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HOT BITES: Bluefin tuna?!? It's true ...
NEW July 22, 2009 / 11:45 a.m
OREGON COAST- Cue the music from "Jaws" ...
*Bummm bump ... buuuumm bump ... buuummm bump ..."
There's something lurking in the Pacific Ocean, off the Oregon coast. Something massive. And fast. And hungry. This something is capable of mayhem and destruction. Ask the commercial trollers who have had rods ripped off their gunwales and lines snapped like sewing thread.
That something is Thunnus thynus. The Northern bluefin tuna. BFT. We're on the chase this week on NWWC. |
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HIT BITES: Whackin' 'em on the Yakima ...
NEW June 15, 2009 / 2:45 p.m
YAKIMA, Wash. - Spring Chinook opportunities are dwindling by the day, but, there's at least one location in eastern Washington where a 10-hookup day is still possible.
The photo above is courtesy of longtime NW Wild Country source Eli Rico of Hot Shot Guide Service. The fishery: the Yakima River, which, for most of the 2009 season, has been vitually unfishable due to runoff.
"We had a stellar day on Saturday, but they bumped the water up on us on Sunday and it shut them down," Rico told me today. "It's just a matter of finding a pod of fish and working them over. They're typical hatchery fish: as soon as they move the water up, those fish get lockjaw and shoot up over the dam."
The window to hit the Yak is open about as wide as it'll ever be over the next 10 days, so, it might be time to make some end-of-June plans for the Yakima Valley.
"Next week is the peak of the run according to the biologist," Rico says.
Hot Bait: Firecured eggs and chrome/red UV Spin-N-Glos. |
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JUNE 2, 2009
8SKYKOMISH R. (10:30 a.m.)
HOT (NOT!) OPENER: "It was pretty slow. We got one steelhead and one Chinook and saw one other fish caught, from the bank. I know there has to be some fish in there, but you have to put it right on their nose. We had about 8 inches of visibility."
HOT BAIT: "We fished artificials all morning, and a couple of seconds after we put the first bait on, boom, fish on. Second pass, boom, we had a bite and missed it. Right now with the off-colored water, it's definitely a bait show. Everything we caught was on Pautzke Fire Cure, prawns included."
HOT SPOTS: "High water, fish high: from the Wallace down. If it gets down below 4,000 cfs, fish from Sultan down. If you're looking for steelhead, there's nobody fishing up high now. Steelhead heading straight to the hatchery are up high. Plus, the higher in the system you go, the cleaner water will be."
HOT SOURCE: Eli Rico, Hot Shot Guide Service
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8S. VANCOUVER I. (10:45 a.m.)
HOT SPRINGS: "There have been reports of springs up to 35 pounds on the weekend with a mixture of both wild and hatchery fish (out of Sooke)."
HOT SPOTS: "The best fishing has been near Possession Point, Sherringham Point and Muir Creek."
HOT BAITS: "Most anglers fishing for springs are using anchovies or herring in Rhys Davis Anchovy Specials or JDF Teasers in Chartreuse Glow, Green and Purple Haze colors. The best hootchies or squirts to try are the Purple Haze, Army Truck or White. The best flashers have been the Silver Betsy and the Hot Spot Red/Silver. With spoons try Mongoose, Cop Car or any Green/Glow color combinations with 4-inch Gypsies, Titans and Coyotes. "
HOT HALI: "XL herring and/or Octopus are the most popular baits for halibut."
HOT SOURCE: Island Outfitters in Victoria, B.C.
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8AREA 8-2 & 9 (10:45 a.m.)
HOT TIDES: "We had a good incoming tide this morning (at Possession), and ended up with 3 lings and a nice sea bass. I like a tide that has some movement to it. I like a foot an hour. That's my favorite tide ... of course, with no wind. I don't really like those no-measure tides. If you don't get any tidal movement, you don't cover any ground, and I think those lings like a bait that moves by them. They have to come out and make a decision, and it doesn't seem like they bite very aggressively on a flat bait."
P.M HOT SPOT: "We're fishing off of Hat Island this afternoon. A Tuesday afternoon and nobody's around, I figured we'd stop here and take a look."
HOT BAITS: "Sand dabs and shiner perch out at Possession. I use jigs here at Hat quite a bit, and smaller baits. I don't use the sand dabs here as much.
HOT SOURCE: Gary Krein, All Star Charters |
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MAY 29, 2009
8SANDY RIVER (11:45 a.m.)
HOT TROLL: "We're gonna start seeing some fish caught in that (lower river) troll fishery pretty soon. The Columbia (temperatures) finally bumped up a little, so that should be a good bite for the weekend."
