Ns 12 16 web

2017 SPORTSMAN CALENDAR INSIDE!

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Real Women OOF

NW FISHING! S SteelieSlammin’, Ling-Luring, Koke-Crushing, Derby-Winning Salmon Slayers!

41

YULETIDE CHROMERS

South Coast, Westside Tri-Cities & More Tidewater Steelies Buzz’s Tips

ALSO INSIDE

12 OPS OF

CHRISTMAS

Portland Cast-and-Blasts

‘Skewer’ Pronghorn’s Gamey Reputation

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Sportsman Northwest

Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource

Volume 11 • Issue 3 PUBLISHER James R. Baker

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

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Dick Openshaw EDITOR Andy Walgamott LEAD CONTRIBUT0R Andy Schneider THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Mark Bove, Scott Brenneman, Jason Brooks, Doug Huddle, Sara Ichtertz, Doug Johnson, MD Johnson, Randy King, Buzz Ramsey, Troy Rodakowski, Kari-Lynn Smith, Randy Wells, Terry Wiest, Dave Workman EDITORIAL FIELD SUPPORT Jason Brooks GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins

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ARIMA 21 SEA RANGER HARD TOP

ON THE COVER Western Oregon’s Sara Ichtertz, one of our 7th Annual Real Women of Northwest Fishing, holds her favorite species of all, steelhead, “so majestic, beautiful, full of fire and will.” (SARA ICHTERTZ)

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and get daily updates at nwsportsmanmag.com.

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Northwest Sportsman 9

CONTENTS

107

VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 3 (ANDY SCHNEIDER)

THE 12 OPS OF CHRISTMAS

FEATURES

If a partridge should pop up in a pear tree, it ‘s fair game too in Andy Schneider’s Portland-oriented version of this classic Christmas countdown, but in truth he’s got his holiday sights set on ducks on the coast and Columbia Gorge, and his hooks sharpened for fall kings, winter steelies and stocker trout!

22

7TH ANNUAL REAL WOMEN OF NORTHWEST FISHING Each December we turn our mag over to the increasing numbers of women and girls joining the ranks of Northwest anglerdom, and this year is no exception! From gals who have found strength through fishing and the rivers to those who love that tug on the line or are busy getting more females involved in the sport, we share the stories of the Real Women of Northwest Fishing!

85

WALLA WALLA STEELHEAD The Walla Walla River and its trib the Touchet provide some pretty sweet steelheading water, whether you’re a flyrodder or gear guy, but there are also changes afoot in this Southeast Washington basin to be aware of. Mark Bove has the word on both fronts.

131 A DEEPER LOOK AT 2D GOOSE DECOYS No doubt about it, full-body goose decoys are the bee’s knees for Northwest waterfowlers, but they’re spendy too. Veteran honker hunter MD Johnson has the pros as well as cons on why you want to add two-dimensional silhouette dekes to your flock this season.

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 © 2015 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.

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Northwest Sportsman 11

CONTENTS (OREGONFISHINGADVENTURE.COM)

73 SOUTH COAST

Randy leads off our steelhead coverage with a tutorial on bobber doggin’ for Chetco, Elk and Smith winter-runs!

COLUMNS 69

WESTSIDER With all of one real option in the basin this season, Puget Sound steelheaders should prepare to travel for their favorite fish – Terry has your road trips planned!

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BUZZ RAMSEY New steelheading techniques come and go, but there’s one that’s stood the test of time – Buzz shares the basics of drift fishing.

99

NORTH SOUND As 2016 winds down, Doug details where to sniff around for Nooksack chromers and the season’s last hurrahs for blacktails and upland birds.

125 THE KAYAK GUYS With Mother Nature in a particularly nasty mood Scott has you covered with do-it-yourself projects for winter’s rainy, windy days – a dry bag and bait cooler!

143 SOUTH SOUND Still have a live archery or muzzleloader deer tag in your pocket? Jason’s got some ideas on where to notch it!

