NS January 2019

FISHING • HUNTING • NEWS

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Sportsman Northwest

Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource

Volume 11 • Issue 4

Your Complete Hunting, Boating, Fishing and Repair Destination Since 1948.

SEE MORE AT VE RLES.COM!

70th

ANNIVERSARY

PUBLISHER James R. Baker EDITOR Andy Walgamott THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Randy Bauman, Randall Bonner, Jason Brooks, Dennis Dauble, Ben Goldfarb, Scott Haugen, Doug Huddle, Sara Ichtertz, M.D. Johnson, Randy King, Tony Lolli, Buzz Ramsey, Terry Wiest, Dave Workman, Mark Yuasa EDITORIAL FIELD SUPPORT Jason Brooks GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold DESIGNERS Kayla Mehring, Jake Weipert

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CORRESPONDENCE Email letters, articles/queries, photos, etc., to awalgamott@media-inc.com, or to the mailing address below.

ON THE COVER Rob Endsley, cohost of The Outdoor Line on Seattle’s 710 ESPN and a retired Washington steelhead guide, shows off a hatchery winter-run from a Westside river. (JASON BROOKS) DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and get daily updates at nwsportsmanmag.com.

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 4

155 ON THE PROWL FOR BIG CATS

Winter’s a great time to hunt cougars, whether you’re “walking them down” in Washington and Oregon, or chasing them with hounds in North Idaho. The latter place is where Randy Bauman found himself behind a baying pack in search of a nice tom. Bundle up and head afield as the chase begins!

(RANDY BAUMAN)

FEATURES 65

CHINOOK MOOCHERS WANTED Mooching for salmon began on Seattle’s waterfront piers a century ago and though not nearly as popular these days as trolling with downriggers, it’s enjoying something of a resurgence. Mark Yuasa details this old-school tactic that still works for Puget Sound winter blackmouth.

111 I.S.O. A STEELHEADING MAMA? CAREFUL WHAT

YOU WISH FOR, BUB! With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, Sara Ichtertz has a word of advice for unattached Northwest sportsmen or those wanting to get their girlfriends or better halves into fishing: Doing so can lead to life-changing consequences – for the better for both of you!

129 5 MOST MEMORABLE BIRDS M.D. Johnson has killed a lot of ducks, geese and other waterfowl over the decades, but there are some birds that stand out in his memory. From the ginormous to the diminutive, the colorful to the lucky chances, he shares five of the most interesting that have fallen to he and his hunting partners in the greater Northwest.

139 TIME TO GO SNIPE HUNTING (NO, REALLY!) No storms on the radar? Put down the duck gun and pick up a lighter gauge because it’s the perfect time to chase Wilson’s snipe, perhaps the most overlooked hunting opportunity in the Northwest’s marshes and moist fields.

Longtime sniper Randall Bonner of Corvallis has a primer.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Go to nwsportsmanmag.com for details.

NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Periodical Postage Paid at Seattle, WA and at additional mail offices. (USPS 025-251) POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northwest Sportsman, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues), 2-year subscription are $39.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Index Publishing Group offices at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2019 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.

10 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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BUZZ RAMSEY:

Guide Tips for Steelhead Success

For those of us who can’t spend every waking winter moment on the water, there’s another way to learn all there is to know about steelhead – talk to the experts, which is just what Buzz does this issue! Guides Chris Vertopolous and Bill Meyer share their wisdom.

(BILL MEYER)

COLUMNS 85

SOUTH SOUND: Kick Off 2019 With Winter-runs Where once this was an in-between time for steelheading – falling after the big pulse of early hatchery winter-runs arrived and before most wilds returned – it’s now more of a kick-off to the season and the fishing year. Jason shares his go-to waters.

95 WESTSIDER: 40 Years A Steelheader Terry has been roaming the banks of Northwest rivers for steelhead since he was a teenager. In this issue – his last after a six-plus-year run with us – he recounts the highs and lows of his decades on the water.

123 NORTH SOUND: Last Chance For Elk As Steelies Arrive Winter-runs have taken center stage in Washington’s North Sound region, but there’s also a last-gasp chance to put some venison in the freezer. Doug has the details on a primitive weapons any-elk hunt that has been expanded to include archers this season, plus where to look for Nooksack steelhead.

145 CHEF IN THE WILD: Smoke ’Em Chef Randy’s got a new duck hunting buddy – a guy with a backyard smokehouse!

Smoking is a great way to prepare wild game meat as sausages, but there are a few key tips for successfully pulling it off, Randy relates.

151 GUN DOG: The Importance Of Eye Contact What do you do when you want to catch someone’s attention? Well, besides liking and retweeting their posts. That’s right, you establish eye contact with them, and it’s no different with gun pups, paving the “way to having a disciplined hunting dog that will want to please you its whole life.” Scott details how he does it.

167 ON TARGET: Winter Is Time For Reloading This time of year finds Dave retreating to the cozy confines of his workshop and pulling up to his reloading bench. He shares a mini treatise on the multistep process known as “rolling your own” ammo.

12 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

20

(ODFW)

THE BIG PIC: DAM GOOD

We haven’t always had the best relationship with beavers, but a new book spotlights the toothsome rodent’s critical importance to salmon recovery and watershed health.

DEPARTMENTS 17

THE EDITOR’S NOTE Reasons for hope in 2019

29

READER PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD Chinook, game birds, steelhead and more!

33

PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Yo-Zuri, hunting monthly prizes

35

FISHING AND HUNTING NEWS Show season arrives in the Northwest

45

2019 SPORTSMEN’S AND BOAT SHOW CALENDAR Dates, links for all of this year’s events

49

THE DISHONOR ROLL Man arrested for poaching Oregon buck; Big reward for info on illegally killed Wallowa moose; Kudos; Jackass of the Month

53

DERBY WATCH Northwest Salmon Derby Series kicks off; NW Ice Fishing Festival, more upcoming events; Recent results

55

OUTDOOR CALENDAR Upcoming openers, events, deadlines

55

BIG FISH 2018’s new state record fish

77

NEW COLUMN! GUIDE FLY Capt. Ben Zander’s Skinny Herring

174 THE BACK PAGE About that spot …

14 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

THEEDITOR’SNOTE

S

“

tay hopeful.”

Those were the words of Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, when I ran the 2019 Columbia spring and summer Chinook and sockeye forecasts past her in early December.

But they could be about so much more as this year kicks off.

While predictions for the big river’s first runs of salmon don’t look so great, there is some potential good news out there. Hamilton was pointing to a court order to spill more water to aid outmigrating young salmon, and if that’s enforced, “you’ll see even better smolt to adult returns, as much as two to three times improved!”

In the more immediate future, sampling late last spring found “a large number of [young] coho – much more than average” off our shores, according to a federal biologist. That could translate into good numbers of adult fish available off the Northwest coast this summer and returning to the Columbia next fall.

ANOTHER REASON FOR hope I see was December’s passage by “unanimous consent” of the bipartisan Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act in Congress. While at press time it needed to be signed by President Trump, it gives states and tribes more leeway to manage sea lions feasting on ESA-listed Chinook and steelhead and other stocks in more of the Columbia and its tribs.

In an unusual coincidence, state salmon managers who were outlining this year’s Columbia expectations to sportfishing industry officials paused the meeting to watch as the U.S. House moved the bill.

“Applause all around,” Hamilton said of the room’s reaction, “combined with optimism for the future of Willamette wild winter steelhead and hope for other stocks deeply impacted by pinniped predation, including sturgeon.”

The leadership of the Northwest’s federal Congressional delegation and behind-the-scenes work of folks like Hamilton, ODFW’s Dr. Shaun Clement, WDFW’s Meagan West and Chuck Hudson at CRITFC, among many more, deserve a round of applause.

Meanwhile, Oregon has begun setting traps at Willamette Falls for California sea lions that they’re now authorized to remove through a recently granted federal permit.

Chinook and sea lion. (NMFS, BOTH)

AND WHILE IT still needs to be passed – not to mention funded – Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed 2019-21 budget includes an “unprecedented investment” of $1.1 billion for orca recovery, work that will directly benefit salmon and salmon fishing.

It includes $12 million to maximize hatchery production to release an additional 18.6 million salmon smolts to increase returns by 186,000 fish, along with $75.7 million to improve production facilities and a whopping $205 million boost to correct fish passage beneath state roads, opening up more salmon habitat.

Yes, I’ll admit no small part of any of this depends on others or the ocean, but I like to start a new year thinking positively. –Andy Walgamott nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 17

20 Northwest Sportsman

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PICTURE

DAM GOOD

We’ve haven’t had the best relationship with beavers – hat, pest – since the 1800s, but new book spotlights their importance to salmon recovery, watershed health.

Editor’s note: This excerpt is from Ben Goldfarb’s book Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018) and is reprinted with permission from the publisher. Eager shares the powerful story of how nature’s most ingenious architects shaped our world, and how they can help fight some of our most pressing environmental problems. The section immediately preceding this focuses on Western Washington’s Tulalip Tribes and efforts by tribal official Terry Williams and others to pass 2017’s beaver bill to allow the state to translocate Westside beavers into Westside streams. That had been specifically barred in a 2012 bill, a relic of anti-beaver sentiment, but more and more we’re realizing the value of and attempting to harness the power of the flat-tailed rodents to aid salmon recovery and rewater more arid landscapes.

T A beaver lodge sits in the middle of a pond just off a North Sound river. These sheltered, rich waters are key rearing areas for young coho, but in the nearby Stillaguamish watershed, the removal of beavers and their sometimes troublesome dams over the decades is estimated to have resulted in the loss of 86 percent of the basin’s habitat capacity for the salmon species, according to a 2004 paper. (JBREW, FLICKR, CC BY-SA 2.0)

o Terry Williams, the fact that beavers create salmon habitat is so self-evident that it’s worth changing the law. In other quarters, however, the relationship between the mammal and the fish remains a point of contention. Throughout the Pacific Northwest, salmon are the primary rationale for beaver restoration, yet the intransigence of some fish biologists still impedes the rodent’s return.

The origins of that skepticism are hard to untangle, but it probably has much to do with wood. For modern paddlers and fly fishermen accustomed to freeflowing rivers and streams, it is impossible to imagine the woody wrack that once

cluttered American waterways. Trappers and explorers found many watercourses blockaded by impenetrable logjams composed of gargantuan old-growth trees. Puget Sound’s Skagit, for one, less resembled a river than a lumberyard.

“Tier upon tier of logs up to eight feet in diameter, and packed solidly enough to be crossed almost anywhere, formed a stable obstacle that supported a forest of 2-to-3-foot-diameter trees growing on its surface,” wrote David Montgomery in his book King of Fish. All that woody debris, Montgomery added, created prime fish habitat: “Perennially submerged wetlands and sloughs provided ideal summer rearing habitat and slow-water refuges for salmon

nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 21

PICTURE

wood, no matter its provenance. In 1972 Oregon passed a law mandating wood removal, and Washington and California followed suit. “All along the West Coast,” wrote Montgomery, “a clean stream not only looked like a good idea, it was the law.” Beaver dams, in many cases the most visible blockages, were not spared.

Biologists eventually realized the folly of extracting wood for salmon’s sake. But the fallacy that beavers and fish couldn’t coexist persists – not only in the Northwest, but everywhere that salmonids thrive. The Miramichi Salmon Association, devoted to restoring Atlantic

Author Ben Goldfarb, a self-admitted “Beaver Believer,” traveled throughout the U.S., including Washington and Oregon, as well as the British Isles while researching his book. (TERRAY SYLVESTER) Eager suggests that some of today’s Western salmon and water woes actually began as far back as the fur trade in the 1800s. The widespread removal of beavers by trapping and subsequent land management activities such as grazing and farming made it impossible for the rodents to repopulate some parts of the region on their own, but with a new recognition of the benefits that the species provides for free, humans are putting them – or damlike structures – back in waterways to help fish and wildlife habitat and recharge aquifers. (CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING) during winter floods.” Beavers don’t get credit for the logjam: Not even the most inexhaustible chewer could take down the massive firs and cedars that formed its superstructure. But beavers abounded in the Skagit watershed, and their upstream gnawing surely contributed to the jam’s mass. (In Quebec, Bob Naiman found that beavers mobilized more than half the willow and aspen that clogged streams.) And the 150 square miles of Skagit Valley that the epic logjam flooded must have been a glorious beaver-and-salmon playground.

But American rivers did not remain so thoroughly jammed. In the late 1800s the US Army Corps of Engineers, fixated on turning rivers into freeways 22 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

for shipping, embarked upon an anti-logjam crusade. On the Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Snohomish Rivers, corps “snagboats” extracted more than 150,000 logs. As industrial logging intensified in the twentieth century, the war on wood shifted battlegrounds. Profit-minded loggers dumped unmarketable lumber into rivers, where the woody waste created unsightly logjams and scoured holes.

At first state agencies cleared streams only of logging detritus, which they feared impeded the upstream passage of spawning salmon. Soon, however, that well-intentioned practice transformed into an all-out campaign against in-stream

salmon in New Brunswick, cuts notches in dozens of beaver dams each year to assist returning spawners upstream. The Forest Service has been known to destroy dams on Lake Tahoe tributaries to clear the way for stocked kokanee salmon – demolishing a native mammal’s works to advantage an introduced fish. And even that nuttiness pales in comparison with a 2009 proposal funded by the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation, which suggested trappers eradicate beavers

PICTURE from ten river systems on Canada’s Prince Edward Island and enforce “beaverfree zones” in others. The report, based heavily on anecdote and conjecture, was never acted upon in Canada, but it influenced policy across the Atlantic: Scottish sportfishing groups referenced it to oppose beaver reintroduction in Britain.

The fish fervor reached its apex in northern Wisconsin, where, from 1993 to 2014, Wildlife Services eliminated more than sixteen thousand beavers and dynamited thousands of dams to “rehabilitate” habitat for brook trout – an Orwellian policy that makes one wonder how the poor brookies survived before benevolent trappers came to their rescue. The Badger State’s castor-killing campaign has been guided primarily by a 2002 study suggesting that controlling the rodents, and converting their pond complexes into free-flowing streams, helped trout grow larger and more

abundant. Critics counter that the study lacked comparison streams, that its statistical analyses suffered from fatal flaws, and that trout populations swelled for different reasons, like cleaner water or stocking. Other Wisconsin-based research has found that, contra the state’s fear that beavers heat up creeks by felling shade trees and exposing ponds to sunlight, dams little affect stream temperatures. “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering,” wrote Aldo Leopold; one wonders what Wisconsin’s most beloved ecologist would have made of his state’s hyper-aggressive approach to beaver management.

In fairness, beaver dams can pose a temporary obstacle to migrating fish, especially when flows drop in the fall.

Usually, though, fish pass the blockades without much trouble. A Utah study that tagged over thirteen hundred trout (some of which the scientists caught on hook and line, proving that research doesn’t have to be tedious) found that native cutthroat easily negotiated even large dams. Non-

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native brown trout, meanwhile, had more trouble – suggesting that beavers could be a valuable tool for preserving a stream’s indigenous fauna. Fish have plenty of clever methods for circumnavigating beaver works. They often bypass dams via side channels, like motorists avoiding highway traffic by taking local roads. Sometimes they wait patiently in the plunge pools below dams for high flows. Adult salmon may simply soar over barriers; the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, isn’t dubbed “The Leaper” for nothing. Rebekah Levine has observed adult grayling – trout cousins with colorful sails for dorsal fins – squirming through Montana dams like children navigating a jungle gym. “They just wriggle right through,” she told me, still amazed.

Befitting their reputation as a keystone species, the munificent rodents actually help fish in many ways. Beavers mitigate drought: When western Wyoming dried up in the early 2000s, researchers found that young cutthroat trout survived best in rodent-created pools in a place

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 25

PICTURE called, fittingly, Water Canyon. Beavers make fish food: Bob Naiman found that ponds contain up to five times more invertebrates than open channels, an almost unfathomable seventy-three thousand bugs per square meter. And while fish folks sometimes complain that silty pond floors make lousy breeding habitat for salmon and trout, which prefer rocky bottoms, every particle that gets trapped by a beaver is a particle that won’t smother spawning gravel downstream.

During 2001 floods, three beaver dams in Russia trapped 4,250 tons of solids – about twenty blue whales’ worth.

It gets better. Beavers – perhaps ones with delusions of becoming sea otters – build dams in the Skagit River estuary, a brackish marsh inundated twice a day

by Pacific tides. When the sea comes up, the dams vanish; when it goes out, the structures reemerge, trapping the

26 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

ocean and allowing their creators to navigate underwater even at low tide – and providing prime shelter for young Chinook salmon and other fish. Elsewhere beavers carve out salmon habitat without even building dams. In 2014 and 2015 Marisa Parish snorkeled among beavers’ works on California’s Smith River for her PhD dissertation at Humboldt State University, peering into the dark entrances of submerged bank burrows with a flashlight. “Sometimes you can almost get your whole body into the entrance of the burrow, and your heart gets racing pretty fast,” she recalled to me. Although she may not have been comfortable in the burrows, fish certainly were: Parish found four species of juvenile salmon taking cover in the underwater enclaves.

In 2012 a group of British researchers, led by Paul Kemp, waded through the morass of scientific literature to settle the matter once and for all. Kemp reviewed 108 published papers, discovering that scientists cited beaver benefits to fish

much more frequently than they did negative consequences. What’s more, while the majority of beaver benefits – improved habitat complexity, steadier flows, jacked-up insect production – were grounded in hard data, more than 70 percent of the purported detriments were merely speculative. Decades of grist from the anti-beaver rumor mill had congealed into unchallenged truisms. Even scientists, it turns out, can be awfully unscientific. NS Editor’s note: Ben Goldfarb is an awardwinning environmental journalist who covers wildlife management and conservation biology. His work has been featured in Science, Mother Jones, The Guardian, High Country News, Scientific American, and many other publications. He holds a master of environmental management degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and is the author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018).

Follow him on Twitter @ben_a_goldfarb.

READER PHOTOS He did it again! Hunter Shelton of Bremerton snuck over to the west side of the Olympic Peninsula for some super-early winter chrome, catching this one in mid-November on a Getm Dry jig below a bobber. Friend K. Weiss snapped the pic.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

Oh, how we wish we’d received this pic for last issue’s Real Women of Northwest Fishing! Beth Newman shows off one heckuva first salmon, this Rogue River fall Chinook.

She was running the locally popular anchovy rig. (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

“A weak run but fish are hitting and they’re big,” reported Bill Stanley about this season’s return of Snake basin steelhead.

