldridge last fall, snooped out e-x-a-c-t-l-y what he was fishing, mimicked it to the last detail ... and still watched helplessly as Rico quadrupled his catch for the day.

The above picture is of a Sammamsih piggy, caught on an evening troll, before the corn dogs got stale at 7-11.

-JS