149 CHEF IN THE WILD Randy skewers the gamey reputation of pronghorn with this North African-inspired recipe for meatball kebabs.

155 ON TARGET With Christmas nearing, Dave has some hunting- and shooting-related gifts for the Northwest sportsman in your life.

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65 OUTDOOR CALENDAR 2017 NORTHWEST SPORTSMEN’S AND BOAT SHOWS

(SEATTLE BOAT SHOW )

DEPARTMENTS

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19

THE EDITOR’S NOTE ODFW’s “Strategic Rebalance” on Columbia salmon reforms unwise

21

CORRESPONDENCE Reader reactions to recent news

22

THE BIG PIC 7th Annual Real Women of Northwest Fishing feature

57

PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Browning, Fishing monthly prizes

59

THE DISHONOR ROLL Deer decoys help bust Cowlitz County spotlighter; Rewards offered in Oregon elk poachings; Jackass of the Month

61

DERBY WATCH Everett No Coho Blackmouth Derby results; Northwest Salmon Derby Series grand prize boat winner; Upcoming events

65

BIG FISH Record Northwest game fish caught by female anglers

83

RIG OF THE MONTH Bobber doggin’ set-up

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Northwest Sportsman 17

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THEEDITOR’SNOTE

A guide boat returns to Astoria during 2014’s Buoy 10 fishery. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)

O

regon and Washington fishery managers are reviewing the first four years of Columbia River salmon reforms, and this month the former state may alter the deal, raising alarms with sportfishermen. In November, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife pitched a “Strategic Rebalance” that would halt the planned 80:20 recreational:commercial split of fall kings in 2017, as well as continue gillnetting upriver brights above the Lewis.

AS YOU’LL RECALL, getting nontribal gillnetters off of the Lower Columbia was the driving force behind the fishery reforms. They’re a product of a 2012 Oregon initiative that would have banned the gear. As the vote neared, Governor Kitzhaber came up with a compromise later agreed to by Oregon’s and Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commissions. It outlined a gradual shift of allocations in favor of sport anglers and efforts to figure out how to make it a win for commercial fishermen while moving them to off-channel areas in the lower river and increasing hatchery salmon production there.

This fall marks the fulcrum between 2013-16’s transition period and 2017’s full implementation, so the DFWs are reviewing how the reforms have gone so far. Initial testing of new netting techniques has seen mixed results, with purse seining looking better than beach seines, which tend to pick up a lot of bank-running steelhead.

Release mortalities have also been higher than expected. Hatchery returns to off-channel sites also need time to fully materialize.

A source cautions there’s always the potential for lawsuits should one side feel like it is not reaping rewards like the other, but ours sees enduring barbless hook restrictions, paying an extra $9.75 to fish the Oregon side of the watershed (and help ease the transition for the comm fleet) and the transfer of upstream hatchery fish as prices to be paid to get to 80:20 on fall Chinook in 2017.

THE GOOD NEWS is ODFW still wants to shift springer and sockeye allocations from 70:30 to 80:20 next year. But stalling the same advances for URBs and tules means a potential loss of 10,000 angler trips and $400,000 in sportfishing revenue, agency analysis shows.

Now, I am not against commercial fishing. I believe it is a very important coastal industry, one that keeps the lights on the other 11 months the sport fleet is not at Buoy 10. But a deal is a deal.

At press time, Oregon’s commission was expected to make a final decision at its December meeting. Stay tuned. –Andy Walgamott

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CORRESPONDENCE NEW STEELHEAD PLATE Not everyone was quite as excited as our overly excitable editor when it came to the new Washington steelhead license plate that will be available in early 2017. “I saw this license plate and thought, ‘How cool, I’d love to have one of those!’” posted Jake Poolman.

“Then I remembered I live on what was once a world-famous steelhead river (Skagit) that basically has zero steelhead fishing seasons.