This was one of a quartet of 33-plusinchers he and friends caught in midfall.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

A day trip to the family’s Willow Farm in North-central Oregon yielded pairs of long-tailed roosters and topknotted quail for Chad Zoller. (HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

For your shot at winning great fishing and hunting products from Yo-Zuri and Northwest Sportsman, send your full-resolution, original images with all the pertinent details – who’s in the pic and their hometown; when and where they were; what they caught their fish on/weapon they used to bag the game; and any other details you’d like to reveal (the more, the merrier!) – to awalgamott@media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, 14240 Interurban Ave S, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for use in our print and Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 29

READER PHOTOS Low water levels might have led to a lemon of a trip for two dentists who’d come a long way to fish the Chetco River for fall Chinook, but with their guide working extra hard in the estuary Dai Bui, here, and buddy Jerry Han got into some nice salmon.

They were fishing with Andy Martin.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

Jennifer and Doug Hawkins, who are both on active duty at Joint Base Lewis McChord, shot a mixed bag of ducks during the inaugural Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Veterans’ Waterfowl Hunt.

Jennifer, who had never hunted waterfowl before, proved to “a dead-eye shooter. She slayed them,” reported a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official.

(BRENT LAWRENCE, USFWS)

“When hunting is slow and the rivers are busy hit the high lakes for some big trout,” advises Carl Lewallen. He caught this Oregon Cascades rainbow on his first cast with a dragonfly nymph.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

A beautiful salmon and evening made for a great photo of Rich Fargo and his kayak-caught fall Chinook. He was running a spinner while fishing with his wife Colleen Kulp.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

“We live on the McKenzie River and we love it,” says Hailee Smith, who shared this picture of Andrey Obertas fishing the upper end of the Oregon stream. (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST) 30 Northwest Sportsman

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Everybody knows that Washington’s Columbia Basin is a great spot for duck hunting and it’s widely regarded as tops for bass fishing, but it isn’t often that you get to enjoy both pursuits at once.

Using a No. 9 Shad Rap to retrieve his mallards, Kyle Vanderwaal also hooked this 2-pound largemouth. The fish was released, the birds not so much. (HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

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WINNERS!

Devin Schildt’s picture of he and niece Noel Chilson and her first Dungeness crab is the winner of our monthly Yo-Zuri Photo Contest.

It wins him gear from the company that makes some of the world’s best fishing lures and lines!

Ray Gomboski is our monthly Hunting Photo Contest winner, thanks to this pic of his sons Luke and Reed and their father’s Snoqualmie Valley goose. It wins him a knife and other hunting stuff from Northwest Sportsman!

Sportsman Northwest

Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource

For your shot at winning hunting and fishing products, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to awalgamott@media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print or Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 33

NEWS

Show Season Arrives In The Northwest

Walleye Alley is among the planned new attractions to be seen at this year’s Northwest sportsmen’s and boat shows. New fishing and hunting seminar speakers and entertainment including Lumberjills and rattlesnake taming shows are also on tap across the region at more than 25 venues. (ERIC ENGBRETSON, USFWS)

C

ongratulations, Jason Bauer, you’ve died and gone to heaven.

True, heaven will look a lot like the state fairgrounds in midwinter, but on the flip side there are scones – not to mention a giant walleye tank and the smells of alder smoke and cooking meat hanging in the air.

Bauer, if you don’t know him, is an award-winning Northwest barbecue “pitmaster” and he’s also a longtime bugeye fisherman who once operated the site Northwestwalleye.com.

Both of his favorite pursuits will be on full display at the big Washington Sportsmen’s Show (Jan. 23-27) at the State Fair & Events Center in Puyallup, where Bauer will be coordinating cooking competitions between closely observing the inhabitants of Walleye Alley.

Both exhibits are firsts, and the latter will feature pro anglers giving talks, tackle

on hand to buy, and more.

Trey Carskadon of O’Loughlin Trade Shows in Portland and Tacoma, which puts on this and two other similar events, expects the new fish tank to be a big deal, given recent issues with salmonid returns, but it’s also part of updating each season’s shows to keep them fresh and exciting.

“Our battle cry for this year’s spate of shows is ‘new,’” Carskadon notes.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that that is also what the organizers of other boat and sportsmen’s shows slated for Central Washington, Southwest Oregon, the Inland Northwest and elsewhere aim for as well as they seek to boost their foot traffic.

“One of the comments we hear often is ‘It’s the same old show,’” says Carskadon. “It never is, but we’ve taken those comments to heart and really shaken things up for 2019.

Most years see at least a 30 percent turnover in exhibitors and features, but looking

ahead we’ve moved folks around, added new features, exhibitors and personalities.”

Just as important, the shows are also something like the social event of the year for Our Tribe. At no other time do so many of us come together, and in a way that is comforting for the enduring strength of our heritage and pastimes. I dare say that those who put on the shows share the bond.

“We’re celebrating the ‘outdoor recreational culture,’” says Joe Pate, who has a quartet of shows in Southwest Oregon and Northern California.

All told, there are more than two dozen across the greater Northwest. Wherever you live, there’s one within an hour or two of you. Here are some of this year’s highlights from them:

NORTHWEST TACKLE MAKERS are excited about Walleye Alley and the 20 to 30 fish that by special state permit will be lurking

nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 35

NEWS Midwest walleye experts Johnnie Candle (pictured) and Mark Romanack will be among the experts giving demonstrations at the O’Loughlin Shows’ walleye tank. Local guides scheduled to appear include Cody Herman, Keith Jensen, Shane Magnuson, Austin Moser, Shelby Ross, Willie Ross and tournament angler Leeland Laferty. (JOHNNIE CANDLE)

36 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

in the big tank on loan from Berkley.

At presstime Buzz Ramsey at Yakima Bait was lining up local guides and national experts to give seminars and working on a handout that will include their top tips and a map showing the area’s best waters.

“If people are interested in walleye, this will be the place to be,” says Ramsey.

Bob Loomis at Mack’s Lure in Wenatchee sees it as a chance to get more anglers chasing a new species at a rough time for more celebrated local fish stocks “Our walleye fishery is an outstanding fishery that the state and retailers totally overlook,” he notes.

While also a salmon and steelhead angler, Loomis says Washington needs to look at “other” markets besides the big two “to help give them a little breathing room.”

Last year’s Kokanee Tank is on hiatus after some of the fish spawned and the others died, but Carskadon says it should be back for 2020 with a new crop of kokes and a tank better suited to the species’ needs.

“Kokanee and walleye fisheries can

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Boat shows allow prospective buyers to kick the tires, per se, on hundreds of different models. Seattle’s big doin’s combines that with great seminars from expert anglers and crabbers. (SEATTLE BOAT SHOW) take the pressure off of the salmon/ steelhead portion of the markets for a while in order to continue to get license sales, sell guide trips, gas, food, lures, etc., sustaining markets, not putting them out of business,” asserts Loomis.

Walleye Alley will also be at the truly humongous Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show (Feb. 6-10) in Portland.

In another first, this year’s Puyallup show will feature the shindig’s inaugural Outdoor Cooking Competition, which runs all five days of the event, with the first dedicated to a 12-team game meat contest.

Jason Bauer says his “partner in crime” pitched the idea to O’Loughlin last year and they will be coordinating the competition along with cooking and grilling demonstrations and food sampling.

“We’re stoked,” says Carskadon. “Some big names are aboard and coming from around the country to show their grilling skills and serve up seminars on how to 38 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

do it at a level that’s well beyond most backyard grillers. Winners from this event advance to other national events.”

The Portland show will have a new backyard barbecue feature, he says.

As for other new attractions, Carskadon says that Garmin is not only unveiling a totally new product – “I don’t know what it is other than something ‘big’ is promised” – but will have a Tech Center at Puyallup and Portland for GPS and marine electronics and seminars.

And the new Kayak Fishing Pavilion at Puyallup will include experts detailing how to get started, rigging up and destinations, along with retailer booths, he says.

SPEAKING OF WATER-BASED recreation, the Seattle Boat Show gets up on plane for a Jan. 25-Feb. 2 run at two locations in the Emerald City, CenturyLink Field Event Center and South Lake Union.

Besides something like 1,000 boats of all

types on display, the show is known for its topnotch seminars, and this year’s features even more than ever. All totaled, more than 200 will be held, with nearly 80 of those focused specifically on fishing and crabbing, up from 55 last year, says Mark Yuasa at the Northwest Marine Trade Association.

“There will be 14 speakers (12 in 2017 and 10 in 2016) and five that are new to this year’s show. They are Mike Surdyk with Raymarine Electronics; Capt. Kent Alger, owner of Guides NW; and Hobie Kayak prostaff ambassadors David Nguyen, Hung Nguyen and Keith Creameans,” he says.

The “all-star line-up” will cover a wide variety of topics designed to help watercraft-born anglers up their game on salt- and freshwaters alike, Yuasa says.

NMTA plans to hold a second boat show in Anacortes (May 16-19), and other watercraft events will occur in Portland (Jan. 9-13), Spokane (Jan. 26-Feb. 16), Vancouver, BC (Feb. 6-10) and Richland (May 2-5).

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Northwest Sportsman 39

NEWS

Attendees of the Saltwater Sportsmen’s Show in Salem inspect shellfishing equipment at the two-day mid-February event.

(SALTWATER SPORTSMEN’S SHOW)

And along with ocean boats, guides, clam gear and more, the Saltwater Sportsmen’s Show (Feb. 23-24) will feature Charles Loos (known as “Tinman” on Ifish) and the Coast Guard’s Dan Shipman on safe boating and kayaking at sea.

“Whether you run on powerboats, kayaks or personal watercraft, you’ll gain actionable knowledge to keep your vessel and crew safe in our challenging ocean,” says organizer Marie Keene of OCEAN, the Oregon Coalition for Educating Anglers.

JOE PATE OF Exposure Shows proudly says that his venues in Eugene (Feb. 1-3), Roseburg (Feb. 15-17), Medford (Feb. 2224) and Anderson, California (March 1-3) offer the same features as the big boys, just on a smaller scale, but he also likes to spice things up.

On hand each day at all four will be the all-female Lumberjills and their Chics with Axes show. While the act has actually been 40 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

around for 25 years and was founded by Tina Scheer of Survivor: Panama and Nat Geo’s Ultimate Survival Alaska! – who will also be in attendance – it will be making its Oregon debut and is sure to be a hit.

Also at his own booth at each show will be five-time mixed martial arts champion Tim Sylvia, whose Hit Squad Outdoors show recently made the move to the Sportsman’s Channel. Pate jokes that at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, Sylvia is about as big as the biggest of the grizzlies he also plans to bring in to all four venues.

Of course there’s also the 15th Annual Southern Oregon Head and Horns Competition, free to enter with paid show admission. The top prize at each show is a Bushnell riflescope, while all competitors are in the running for a two-night stay at Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville.

Along with a BB gun range and fish pond, there’s also an archery shooting gallery for the kids, plus log furniture

displays, expert demonstrations and more.

IN CENTRAL WASHINGTON, Merle Shuyler says he has a few new items for his shows in Tri-Cities (Jan. 18-20), Yakima (Feb. 1517) and Wenatchee (Feb. 22-24), including the first annual Yakima Bait Yard Sale at the middle event.

“They will have for sale thousands of different Yakima Bait products at rockbottom prices. This will include many of their more popular lures and fishing accessories,” says Shuyler.

A 24-foot-high climbing wall will give budding Alex Honnolds a chance to practice at Yakima and Pasco, while Gerry Reyes and Flat Out Fishing’s fish-fighting simulator is scheduled for the latter, he says. Replacing the retiring Cee Dub “Butch” Welch at the Outdoor Cooking Camp is Richie Harrod of Harrod Outdoors and he will be at the Pasco and Wenatchee shows.

“The West Texas Rattlesnake Show

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will be at all three of our shows and I believe that it will be the first time that this traveling rattlesnake show has been to the state of Washington,” Shuyler adds.

“Dave Richardson is the handler and there will be several performances each show day. These entertaining presentations are geared for the entire family and offer educational as well as comedy aspects of handling wild rattlesnakes.”

AND IN SPOKANE and a little later in winter, the Big Horn Adventure Show – the granddaddy of ’em all in the Northwest at 59 years – promises a few new items and several popular ones that are returning during its March 21-24 run.

Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young measurers will be on hand to tape hunters’ trophy bucks and bulls as well as shed antlers for prizes.

Along with kid- and family-friendly activities – note that the 24th is free entry for children 13 and under – organizers are also trying to attract more women to the outdoors through a special offer that includes a goodie bag.

“Friday night’s ‘Ladies Night’ will be bigger and better going into our third year,” says Wanda Clifford of the venerable Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, which puts on the show. “This year we have a special ‘Ladies Night’ Big Horn Hat for sale.”

The West Texas Rattlesnake Show will also be slithering its way into Spokane, but if you’d rather have your own hands-on fun, there will be daily camping contests.

“This competition will find contestants setting up a camp and packing a backpack with the right survival items,” says Clifford.

Each day’s winner will score $1,000, but for those who’ve had their fill of roughing it, an entire building will be full of RVs to see.

WHICHEVER SHOW OR shows you go to this season, you’re bound to see new things while surrounded by fellow Northwest sportsmen. Whether you walk away with good deals on gear, a top prize for a big rack, or a sack of scones, you’re sure to have had a good time. NS Editor’s note: For a full schedule of this year’s shows and links to each, see page 45.

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Brought to you by:

2019 SPORTSMEN’S AND BOAT SHOW CALENDAR JANUARY 9-13 Portland Boat Show, Expo Center, Portland; otshows.com 11-13 Great Rockies Sport Show, Gallatin County Fairgrounds, Bozeman; greatrockiesshow.com 17-20 Tacoma RV Show, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma; otshows.com 18-20 Great Rockies Sport Show, MetraPark ExpoCenter, Billings; greatrockiesshow.com 18-20 Tri-Cities Sportsmen Show, TRAC Center, Pasco; shuylerproductions.com 23-27 Washington Sportsmen’s Show, Washington State Fair & Events Center, Puyallup; otshows.com 25-Feb. 2 Seattle Boat Show, CenturyLink Field Event Center and South Lake Union, Seattle; seattleboatshow.com 26-Feb. 16 Spokane Valley Boat Show at Elephant Boys 2019, Elephant Boys, Spokane Valley; spokanevalleyboatshow.com FEBRUARY 1-3 Eugene Boat & Sportsmen’s Show, Lane Events Center, Eugene; exposureshows.com 6-10 Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show, Expo Center, Portland; otshows.com 6-10 Vancouver International Boat Show, BC Place, Granville Island; vancouverboatshow.ca 15-17 Central Washington Sportsmen Show, SunDome, Yakima; shuylerproductions.com 15-17 Douglas County Sportsmen’s & Outdoor Recreation Show, Douglas County Fairgrounds, Roseburg; exposureshows.com 15-17 Willamette Sportsman Show, Linn County Expo Center, Albany; willamettesportsmanshow.com 22-24 Great Rockies Sport Show, Lewis & Clark County Fairgrounds, Helena; greatrockiesshow.com 22-24 Jackson County Sportsmen’s & Outdoor Recreation Show, Jackson County Expo, Medford; exposureshows.com 22-24 The Wenatchee Valley Sportsmen Show, Town Toyota Center, Wenatchee; shuylerproductions.com 22-24 Victoria Boat and Fishing Show, Eagle Ridge Arena, Victoria, British Columbia; victoriaboatshow.com 23-24 Saltwater Sportsmen’s Show, Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem; saltwatersportsmensshow.com 28-March 3 Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show, Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, Redmond; otshows.com 28-March 3 The Idaho Sportsman Show, Expo Idaho, Boise; idahosportsmanshow.com MARCH 1-3 BC Sportsmen’s Show, TRADEX, Abbotsford; bcboatandsportsmenshow.ca 8-9 Northwest Fly Tyer & Fly Fishing Expo, Linn Co. Expo Center, Albany; nwexpo.com 21-24 Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show, Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, Spokane; bighornshow.com MAY 2-5 Mid-Columbia Boat Show, Columbia Point Park & Marina, Richland, Washington; midcolumbiaboatshow.com 16-19 Anacortes Boat & Yacht Show, Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes; anacortesboatandyachtshow.com nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 45

MIXED BAG

Man Arrested For Poaching Buck

Y

ou spent Thanksgiving with your family and friends, celebrating the harvest feast, but poachers never quit trying to steal the bounty of the land from law-abiding Northwest sportsmen.

After receiving a tip about an incident that day outside Bend, a wildlife trooper headed for the scene and soon found a suspect nearby. According to the Oregon State Police, William Brewster, 31, had blood on his clothes and skin, as well as a bloody knife in his possession.

At first Brewster denied have shot anything, but soon the trooper found a very wide-racked 4x3 mule deer dead.

“Through a thorough investigation evidence linked Mr. Brewster to the scene,” OSP reported.

Two days later Brewster was arrested

By Andy Walgamott

Big Reward For Info On Illegally Killed Moose

O

(OSP)

and taken to the Deschutes County Jail on charges of taking the deer out of season, wastage and offensive littering.

Game wardens can’t stop every poaching case, but we can give thanks they’re always on duty.

ne of Oregon’s rare moose was poached in midfall and a big and unique reward package is now on offer for information leading to an arrest.

State fish and wildlife troopers say that the Wallowa County bull was killed between Nov. 8 and 11 north of Enterprise.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the moose was shot

KUDOS Senior Trooper Mark Kingma (center) with the Oregon State Police’s Fish and Wildlife Division was recognized with an award for 30 years of service protecting the state’s natural resources. He was presented the honor in late fall by Capt. Casey Codding (left) and Lt. Todd Hoodenpyl.

(OSP)

JACKASS OF THE MONTH

R

emember that Patrick McManus story about how he shot his first buck as a lad, loaded it onto his bicycle and headed back down the mountain only for the ungutted deer to come back alive again? Something a little like that happened to a pair of alleged poachers who got their just desserts – and not just because it took place on Thanksgiving night.

The story comes to us from Upstate New York, where The Post Star reports that Nathan D. Arno, 25, and Augustus O. Stevens Jr., 31, shot a forked horn and loaded it into the bed of a pickup. They might have made a clean getaway, but A) a witness called in the shot, and B) a mile down the road the deer recovered enough to literally jump out.

When a sheriff’s deputy arrived, Arno and Stevens were searching the woods for the buck, and then unsuccessfully tried to flee from the officer. Blood in the truck’s bed, on the doormats and elsewhere led to a quick confession and a heaping

helping of trouble for Arno and Stevens.

The paper reports they were charged with spotlighting; shooting near a house, from the road and out of a vehicle; and having a loaded gun in the truck. But that’s not all. Besides also both having suspended drivers licenses, an outstanding arrest warrant for one (Stevens) and poaching violations in the past of the other (Arno), three more dead deer were later found in the area and allegedly tied to them.