HOT LOOK-AHEAD: "I think June is gonna be good for steelhead. The Sandy used to be a late May/early June fishery, but now it's more of a more June/July fishery. They switched it up to broodstock fish, and I think they just come back later.
HOT SPOTS: "Late June, bobber fishing around Dodge Park and higher in the system will be really good. Place like Dodge Park, the old Marmot access, the mouth of the Salmon River, Cedar Creek."
HOT SPINNER: "Anywhere in the river through June and July should be good with spinners."
HOT SOURCE: Rob Brown, Jack's Snack and Tackle
8BANKS LAKE (11:35 a.m.)
HOT SMALLIES: "We're right on the verge of the smallmouth and largemouth going on the spawn. The males are already starting to move up and claming territory and the females are holding off just a little deeper. The next couple of weeks, it's going to be pretty fast and furious on smallmouth."
HOT SPOTS: "Anywhere from 1 to 7 feet where you can find flat, hard clay bottoms or gravel/sand/boulder areas. Main lake points, too. Smallies virutally spawn wherever they want on this lake, as long as they have a little flat, hard bottom."
HOT BAITS: "Tubes, grubs, Senkos, - stay with basic, natural (colors). One of my favorite is Yamamoto dark pumpkin, 176 brown, and green pumpkin/copper. The crayfish are exhibiting a little orange tint now, so if you fish a craw, tip the claws with a little orange. Also, small jerkbaits like the Lucky Craft 78SP - primarily in Sunfish and Ghost Minnow - are great."
HOT SOURCE: Coulee Playland in Electric City
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8L. COLUMBIA (10:45 a.m.)
HOT DEPTHS: "(Sturgeon) fishing kicked in. They're actually bangin' pretty good, ahead of schedule. We had our limit by 7:30 this morning. We're seeing a few limits of nice fat fish, as the ocean fish have started to nose in the river, as well as the river fish moving into the area. Some anglers are still fishing the NORMAL spots for this time of year and are still not having great success. The fish that are coming from upriver usually fly into the flats, but they've really been kegging up in 100 feet of water this year. Those of us who have been fishing super-deep water have been whacking them. Those who have been fishing the traditional flats - 2 to 15 feet, up to 35-foot pockets - have been struggling."
HOT BAITS: "Great sand shrimp and anchovies available now. I'm using quite a bit of cured squid, especially when we're fishing deep and there are some trash fish problems. I use a "taco" where I'll take sand shrimp and wrap it in squid meat. The scent and taste of shrimp is still there, which they love."
HOT SOURCE: Val Perry, Perry's Fishing Adventures
8DRANO LAKE (7:45 a.m.)
HOT FISHING: "Fish are still pouring in there - we went 9 for 14 (last time we fished it), all chrome-bright fish, and NOBODY is there. The water had just gotten to 51.4 degrees, so it's just warming up. It's going to continue to be a good fishery."
HOT, HOT, HOT HERRING: "They're biting on hot herring. Hot, hot, hot, HOT herring - I'm using huge amounts of several different sulfites. I had to go back and re-learn some of my high-school chemistry. And most of it is straight natural (color). We've caught a few fish on green and blue, but I'm mostly running really small herring in natural. It's hard to find red-label herring now, so I'm cutting a green-label down about 2 inches."
HOT TIP: "Gotta use a Fish Flash and a 7-foot leader. A Fish Flash! Who would've ever thought you'd use a Fish Flash in Drano?"
HOT SOURCE: Bill "Swanny" Swann, Swanny's Fishing Adventures
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8WILLIAMS LAKE (7:55 a.m.)
HOT STOCKING: "I've put two batches of Kamloops (rainbows) in so far, and now the state is adding tiger trout, too. We have 250 springs coming in, and the lake is deep and full of food - we can support heavy stocks of fish. We'll put one more batch (of Kamloops) in, too."
HOT SPOTS: "People are catching a lot of fish right here off the resort docks. Also, past the public launch in the reeds to Dottie's Tree, fishing in 12 to 18 feet, the fish are coming off the reeds and feeding on chironomids. Another good spot is between Tree 11 and Twin Pines, across the lake about a mile up from us. Fish feed pretty heavy there, so they school up. They don’t get a lot of big ones there – most 12 to 14 inches, but they’re easy to catch."
HOT BUGGER: "A lot of guys are fly-fishing, catching fish about every cast on a black Woolly Bugger with a red beadhead."
HOT SOURCE: Jerry Klinkenburg, Klink's Williams Lake Rresort
8LENICE/NUNNALLY (8 a.m.)
