WILD LINK: Columbia tribes attack management of springer fishery
NEW May 2, 2009 / 5:30 a.m

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Columbia River treaty tribes appear to be ready for a legal battle over the management of the Columbia's spring Chinook fisheries.

In a tersely worded letter penned by Kathryn Brigham, the chair of the Columbia Inter Tribal Fish Commission, the CITFC criticized the WDFW and ODFW and their handling of the past two springer seasons.

8 CLICK HERE to read the letter

WILD LINK: Fillet the eyeFISH way
NEW April 24, 2009 / 7:30 a.m

SEATTLE - Add the following item to your list of summer 2009 "must-have" items: a good fillet knife.

Anyone who surfs the local fishing forums knows The Fishin Physician, eyeFISH, the Keen Eye MD, etc. They're all one guy: Dr. Francis E. One thing is certain, the Good Doc must be a wiz with a scalpel.

8 CLICK HERE for the latest thread on eyeFISH's fillet method.

WILD LINK: JD Richey tackles steelhead on Los Angeles River
NEW April 6, 2009 /7:20 a.m

LOS ANGELES - The photos are, frankly, astounding. But, turn to page 26 of the April issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader and there you see it: action-movie star Jack Damon cradling a mint-bright wild steelhead with the Los Angeles River sludge flowing in the background.

Welcome to the wacky world of writer/guide/Boom Cowboy JD Richey, where 125-pound Chinook swim in the waters of Baltavia and the bait of choice for 8-pound kokanee is a Hebrew National hot dog.

8 CLICK HERE to surf JD's site.

WILD LINK: "Rivers of a Lost Coast" showing in Seattle May 9
NEW April 2, 2009 /2:20 p.m

SEATTLE, Wash. - I normally don't get too jacked up about fly-themed films, but "Rivers of a Lost Coast" - which makes its Seattle premier May 9 as part of a fundraiser for the Wild Steelhead Coalition - looks like a can't-miss for anybody who appreciate the rich history of steelhead fishing on the West Coast.

Looks like some truly cool stuff.

8 CLICK HERE to find out info about "Lost Coast", and for ticket info for the May 9 Seattle showing

WILD LINK: Fly girls, eh
NEW March 23, 2009 / 9:20 a.m

SOMEWHERE IN, B.C. - Canadians love it when you exaggerate their use of "eh". Especially in headlines.

So go check out these two sites by a couple of our favorite Canuck flygirl friends, eh.

8 ADRIENNE COMEAU's The Female Angle

8 APRIL VOKEY's Flygal website

WILD LINK: Sturgeon stranding: hundreds of sturgeon stuck in Port Susan
NEW March 19, 2009 / 4:20 p.m

EVERETT, Wash. - Photos of hundreds of sturgeon stranded on a tide flat in Port Susan north of Everett have been the chatter of the internet the past two days. For good reason.

8 CLICK HERE to see the Ifish thread and check out our podcast chat with WDFW biologist Chad Jackson about this event (will be posted Monday, March 23).

WILD LINK: Wild fish still wild, according to 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
NEW March 15, 2009 / 6:20 p.m

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week upheld federal protection of wild salmon under the Endangered Species Act.

8 CLICK HERE to read the story

WILD LINK: Fetha Styx Art Series calls for cool fishing images
NEW March 16, 2009 / 4:40 p.m

REDMOND, Wash. - Keep this in the back of your mind when you start snapping photos of spring Chinook and trophy winter steelhead.

Our friends over at Fetha Styx are sponsoring a killer new photo/illustration contest called the "Art Series Contest". You can win some kickass Fetha rods, a guided trip with our buddy Eli Rico, and a place on a limited-edition series of t-shirts.

Check it out: in addition to typical hero-shot fish photos, the Fetha Styx judges are also looking for ANY graphic representation of fish that might look cool on a t-shirt.