As for the forked horn, it was found by a conservation officer and put down, but not before it helped bust two poachers with its dying leap.

nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 49

According to ODFW’s hunting pamphlet, there are 50 to 60 moose in the Wenaha and Walla Walla Wildlife Management Units, with some more in nearby hunting units, including the Chesnimnus, where November’s bull poaching took place.

(PAT MATTHEWS, ODFW)

and partially cut up off of the USFS 46 Road between Teepee Pond and mile marker 35 in the Chesnimnus big game unit,” the Oregon State Police report.

They say the animal’s carcass was accessed from a campsite off the north side of that road in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

“Additionally, a side-by-side UTV was used to haul the moose meat and parts from the kill site back to the campsite,” OSP reports.

They’re asking anyone who was in the area around November’s second weekend and who might have info to call Senior Trooper Mark Knapp (541426-3049), the Turn In Poachers hotline (800-452-7888) or *OSP(677).

As word began to get about about the poaching, the reward for grew.

At presstime in December, the Oregon Hunters Association had put up $7,500 from local chapters.

“The poaching of a moose is a tragic thing,” said OHA Conservation Director Jim Akenson, who lives in Wallowa County. “Especially because our moose population is low – fewer than 70 in Oregon.

The Krebs Ranch, which is located near the Zumwalt Prairie to the south of where the incident took place, was also offering a landowner preference bull elk tag and guided hunt, a $3,500 value.

50 Northwest Sportsman

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nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 51

NW Salmon Derby Series Kicks Off

T

he 2019 Northwest Salmon Derby Series began again this month with the first of several high-dollar winter blackmouth derbies in the San Juans, and this year’s grand prize is a $75,000 boatand-trailer package.

The Weldcraft Rebel 202 Hardtop Series won’t be awarded till late September, but entering any of the derbies held everywhere from Friday Harbor to Couer d’Alene to Woodland to Tacoma automatically puts your name in the hopper for it.

While most events occur in Puget Sound waters, for the second year in a row the derby lineup features a stop on the Upper Columbia for the Brewster Salmon Derby.

Last year’s was on, then off, then back on before being won by Dave Watlee with a 27.43-pound summer Chinook, which just happened to also be the biggest salmon weighed in any of 2018’s 15 derbies.

As for this year’s schedule, here’s how it

By Andy Walgamott

This year’s grand prize is a Weldcraft Rebel 202 Hardtop Series from the Renaissance Marine Group. It comes with Yamaha 200- and 9.9-horse motors, Scotty downriggers, Raymarine electronics, an EZ Loader Trailer and more, and is valued at $75,000.

(NORTHWEST SALMON DERBY SERIES)

shapes up: Jan. 4-6: Resurrection Salmon Derby Jan. 17-19: Roche Harbor Salmon Classic Feb. 7-9: Friday Harbor Salmon Classic March 8-10: Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby March 16-17: Everett Blackmouth Derby July 12-14: Bellingham Salmon Derby July 24-28: The Big One Salmon Derby

Aug. 1-4: Brewster Salmon Derby Aug. 3: South King Co. PSA Salmon Derby Aug. 10: Gig Harbor PSA Salmon Derby Aug. 17-18: Vancouver (BC) Chinook Classic Aug. 31: Columbia River Fall Salmon Derby Sept. 7: Edmonds Coho Derby Sept. 21-22: Everett Coho Derby Nov. 2-3: Everett Blackmouth Derby See nwsalmonderbyseries.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

RECENT RESULTS

 Sundays, Jan. 6-Feb. 24: 73rd Annual

 2nd Annual Whitefish Fishin’ Derby, Central Oregon waters, Oct 27: First place, open division: Jenny O’Brien, 85.25 inches  Clearwater Snake Steelhead Derby, Snake and Clearwater Rivers, Nov. 17-24: First

Tengu Blackmouth Derby, Marination (formerly Seacrest Boathouse), Seattle  Feb. 15-spring: Spring Steelhead Derby, Washington’s Grande Ronde River; boggansoasis.com  March 9 through the season: Westport Charterboat Association Weekly Lingcod Derby, Westport

place: Allen Brown, 18.94 pounds, $1,500; second: Darrel Atkinson, 17.55 pounds, $750; first, youth: Madisen Hutchison, 12.14 pounds, $50  2018 LPOIC K&K Annual Fall Thanksgiving Derby, Lake Pend Oreille, Nov. 17-21, 23-25: First place, adult rainbow division: Moose Zema, 23.5 pounds, $2,000; second: Denton McGlothlin, 22.48 pounds, $1,000; first, adult Mackinaw division: Becky Sturgis, 22.6 pounds, $1,000; first, junior rainbow: Brandon Reeves, 18.66 pounds

Molson Fishing Derby In Mid-January

G

“

et your ice huts ready for some stiff competition again this year!”

That’s the message from organizers of the 15th Annual NW Ice Fishing Festival, held on Sidley Lake and at the old Northcentral Washington mining town of Molson.

The fun derby/community gathering

is set for Saturday, Jan. 19, and runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Besides the fishing, there will be an ice hut contest on the lake, and a pancake breakfast, craft fair and raffle in the Molson Grange Hall.

Last year’s saw a total of 59 fish caught, more than the previous two festivals

combined, with Kevin Messer of Tonasket scoring $1,000 in cash and prizes for his two, which together weighed 4.35 pounds.

Tickets are $25 and the event is put on by the Oroville Chamber of Commerce.

See orovillewashington.com as well as facebook.com/NWIceFishingFestival for more details on the event.

nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 53

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JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

OUTDOOR

Brought to you by:

CALENDAR

JANUARY 1 10 12 12-13 16 19 27 31

New Oregon, Idaho fishing and hunting licenses required Deadline to file Washington big game report for incentive permit eligibility First of several brant hunting days in select Washington counties Learn to Hunt: Shotgun Skills Clinics ($, register), EE Wilson Wildlife Area – info: odfwcalendar.com Harney, Klamath, Lake and Malheur Zones late white and white-fronted goose opener Learn to Hunt: Small Game Workshop ($, register), EE Wilson Wildlife Area – info: odfwcalendar.com Last day to hunt ducks in Oregon Zone 1, and ducks in all of Washington Deadline to file mandatory hunter reports in Washington, Oregon; Last day for upland bird hunting in Oregon, Idaho

FEBRUARY

9

Late goose hunt opens in Northwest Oregon Permit Zone, inland portions of Washington Goose Management Area 2 15 Last day to apply for Idaho spring bear hunt; Washington brant, snow goose, sea duck reports due; Last day for steelheading in select Puget Sound terminal areas Bait restrictions take effect on several Olympic Peninsula steelhead rivers 16 16-17 Free Fishing Weekend in Oregon 17 Last day of Oregon Zone 1 snipe hunt 28 Last day of bobcat, fox season in Oregon; Last day to apply for Washington spring bear permit

RECORD NORTHWEST GAME FISH CAUGHT IN 2018 Twice as many state record fish were caught in Northwest waters in 2018 compared to the previous year, with Washington again leading the way – and almost all of those coming from the Pacific. Idaho’s top tiger trout changed hands once more (and we’ll bet it will in 2019 as well!), and while Washington saw churn in the shark section, Oregon again had no new entries, and hasn’t seen one since late 2014.

Date Species 5-18 Tiger trout 6-21 Arrowtooth flounder 6-21 Redbanded rockfish 6-24 Largescale sucker 7-24 Tope shark 7-27 Blue shark 7-29 Whitespotted greenling 9-7 Opah

(WDFW)

Pounds 4.04 5.93 7.54 6.38 41.00 64.00 .68 113.40

Water Deer Creek Res. (ID) Neah Bay (WA) Westport (WA) McNary Pool (WA) Westport (WA) Westport (WA) Burrows Bay (WA) Ilwaco (WA)

(WDFW) (WDFW)

Angler Aaron Lougee Richard Hale John Sly Joseph Link Isabella Tolen Marcus Totemeier Walter Wilson Kyle Tapio

(IDFG) nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 55

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FISHING

Moochers Wanted Puget Sound’s old-school salmon technique is spinning again.

By Mark Yuasa

I

’m sure many can relate to the “mooching” buddy who often asks to go on a fishing trip without paying for gas or bait or anything else.

But the term has a deeper meaning to those familiar with a certain salmon fishing technique that evolved more than a century ago on Elliott Bay and is my favorite way to catch fish!

In the early 1900s, JapaneseAmerican anglers – first-generation immigrants known as Issei – casting from piers on Seattle’s waterfront discovered a new technique that consisted of a long bamboo cane rod attached to a simple reel. In order to make long casts they used raw silkworm-gut fishing line attached to a small banana weight hooked onto a 6- to 8-foot leader. Anglers would then retrieve their herring by stripping in line to give it that enticing spin.

Shortly thereafter it gained popularity with boat anglers who’d anchor in deep, flowing water and

Mooching for salmon began on Seattle’s waterfront piers and though not nearly as popular as trolling with downriggers, it is now primarily practiced on boats in Puget Sound. Tegan Yuasa (above) shows off a pair of mooched Chinook. (MARK YUASA, BOTH) nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 65

FISHING The technique harkens back to the early 1900s and probably had its heyday in the boathouse era that saw more than a dozen operating on Elliott Bay alone.

A salmon nears the net for a moocher off Kingston last summer. Other top spots for the technique include Point No Point, Midchannel Bank and the Clay Banks.

(WASHINGTON STATE ARCHIVES)

(ANDY WALGAMOTT)

allow the tidal movement to get the bait to spin. It was also an effective tool from a slowly rowed or drifting boat and this technique, called “spinning,” eventually progressed into “mooching.”

“The art of catching salmon evolved from spinning to mooching and was deemed a very successful technique that became popular during the boathouse era on Puget Sound and Elliott Bay,” recalls Frank Haw, a longtime Washington Department of Fisheries employee who went on to be deputy director of fisheries before retiring in 1984 and is a pioneer in the local salmon fishing scene.

It was around the 1920s when boathouses started to pop up on Puget Sound and by 1938 there were more than 100 boathouses or resorts – 14 on Elliott Bay alone – renting boats for a paltry dollar or two per day.

At the time boathouses discovered a market for bait (live herring in net pens) and the art of mooching for salmon was the rage from the 1930s until it slowly began to fade away in the 1970s and early ’80s.

STILL A VIABLE OPTION A mooching derby known as the Tengu Blackmouth Derby was started

by Japanese-Americans in November 66 Northwest Sportsman

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1937. When World War II ended the derby resumed in November 1946 and has been ongoing to date on Elliott Bay (except for 2015 when the bay was closed to fishing).

The longest-running derby is named after Tengu, a fabled Japanese character who stretched the truth, and just like Pinocchio, Tengu’s nose grew with every lie.

The Tengu derby is held in the winter, when salmon are usually sparse in the bay, and anglers can only mooch. No artificial lures or downriggers are allowed.

With Area 10 not opening until Jan. 1 this winter season, the 73rd Annual Tengu Derby is being held on Sundays from Jan. 6 through Feb. 24 at the Seacrest Boathouse (now known as Marination) in West Seattle.

“There are certain methods like downrigger fishing that have become effective tools to catch salmon, but it doesn’t appeal to me at all,” says Haw, who turned 87 this month and still regularly enjoys chasing salmon and cutthroat trout. “The initial feeling of a salmon attacking the bait when mooching can’t be compared to any other technique. It was 1958 when I first went mooching out of Possession Point and Shilshole Bay with a former colleague at fisheries. It’s been my top

choice to catch fish ever since.”

The art of mooching goes back three generations in my family and was the only way I knew how to fish in saltwater. I experienced mooching in 1972 with my grandfather George Yuasa as we launched out of Ray’s Boathouse in Ballard.

While we didn’t hook a salmon, I remember vividly like it was yesterday how we’d drop and retrieve our bait from top to bottom in the water column. When the current went slack, he’d artfully move the boat to keep our lines at the right angle.

A couple years later I began making summer trips to Sekiu with my grandparents. I’d watched intently the night before as Grandpa would carefully slice our herring into cutspinners, which is now a lost art too, and then tied one custom leader after another. It was on this trip that I caught my first salmon mooching off the Slip Point buoy.

Despite downriggers being the current rage, mooching is still the preferred method of some charter operators in Puget Sound and off the coast as well as from British Columbia clear up to Southeast Alaska.

The old-school method has regained its foothold around local marine waterways and you’ll see many

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Northwest Sportsman 67

FISHING younger-generation moochers at places like Point No Point and Kingston off the Kitsap Peninsula, Midchannel Bank off Port Townsend and the Clay Banks off Point Defiance Park in Tacoma.

“I like mooching because it’s an active style of fishing and keeps you busy by reeling in the fish from start to finish,” says Justin Wong, owner of Cut Plug Charter (seattlesalmonfishing. com) in Seattle and who, at age 24, is one of the youngest guides in the Seattle area. “It’s really a simplified way to fish with a lead weight, a couple hooks and bait.”

Wong believes that mooching is an enjoyable way to catch salmon, it can be done from just about any type of boat, and the best testament of all, it catches plenty of fish!

TACKLING THE MOOCHING MOVEMENT While mooching may require minimal tackle it plays into your advantage to have a high-quality

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rod and reel, sticky hooks and some knowledge before you hit the water.

A levelwind that can hold at least 250 yards of 15- to 25-pound-test line is vital, as a large king salmon can spool you very quickly. There are many varieties of reels, but Shimano’s Tekota Series or hard-to-find Bantam Series are my favorites, especially those that have direct drive. Direct drive – essentially a free-spooling reel – lets you control the tension of line between you and the fish with your thumb versus relying on a drag system. In Canada, the preferred mooching reel is the Islander brand that looks like a large fly-fishing reel.

There are a wide variety of rods that are specifically designed for mooching. Most are 81/2- to 101/2-foot-long medium actions with a strong backbone coupled with an extra-fast flexible tapered “soft” tip.

This provides a nice sensitive feel, especially when you’ve got 150 to 200

feet of line between you and the fish.

The most excitement comes when a salmon grabs hold of the bait and begins to swim up, taking the weight with it. At this point it’s all about timing as to when to reel furiously to catch up with the fish until your line tightens and the rod bends over and the tip dives into the water. Reaction is critical because a salmon will often spit the bait once the drag becomes apparent to it.

“What I always tell my customers is to let the fish eat the bait and anytime your line goes slack reel as fast as you can until you feel the tension,” Wong says. “Another key is keeping the bait moving throughout the water column. When there isn’t much current, I’ll tell my customers to hand-pull 30 or 40 feet of line off the reel, which lets the bait spread out away from the weight and prevents tangling to the mainline. Once you get past that I say letting out a foot or

FISHING two per second will do the job while slowing it down with your thumb.”

A sticky-sharp set of tandem hooks attached to your leader is vital to mooching success. I prefer Gamakatsus, but it’s most important to make sure the point is extra sharp.

This is where a hook sharpener comes in handy.

Some will claim that hook size – bigger is better – matters, but I’ve consistently used a 3/0 on the trailing end with a 4/0 on top while using a green-label-size herring. I will downsize my hooks to a 2/0 and 3/0 for a smaller red-label-size herring in order to get the proper spin on the bait. Salmon aren’t judging you on size and seem to key in on the bait itself rather than the exposed hook.

THE SPIN OF THINGS There is an art to making a cut-plug herring spin correctly and most swear that a tight-spinning bait with a lot

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Mooching is about as simple as it gets, requiring just a banana weight from 2 to 8 ounces, depending on current conditions, and either a whole or cut-plug herring. Make sure the bait spins tightly by testing it at the surface, then drop it down to a fishy depth. Reel up and drop back in. Bites will mostly be on the drop, and when you feel the line come to a stop or slack, reel up fast and set the hook. (MARK YUASA, BOTH)

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Author Mark Yuasa has used the technique since the time he was a lad and caught his first salmon off of Sekiu. (MARK YUASA)

of flash will get the fish to hit more times than not. I’d stick with cutting the head of the herring off at a 40- to 45-degree or a slightly less angle both vertically and horizontally. There are after-market plastic bait cutters like a Folbe Cutting Guide to help you get the right angle, although once you’ve cut enough bait you’ll get a good feel for the right angle. For tips, go to theoutdoorline.com/blog/ post/2010/03/07/how-to-rig-a-cutplug-herring.aspx.

I don’t always use a cut-plug herring and will often try a whole herring with a curved bend. The degree of bend controls the proper roll. In order to get the right “curve” in a herring I’ll bend it in the palm of my hand and insert a toothpick up the anal cavity. Then I set the top hook in the herring jaw to keep the mouth shut with the trailing hook dangling freely near the tail.

Cut or uncut have both proven effective and each has its advantages, so the choice is up to you.

Truthfully, the most important factor for frozen herring is quality control. Be sure they’re firm – never thaw and refreeze for another trip – and toughen them up in a homemade

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Northwest Sportsman 73

rock-salt brine solution or an overthe-counter brine from your local tackle shop. Additionally, other scents and dye colors can be added to make the herring stand out. Lastly, keep a few Sabiki rigs on the boat just in case you come across a school of bait to catch your own fresh herring.

The size of the banana or slidingstyle weight is determined by a combination of tidal current and wind speed and direction. When the wind is light and current minimal a 2to 3-ounce lead will do the job, but it will take a 4- to 8-ounce weight when you’re battling extreme elements.

Whatever Mother Nature dishes out always remember to use enough weight to get the right angle on your line and keep a handful of different sizes in your tackle box. That means on windy or strong-current days you’ll need to turn on the main motor and back up the boat.

Using a good, quality swivel will also make the difference between a tangled line or not. There are a wide variety of swivels on the market, but I’d stick to the bead chain or a Sampo ball-bearing style. I use the bead chains that are a series of linked barrel swivels and generally eliminates the tangled line from your leader to the weight and mainline.

Leader length is also a preference thing, with some anglers using shorter, 6- to 8-footers, while some like their them 10 to 12 feet long.

Lastly, be sure to tie lots of leaders before going out, especially in summer when schools of pesky, linefraying dogfish can be a problem.

The last thing you want to be doing is tying leaders on the boat when the salmon bite is on. Trust me, I’ve been there and watching others catch fish during a short bite isn’t any fun.

The choice on how you fish for salmon is totally up to you, whether it’s with a downrigger – OK, I admit I’ll use them when necessary – or the fun old-school way that will hopefully lead you to become a salmon mooching expert! NS 74 Northwest Sportsman

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COLUMN

The Skinny Herring I

t’s a new year and I’m making a resolution not to make any more New Year’s resolutions. This is something I learned the hard way. Contrary GUIDE FLY to what advertisers

By Tony Lolli would have us believe, apparently I don’t look so good in kneehigh leather boots and hot pants. Ask the neighbors. But I digress.