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS: "Pretty much all the desert lakes that are quality lakes, they're starting to suffer from oxygen deprivation because temperatures are getting too high. Once they hit 70, there isn’t much oxygen left in the water and fish have to conserve energy. Night fishing is great when that happens, pulling leeches around. You get the bigger fish - the predators - that don’t come up and sip on chrironomids or mayfly during the day, They wait until night and cruise around and eat the big protein like pumpkinseed sunfish"
HOT DEPTH: "You want to keep it close to surface so it makes a good silhouette. They'll feed vertically, so if they look up and see that silhouette, they'll hit it so hard it almost jerks the rod out of your hand. If they’re up cruising on the surface, they'll hit almost anything they bump into. I like an intermediate line that’s just barely under the surface."
HOT SOURCE: Tim Irish, Worley Bugger Fly Co. in Ellensburg
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MAY 26, 2009
8LAKE CHELAN (11:45 a.m.)
HOT SPOT: "From 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., troll those little F7 FlatFish 5 feet from the bottom in that indeterminate flat between Rocky Point and the Bar. Sometimes the fish are out in the flat in depths between 170 and 190. Other fish are stacked in the dips that drop below 200 foot to as deep as 220 feet. Really keep working those lures when you have a fish on. Multiple hookups are very common working this pattern."
HOT KOKES: "The best combo continues to be a Mack’s Lures Flashlite in front of a Kokanee Pro Wedding Ring with 2 red hooks. Bait that combination with Pautzke’s Fire Corn. You will want to run your combination just above bands of fish that are 10 to 20 feet thick."
HOT SOURCE: Anton Jones, Darrell and Dad's Guide Service
8FRASER RIVER (11:50 a.m.)
HOT LEVELS: "The Fraser river is holding well with good water conditions. This will change at any time, with weather patterns playing a key role in how the runoff or freshet will occur. Presently it has dropped slightly and most of the debris has cleared off the surface. There will always be bank erosion at this time of the season, which will drop cottonwoods into the river until August. Other than that, the river is in decent shape for this time of year."
HOT TIP: "There have been no firm reports regarding salmon openings for this year - but plenty of speculation. It's expected that we will see the same late chinook opening for mid June or early July with a retention slot size until August, followed by the regular chinook retention regulations of any adult Chinook."
HOT SOURCE: Marc Laynes, Cascade Fishing Adventures
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8POTHOLES RES. (12:10 p.m.)
HOT TIMING: "From now until the kids get out of school, there'll hardly be anybody here, so this is a great time to fish. The lake has given us a tiny hint of starting to drop, but right now, it's full. It's one big pool."
HOT BASS: "Smallmouth fishing is very good, starting right behind the MarDon office. Largmouth have been a little tougher up in the Dunes - they're tucked into the cover, and you have to have the right (gear) to get to them. I advise flippin' jigs on heavy line to get them out of the cover. I like a black and blue 1/2-ounce jig with rattles and a Yamamoto 5-inch black craw with blue claws. That, or one of the many Berkley products as a jig trailer.
HOT SOURCE: Mike Meseburg, MarDon Resort
8COWLITZ RIVER (12:20 p.m.)
HOT LEVELS: "Water was up over the weekend. They raise it 1,000 cubic feet every Tuesday to flush smolts, but they'll lower it back down again tonight. Even if it's high, though, we'll catch fish."
HOT TIP: "Most of the guys who come here don't know how to fish that high water. Nobody's back-bouncing shrimp and eggs or pulling divers with shrimp/eggs. Some guys are pulling plugs, and they'll get summer-runs, late winter-runs and a few springers."
HOT PLUGS: "You'll see a lot of Brad's Wigglers and the old Storm Wiggle Warts. When the water is colored, it's a lot of blue pirate, green pirate, metallic red with black back. When sun comes out, go to all silver with an orange back or all silver with black back. Switch around."
HOT SOURCE: Don Glaser, Barrier Dam Campground
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8SOOKE, B.C. (12:30 p.m.)
HOT SPOTS: "Salmon fishing was picking up for (Chinook) this week. There have been reports of springs up to 32 pounds with a mixture of both wild and hatchery fish. The best fishing has been near Possession Point, Sherringham Point and Muir Creek."
HOT BAITS: "Most anglers fishing for springs are using anchovies or herring in Rhys Davis Anchovy Specials or JDF Teasers in Chartreuse Glow and Purple Haze colors. The best hootchies or squirts to try are the Purple Haze, Electric Chair or White. With spoons try Mongoose, Cop Car or any Green/Glow color combinations with 4-inch Gypsies, Titans and Coyotes. "
HOT SOURCE: Island Outfitters in Victoria, B.C.