8 FETHA STYX Art Series Contest info on the Fetha Styx website!

WILD LINK: Persistant egg goo on Gamefishin.com
NEW March 9, 2009 / 11:40 a.m

ARLINGTON, Wash. - How much gunked-up cork do you have on your rods, courtesy of your favorite steelhead bait? There's an interesting egg-goo thread going on Gamefishin.com ...

8 CLICK HERE for the egg goo thread

WILD LINK: Add WAFish.com to your list of fishing web-surfing spots
NEW Feb. 27, 2009 / 7:50 a.m.

SEATTLE, Wash. - Here's another nifty new website to add to your "favorites" list: WA Fish.

Created by 3 Rivers Marine bass pro-staffer Jordan Doucet, WA Fish is a straightforward resource whose mission statement is to "share fishing tips, stories and reports for Washington fishing."

WA Fish is in its infacy, but the foundation as a really cool resource is there: instructional videos, member-contributed blogs, discussion forums, galleries, etc.

Jordan being a bassaholic, you'll naturally find a lot of interaction by Pacific NW bassers, but there are also plenty of WA Fish members who lean heavily toward salmon and steelhead.

-JS

WILD LINK: Hinton's Snoqualmie Falls photo makes National Geographic
NEW Feb. 18, 2009 / 11:30 a.m.

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. - I'm all about cool fishing photos, and the image above captured by Seattle-area photographer Bill Hinton has quickly become one of my favorite. Hinton entered this photo (taken at Snoqualmie Falls) in the 2008 Seattle Times reader photo contest, and darned if it didn't make the pages of National Geographic.

X CLICK HERE to listen to Hinton's description of the photo on the Feb. 21 edition of Northwest Wild Country.

-JS

FEB. 8: Oregonian's Monroe joins us from the Willamette River
NEW Feb. 8, 2009 / 9:15 a.m

PORTLAND, Ore. - With a small flurry of spring Chinook kick-starting the activity level on Portland-area boat ramps last week, Oregonian outdoors columnist Bill Monroe spent Sunday morning searching for "The Sweet Spot". We caught up with Monroe for a quick interview on the way out to the river.
8CLICK HERE to read the story
8CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast

WILD LINK: Albacore karkers, take notes
NEW Jan. 30, 2009 / 11:30 a.m

ARLINGTON, Wash. - Yes, tuna season is still 6 months away, but maybe if you practice for 12 hours a day between now and then, you can be half as fast as this guy.



This video is from the fish market in Male, the capitol of the Maldives Islands. You'll notice that the video runs just over two minutes, and the dude with the knife blazes through two tuna in that time.

A minute per tuna.

How long did it take YOU to get through your last albacore haul out of Westport?

-JS

WILD LINK: Remember the Fishing Geeks?
NEW Jan. 27, 2009 / 8:00 a.m

ARLINGTON, Wash. - Longtime listeners will probably remember Adam Konrad. If not, take a peek at the WildLink video of the day at right.



Konrad - one of a pair of Canadian twins who have dubbed themselves "The Fishing Geeks", young Adam is the holder of the all-tackle world record for rainbow trout, a 43.6-pound behemoth he landed two years ago on Lake Deefenbaker in Saskatchewan.

We had Konrad on the air shortly after he landed that record fish, and will hopefully get him on again when the Geeks break the record. Again.

And break it they will. One peek at the video and you'll understand why I'm so sure of that.

-JS

WILD LINK: Oregon commissioners "need to put away their egos"
NEW Jan. 23, 2009 / 9:45 a.m

PORTLAND, Ore. - A truer sentence hath never been spoken: "Oregon commissioners made their point, but now need to put away their egos and pay closer attention to the ramifications."

This from Bill Monroe of The Oregonian, in a dead-accurate column titled "Spring salmon allocation battle: Oregon's turn".

8READ THE COLUMN here, and check Monroe's column again on Sunday for a follow-up to Friday's Oregon commission meeting.

-JS