Capt. Ben Zander of Seattle owns Sound Fly Fishing (soundflyfishing.com). He’s a sea-run cutthroat specialist who’ll guide you on Puget Sound from a boat or while wading the flats. He doesn’t care if it’s New Year’s or not, but his Skinny Herring works any time of the year, including January.

Zander started guiding in Puget Sound for sea-runs in 2006. At that time there were hardly any commercially tied flies for this fishery. Most anglers were using Clouser Minnows and pinheads.

The Skinny Herring, one of Zander’s Skinny Series, can be fished in both skinny and deep water. It has a thin profile to mimic the appearance of speeding baitfish in the water column. This fly incorporates lots of flash to attract predator fish while maintaining a slim profile. It’s the motion and profile of the fly that attracts fish. Cutts can be in all types of water in the Sound.

Zander focuses mostly on the shallows.

Most of the time the Skinny Herring is fished on an intermediate sinking line.

After the initial cast, count from five to 15

to achieve desired depth, then strip! Puget Sound baitfish stay horizontal in the water column unless being chased. The sinking line keeps the fly moving horizontally.

“2018 was my 11th year and for various reasons, my favorite,” recalls Zander. “On the last trip of the year I had two excellent anglers. We were nearing the end of the day and fishing had been somewhat slow.

I decided to fish an ultra-skinny water section with the thought that the fish might be in tight to shore due to the high sun creating a bright day.

“We had fished depths of 2 to 22 feet throughout the day. I use a push pole from my Boston Whaler Montauk and guided the boat in about a foot of water. I polled for five minutes and told the guy on the bow to cast the fly on the beach and strip it back to the boat. Man, the fish were in tight and laid up over a shallow eel grass line. We produced about 12 fish in one mile. We didn’t take the Skinny Herring off once and boy, was it was beat up at the end of the day,” he said.

You can also learn more about Sound Fly Fishing on Facebook and Instagram, but don’t expect to see any knee-high leather boots and hot pants. ’Tis a pity, no? NS Editor’s notes: This new column will rotate monthly between Northwest Sportsman and sister titles California Sportsman and Alaska Sporting Journal. Autographed copies of Tony Lolli’s new book, Art of the Fishing Fly, with an intro by President Jimmy Carter, are available from Tony Lolli, 1589 Legeer Rd., Grantsville, MD 21536 for $30 with free shipping.

ANCHOVY NUMBERS REBUILD IN PUGET SOUND Aerial images are showing that there’s a new baitfish species in Puget Sound: Thick schools of anchovies are routinely photographed during monthly state surveys of the inland sea.

Their numbers have been increasing “dramatically” in recent years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and last May, the Northwest Treaty Tribes blogged that an anchovy boom in 2015 might have helped more outmigrating Nisqually River steelhead smolts sneak past all the harbor seals.

Who knows whether that was actually the case, but at one time anchovies were actually “a predominant forage species” in Puget Sound, according to USGS. An agency report includes this statement from 1894 by an anonymous observer: “The anchovy come to Puget Sound in enormous quantities, and … every bay and inlet is crowded with them … I have known them to be in such masses at Port Hadlock that they could be dipped up with a common water bucket.”

There’s a lot of grim news out there about the Whulge these days – drugged-up mussels and Chinook, starving orcas, too much shoreline armoring, etc. – but state fisheries biologist James Losee says that “exciting things” are also happening here from “a prey resource point of view.”

Something to consider when trying to match the hatch for Puget Sound salmonids. –NWS

MATERIALS Hook: Daiichi 2546, size 8 Thread: Danville Mono Thread .006 Under body: Polar Flash Pearl Top body: Polar Flash Black Rainbow Top wing: Krystal Flash Herring Back Gill plate: Tuft of red rabbit off strip Head: Epoxy Eyes: Wapsi Flat Stick On Eyes 3/32 Mirage (BEN ZANDER, SOUND FLY FISHING)

nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 77

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Guide Tips for Steelhead Success W

hen it comes to catching steelhead, the more time you spend on the water BUZZ about the RAMSEY learning fish, their habits and where they are likely to hang out, the more success you are likely to find. Unless you’re rich or a full-time fishing guide, your time is likely limited, which is why I’ve selected two guides from different Northwest locations to interview for this article.

Oregon’s North Coast Chris Vertopoulos (503) 349-1377 Buzz Ramsey What’s your favorite winter steelhead river(s)?

Chris Vertopoulos I really don’t have a favorite, but the rivers I frequent for winter steelhead this time of year include the Wilson, Trask and Nestucca. After all, it’s likely steelhead will be in at least one of these rivers, as they represent the top-producing North Coast streams and are within easy driving distance from each other. If one river is producing fish, I pretty much stay on it until the fishing slows and then check out the others to discover which river or section of river is producing.

BR What is your favorite fishing method?

CV Like most guides, I’m skilled in all known fishing methods. For me personally, my favorite way to catch them is drift fishing, but when it comes to guiding clients these days I’m mostly bobber dogging and plugging. You see, we often make two drifts on the same day, so what I do is bobber dog my way down the river on the first drift and pulls plugs on the second, when there is less boat traffic.

Guide Chris Vertopoulous calls drift fishing his personal favorite way to fish for steelhead, but primarily bobber dogs and plugs with clients.

(CHRIS VERTOPOULOS)

BR Given your guiding experience, what tip can you share to help anglers catch more fish?

CV My advice is to use presharpened hooks, that is, factory-sharpened hooks, and keep them sharp by checking them often and touching up the points every time they need it. River bottoms are rocky and the rock-strewn bottom, where the fish often hold, is going to dull your hooks. What I use to touch up my hook points is either a file (for badly damaged hook points) or an Eze-Lap diamond sharpener for fine work.

Keeping our hooks razor sharp makes all the difference in our success.

BR What’s the largest you or one of your clients have landed?

CV I and several of my clients have caught winter steelhead at or just over 20 pounds from North Oregon Coast rivers, with my largest being 21 pounds. With friends I fished the Quinault on the Olympic Peninsula some 10 years ago and according to our length and girth measurements, we all caught and released 20-plus-pound steelhead during our adventure.

Washington’s Olympic Peninsula Bill Meyer (206) 697-2055 Guide Bill Meyer guides in many areas in and around Washington, including Buoy 10, the Cowlitz for summer steelhead, and the Columbia for summer and fall Chinook. But when it comes to winter

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COLUMN Washington’s West End is famed for big wild winterruns, and guide Bill Meyer’s client Chris Wilson has caught two that together total more than 50 pounds.

This one went 25.

(BILL MEYER)

steelhead he stays within 45 minutes of his home in Forks, the hub of winter steelhead fishing on the Olympic Peninsula, with many rivers and 18 different drift boat runs within an hour’s drive of town.

When it comes to favorites, Meyer spends most of his steelhead season drift boating the upper sections of the Calawah, Hoh and Sol Duc Rivers, depending on where the fish are showing best at any given time. He says fishing really kicks off the second week of January and stays productive through April of each year, especially given decent rainfall.

Since the use of bait is illegal for much of the wild winter steelhead season, the fishing methods Meyer relies on these days include float fishing and back-trolling plugs. He prefers floats capable of suspending ½ to ¾ ounce of total weight. A 80 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

steelhead jig and/or plastic worm is what he has had the most success with.

Meyer’s advice for anglers includes: pay attention to what’s happening with the float; set the hook when it disappears; mend the line often, as it’s important to maintain a current-speed drift when fishing a float because fish won’t bite the jig when the float is skating across the water’s surface; and to use two hands when casting, as landing the offering in the right location is important to success.

When it comes to plug pulling, it’s important to wait until the rod tip bottoms before setting the hook, and to make sure your thumb is on the reel spool when yanking.

If your desire is to catch a giant steelhead, Forks should be on your radar (actually, GPS) each and every year. The rivers in this area of the Northwest produce more

big fish than any other. Keep in mind that since 2016 most of the region has offered only catch-and-release fishing on wild steelhead and that you cannot totally remove fish intended for release from the water, so take along your camera and tape measure if you want a reproduction made.

When I asked Meyer what the largest steelhead he or one of his clients have landed over his guiding career he immediately spoke of a monster 27-pounder that client Chris Wilson landed three years ago.

Since he couldn’t locate the photo of that trophy, Bill sent a picture taken on a different day when Wilson also caught and released a 25-pound steelhead. NS Editor’s note: The author is a brand manager and part of the management team at Yakima Bait. Like Buzz on Facebook.

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Northwest Sportsman 81

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COLUMN

Kick Off 2019 With Steelhead F

or the Northwest sportsman who prefers to chase steelhead, this is more than the beginning of a new year; it is the beginning of a new steelhead SOUTH SOUND year. Fish have been trickling in since early December but

By Jason Brooks the main run starts showing up now, and for those who target winters, Southwest Washington has some of the best runs in the entire state. There are chances at some really big

Where once January was an in-between month – falling after the big pulse of early hatchery winter-runs arrived and before most wild steelhead returned – it’s now more of a kick-off to the season and the year. Ryan Brooks, author Jason’s younger son, shows off a nice clipped fish from the southern Olympic Peninsula. (JASON BROOKS)

nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 85

COLUMN Colorful drift fishing rigs await deployment in winter rivers. Cheery shades in pinks, reds and oranges are some of the best for this overall style of fishing, while metallics are good for plugs and nightmare – red, black and white – is among the better combos for jigs under a float. (JASON BROOKS)

fish, both two- and even three-salt hatchery metalheads and wild fish in catch-and-release rivers along the coast. Winter steelhead mark the beginning of our fishing seasons and it is fitting that they are available at the beginning of a new year.

THOSE WHO VENTURE to Grays Harbor waters and the famed Chehalis system will note that most rivers and tributaries received similar plants as the past several years. The exception to this is the Wynoochee. It has become very popular over the past few years as other rivers close or their plants are restricted. The ’Nooch received 175,570 smolts in 2017, most of which are due to return this winter as onesalts, up 7,400 from the previous planting in 2016. Some will also be making their second and even third voyage up the river this winter, while others will have spent extra years at sea before returning. The Wynoochee often puts out a few larger hatchery fish nearing the magical 20-pound mark, but most are 8- to 10-pound brats.

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JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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COLUMN Fish will already have been in the system when the new year’s bell rang. And now with the new five-year agreement between Green Diamond Timber Company and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife the upper stretches of the river are once again accessable via the launch at the 7400 Road. The past few years this stretch of river has been off-limits to the public. A few guides were able to secure access at another launch site just downstream and fish the better waters above White Bridge access site. The ’Nooch narrows and turns into a true steelhead river in the upper stretches, with boulder gardens and long runs that allow those who prefer to pull plugs a chance to catch some steelhead. No jet sleds can make it this far up and bank access is almost nonexistent.

The lower end offers just about every kind of water a steelheader could ask for.

Bankbound anglers have several gravel bars and WDFW access sites to work their way along the shoreline. Drift boaters can

launch and float a short section from White Bridge to Crossover or make it a full day and go all the way to Black Creek, crossing over the low-head diversion dam. Jet sleds need to be a little more selective as they can’t cross over the dam, but they can make multiple passes at some of the best runs just above Black Creek.

For those who don’t like crowds, you probably won’t like the Wynoochee. Last winter, I fished the river on a weekday and was surprised at the 40 boat trailers I counted at the various state sites on my way up to White Bridge. The ’Nooch is very popular, not just because it gets a good run of fish after each winter rain but mostly because other rivers have been shut down or don’t receive the steelhead plants like they used to.

The South Fork of the Toutle is an example where planting of steelhead has stopped.

OTHER HARBOR RIVERS are also popular and one that is resoundingly so is the Humptulips. Each winter when the steel-

For side-drifters, the Cowlitz is king, but that crown doesn’t come into play until later in season than in the past. According to 2016-17 catch data, the river yielded 2,375 in March, 5,092 in April. (JASON BROOKS)

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head arrive, anglers congregate along the banks to plunk Spin-N-Glos while standing around fires on the few large gravel bars near the hatchery. The Hump received 127,000 smolts in 2017, down 6,000 from 2016.

One thing about the Humptulips is that it is a drift boat or bank angler fishery with no jet sleds due to the amount of stumps, rocks, and rapids between the ramps and access sites. This river is good for floating jigs and pulling plugs, as it tends to eat up drift gear and spoons.

Most head for the hatchery zone, which can become a bit crowded along the banks. Reynvaan Bar is a large gravel flat with plenty of room. On high-water days it is best to plunk from here, but on an average-flow day you can float a jig and “take it for a walk” by walking down the bank of the river for several hundred yards. There are a few spots here for tossing spinners or a spoon, but be wary of the overhanging brush on the far side. Plug pullers like the

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Northwest Sportsman 91

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THE COWLITZ ALSO saw a reduction in plants over the past several years, 437,095 smolts in 2017, way down from the 2016 plant of 598,034, but it still reigns as king of winter steelhead rivers. These fish are more naturally timed returners and are known as B-runs. With the end of Chambers Creek strain releases, this means the Cowlitz angler who fished in December might have struggled to find an early fish, but if you head back down to the river later this month and especially into February, March and April you will have a much better chance at catching steelhead. This will also hopefully take some pressure off nearby rivers such as the Wynoochee, which is tiny compared to the Cowlitz. With the latter controlled by a dam, it is also usually “fishable” even after a hard winter rain.

REGARDLESS OF WHICH river you find yourself on, catching these fish isn’t as hard as some make it out to be. The old saying that

“steelhead are a fish of a thousand casts” is more applicable in river systems where there are hardly any. Finding a steelhead is the trick to catching them. Once you find the fish they tend to be ready biters.

Drift fishing cured eggs is a mainstay, but a chunk of raw prawn works well too. Those with boats have perfected bobber doggin’, which is almost like using a vacuum cleaner to pick up fish – your bait is fishing where the fish are at, making it extremely effective.

And the fact that you can use two set-ups at the same time increases your catch rates on fish that miss the first bait.

Floating jigs is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways I fish for steelhead.

This is because it is so simple. It’s hard to beat a 1/8-ounce calypso pattern Maxi Jig tipped with a piece of prawn and run downstream under a bobber. A long and limber rod allows you to mend the line as you wait for the float to go down. Even the leaps and tugs of hatchery brats make for an exciting fight. This is why we steelhead fish, and it is why we start our fishing year off as the new year begins. NS

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Northwest Sportsman 93

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COLUMN

40 Years A Steelheader A

s with everything in life, change is going to happen. I often find myself reflecting back on the days of WIESTSIDER my youth and relish when the most imBy Terry Wiest portant thing in my life was fishing – steelhead fishing. I don’t know how many times I’d go over in my head every detail of the previous trip, and even in the first few years when I hardly hooked a fish I’d cherish those moments, and still do.

Often it’s daydreaming, sometimes actual dreams. A few nightmares thrown in, of course, as not all the trips go as planned.

I’ve had my share of stupid stunts that put my life in danger; I think most of us have. I used to be super shy, though I don’t think you’d know it now by how I can talk about fishing for hours on end with complete strangers. I still love having a drink with buddies and talking about a trip, whether the current one, a previous outing, or one from the past that none of them were on with me. Hell, even that’s changed. It used to be over beer, but now it’s with whiskey.

I first started steelhead fishing when I was 13. My dad, not being a steelhead fisherman at that time (but soon would be), somehow got one of his buddies at work to take me down to King County’s Green River and show me how it was to be done.

We didn’t catch anything. I barely even fished as I was trying to see every little detail he did, from tying the gear to where he cast, to his every move.

Another reason for barely fishing was I’m pretty sure I had more bird’s nests in my reel than there were nests in the trees.

Back then if you were going to fish for steelhead, you were going to have to use a baitcaster or look like a rookie, which of course I was.

But there was something special about that day. It was nothing that jumped out at me; it’s something I really can’t explain.

Terry Wiest has been roaming the banks of Northwest rivers for steelhead since he was a teenager. In this issue, his last after a six-plus-year run with us, he recounts the highs and lows of his decades on the water.

(TERRY WIEST)

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Northwest Sportsman 95

COLUMN I just knew I was hooked and I was bound and determined that I was going to be a steelhead fisherman.

Anyhow, I thought I’d share a few of the memories, most of which haven’t been shared in print but I love talking about them.

A FEW SLIPS ALONG THE WAY When I first started out I couldn’t wait to get my first set of hip boots. I think they were around 20 bucks at Ernst Hardware.

They were nothing fancy and had a rubber sole with basically no grip and didn’t do well on slippery rocks. But they allowed me to get in the river along with everyone else to get closer to the holes. I was also a lot more stable than these days and I could recover quite easily from most slips without getting wet.

One of my favorite holes on the Seattle area’s Cedar required us to cross the river to fish it properly from the other side.

Though perhaps most comfortable on freshwaters, the author is no slouch on the salt, as this Chinook from his younger days shows. He has written several books on salmon and steelhead fishing, and last month his eBook on fishing for multiple saltwater species came out. (TERRY WIEST)

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While Wiest has caught many winter- and summerrun steelhead up and down the West Coast, few have been as memorable as this large buck he landed while sitting down on a rock on Washington’s Sol Duc after injuring himself. (TERRY WIEST)

There was a nice flat that usually didn’t require much effort, but the water did move pretty good here so we were always cautious. We liked to fish that hole right after the river flooded and was beginning to clear up nicely, as we knew fish would be holding there. But with the river up, our normal spot was moving faster than normal and it was higher. We didn’t care, we were young and hadn’t had any problems before, we just wanted to get fishing.

My buddy went before me and I followed in his path. Being only about 125 pounds back then, the water swept my legs from underneath me and down I went. All I could do was try to dig my feet in as I had no control in the swift current. I did manage to keep my head above water until finally the river shallowed up some and I was able to come to a stop and stand up. It was below freezing that day, my hip boots were completely full of water and I

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Northwest Sportsman 97

COLUMN was soaked from head to toe. That ended that day of fishing before it even started. I was proud, though: I hadn’t lost my rod or any of my gear.

Since then many things have changed to make it much safer to walk the rivers.

Felt bottoms was the first genius idea to help gain some grip. But then I had to learn the hard way that felt and snow are not a good combination. Trying to hike through the snow I thought I was going to break my ankles as the snow would build up and stick to the felt. My ankles rolled several times but luckily no damage, just a very tough day of walking.

Now there are many options – felt, more gripping soles, studs, and even bars.

I found wading staffs are not just for older people, as I’ve saved myself several times from falling by using one.

Even with all the new gear, the water is still more powerful than a lot give it credit for, and it’s almost a given that if you’re wading the rivers, you are going to fall at some time.