8ICICLE RIVER (1:40 p.m.)
HOT LEVELS: "(The water) is up. If you're in a drift boat, it'll take 6 ounces to get down. If you're on the shore, it's about a 12-ounce pyramid sinker to hold. Drift-fishing is pretty much out of the question right now unless you're on private ground somewhere."
HOT SPOTS: "The best shore-fishing spot is about 600 yards down from the hatchery, off East Leavenworth Road, above the last bridge before the hatchery. That'll hold about 20 people in there, The other hole that holds about 6 from the shore is the Stump Hole, down from the bridge about 1 1/2 miles. Go up E. LEavenworth up about 3 miles."
HOT BAIT: "Herring is the best bait now while the water is up. Bring some live sand shrimp when it goes down - they'll chase those things all over the river."
HOT SOURCE: Don Talbot, Hooked on Toys in Wenatchee
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MAY 19, 2009
8VICTORIA LAKES (9 a.m.)
HOT TROUT: "We’re getting reports of chironomid and other insect hatches on most of the lakes in the Victoria area. Fly anglers will find bloodworms, chironomids, leeches and streamer patterns are very effective flies now. Sunrise Powerbait Eggs with Shrimp scent and green Powerbait paste have been the hottest bait recently. Gear fishermen have been doing OK with the new Baitrix Trout lures in Holographic colours, especially for larger fish. They have also been doing well trolling Luhr Jensen Needlefish spoons in a variety of colours or Tomic Wee-Tads in frog or rainbow. Flatfish and/or Kwikfish have also been effective in sizes 7 and smaller in Frog, Yellow with Red Spots or Blue/Silver."
HOT SOURCE: Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters
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8NEAH BAY (11:30 p.m.)
HOT COMBO: "It's been bonkers, just absolute mayhem. Last time out (on Saturday), we went offshore off Blue Dot for ling cod. There's a lot of spots out there that have a lot of big ling cod - they're thriving out there. We happened to get a whopper (halibut) off that spot, too."
HOT TIP: "We use nothing but 2-pound copper pipes for the ling cod. When we go to the other spots for halibut, it's white or white/blue split-tail scampies. As long as they have some white in it, they can find it. A lof people think you need something green, but that's Puget Sound stuff. In the ocean, white is the way to go."
HOT SOURCE: Mike Jamboritz, Jambo's Sportfishing
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8TOFINO, B.C. (12:00 p.m.)
HOT TIMING: "Over the past week in the Tofino/Clayoquot Sound area, Chinook salmon fishing has increased dramatically, with consistent action and catches. Most Chinook Salmon have been caught offshore from Tofino approximately 4-6 miles, while trolling near clouds of bait. On the tougher weather days, the salmon fishing inshore has been very good as well, with spots very near Tofino harbour creating close and reliable options.
HOT SPOTS: "The offshore areas for salmon fishing have also been hot spots for halibut fishing, with many halibut being caught while trolling for salmon."
HOT SOURCE: Jay Mohl, Jay's Clayoquot Ventures |
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BASS REPORT: BOOYAH! ... part II
NEW May 11, 2009 / 6:50 p.m
Now listen here, Glen and Cami Bayer. I'm a bass-fishing fool, but y'all are starting to make me look silly ...
Come to think of it, you're making ALL of us look silly!
Man, if you're a largemouth bass swimming around in Long or Hicks Lake in the South Sound, you're going to meet the Bayers. Guaranteed.
8 CLICK HERE to check out the latest from our Wild Country Crash Crew bass assassins! |
8SOOKE, B.C. (5/11)
8CAMPBELL R, B.C. (5/11)
8AREA 8-2 (5/6)
8Digging for springer
passage nuggets (9:40 a.m.)
8Love American (Lake) Style
(posted 5:05 p.m./May 11)
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MAY 6, 2009
8MINERAL LAKE (9:35 a.m.)
HOT BAIT: "The guys catching big fish are trolling olive or black Wooley Buggers on the surface. We had one group of six gentleman who all got fish weighing 5 pounds or more trolling on the surface. There are some fish being caught on green Wedding Rings with a half nightcrawler. Dock fishermen are using various color PowerBait eggs."
HOT SPOT: "Most of the big fish are coming from the north end of the lake. The surface temperature is 47 degrees - a little chilly, but that's why the big fish are on the surface.".
HOT SOURCE: Mineral Lake Resort
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8WESTPORT (10:25 a.m.)
