Here it is the first of August already the weather is starting to cool down a bit and salmon season is here. I have already logged in more road miles and worked lakes and rivers for trout and steelhead than I had planned. I am over budget, beat up, tired, and in need of some rest. I have been told more than once this year that I need to slow down and I am constantly reminded that I am not 50 anymo...

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This was a week of hot weather and some hot fishing, too. Things are looking up for anglers that are after summer run salmon on the Columbia River. Just in time, as the big Budweiser-Lowrance King Salmon Derby in Brewster is coming up this weekend. It looks like conditions are just right for a very successful three days of salmon fishing. All it takes is for the water temperature in the Ok...

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It was quite an ambitious schedule my brother Brett and I had put together for our angling adventures this past weekend. Our first stop was American Lake up in Pierce County then shooting down south to Cowlitz County launching out of the Kalama Marina. We definitely logged in some miles in search of some hook-ups and I am beat up and tired. I-5 on Sunday’s is always challenging especially in the a...

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This was a very busy weekend on the Columbia River, particularly between Rock Island and Rocky Reach Dams. The 2nd Annual CCA Wenatchee Salmon Derby had anglers running up and down the river from dawn till weigh-in time, trying to catch a winning fish. The fishing was tough this year. Less than 20 fish were brought to the weigh in station. Some blamed it on the phase of the moon, and I a...

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In the past month I have been asked on several occasions do I ever just go fishing for fun? My immediate response is no, it is all business for me. I owe it to my readers to use all of my abilities and talent to work the waters, let them know what I found, what worked for me. Then get as many photos as I can, not only for my columns but my face book page. I do this so not only the anglers that rea...

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Browns Point, WA-Car’s parked along side streets with pedestrians heading down the road, fishing rods in hand. It’s what you would expect with nine-tenths of a million pink salmon heading past the jutting point on their way to the Puyallup River; you and several other bank bound anglers pitching lures as far as you can into the surf for a chance at the large passing schools of salmon, yes, it’s wh...

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Boy, are the salmon coming our way. It’s sure fun to look at the dam counts and see how many kings and sockeye are moving our direction. Fishing was very good on the opener both below Wanapum Dam and at Wenatchee. It did slow a bit last week, but conditions are improving as the salmon numbers pile up at all the hot spots here in the upper Columbia region. When I last checked the numbers ov...

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As I have stated before “don’t be afraid to experience new lakes.” With the recent heat wave pushing the surface temperature in the smaller lakes into the mid to upper seventies it seemed appropriate to head for larger lakes. I will however admit that the long weekend was probably not the ideal time for this adventure with speedboats, water skiers, and jet-ski’s in full bloom. Mayfield Lake was ou...

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Summer run salmon fishing continues to attract a lot of attention here in Central Washington. Both kings and sockeye continue to move up the Columbia in great numbers and anglers are out in force on the many known hot spots on the upper river. You can expect to see heavy traffic from salmon anglers on the Columbia from Rock Island to Rocky Reach Dam this weekend. The 2nd Annual CCA Wenatchee Sa...

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Summer run season is off and running now. Anglers caught a nice mix of kings and sockeye below Wanapum Dam on the opening day of the season, and there were some very nice catches turned in at Hooked on Toys the same day. I fished below Wanapum on the opener with Shane Magnuson of Upper Columbia Guide Service, along with TJ Hester of Kennewick and Audrey Kelly of Leavenworth. This is pretty m...

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Six weeks ago I was asked if I could put together some speakers for angling and hunting seminars, some of the top guides, anglers, and manufacturing reps to share all of their years of experience and knowledge with our troops. I knew this was going to be a very challenging task mainly because most of these folks are booked out about a year ahead. Most people get at least an eight month head start ...

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Both summer-run salmon and sockeye salmon are racing up the Columbia River, and there will be some great fishing when the season opens for Chinook salmon on July 1st. In the mean time I am keeping busy with other fisheries in our region. Fred Lillian was one of the people that took the trip to Belize in April, and he got in touch, to let me know he would be in Pateros staying at the Patero...

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