And of course, sometimes we just don’t think clearly when pursuing the elusive steelhead. Fishing the Calawah near Forks, my buddy and I were separated by a bend in the river. We’d not had a very good day and he decided to walk up further as I continued on the lower end. I finally hooked a nice fish that happened to have an extra fin. As neither of us had

Over the years the author has made some dear friends and otherwise on and off the water. He vows that whatever the future brings, it will still see him fishing for steelhead. (TERRY WIEST)

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hooked one, I wanted to get a quick picture of it before releasing. As I tailed the fish I couldn’t quite fit it all in the camera frame, so I took one step back and down I went. Damnit! The fish swam off, the camera was toast. The flash card was still good, so I did get a rather interesting shot as the camera was halfway in the water when the shutter snapped.

I also found out that chest waders with a tight waist belt definitely help prevent an early end to the day. Between the wading jacket and chest waders not much water entered and I was able to keep fishing.

On Alaska’s Situk we were walking right up the gut of the river so we could fish both sides where the fish were lying. It

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nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 99

COLUMN

WANNA BET ME?

E

very once in a while an unusual situation will come up which may require a bet amongst friends. Most recently while fly fishing, I was using a 7-weight single-hand rod and hooked into a Chinook. My buddies were laughing and they all said to break it off since I couldn’t land it anyway. Sounded like a bet to me, so the battle was on and a short time later I brought a chrome-bright 28-pound king to hand. I actually sat in the river with it, gently cradling the salmon until its strength came back and then let him go.

Magnificent fish.

My most memorable bet, however, came several years ago while steelhead fishing on the Vedder in southern British Columbia. Steelhead were just starting to move in and there were still a few Chinook, coho and chum in the river as well. I was using just a piece of peach “wool,” as they call it, below a dink float. The hole was directly in front of me, so I would toss the presentation just upstream about 10 feet and let it float by me another 20 feet and then repeat the process. On one run my float went down as it passed by me and I set the hook. Dang, at first it felt like I had bottom. As I reeled down to prepare to free the hook it felt a little funny. It wasn’t moving, but it was giving just slightly as I’d pull up on it. It must have been a good 30 seconds before the snag, which as it turned out was a large Chinook, finally decided he was going to move.

My reel began to scream as the beast ran across the river and downstream. I was fishing by myself but there were a few Canadian anglers who claimed there was no way I could land that fish. That sounded like a bet to me, so I began my trek downstream. I was quite a bit more agile then and was jumping from rock to rock, tripping a few times, but running down the shallows and over and under several other anglers. A few times I looked down and only had a few wraps left on my reel and I didn’t want to get spooled. But as I was using 15-pound mainline and 12-pound

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Word to the wise – don’t bet Wiest he can’t land a fish. He’s pulled in some stout Chinook on undersized setups, including this 38-pound British Columbia Chinook on a float rod and 12-pound leader. (TERRY WIEST) leader the fish pretty much did what he wanted. There were several times when I thought I was going to lose it, but I persisted and traveled downstream every time the Chinook decided he wanted to move.

Finally I came to a huge flat and the fish was tiring. I managed to guide it to shore and tail it. As I knelt down on the rocks admiring the fish, the adrenaline rush was too much. I began shaking and actually threw up. What a rush.

I’m not sure exactly how long it took me to hike back up the river or how far it was, but it was by far the furthest a fish had ever taken me downstream. I stopped several times by the anglers who’d watched me chase the fish past them. That was great, as I needed a break every hundred yards are so. Between the hip boots, my gear and the 38 pounds of white king, I was completely exhausted.

But I won the bet. –TW

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Northwest Sportsman 101

COLUMN wasn’t too difficult going upstream, as the tide was low. After a bit we thought we’d better head back downstream and get going since we had a flight to catch. It was much easier, of course, going downstream, but we also noticed the water was much higher than we anticipated. This was not good. The farther downstream we got, the deeper the water was.

Looking for a place to get to the bank, we found a spot the bears were using.

As my partner was taller than myself he headed that way and decided it was our only shot without having to swim. The water came within an inch of the top of his waders. I was on my tippy toes and almost made it without water coming in, but I didn’t. I did have my belt cinched tight so not much water got beyond there, but I was wet.

To make matters worse, I had a waterproof backpack that had my “good” camera in it, but as I pulled the camera out to take a photo on the trail heading back, it was dripping with water. That was the third camera to date that I’ve managed to destroy while fishing. My wife did get me a new Canon EOS 7D Mark II after that incident. That one’s not going on the river with me, however.

The next day my buddy couldn’t fish, so he lent me his rod. Back then I didn’t have a backup rod and I’d already given the fiberglass one to a friend. I went alone to the Green and caught a very nice 8- to 10-pound fish. When I arrived back at his house to give him his rod back and say thank you, he wasn’t home. We didn’t have cell phones back then so I had to let him know I caught a fish another way. I left the rod by the door, put the set-up I’d used to catch the fish (peach Lil’ Corky with orange yarn) in the fish’s mouth and left just the head hanging there on the doorknob. My buddy thought it was hilarious. His wife, not so much.

Then there was the time we were fishing with centerpin rods on the Wynoochee.

We were having a fantastic day, with both of us hooking and releasing multiple fish.

As his float went down again he lifted his rod to set the hook and his rod snapped in half. There was just a look of disbelief on his face. I, of course, was laughing. That’s just part of angling, and I’ve been on both ends. He ended up landing the fish, all 4 pounds of it – which made it even worse.

He was so upset he planted both ends of the rod into the sand and left it there.

SOME BREAKS TOO

ANOTHER KIND OF BREAK

After the first year of fishing for steelhead and not succeeding at getting one, I replaced the fiberglass rod I was using with a graphite model and was so stoked to fish it. My buddy and I headed to the Skykomish early one Saturday morning and were looking forward to a great day of fishing.

The rod felt so nice compared to the bulky fiberglass one I had been using. On my first cast I heard a little snap behind me. I looked back and didn’t see any branches, so I really wasn’t sure what it was. My rod felt weird, though. The action was off. It was still dark and I couldn’t see the tip, so I retrieved my gear to see if I’d gotten tangled up. It looked like I had a small branch on as I reeled in, so I thought I’d just get rid of it and continue fishing. But as it got closer, I could see it was the top foot of the top of my rod. Crap!

I tried fishing without a tip the rest of the day with no luck. I was so bummed. I didn’t even get a single drift out of my new rod.

One of my most memorable trips was a few years back fishing with Mike Zavadlov on the Sol Duc. We were having a banner day with multiple fish. I’d hooked a teener fish, so Mike pulled to the side of the river to allow me to get out and fight it from shore. As I crawled over the side of the drift boat I had my rod up in the air to keep tension on the fish. As I took my first step, down I went. Mike cracked up. I got up and took another step, and down again I went. Mike was still cracking up and asked me if I had forgotten how to walk. I didn’t know what was going on but I couldn’t feel my leg. The third fall he knew something was wrong, so he picked me up and sat me on a rock.

“Here, let me land that fish for you,” said Mike.

“No way,” I said, “I’m going to land this fish.”

And I did.

Mike tailed the fish and handed it to

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me for a picture, one I cherish – a beautiful buck while I’m sitting on the rock I landed it from.

He helped me to get back in the driftboat and said we should get me to the hospital. That wasn’t going to happen. I told him it didn’t hurt, so we should keep fishing. Then I looked down and one of my fingers didn’t look so good. It was purple and kinda crooked. I’d probably broken it bracing myself on one of the falls. Oh well, I couldn’t feel that either.

But as I drove back and began to thaw out, the pain started. This wasn’t going to be good. The results: one torn ACL, one torn PCL and a broken finger.

FLYING LEAD When I first started steelhead fishing the preferred method to secure your pencil lead to your line was to run your line through a piece of surgical tubing above a swivel. You could then insert the lead into the tubing and adjust the length by moving the tubing and lead up or down the line.

What was good about this practice was if your lead was hung up, it would only pull so much and then the lead would pull out of the tubing and all you’d have to replace was the weight. The bad thing was that as the lead was directly against the line it would fray the line and leave it susceptible to breaking with a fish on. The really bad thing was that sometimes the lead would be inserted so well that you would pull as hard as you could to release the lead, and if the lead released from the snag rather than the surgical tubing it would fly right back at you. I’ve been hit many times by my own lead flying back at me as if it had been shot out of a muzzleloader. Had a few welts and one pair of broken sunglasses as a result.

Luckily, I always wear eye protection, which has saved me many times. My fishing buddy wasn’t so fortunate a few years back. It wasn’t quite daylight, so he left his glasses on top of his hat. It wasn’t lead that hit him, as he was fly fishing, but the fly itself that came screaming back at his unprotected eyes. The hook buried. After several hours of emergency surgery they successfully removed the hook and replaced

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COLUMN the eye lens. Months later his vision is back to normal. He now always wears eye protection. Just looking at the picture of the hook in his eye should convince everyone to always do so too. It actually makes me nauseous to look at.

GET OUTTA MY HOLE! I’ve had more than a few instances when someone would claim to pretty much own the river, or at least the hole. One that always comes to mind was a time we were fishing the Calawah. We’d started out at daylight where the river it meets the Bogy.

As we began our trek upstream we noticed a guy who was drift fishing in a perfect float fishing hole. We hadn’t hooked anything yet, so we just stood there and watched him for a while. You could tell he really didn’t want us there and he wasn’t about to move on so we could fish the spot. So we decided to move on past him but asked if we could throw a couple casts in with him. Even though he wasn’t very enthusiastic about it, he said fine.

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We both cast about the same time and within a few seconds of hitting the water my bobber went down. Fish on.

He began swearing and yelling at me for “stealing his fish on his hole.” So I turned around to hand him the rod and said, “It’s yours, buddy, reel it in”.

He opted not to. Instead, he kept up his rant while I brought the fish to shore. My buddy tailed and released the fish. I’m sure by the looks of the angry guy that that fish probably would have been retained and stashed even with its extra fin. He had more of a tweaker look than a fisherman.

We moved on and let him have his hole. We would have even given him float gear, but he was too busy being pissy.

SPEAKING OF TWEAKERS One of my favorite spots on the Green River required quite a hike to get to. It was hard to find and I rarely saw another fisherman even close. We used to put brush in front of the game trail so other anglers wouldn’t see the footprints and stumble across our

secret gem. Most times I’d bring my buddy, but he was the only one I ever showed that hole to. This day I happened to be by myself. Out of nowhere I was approached by a person who was definitely on something and wasn’t back there fishing.

He asked, “You got some smokes?”

I said, “No, I don’t smoke.”

Then he asked, “You got some money?”

I said, “No, man, I’m just out here fishing.”

Then it was more demanding: “I need some money.”

I continued to walk.

“Hey, I need some money now.”

I continued down the trail looking over my shoulder. He chose not to follow me.

That was a terrible day. The whole time I was fishing I kept looking around me, thinking he was going to jump me. Luckily that didn’t happen.

That same day I bought my first pistol.

Since then I have chosen to pack.

SHARING HOLES That hole was shown to me by a coworker,

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but I had to give up my holes on the Cedar in return. Back then there were actually holes that not many anglers knew about.

I’d done extremely well on the Cedar and only fished with two different friends. Almost always we were the only ones fishing it and we never said where we caught fish.

The Cedar is by far my favorite steelhead river of all time. Unfortunately we are not able to fish it now and haven’t been able to for many years.

We had several multiple-fish days back then, but the one that always comes to mind was a bone-chilling day that we’d gone to one of those holes not many knew about. After fishing for a while we were about to head downriver when I hooked a monster. As I fought the fish the eyes of my rod were freezing up, not allowing the line to go either way. I was sure the line was going to break. Having a great fishing buddy along was a blessing that day. As I fought the fish he continuously plinked the eyes to break the ice off. We couldn’t believe we landed that fish, which was my biggest to date, somewhere in the high teens.

It’s times like that that I will never forget, and I’ve been blessed to have so many more – I’ve barely scratched the surface.

THE END OF THE ROAD So I started out noting that change happens, and not just in terms of wader options. This will be my last column for Northwest Sportsman. I’ve enjoyed working and joking with editor Andy Walgamott. We would routinely give each other a bad time while discussing an upcoming article, or what I wrote, or why I wouldn’t write about certain rivers. I’ve got a few projects to pursue but I’ll still be in the fishing world. I have a new eBook that just came out, Saltwater Fishing the Pacific Coast, and I will continue to write articles chronicling my fishing adventures. And one thing that won’t change as long as I’m able, I’ll still be steelhead fishing.

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FISHING

Careful What You Wish For, Bud! Wanting your girlfriend or better half to fish with you can lead to lifechanging consequences – for the better!

By Sara Ichtertz

I

am sure we have all heard the saying “happy wife, happy life” a time or two. I am also pretty sure that a good number of you who read this wish not only to have a happy life and a happy wife, but for a fishy one as well. As I tie leader after leader while waiting for the arrival of those winter diamonds I desire far more than any mineral the Earth could ever possess, this scenario makes me chuckle.

It’s funny to see the countless fishing group blasts on Facebook as Tom, Dick, and Harry all say in one way or another what they wouldn’t give to find that girl! Or that they can’t get their woman to fish. Or that the lady posting her photo is some mythical creature who only lives in fairy tales.

Well, the reality is, these women do exist! And any wise man should be careful what he wishes for, because once the passion that lives inside of a woman’s heart finds the fish in the cold of a winter’s river, her life is forever changed – and that means yours is as well. Setting forth an entirely different perspective that she had never seen before, this type of tugging on a lady’s heart isn’t the easiest to come back from. I know this firsthand and so I say to you, be

“… Once the passion that lives inside of a woman’s heart finds the fish in the cold of a winter’s river, her life is forever changed – and that means yours is as well,” advises author Sara Ichtertz to guys looking to get their gals into fishing. (SARA ICHTERTZ) nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 111

FISHING careful what you wish for.

SIX YEARS AGO my babes were just babies and the contentment I felt in my life within my home, my garden spot, and our creek was very fulfilling. I was the completely organized mom, so thoroughly did I plan out everything.

Yes, I looked forward to trout fishing, hiking, and camping with Roy and the babes each summer, but I found it easy to stay hunkered down for the winter. Everything and everyone had what they needed because my greatest purpose was to put all of me into loving and taking care of them.

The stages of my babes’ lives were ever changing and yet the joy they brought into my life with each stage made the balancing we had going on feel quite simple and beyond fulfilling. It was comfortable, natural, and in a lot of ways predictable. It was safe and in so many ways beautiful. Looking back on it all I feel somewhat sad that my heart

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Her first steelhead fishing trip, the one that sparked it all, was on a boat, but it’s the banks of Southern Oregon rivers where Ichtertz has become most proficient.

This was her first wild winter-run caught from the shore. (SARA ICHTERTZ)

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“The Martha Stewart side of me has done been washed out to sea,” the author writes, replaced by a more cunning craftiness, one that ties pretty yarnies that feature a sharp bite. (SARA ICHTERTZ)

can no longer know such contentment from this simple, yet beautiful life.

As we say goodbye to the holidays the run of fish that follows proves year after year that this woman is in fact a fishing fool. The fish call the shots more so than she does, and the weather and river levels matter just as much as almost anything aside from her children and you. The thought of the holidays used to mean so much more to her than the beauty in knowing once they have gone it will truly be time to fish. This is in some womanly ways a nightmare.

When I would rather dream of creating the illusion of Christmas for my babes off the grid with no one aside from my little family I realize just how much I have changed. I would like nothing more than their love, a tiny tree, a strand of lights, some milk and cookies, our gear, and stockings hung with love. Dreaming of that small cozy cabin up the river I have obsessively been watching, I realize the Martha Stewart side of me has done been washed out to sea and she isn’t ever coming back. Some days I am not too sure what I think of it, but it does not change the facts.

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FISHING Her “babes” Nate and Ava as well as husband Roy remain all important to Ichtertz, but in getting deep into steelheading, she’s realized “she could do a whole lot more than she ever believed she was capable of. It makes her want to continue to learn, to explore, to believe and grow stronger.” (SARA ICHTERTZ)

COMING HOME TO a warm house, a yummy dinner, and a wife so thrilled to see another adult she wants nothing more than to hear how your day went – unfortunately, this is not the reality of living life with a woman who has the fishes in her heart.

A woman who does is a real mess at least half the year. She might be listening to the happening of the day but she’s thinking about that dropping river and how even though you have work, she has got to find a way to hit that river and drift fish it. If the river is low-low and you are trying to explain to her what the lowlife morons at work were up to, she will tell you something reassuring and caring, because she does truly care about you … all while thinking about what sort of ninja-type action she’ll have to pull off to get those beauties to bite. She might be envisioning you with her in this ninja 116 Northwest Sportsman

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trickle float fishing adventure, but she might not. If you are in her vision, just know she competes with very few, but she will always compete with you, so be ready! This selfish thing she has done has unavoidably made her a true steelhead fisher and you will remember the days you outfish her on the bank because there will be few.

The time that was once put into creating delicious homemade rolls, tied into perfect knots with different seeds and seasonings, is now spent learning the bait loop knot, the fishermen’s knot, the Rapala knot. Tasty desserts have turned into bait creations – steelhead dessert and springer snacks.

These things are now on her mind more so than her dad’s chocolate chip cookie recipe that you love.

It wasn’t that she just abandoned ship. It was just that extra time a woman somehow can find went into

the rivers, into her own pursuit to see what she could do. Amazingly enough, she could do a whole lot more than she ever believed she was capable of. It makes her want to continue to learn, to explore, to believe and grow stronger. She had to leave that comfort zone of life in order to try and connect with those fish, and in doing so she never could truly walk back into that comfort zone the way that she left it.

TO THIS DAY I know learning how to fish the rivers was selfish, though in the beginning I did not. It was the first time in my adult life that I decided to do something for me and only me. Had I known just powerful of a pull these elusive sea-run trout would have had on my heart I sometimes wonder if I would have begged my brother-inlaw to take me down the river for steelhead like I did. A huge amount

Winter Blackmouth Winter blackmouth have arrived throughout the Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Good areas for targeting these teenage kings this month is of course Areas 9 and 10, but Areas 8-1 and 8-2 between Whidbey and Camano Islands can be productive too!

Launching from Camano Island State Park is an excellent starting point. Try fishing Elger Bay just south of the launch or cruise west to the eastern shorelines of Whidbey Island around Baby Island and Greenbank further north.

There’s typically calmer water here since the area is more protected from cold northerly winds.

“Travis Klumpar with typical-sized Puget Sound Blackmouth”

The key to finding these feeders is bait. Find the bait and you’ll find the salmon; it’s just that simple. Blackmouth are voracious feeders, so once you’re on top of them, stick it out all the way through the slack tidal exchange for optimum results. Think deep, as blackmouth will prey on spawning candlefish and herring near the bottom. Follow 90- to 140-foot contours on your depth sounder and bump the downrigger balls off the bottom, which will stir up sediment, create vibration and attract blackmouth. Use smaller spoons in glow green/ white, and pearl with 38- to 44-inch leaders. Hoochies and tube flies trolled 26- to 34-inch behind a flasher in similar colors and tipped with a herring strip can sometimes coax larger fish. Troll between 1.8 and 2.8 mph, pinch your barbs, add herring or shrimp oil and you are ready to go!