HOT BAIT: "Ling cod fishing is really good. Rockfish are a little finicky right now, but we have some live bait now, so I'm hoping that helps the rockfish bite. We're fishing live anchonvies, which seems to work better when they're a little more finicky like this."
HOT COMBO: "We're booking for combo trips for the middle of June, where we go out and catch halibut and then target big ling cod. We go to Sunday only for halibut after next week, so that'll stretch out the halibut fishing."
HOT SOURCE: Randy Ratliff, Westport Sportfishing
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8AREA 8-2 (11:50 a.m.)
HOT BAIT: "We're using mostly sanddabs. I haven't found any shiner perch yet. We've gotten some on jigs, but the bigger ones are all coming on sanddabs. We haven't gotten an undersized ones yet on those - we've had a lot in the 33- to 37-inch range, so, some nice ones.
HOT TIDE: "It's totally tide-oriented: it has to be moving a little bit. The bite usually comes on right after the tide starts running one way or another. You can't sit in one place all day."
HOT SOURCE: Capt. Gary Krein, All Star Charters |
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MAY 5, 2009
8LAKE CHELAN (11:25 a.m.)
HOT BAIT: "When (the lakers) are biting, the (bait/lure) hasn't mattered a lot. I'm fishing U20 and T4 FlatFish in luminous chartreuse or purple glow and Russian Salmon Wobblers by Critter Gitter. That's a nice wide-bodied spoon that thumps back and forth at slow speeds. Also, an Ace High with a hunk of GULP! or fillet of herring or squawfish."
HOT SPOT: "There's an ideterminate flat between Wapato and Rocky Point that we've always motered over to go to thelower basin or up to the Yacht Club. That flat has been the most productive area for me the last two weeks. It's best in this spot that goes to 205 to 217 feet, surrounded by water that's 175 to 190 feet deep."
HOT SOURCE: Anton Jones, Darrell and Dad's Guide Service
8KALAMA RIVER (1:25 p.m.)
HOT BAIT: "Jigs, shrimp, eggs, a few people fishing with spinners ... it's really a mix of things."
HOT SPOT: "The Canyon has been the most productive the past couple of weeks. It's really slowed down in the lower end."
HOT SOURCE: Prichard's Western Anglers (360-673-4690)
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8DRANO LAKE (11:35 a.m.)
HOT BAIT: "I'm thinking that I need to go find some more red-label herring. I'm just putting the boat on the trailer now - we went 3 for 6 - but it's turning into a herring bite. I used some of the medium-sized Fish Flashes I use in the lower river, and, I'll be damned: they work! I'm going to switch to the smaller ones, though. The bite has been a little different: it's a half-herring, half-prawn deal. (Guide Bob) Barthlow has been knocking the hell out of them because he's been running half herring on his rods. It sure seems to be turning into a herring bite this year."
HOT TIP: "The water (in Drano) has warmed up a little bit, but it's still around 48-49. Usually you want to see it around 52 or so."
HOT SOURCE: Jim Stahl, J & J Guide Service
8SOL DUC RIVER (2:10 p.m.)
HOT BAIT: "The best techniques have been float fishing, or diver and bait. If you're float fishing, stick with sand shrimp or eggs in the deeper, slow holes. If you're fishing with diver and bet, use a No. 20 Jet Diver and a shrimp/egg combo, also in the deeper holes. "
HOT SOURCE: Bob Kratzer, Angler's Guide Service
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8COWLITZ R. (12:50 p.m.)
HOT RUN: "The Cowlitz has the best run of winter-run steelhead we've had in 6 years. We've got more winter-run steelhead in the last four weeks than we've had the last 5 years COMBINED. Last week we got 630, the week before that we got 1,628, the week before that we had 1,200, and we had almost 1,000 the week before that. The fishing has been pretty damn good."
HOT BAIT: "Bank guys are using tons of sand shrimp and eggs on jigs. Live sand shrimp is the best. Hardware is good, too: No. 4/5 Blue Foxes in silver/blue or red/black stripe, Pixees and Little Cleos in silver/green, blue/greens are really good. Guys fishing plugs are using Brad's Wigglers in blue/red herringbone or metallic red with black back."
HOT SOURCE: Don Glaser, Barrier Dam Campground
8VEDDER RIVER (2:20 p.m.)
HOT BAIT: "River's jumped up a little bit. Visibility is about a foot or so. It's fshable, but it went from really nice to not so nice. When the water's dirty like that, you can use pretty much anything. You have something with a bunch of marabou, dark cerise/black or orange, you're good."
HOT SOURCE: Fred's Custom Tackle in Chilliwack |
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© 2009, Northwest Wild Country Radio Network, All Rights Reserved
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