Fish will often weigh in the low to midteens and can even exceed 20 pounds! Chinook minimum size is 22 inches and the daily limit is two fin-clipped fish. Always check the WDFW website for updates.

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Northwest Sportsman 117

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of me believes that we should always trust in our journey, though the scared side of myself struggles with that as my journey continues to unfold.

So just remember as you lie awake at night wishing for this fishy woman to come into your life, she is a greedy fisherman, just like the rest of you.

She wants to run her rig through that river at first fishing light probably more so than you. Indeed, there is a difference about her that makes her both unique and deadly. She is detail oriented and driven. As a woman the passion that she is capable of possessing is second to none. And once those fish reach out and connect with her, forever changing her, only then will you realize that her heart is on the river and I couldn’t change it, even if I tried. NS Editor’s note: For more on Sara’s adventures, see For The Love Of The Tug on Facebook.

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COLUMN

Last Chance For Elk As Steelies Arrive NORTH SOUND

S

teelheading takes center stage in the

By Doug Huddle new year, when the Nooksack River has traditionally seen its best productivity over the past two and a half decades. But there’s also an unusual if perhaps much less potentially productive primitive weapons hunt for elk also on the books for early 2019 in Whatcom and Skagit Counties.

Muzzleloader and archery elk hunters have a rare late option for elk in Game Management Unit 407 until the 20th of January. It’s a continuance for blackpowder enthusiasts and a new offering extended to bowhunters this season.

This is a mop-up hunt intended to harass and/or take out North Cascades animals straying from the bounds of the herd’s primary and desired home, GMU 418, Nooksack. A number of Skagit County residents have voiced their dissatisfaction with the presence of these “fringe” elk in the 407, complaining that they do significant damage and some even allege that the state fish and wildlife department has deliberately released animals there.

Random sightings of either solitary elk or groups of two or three in recent years have been reported north of Burlington on farmlands; a bull was rumored to have been seen south of Highway 20 west of Burlington as well.

Elk will be few and far between and all, if/when found, will be on private land.

In northern Skagit County, hunters will need to scout for sign along the county roads around southeast Alger Mountain and talk to a few folks in the Hoogdahl and Samish Heights rural neighborhoods.

Permissions for entry will be obligatory if animals are located.

In Whatcom County, though their

Yes, the odds are low and access tough, but bowhunters and muzzleloaders with unnotched elk tags have one final chance to bag a bull, cow or calf during the late hunt in Northwest Washington’s Game Management Unit 407.

Wapiti hunter Chad Smith wades a North Sound stream. (HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

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Northwest Sportsman 123

COLUMN stray rate has declined in recent years, a smattering of elk are still being reported on Sumas Mountain. Motorized access to the interior heights of Sumas can be had off Mount Baker Highway via the Coal Creek Road. Elsewhere on private timberlands, walking in is the primary mode of access.

NOOKSACK STEELHEADING UPDATE With a semblance of its former normalcy returning to winter fishing on the Nooksack River, anglers in January are likely to enjoy the greatest success of any month of the hatchery winter-run steelhead season.

Since 1995, 36 percent of the total yearly personal use (non-treaty) harvest of cultured fish has been landed in the first calendar month. Nearly half of that take comes from the North Fork and mainstem.

A smattering of clipped winter-runs are hooked in the lower South Fork, probably fish detoured by high flow with the odor of hatchery water from Lummi Nation’s Skookum Creek facility.

Lower Middle Fork intercepts have

dropped to zero as a result of the cessation, more than 10 years ago, of hatchery steelhead releases from the Northwest Washington Steelheaders Club cooperative rearing project at their McKinnon Pond site. All Nooksack system cultured steelhead smolts now are released from the state’s Kendall Creek facility north of Welcome.

At the time of this writing the annual joint state-treaty tribe steelhead harvest management plan was not out, so key figures in this year’s management equation are not available.

The critical forecast number, how many adults expected to make it back to the river, is not known, but beyond that the formula includes a dose of adult escapees (roughly 50-50 females to males) needed for the Kendall program’s steelhead egg-take goal.

Subtracting the escapement tally from the forecast leaves a harvestable surplus of fish that are by court decree split 50/50 between personal use nontreaty anglers and commercial/

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subsistence treaty net fishers.

With one of two years smolt releases missing from last year’s equation, hatchery winter-run steelhead nonetheless pleasantly surprised managers and anglers alike with an unexpectedly strong return of 440 winter fish to the hatchery alone. Catch data for 2017-18 is not ready, but judging from the effort and buzz along the river anglers found a goodly share of clipped adults as well.

For 2018, there may be a shortage of contributing smolts again for this return but with the curtailment of the chum salmon commercial fishery due to a poor showing of those fish, escapement of winter-runs could benefit.

If recruitment of egg donors to the hatchery does lag, a partial or full suspension of personal use fishing could be ordered until escapement is obtained.

However, another of the management objectives for this program aims to see as many of the returning surplus clipped fish as possible being caught.

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COLUMN WHERE TO FISH FOR ’EM With the clearest January flows in the basin, the North Fork and its banks are reachable via a fair numbers of overland foot access routes. Those include at Kinney and Racehorse Creeks, both on the east side off the North Fork Road, as well as Deming Homestead County Park, Truck Road, the old 542 Rest Area, Milepost 19 and Kendall Hatchery on the west side.

The best drift-boat stretch on the North Fork is between Mosquito Lake Road down to the confluence of the North and South Forks. Unfortunately, the drag-in and launch options at either the hatchery grounds or at the mouth of Racehorse Creek are no longer available.

Thrill-seeking anglers will boat the Middle Fork (fast, narrow waters down from the single-lane Mosquito Lake Road county bridge) and for the gentlest float of all there’s the South Fork (Acme area down to the forks).

Boat-borne steelheaders on North,

Middle and South Fork drifts have a downstream take-out located on a south bank (North Fork) bar between the railroad and highway bridges off State Route 9, with a dirt track approach between the two rights-of-way and the requirement to do some wrestling with watercraft to get them up to the trailer.

One other attractive trait of the lower North Fork is that in this day of highly truncated steelheading opportunities it’s open the longest of the North Sound options: through Feb. 15.

Upriver whitefish can also be readily caught in the North Fork. Bait’s legal in this section of the Nooksack system, so a whitefish favorite – a simple single hook/ egg offering – is OK to use. If you don’t want to rebait after each cast, going with No. 12 or 14 rocket red winged bobbers or tiny Corkies in the same color also will work.

On the mainstem Nooksack the concrete-planked boat ramp at Nugents Corner north of the Mount Baker Highway’s (State Route 542) river bridge is

perhaps the most heavily used launch.

Two other trailer ramps are located at Ferndale below the city’s main street bridge and at another state public access on the Guide Meridian (SR 539) a mile south of Lynden. A drag on and out for drift boats and personal watercraft is available downstream of the State Route 544 bridge at Everson’s Riverside Park.

The best overland access on the lower Nooksack is at Ferndale, where public levees and county park lands adjoin the river banks.

Other walk-in public accesses along the mainstem are located at the end of the Harksell Road, as well as the holdings at the SR 539, 544 and 542 bridge crossings. NS

NEXT ISSUE Cutthroat, winter steelhead.

Editor’s note: Doug Huddle lives in Bellingham, is retired from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and has been writing about hunting and fishing in the Northwest for more than 35 years.

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5

HUNTING

Most Memorable Birds

Northwest hunter shares the ducks, geese and other waterfowl that stand out over the decades in the blind.

By M.D. Johnson

T

o be honest, I had to sit and think about this one for a while.

A most memorable bird? What makes a bird worthy of the title, most memorable? A first? A last? An out of the ordinary? A shot? The miss? A dog? Might it be the proverbial one that got away? After reflection, and

the better part of a pot of coffee, I came up with an answer. Yes. That’s it. Yes. All of the above. A, B and C, if choices three are the only choices you have. Memorable, it seems to me, is memorable for whatever reason.

Bedraggled. Handsome. Singular.

Plural. Common. Rare. What?

If you’ve hunted waterfowl for any length of time, even a single season,

the chances are good you have your own memorable bird or birds. This – and let me think so I’m not lying to you – is my 44th year afield in pursuit of ducks and geese. A chaser of ’fowl, not, mind you, a waterfowl hunter.

That didn’t come until later. How much later? How many seasons beyond that one-legged hen mallard

A lifelong waterfowl hunter, author MD Johnson counts not only some of his own harvests among the most memorable but his wife Julie’s first harlequin, taken on Northwest Washington’s Birch Bay with Steve Sutton. Here, Julie punches her sea duck card in accordance with state regulations. (MD JOHNSON) nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

Northwest Sportsman 129

S

HUNTING in ’74? I can’t say. It’s now, as it has been for a handful of years, but when the change? The transformation from shooter to hunter to hunter/observer?

I don’t know; however, I do digress.

So. Memorable birds over the course of the past four-plus decades?

Yeah, there have been a few. Quite a few, actually. But some of the standouts, the most unforgettable, so to speak, would include these from the greater Northwest.

The Great Salt Lake and its wetlands produced two favorite firsts at opposite ends of the bird size spectrum for Johnson, a giant 23-pound tundra swan and, below, a relatively tiny cinnamon teal.

(JULIA JOHNSON)

SWAN SONG (2009) To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know I wanted to shoot a tundra swan until I drew a Utah swan permit in ’09. And even then, I was undecided; I mean, truly undecided. What if I crippled one? What if there was collateral damage, and I inadvertently killed two? Or worse yet, killed one and crippled one? Swans, up until that fall, were something to watch.

Observe. Not something to shoot.

But there I was, flat on my back surrounded by the now 30,000 shallow marsh acres of Utah’s Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge north of Salt Lake City. My gunning platform, a one-man Lake Bonneville Layout Boats skiff. My hosts for the hunt, local gentlemen, had explained the situation in great detail before I ever set foot in the boat. The swans, they

said, would begin to leave their refuge day-roost around 4 p.m., flying, as they did daily, further into the huge expanse to feed before heading to sit for the evening. Spot on, they were, at least according to my watch. Pairs and small groups; nothing big, save for the white birds themselves. Still, I was uncertain. Did I want to do this?

A pair first, breaking the decoy edge and presenting a 35-yard leftto-right. I sat up, shouldered the Browning, and sat back down. “Too close together,” I reasoned, realizing only then I’d never even taken the 130 Northwest Sportsman

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safety off. More birds, all headed west; me, a voyeur as one might be with swans. Five o’clock now, and a group of five were headed on a collision course. “Too tight,” I told myself. But as I watched, the flock shifted; two out front, and two behind, leaving a single adult alone in the center.

Strange, but I don’t remember the rise nor the gun mount. No report.

No recoil. I do recall, and vividly, the multiple pellet strikes against the bird’s snow-white feathers.

The graceful arc. The tremendous displacement of water as the swan

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HUNTING crashed into the marsh. I beat the tender to the fall, the men later claiming I’d walked on water. At the check station, my bird would tip the scales at an impressive 23 pounds; one of the largest, the biologist told me, he’d seen in his tenure at the refuge. Briefly, I considered having the bird mounted, but then I thought, where would I put a bird with an almost-6-foot wingspan? So, a couple days later, several of us ate it; half the breast roasted, and the other half cut into fingers and deep fried.

In case you’re wondering, swan’s good eats. Really good eats.

HUMBOLDT COUNTY HIGH (2007) In 1967, the Aleutian goose – a miniature subspecies of the Canada clan – was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an endangered species. The introduction of nonnative predators, specifically Arctic and red fox, to the Alaskan island chain spelled disaster for the diminutive birds on their breeding grounds. Efforts by the USFWS over the next 30 years, however, resulted in numbers climbing to the point where in 1990, the subspecies was relisted as threatened; 11 years later, Aleutians would be delisted entirely.

Today, California offers carefully monitored hunting opportunities for these fascinating little geese during both the fall and late winter.

Aleutians are cool little geese – frustrating like only a tiny Canada can be, but very cool. They’re a cackler essentially, the one visual difference – OK, maybe they’re a bit bigger, too – being an obvious white neck. Sometimes this ring is solid and complete; other times, it’s only partial. Either way, Aleutians have them, and that makes them different.

That, and the fact they were once thought extinct, and now exist in numbers problematic to landowners, aka cattlemen, who would much rather their cows eat their grass than have their pastures mown by 20,000 feathered grazers.

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Rocking the 1968 look, the author retrieves a trio of Aleutians taken during he and Julia’s first hunt in Humboldt County for the geese. Due to predation by foxes, the species was once federally listed, but has recovered to the point their numbers need to be managed on Northern California farmlands. (JULIA JOHNSON)

Julie and I hunted Aleutians for the first time in 2007, the first year a late (February/March) season was held, and that only on private lands in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, just south of the Oregon border. The purpose was to provide a unique hunting opportunity, while hazing the geese away from farmers’ fields.

We succeeded, I believe, on both counts. Unique, it was, in that we hunted each day either within sight or earshot of the Pacific surf. The birds themselves, though not ridiculously wary, flew in flocks of thousands, and preferred fields reminiscent of golf greens. Thus, big decoy spreads were the rule, and concealment was often an issue. Regardless, we killed birds more often than not, met some fantastic folks, ate good food, and

drank craft beer, all in a seaside setting flat covered up with a fascinating waterfowl management success story.

THE CINNAMON CHALLENGE (2009) The same year I killed my first tundra swan my hosts thought it time I experienced a coffin blind hunt on the Great Salt Lake. For those who haven’t hunted the GSL, imagine a 1,700-square-mile body of saltwater ringed in phragmites and much of which averages 6 to 10 inches in depth; some a little more, and lot a little less. Ducks of all kinds call it home – puddlers, divers, even the occasional scoter or oldsquaw. It truly is an aweinspiring place, even before the airboat ride to the hunting grounds.

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HUNTING goes something like this. First, you find a wad of birds way out in the middle of nowhere. Said birds, and understandably so, depart upon your approach in a huge prop-propelled piece of aluminum and steel. After figuring out the wind direction, you, and hopefully several of your closest friends, stick between 300 and 500 all-black duck silhouettes into the mud. Then you climb into open plastic tubs, aka coffin blinds, roughly 5 feet long, 30 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. No doors. No grass. No cover. No nothing. In front of these in the hole, per se, go three to four dozen traditional floater duck decoys, a mix of teal, shovelers, wigeon, mallards, pintails, and what-haveyou. The no-frills blinds work, I’m told, because birds rafting on the GSL en masse don’t expect to encounter predators out there in the Great Wide Open. And believe it or not, it works.

And works incredibly well.

And so it was during such a hunt that a quartet of teal approached the rig from high overhead. Behind me, I’m hearing, “Shoot! They’re cinnamons! Cinnamons!” Doing precisely what I was being told, I shot.

Once. And killed one bird, which, as luck would have it, turned out to be one hell of a drake cinnamon. Giggly?

You bet ya! If memory serves me right, however, we’d go on to kill seven drake cinnamons that afternoon.

Right place at the right time, or so it would seem; still, the boy from Ohio/ Iowa was able to check that one off his bucket list. Oh, and just in case anyone’s wondering, cinnamons taste every bit as good as blue-wings and green-wings. Eurasians too.

JULIE’S HARLEQUIN (2006) Birch Bay, near the town of Blaine hard on the Washington-British Columbia border north of Bellingham. Our host and guide for the morning was Steve Sutton, consummate waterfowler, decoy carver, philanthropist, and unmatched wealth of knowledge in everything avian. Our goal that 134 Northwest Sportsman

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While their whistling cousins, American wigeon, are ubiquitous in Puget Sound, Eurasians are very uncommon, yet one of Johnson’s hunting partners was lucky enough to bag this one. “Always the bridesmaid, I reckon. Never the bride,” he lamented. (JULIA JOHNSON)

morning? Drake harlequins; to be precise, a pair of fully plumaged drake harlequins.

Well after sunrise, the three of us – four, if you include Sutton’s big black dog Mike – carefully arranged 13 hand-carved harlequin decoys, the baker’s dozen presenting the work of at least six talented carvers, among those our host, atop the shallow waters just feet off a beautiful wavewashed cobblestone beach, a place made even more remarkable, thanks to the seemingly endless bluffs behind us. We made little attempt to hide, or so it seemed to me, a life-long puddle ducker. However, our host assured us that the four us, along with the huge aluminum skiff, would be more than

sufficiently concealed.

Any doubts I had concerning our blind were soon dismissed.

“Harlequin to the left,” Sutton said, binoculars to his eyes. “Mature drake.

Julie … get ready.”

On blurred wings, the bat-like duck, the first either my wife or I had ever seen, flitted closer. Fifty. Forty. Thirty.

Twenty-five. “Now,” hissed Sutton, a split-second before Julie’s charge of Hevi-Shot No. 6s tumbled the bird head over tail into the light swells.

“Mike,” Sutton commanded; the boy-dog needed no further instruction, making short work of the retrieve.

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marveled at the kaleidoscope of colors with which they’re garbed. A drake harlequin, however, is every bit the summer duck’s rival. It was one of those: Pick him up, stare, marvel, put him down. Pick him up, stare, marvel, put him down. Repeat as necessary, an operation which by my own admission was often. An hour later, I’d kill my own drake. An hour after that, my first drake surf scoter.

To some it might seem slight, a mere three birds, but to us, oh, what a trio they were.

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I’ll be quick with this note, though this bird certainly deserves his place here. A Marysville, Washington, native, Tony Miller, my brother from another mother, had four decades of waterfowling know-how under his belt the day this one came about. The two of us, plus Sadie Mae, my black girl-dog, were gunning a huge tidal flat. High tide. Lots of birds; mixed dabblers, with enough bluebills and ’cans to keep it truly interesting. I was halfway through an all-drake limit, and then proceeded to wingtip a drake pintail. As is often the case, Miller fell into some action while the pup and I tracked down the cripple, which Sadie Mae found and snagged after a brief chase amidst the rising water.

Back at the blind. “Hey,” Miller said, quite nonchalantly. “You wanna check this wigeon? It looks weird to me.” Yeah, that’s how he broached the subject. Wading over, I expected an off-color bird. “You ever see one of these?” My jaw dropped.

Sure, I’d seen one or two; just never during season, and never closer than, say, 50 yards. I’d certainly never held one in my hand. So, after the obligatory obscenities, I handed Miller his prize, wished him great misfortune and horrific personal injury, and shuffled back to my Aquapod. Always the bridesmaid, I reckon. Never the bride.

But maybe someday? NS

HUNTING

Time To Go Snipe Hunting (No, Really!)

No storms blasting the Northwest? It’s the perfect time to chase this bird of the marshes, moist fields.

By Randall Bonner

W

hen I was about 10 years old, my father, an avid waterfowler, took me out on my first snipe hunt. His preface on the drive out to the marsh was to be suspicious of anyone who offered to take me on a snipe hunt. He explained the folklore of a fool’s errand, where a city slicker is taken out in the woods

with a burlap sack and a flashlight, basically left to their own devices with an impossible mission. Snipe hunting, however, is a real thing that people do, and although it’s not as difficult as catching a bird with a sack in the middle of the night, it’s still a fun, challenging endeavor.

The appreciation of small game hunting in general is something that seems to have been lost among

modern hunters. Its lack of popularity and hunter participation has some fringe benefits, however. Landowners are more likely to grant permission to hunt small game than deer. Habitat that is likely to hold snipe and other diminutive critters is typically less pressured. Getting away from other hunters offers an experience of solitude, which is a nice change of pace from battling with weekend

Not many Northwest sportsmen pursue snipe, according to recent years’ harvest stats, but it’s a hunting opportunity nonetheless.

The birds can be found on either side of the Cascades of both states. (SCOTT LINDARS, INSTAGRAM: @MARSHDOODLE)

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Northwest Sportsman 139

HUNTING

Snipe have one foot in the marsh, the other in marshy fields. They use their long beaks to poke around in moist soils for their food. (BAKER COUNTY TOURISM)

warrior waterfowlers.

It’s a great alternative activity when your days off don’t always align with the best days of hunting. Snipe are often a bycatch, as far as harvesting target species. A fair weather day that doesn’t get ducks moving can often become a great snipe hunt.

Popular public wildlife reserves for pheasant and waterfowling are good places to look when duck hunters are at home waiting for a rainy day.

Drainage ditches and shallow flooded grasslands near wooded areas are another safe bet.

Snow can also often narrow down the space these birds will occupy.

Their long beaks are made for capturing worms in bogs, shorelines, or the edges of marshland. Frozen ground will often push them back into thick cover. They need to be able 140 Northwest Sportsman

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to probe the ground to be out and actively feeding.

SNIPE ARE THE only shorebirds legal to hunt in the Northwest, and they are here year-round. Oregon’s season runs through Feb. 17, Idaho’s Zone 1 through Jan. 25, and Washington’s statewide hunt through Jan. 27.

There are many shorebirds that are protected species, but once you stumble upon snipe, observing their flying habits make them unmistakable. Killdeer are often encountered in the same areas and are off limits. They make a loud, continuous, annoying call, and often fake being injured to lead threats away from their nests. There are several other shorebird species such as the dowitcher that are also off limits that you’re likely to see out in

the marsh. These you’ll often see out in open flats in large flocks. You’ll be able to spot snipe once they’re airborne as it is extremely unlikely you’ll ever see one on the ground.

They make a distinctive peep as they leave the ground and take to the air.

One tip my father gave me on that hunt as a kid was, “Shoot ’em before they poop!” His suggestion was that snipe are like a racehorse with wings, meaning that once they have lifted off and lightened their load, they suddenly accelerate into oblivion. That advice helped me take my first snipe on that day, just as it left the ground.

However, hunting them as an adult has revealed the value of patience.

The flight pattern of a snipe for the most part is highly unpredictable, zigging and zagging erratically as they reach a certain altitude, wings beating

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HUNTING

Thesnipehunter.com reports market hunting led to all snipe seasons being closed by 1941, but when the birds recovered and hunting reopened in 1953, “Most American hunters had lost interest in pursuing this once heralded game bird.” But not author Randall Bonner, who has chased snipe since boyhood and currently practices the sport out of his central Willamette Valley home base.

(RANDALL BONNER)

frantically, often looking confused as to where it’s going, much to the confusion and consternation of the hunter aiming at it. Indeed, a sniper is a shooter skilled enough to take down this strange bird.

But there is a bizarre phenomenon to their flight pattern that makes it sometime pay to not take the shot right away. Once they’ve flown nearly out of range, they often seem to forget why they flew off in the first place and so double back and attempt to land where they took off. This is often your best shot, and you may not get this opportunity if you spray and pray right away. Walking with the wind to your back also creates an advantage as they often take flight into the direction of the wind, giving you a better chance at an early shot.

SNIPE HUNTING IS the hybrid of flushing upland game birds and jump-shooting the marsh. It doesn’t

require fancy camo or a well-trained dog, and it’s a good opportunity for a minimalist hunter who enjoys walking. Being able to hunt shallow marsh in fair weather often means you can perform this activity in jeans and hip waders, rather than getting fully suited and booted.

Although the birds are excellent table fare, this is admittedly not the most economical method at gathering food, and they are mainly appetizer-sized morsels. The scientific name for Wilson’s snipe is Gallinago delicata, gallina being Latin for “hen,” the suffix “ago” meaning “resembling,” and delicata meaning “dainty.” They are small creatures that are tough to hit and it often takes many shells to bring home a few. Nontoxic shot is required by law, and you don’t have to use the smallest shot possible with the most pellets you can sling in their general direction, but it helps. NS

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COLUMN

Smoke ’Em M

ichael Staton is the kind of guy who hunts ducks on massive CHEF IN THE WILD road trips. Arkansas

By Randy King one year it was just him, his decoys and his dog Lucy. The next year was a remote Colorado reservoir with his best friend from Texas. This next year I am trying to convince him to hunt ducks with me in Alaska. Basically he is a hunting fool, like me. I like Staton.

So when the opportunity came to hunt a section of river bottom with he and Lucy I readily joined in.

“The floods last year washed away my blind and rewrote this whole area,” he lamented on our way in the darkness.

We were packing light, about half a dozen mallard decoys and three teal was all.

“We are just trying to catch them as they come upriver,” Staton detailed.

“Basically you have one push right at first light. Then after you have had long enough to get cold and bored, you get a second push about 9:30. It is hard to hang out until then, but it is totally worth it.”

IN THE DARK we set the decoys in two places about 20 yards apart. Positioned in a section with good current, the teal danced nicely in the water. The mallards we set upstream in slow-moving water; one was even on the bank. We essentially created a landing zone for the ducks between the two decoy sets.

In the dark we waited for shooting light and listened to the sounds of wood ducks passing overhead. Then, right at shooting light, a pair of mallards came in hot. I was sitting left of Staton in the knee-high grass by the river. We had no blind to speak of and our best camo was the “don’t move” type that is often underemployed.

“Take ’em,” Staton said as the ducks came into range. I shot and dropped the hen and no sooner than I heard the splash of the duck hit the water, Lucy was in the

Author Randy King’s new buddy Michael Staton shows off his backyard smokehouse. Smoking is a great way to prepare wild game meat as sausages, but there are a few key tips for successfully pulling it off. (RANDY KING) river doing what she loved.

Lucy is an American water spaniel, otherwise known as “the little brown dog” in the kennel community. She, like most of the breed, is ridiculously energetic while at the same time well trained. Soon the duck was out of the water and in Staton’s hand.

Like the pro he is he patted his dog on the head, set the duck down and looked downriver for the next flock.

“When we get back to the house I have some sausage for you,” he said. “Did you hear I built a smokehouse?”

I had heard, and I was hoping for the opportunity to eat his creations. A person who takes the time to pour a concrete foundation in their backyard for a smokehouse is the kind of person I want to be friends with.

While we hunted we talked about some of the finer points of sausage making.

THE MEAT Sausages, especially mine, tend to be a mixture of things. This last batch I made had a multitude of animals in it – duck, goose, antelope, jackrabbit, elk, deer and wild boar. I use so many different animals in my sausage in order to fully utilize the few pounds of trim off each critter. This saves me a lot of time and I can accomplish more sausage making at one time.

As always, the care of all meat is vital.

Follow the GIGO principle with sausage – garbage in, garbage out. Basically, if you try to stuff crap into a casing, it will taste like crap. I use the edible trim, sometimes the shanks, the neck meat, and the odd cuts that don’t make good roasts or steaks. nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

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COLUMN But never do I add the sinew, connective tissue or other trash. If I don’t want to eat it, I do not want it in my sausage.

THE FAT Fat is vital to making a good sausage.

Why? Fat is what keeps a sausage juicy and enjoyable. Wild game meat is naturally very lean because, except maybe for fall bear, the animals don’t have a substantial amount of intramuscular fat, so making sausage with them requires you to supplement with pork or beef fat. The best sausages are about 30 percent fat by weight; I don’t care how fat of a mule deer you harvested, it will never reach that ratio.

Since fat is lacking in the wild kingdom it is imperative to add it back in during the cooking process. (This is why so much wild game is wrapped in bacon and cooked, by the way). Pork fat is the easiest to use, but beef works too.

THE CASING Many options exist for the sausage casing. Lamb, hog, cow, synthetic and plastic options are all available, but

only one casing is really needed – hog. It is the most reliably good casing and will work for most occasions.

Just be sure to read the instructions and follow them. Nothing is worse than trying to stuff a casing that is not fully hydrated or rinsed – this I know from experience.

THE TEMPERATURE, PART I Keep it simple – the meat needs to be as cold as possible.

Nearly freezing is the best possible option.

I like to thaw my meat until I can just cut it with a sharp knife, then I grind it. Be quick and if you have to stop, keep the meat in the refrigerator until you are ready again.

THE SEASONING By far the most important seasoning ingredient in the sausagemaking process is salt. When making sausages, use a ratio of about 1/3 ounce of salt per pound of meat.

After that the rest is up to you or the recipe you are working with. Some recipes recommend adding the seasoning before the grinding, while some recommend it

afterward. I typically split the difference and add the salt before the grind and the rest of the seasonings – herbs, garlic, wine, etc. – right afterwards. This way I can make different flavors of sausage without having to clean my grinder.

THE GRIND Grinding the meat is what starts the sausage process and is what can lead to an increase in temperature. If possible, grind the meat into a stainless steel bowl that is sitting on top of ice. This will keep the whole pile of meat as cold as possible. I also freeze my grinder attachments.

Speaking of grinders, if you are going to buy one, make sure it is of high quality.

Nothing is more frustrating than a grinder that cannot keep up, clogs, overheats or is just a cheap POS in the first place. I suffered through this for a few seasons and finally broke down and bought a $300 meat grinder. I have never made a better investment for wild game meat.

THE BIND As tacos tell us, ground meat is

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COLUMN poke a small hole on the machine side of the knot. This will allow air built up in the device to escape and the casing will not have an air pocket.

Next allow the meat to extrude into the casing. You want the casing to be full but not as tight as it will get. This will take a little trial and error to figure out. Sausage that is not full enough will be limp and lack that crisp bite. Sausage that is overstuffed will burst open when cooked, letting out all the tasty juices. Getting the perfect stuff is actually a little easier if you have less, as you can always twist the links and make them tighter.

Next let the meat extrude into the casing, twisting the casing every 6 inches or so to mark each of the links location. Tie off the end of the casing. Repeat until you have all your meat in a tube.

THE TEMPERATURE, PART II Everyone cooks Smoked sausage ready for the table. (RANDY KING) inherently crumbly. But crumbly is not a desired texture with sausages. The way to avoid this texture issue is by forcefully mixing the ground meat together. This procedure is called the “primary bind” and can be done by hand or in a mixer with a paddle attachment. The mixing and mashing of the ground meat activates the protein myosin, making the meat sticky. That stickiness is what gives you the good sausage texture.

Again, remember to keep the meat cold! If it warms up too much during the primary bind stage, the fat can melt,

causing it to lose its structure. This can also cause a drying out of the sausages.

THE STUFF This is more art than science and will be an awkward moment. Take the rinsed casing and get it onto the extruder tube (either on the grinder or on the sausage stuffer). I like to get multiple casings onto the extruder at one time. This lets me make more sausage and not have to constantly add casings to the extruder.

Leave a portion of the casing off the end of the tube; tie this in a knot, then

sausages differently. Some boil then grill; some brown then bake; some braise in beer; some, like my new BFF Michael Staton, put them in their backyard smokehouse.

Whatever your method is just remember that direct high heat can cause the casing to split. A temperature is more important than a time. Sausages with venison or red-meated birds (goose, duck) need to be cooked to about 150 degrees.

Those with bear, boar or white-meated birds (grouse, quail, pheasant, members of the poultry family) need to be cooked to 160 degrees. Remember that bear meat causes 90 percent of the trichinosis cases in the country, simply because it is not cooked enough. NS

SMOKED DUCK SAUSAGE

B

y the end of our duck hunt along the river that day, Michael Staton and I had bagged four mallards and two teal, all of which Lucy had retrieved for us.

It was a great morning outing and what’s more, it provided the wild game fixin’s for this issue’s recipe.

Staton’s Smoked Wild Duck Sausage with Cheese 8.25 pounds pork back fat, diced 16.75 pounds wild game meat – duck, deer, etc.

1 ounce Prague powder #1

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1 ounce coarse ground black pepper 3 ounce kosher salt ½ ounce garlic powder ½ ounce paprika 2 pounds diced cheddar cheese 3 gallons ice water (fill your sink) Season the meat before grinding it, then grind it per the instructions in the main story. After the meat is ground add in the cheese. Stuff the sausages, making 6-inch links.

Hang the sausages for 12 hours in the fridge to allow them to dry.

Smoke the sausage at 130 degrees for one hour. Gradually raise the temp to 160 in hour two. Pull the sausages from the smoker when the internal temperature of the meat reaches 152 degrees. This could take five hours, depending on the temperature outside.

When you remove the sausage from the smoker plunge them into the ice water to cool them quickly.

Hang for one hour in the fridge to let them dry. Then package and freeze. Enjoy.

For more wild game recipes, see chefrandyking.com. –RK

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COLUMN

The Importance Of Eye Contact O

“

h my gosh, your dogs are just sitting there, staring at you with such intensity,” said the man as I taught him how I GUN DOGGIN’ 101 train my pudelpointers

By Scott Haugen to track birds.

My dogs, Echo, 5, and Kona, 2, sat exactly where instructed, just as they’d been doing since they were 10 weeks old.

Both knew we were in training mode, and they were eagerly awaiting the next set of instructions.

Actually, Echo and Kona were trying to read my eyes to see what my next action would be, which would key them in as to what their next command was. In other words, their drive to please me was so intense, they were trying to anticipate what to do before I instructed them.

EYE CONTACT IS one of the most important training tools you can establish. A dog that’s been trained to watch your eyes will actually be able to read your mind through your eyes, eagerly trying to please you before you even tell it what to do. The man I was coaching was blown away by it, but when I explained what was happening, it made perfect sense to him.

He was a dentist and had three high school- and college-age children.

“When you were raising your kids, or when you talk to your patients, and you need to tell them something important, what’s the first thing you do?” I asked.

“Well, I make sure I have their attention before talking,” the man replied.

“And you affirm that by eye contact, right?” I responded. He smiled as the light bulb went off.

Establishing eye contact with your pup paves the way to having a disciplined hunting dog that will want to please you its whole life, and it will achieve much of that through reading your eyes. (SCOTT HAUGEN) The gentleman was new to dog training, and didn’t understand the true intelligence of a hunting dog. Nor did he realize that their drive to please their master was so strong.

I was a science teacher for over a decade before getting into the outdoor industry full time 19 years ago, and my wife and I have two teenage sons of our own. In all we do, eye contact is the focal point of establishing clear communication, both in

our marriage and our relationship with our children. Dogs are no different.

IT ALL STARTS the moment you bring a puppy home. The easiest way we’ve found to get a puppy to look at you is hold a small piece of kibble by your eye while giving the command to “look at me.” You want the puppy to look into your eyes before giving the next command.

Whatever command you give should

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COLUMN maintain the same positive inflection every time, for the life of the dog. And every family member should communicate the same way, with the same words and tone, in order for the dog to understand what’s expected.

When training, no matter how bright the sun is shining, I never wear sunglasses.

If wearing a hat, make sure the brim is up so the dogs can see your eyes. Most dogs are so tuned in to reading your thoughts through your eyes that covering your eyes will only confuse them and make it harder for them to read you. They’ll be able to sense if you’re happy, sad, mad or frustrated, all through simply looking at your eyes, without a word being said.

If family members have a hand in training the pup, make sure everyone is on the same page. Not only is it important to give directions using the exact same words, but to also deliver them in a consistent manner and with the same exact tone.

It’s best to establish control of the pup

Eye contact is a key part of dog training, no matter who in the family is giving the instructions. Author Scott Haugen’s teenage son Kazden played a key part in training Kona, along with the rest of the family. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

through eye contact before giving any directives. By holding a treat next to your eye, teach the pup to look into your eye as soon as you get it home, as this will calm the pup and establish that you’re the one

in control. Quickly, the pup will learn that another command like “sit” or “come” is quick to follow. From there, they’ll be looking to please you as other commands come.

AS TRAINING SESSIONS progress into retrieving, tracking, hand-signal training and more, you’ll see your puppy wanting to make eye contact with you as soon as possible. If a puppy respects you, it will want to please you, and this will lead to a dog that’s willing to work hard to make you happy.

When your pup does well, praise it, and be sure to look into its eyes and offer a smile. Often, no words are needed, as they can see your sincerity in your eyes. This look of approval alone is often all it takes to praise a pup and keep it motivated.

From eight weeks of age through your dog’s entire life, eye contact will be one of the most important tools of communication you’ll use. Start early, use it every single day, and be consistent.

After all, when a pup loves you, it’ll do anything to please you, even to the point of reading your mind so it can make you happy before you even tell it what to do. NS

A dog’s drive to please you comes down to respect, discipline and desire, all of which can be established through eye contact. Here, Haugen’s dog Echo works hard at bringing a Roosevelt elk shed to hand. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

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Editor’s note: To watch Scott Haugen’s series of puppy training videos, visit scotthaugen .com. Follow Scott on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter, and check out his TV show, The Hunt, on Amazon Prime.

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HUNTING

Winter snows make for great cougar hunting conditions, whether you’re “walking them down” in Washington and Oregon, or chasing them with hounds in Idaho and Montana. Author Randy Bauman (middle left) bagged this tom in the Panhandle while hunting with (left to right) Chris Jones, Randy’s wife Tracy and Bart George, and hounds Patches, Gus and Nosey. (RANDY BAUMAN)

Chasing Big Cats There’s nothing like hunting cougars behind hounds in North Idaho.

By Randy Bauman

W

“

hat kind of lion do you want?” asked Bruce Duncan as we waited in the truck for word on the track that guide Rick Johnson was checking on.

“I want a good, representative tom. I’m not trying to put an entry in the book or check a box. I’m here to hunt cats behind hounds while we

still can. My main reason for being here is the experience,” was my reply.

It was day one of a 10-day hunt in North Idaho with Selkirk Guiding and Outfitting (509-993-5064; knt-inc@ comcast.net). Duncan came highly recommended and I had seen several articles in Safari Magazine that touted Duncan’s ability with his hounds, his intimate knowledge of the Idaho Panhandle and a love of chasing big

felines. We were hunting right after Christmas in 2014. Duncan had the dates open and said because of the holidays we would pretty much have the woods to ourselves and we should be able to find some cats to chase.

I imagine that for many hunters, especially in the West where cat populations continue to grow, tagging a mountain lion is high on the list of hunting goals. For many nwsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2019

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HUNTING years nearly every Western state had a season to pursue the big cats using specially trained hounds. As such, the populations were well-controlled and the lions developed a healthy respect for humans and dogs. It was pretty easy to find an outfitter who spent the winter offering hunts for cats after other big game seasons had ended. But as time marched on, more and more states banned pursuit with hounds. Oregon voters did so in 1994, and Washington residents followed suit two years later. Now more cats than ever are roaming the woods, but hunting them has become much harder without our canine helpers.

For hunters in the Pacific Northwest, Idaho and Montana are the go-to states to pursue lions with hounds.

PREPARING FOR THE HUNT Cutting a fresh track is the first, er, step towards bringing a lion to bay. (RANDY BAUMAN)

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Having grown up in North Idaho I knew the winter weather was likely to be cold, wet and snowy during our

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HUNTING hunt. We had a couple of mornings that started out below zero and warmed all the way up into the teens.

Warm clothing and wind-proof shells are a must. Layering quality merino wool base layers with wool pants and wool or fleece tops is critical. You need enough to keep warm while riding on snowmachines, but also be able to shed some layers so you don’t overheat while navigating through steep blowdowns and knee- to thighdeep snow when following the dogs.

The best investment we made was a big box of hand and toe warmers.

Our White’s Elk Hunter Pac boots were awesome in the steep terrain because they are rigid like a quality hiking boot, not a limp, floppy mess like many winter boots tend to be.

Finally, we packed our daily gear in a Kifaru Spike Camp pack that was perfect for long rides and proved to be just the ticket for packing out a load of boned mountain lion meat.

I opted to use a Winchester .30-

Hounds surround a tree that a cougar has climbed. During Bauman’s 10-day hunt, the first cat turned out to be a young female that was released, per se, after giving the dogs a run and the hunters a chance to take video. (RANDY BAUMAN)

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30 Trapper on my hunt. I zeroed the rifle at 25 yards with Sierra 150-grain round-nose bullets. With a Williams Peep Sight my load put three rounds through one hole. Duncan was very pleased to see a hunter show up with a rifle that would shoot and the proper ammo. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say that after many years of hunting, an outfitter sees everything that can go wrong, including guys getting to the tree with the wrong ammo for the gun they are packing.

GIVING CHASE “OK, let’s turn the dogs out on this cat to give them a run. We’ll get to see a cat up close and get you some time on the snowmobiles,” Duncan said. “This cat is a young female and we aren’t going to kill her, but it is always exciting to get the dogs on a fresh track.”

And so we went after our first cat with hounds. All of the houndsmen watched their Garmin units like teenagers playing with their phones.

Black lines raced across the map on the screen, then everything came to a halt. All the collar indicators on the screens lit up to show “treed.” It was a pretty short chase, but the cat treed well and gave us a chance to get up close to the big predator, shoot some video and photos, then watch it jump and run only to be treed again in the next canyon. For me, seeing that cat up close and the hounds going crazy at the base of the tree was worth the entire price of the trip.

Without hounds to help, lion hunting is a long shot. Some hunters have had cats come in to predator calls or elk calls. However, when calling be prepared to sit stationary for a long time. The cats want to see what the commotion is, but they are going to circle you, get your wind and likely back out without you ever seeing them. Or, they are going to come right in to you and get so close that any move you make will cause them to blow out without a shot opportunity.

You can also try “walking them down.” Just like running them with

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HUNTING dogs, finding a fresh track early in the day is the key to this method. Once a fresh track is located, lace up your boots and grab your gear and start following. If you find a brush pile or thick stand of timber, or a likely bedding area on a rocky ridge, circle around and see if the tracks exit the other side. If not, set up downwind of the area and prepare to wait and see if your cat eventually wakes up from his nap. You may get a shot when they emerge from their day bed.

ON THE TRAIL OF A TOM

A lion glares down at its pursuers. (RANDY BAUMAN) 160 Northwest Sportsman

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We were only about five minutes from the cabin when guide Rick Johnson called on the radio and said we needed to check the track he had just found in the snowpark. When Duncan saw the track he immediately said we were going to run the cat.

He and Johnson hit the trail with the snowmobiles to see if they could determine where the cat was headed.

About an hour later they returned and we loaded up the equipment and headed for an area where we could unload and head into the mountains.

Duncan called in two other houndsmen to assist. As we were getting ready to head up the mountain he asked me if I had my license and tag, if I had plenty of warm clothes, the proper ammunition for my rifle. “We do not want this cat to get away. We want to harvest this lion if at all possible,� Duncan said.

I assured him I was ready and had all the gear I needed. We headed up an old logging road and slowly climbed up the mountain in over a foot of fresh snow. Every snowmobile had a dog box with at least two dogs on each machine. As we motored uphill I wondered how far we were from where Duncan had first found the tracks. Turns out, we were roughly 8 miles and several drainages away from where the big cat had crossed the road early that morning. Finally, we stopped on the edge of a steep canyon choked with blowdown, oldgrowth fir and cedar and about 2 feet

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Northwest Sportsman 161

HUNTING of fresh snow. We could see where the cat had dropped off the road and into the canyon.

As we double-checked our gear and readied the dogs, Duncan turned two of his dogs out to find the track.

Immediately they hit the trail and were soon out of earshot deep in the canyon. The other dogs were turned out and quickly disappeared into the jungle that is North Idaho. I don’t think we had waited more than about 10 minutes before all the houndsmen said the Garmin collars on the dogs were showing the lion had treed!

Let me tell you, 10 minutes as the lion and hound travel is a long way!

Down the hill we went, with outfitter and guide in the lead. For the cat and the dogs, plowing through the kneeto hip-deep snow was easy. For us humans, slipping and sliding through the steep blowdown was a bit of a chore. We finally crossed the creek in the bottom of the canyon and as we

headed up the next ridge we could hear the dogs. As we topped the ridge Duncan got us all in a single-file line and grouped up tight, then made sure we approached the tree very quietly so as to not spook the cat and cause him to jump.

When we first saw the tree the dogs were at we could not see the cat.

Duncan finally spotted it in a small opening in the branches of a huge old fir tree about 60 feet up.

The cat gave us look of total disgust. His very attitude suggested that if he could get a hold of us or a dog, someone or something would be very sorry. We shot a bunch of video and photos and then Duncan began pulling back and tying off the dogs.

We discussed shot placement and he said to follow his instruction without question and do whatever he said.

“We do not want this cat to get away!” he reiterated.

COUGAR-HOUND BILL EXPECTED Washington South Coast Rep. Brian Blake (D-Aberdeen) was planning to introduce legislation in Olympia that would allow state-sanctioned houndsmen to keep their dogs better prepared to chase down problem cougars this session.

Hunting the big cats with dogs has been outlawed by citizen initiative since 1996, but this would essentially let select hunters who work with WDFW to practice pursuit without killing the cougars, which would also help reinstill a healthy fear of people.

Last year saw a bicyclist in Washington and a hiker in Oregon killed by otherwise healthy cougars.

“They wouldn’t be allowed to hunt cougars,” Blake told the Capitol Press. “They’d be allowed to train their dogs so they’d be available for the department.” –NWS

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When all was quiet – well, as quiet as nine lion hounds that have done their job and want to catch a lion can be – Duncan instructed me to take my shot.

I rested the Winchester against the trunk of a small fir, found the crease behind the shoulder in my peep sight and slowly squeezed the trigger. I never heard the shot. But I did see the cat wind up his muscles, turn toward us and jump from the tree!

He jumped right at my wife, Tracy, who was videtaping the whole thing.

She jumped back and the cat landed just a few feet from where she had been standing. Then he took a huge jump and headed down the hill as if nothing had happened. Duncan yelled for me to follow him.

As it turned out, the lion piled up against a log just 40 yards downhill, but what a thrill and grand way to hunt! I had fulfilled my goal of getting to hunt behind hounds for a big mountain lion. I had taken a 175-pound cat that epitomizes the wild places of North America. The goal was complete, but it was also the first of what I hope are many chances to run behind the big dogs that are born to chase lions!

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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This time of year finds author Dave Workman retreating to the cozy confines of his workshop and pulling a chair up to the reloading bench. The multistep process of “rolling your own” ammo includes cleaning the brass in a rotary tumbler using tiny steel pins in a washing solution. The result is like-new shiny brass. (DAVE WORKMAN)

Winter Is Time For Reloading W

inter, right after the holidays, is a great time to reload all of that brass I’ve saved up over the past couple ON TARGET of months, including

By Dave Workman the two empty .308 Winchester cases from my successful deer hunt, and a bunch of .41 Magnums I had polished up in my Lyman rotary tumbler, the one that uses tiny steel pins in a wash solution to really clean up the brass.

The cold months, when it is tough to get outside and most of the game seasons have wrapped up, is perfect for spending

time at the loading bench. Turn off the telephone, turn on the space heater in the workshop, and concentrate. I’ve found this to be remarkably good therapy, and the end result is ammunition of my own making, and when I’m able to notch a tag or hit a target consistently with it, there’s a certain amount of pride in that.

THAT BRINGS ME around to the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show this month in Las Vegas. One thing I always pay attention to at this biggest firearms trade show in the world is reloading equipment, and this year, there is some good stuff coming.

Lyman is introducing a variety of

products including a new Brass Smith Powder Trickler, a tool for serious precision shooters and hunters. I use the trickler that comes as part of the Lyman AccuTouch 2000 electronic scale. I recently took delivery of the updated model and it’s a gem that weighs charges either in grams or grains.

This scale is so sensitive that if you blow hard on the powder tray, it will register.

I can plug it in or operate it with a 9-volt battery. Anybody interested in a good, reasonably priced electronic scale should give this one a close look.

I use a Piggyback progressive press from RCBS to load all of my handgun brass, and a single-stage RCBS press for my rifle

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Northwest Sportsman 167

COLUMN

Brought To You By:

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The Lyman Accu-Touch electronic scale (above left) comes in a compact box with all the components, including cord, different plug attachments, powder tray and powder trickler. Your first order of business is to put the pan on the scale and zero it, so that all that is weighed is the powder charge. To assure consistency with handgun loads on a progressive press, Workman pours 10 charges from his powder measure (above right) and weighs them together. Whatever the scale shows on the easily read screen, simply divide by 10 and you have your average single load, in this case 24 grains of H110 powder. (DAVE WORKMAN, BOTH) ammunition. Both of these have been in use for better than 20 years and they are still going strong.

I use dies from RCBS, Hornady, Lyman and Redding.

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For those not familiar with how a progressive operates, and are concerned about getting the same charge of powder in every case as it goes through the loading cycle, the solution is easy.

Once you’re set up with the selected propellant in the receptacle, cycle it 10 times for 10 full measures and weigh that. In my case, I was running 24 grains of Hodgdon’s H110 behind a 170-grain Sierra JHP, so my full

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Northwest Sportsman 169

COLUMN

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The author likes Starline brass, and for 2019, that outfit is introducing two new calibers for rifles, the .348 Win. and .375 Win. Also new in the new year, an update to Workman’s reloading bible, the Hodgdon Annual Manual. (DAVE WORKMAN, HODGDON)

payload would weigh 240 grains (divided by 10), and it did through three successive cycles, so I knew each powder charge would hit the scale at 24 grains each.

This takes some fine-tuning of the powder measure, but it’s worth the effort.

It’s important to have the cleanest brass possible, and a couple of years ago, I got hold of more than 200 new, unfired Starline cases to practice for the annual Elmer Keith Memorial Long Range 170 Northwest Sportsman

JANUARY 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

handgun shoot that was profiled about two years ago in our sister publication, American Shooting Journal.

Speaking of Starline, that company recently added two more rifle calibers to its lineup of unfired cartridge brass, the .348 Winchester and .375 Winchester.

According to Starline, the .348 was developed for use in the Winchester Model 71 lever-action rifle back in 1936, and there are lots of those rifles still in use.

The .375 Winchester was introduced with the “Big Bore ’94” lever-action rifle a couple of decades ago and is described

by Starline as a “beefed-up and shortened version of the .38-55 Winchester.” It was quickly popular with big game hunters, especially those who hunt in the timber, such as one finds in Western Washington and Western Oregon.

Since I also load all of my hunting ammunition for the .308 and a .30-06 that

has accounted for several nice bucks, the powder trickler on that Lyman Accu-Touch comes in handy. I try to measure each powder charge right down to the granule of powder. My bolt-action Savage that is chambered for the .308 Winchester is deadon at 200 yards, and that is largely the result of consistent cartridge loading.

I use Nosler 165-grain AccuBond boattails ahead of a healthy charge of IMR 4895. The bullet is a real performer, shooting flat and with plenty of stopping power.

One resource that I have grown real fond of is the Hodgdon Annual Manual, now in its 16th year. According to Chris Hodgdon, this year’s version includes data for more than 96 rifle and 46 handgun cartridges, including 17 cartridge updates.

This annual edition includes complete new data for the .224 Valkyrie and 6.5 PRC cartridges, and there are useful charts for “the complete handloading experience.”

WHEN IT COMES to bullets, Hornady is another outfit that makes a good projectile, and this year, there are some new ones on the plate. One that will get my attention is the ELD-X (for Extremely Low Drag – eXpanding) bullet, designed for match-level accuracy and all hunting ranges. There are several new entries in popular calibers.

There’s another important use for the electronic scale, and that’s where the aforementioned Lyman Accu-Touch becomes indispensable. Believe it or not, I weigh each bullet when I’m putting together my hunting loads. Over the years, I’ve gotten some really oddball inconsistencies with bullets that sort of came into my possession. They have varied by as much as several grains, especially the lead ones; not so much with jacketed bullets and rarely with any rifle bullets.

I have never found more than a halfgrain of variation in the rifle bullets I use from any of the top makers, whether Speer, Nosler, Hornady, Sierra or Barnes.

But it is important to check them, anyway.

Ditto, the JHP pistol bullets.

We’ll be looking at more guns and gear for 2019 in the months ahead. NS

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Northwest Sportsman 173

BACK PAGE

About That Spot ...

By Dennis Dauble

A

few years back I had a scare. I’d been getting a skin care exam for 10 years or so. Had a few warts scraped. Several dark spots got the freeze treatment. Then there was that growth on my eyelid that attracted attention.

My annual screen showed unnerving evidence of squamous cell carcinoma in the small of my back. Surgery was required. That meant a return visit and dressing up in one of those silly little smocks left open in the back while diseased tissue was carved out. Indeed, spending too much time fishing on the Columbia and elsewhere in the Northwest can take a toll on the second largest organ of your body.

RECENTLY I CHECKED into a DermaCare facility. Posters on the wall touted skin toning, Botox injection, teeth caps, fashion sunglasses. The front desk was staffed by four attractive women. A man with a patch of gauze on his cheek and a woman whose ankles had flaming patches of cirrhosis sat in the waiting area. Another man entered the lobby wearing blue surgical gloves and Saran Wrap up to his elbows. I reflected that all three patients were my age or older and had come from before the days of helicopter moms chasing their children around with spray cans of SPF-80.

As I read up on the latest celebrity breakup in a dog-eared People magazine, my name was called and a foxy blonde assistant led me to an exam room. She told me to take off my clothes, but leave on my underpants. Reaching into a drawer, she pulled out a white paper towel and offered it me, explaining, “To cover yourself depending on how modest you are.”

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My camo green briefs were clean and the elastic wasn’t worn. Stains or wet spots weren’t evident either. I sucked in my gut and watched an informational video about sunscreen pollutants on a flat screen TV the size of an iPad. A quick knock on the door announced the entrance of Dr. Smith.

“Looks like you’ve been good,” he said, parting the thinning hair on my temple. It’s the same location where he burned off a half dozen dime-size patches of precursor cancer cells two years ago.

“Any skin cancer in your family?” he asked.

“Just my uncle and my mother. My family likes to spend time outdoors.”

“How often do you use sunscreen?”

“I put some on last week when I went fishing. That was a first, though. Anglers don’t like strange scent on their hands. It might chase fish away.”

WHAT TRANSPIRED NEXT reduced his attention on irregular marks, scabs and other telltale signs of solar abuse.

“Where does one take their kids to catch fish from the bank?” he asked.

“Depends on how old they are.”

“Two and five. The 5-year-old can cast.

I have to keep my eyes on the 2-year-old.”

“Scooteney Reservoir is a good place for yellow perch.”

“How do you spell it?” his assistant chimed in, pad and pen in hand.

Only then did I notice that the protective paper towel was now balled up in my hand like a crumpled napkin after a Chinese dinner.

“Stand up while I look at your legs,” Dr. Smith ordered.

I stood straight and tall on the bottom step of the exam table.

“You might try Cargill Pond,” I said, gaining confidence in my near nakedness.

Admittedly I used to have unsettling dreams about standing on stage at a professional conference wearing only my briefs, a tidy whitie nightmare. That was back when I feared speaking in front of a large crowd, but today was a different story as I spilled my guts to the doctor and his assistant about where youngsters might catch panfish.

“What about the Yakima River?” Dr. Smith asked.

“Flows are too high now but try it for bass later in early summer with a casting bubble and fly or small jig,” I replied, adding, “I’d try Cargill first, though. Put a worm 3 feet below a bobber and see if a bluegill bites.”

“You should be charging me for all the info,” the doctor observed.

“How about you burn off these two skin tags instead?” I said, pointing to my left shoulder. “It’d keep me from looking at them trying to decide if they’re getting larger or changing color.”

“Thanks for the fishing advice,” he said as he headed out the door.

“You can put your clothes back on now,” his assistant said.

I slipped back into my walking shorts and T-shirt and vowed to use sunscreen more diligently. He’ll be asking for my secret fishing spots if he sees me again, and a man wielding a scalpel or liquid nitrogen is hard to deny. NS Editor’s note: Dennis Dauble is the author of the natural history guidebook Fishes of the Columbia Basin and two short story collections: The Barbless Hook and One More Last Cast. Contact him at DennisDaubleBooks.com.