Hatchery program closed, native catch and release fishery closed despite a healthy run more than capable of supporting a fishery.

So no …” The plate just may help you out, Jake – more next issue.

MALHEUR VERDICT Our posts on news that the armed Malheur malcontents who occupied the Eastern Oregon national wildlife refuge had gotten off on federal conspiracy charges drew a range of responses. “Absolute garbage. They should be locked up,” wrote Bart George on Facebook. Chase Gunnell said it felt like a “sucker punch. I wonder how many of those who reacted gleefully … hunted deer ... on the Okanogan-Wenatchee, or are packing for elk camp on our national forests. Side with the Bundys and you’re siding with ‘No Trespassing’ signs on these and other places that we hunters and anglers depend on.” Arten Easty saw it as a “wake-up call” to the feds to manage public lands for a wide variety of uses, but Tim Watts gave us both barrels: “You people are really screwed up.

The government land grab from the general public is unconstitutional,” he said, and invited us to place our magazine “where the sun doesn’t shine,” which we took to mean mailboxes – go to nwsportsmanmag.com for Christmas gift subscriptions!!!

SNAKE RIVER RECOVERY After the National Marine Fisheries Service released a new “roadmap” to recovering Snake River salmon and steelhead, readers were looking for a shortcut. “The only ‘blue print’ is removal of the dams,” stated Dustin Wagner, which inspired Brad Dailey to add, “Removal of the four lower Snake River dams should be the first step in the plan.” Jake DePoe expressed dismay at the plan’s timeline too: “Fifty to 100 years to a self-sustaining population?

No. We can do better.”

MOST LIKED READER PIC WE HUNG UP ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE DURING THIS ISSUE’S PRODUCTION CYCLE While this year’s A-run of steelhead up the Columbia has been disappointing, not so with the Bs – they came in at twice the forecast, and Roger Guzman picked up one, this nice 14-pounder, caught on a shrimp under a bobber off the bank around John Day. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST)

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Northwest Sportsman 21

Western Oregon’s Sara Ichtertz holds her favorite fish of all, steelhead, “so majestic, beautiful, full of fire and will.”(SARA ICHTERTZ)

TRULY HAPPIEST

ON THE RIVER

By Sara Ichtertz

B

eing out of range – before there was such a thing – was pretty much how I spent my childhood. Raised on an old ranch with five sisters, we were encouraged by Mom and

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Dad to frolic and have adventures safely in our pastures, barns, ponds and, my favorite of all, the creek! Throughout my life, I’ve definitely found myself happiest when I am on the water. It has always drawn me to it. Traveling the creek, building forts, catching eels, baiting tiny trout set-ups with worms and periwinkles my

MIXED BAG

camera is where it is at for me.

In a sense, it is a lot like what my sister and I did so long ago, but on a much broader scale, where my passions are constantly tested, challenged and rewarded beyond my wildest dreams. The pursuit of the rivers and what lies beneath them is my pursuit to happiness. I believe I have found a true joy that will last my lifetime through the sport of angling, all while finding the balance of being a busy busy mom and the wife to my high school sweetheart.

T

his December marks our 7th Annual Real Women of Northwest Fishing feature! Once again, we’re turning the issue over to the women and girls who are quietly and very successfully joining the ranks of Washington, Oregon and Idaho fishers, making Northwest anglerdom all the stronger.

Newbies, old hands at the sport, derby winners, mothers raising their kids on the river, organizers of all-female fishing trips over the horizon – they all share their stories. Enjoy this year’s edition of Northwest Sportsman’s Real Women of Northwest Fishing!

–The Editor

I WAS INSTANTLY intrigued by the majestic winter fish. That first trip down the river, that first tug, head shake, run and eruption of power as she jumped out of the river just as the sun began to touch the water was too much! I was gone. I had never ever seen or felt anything so amazing in my entire life. And in that moment I was forever changed. I am so thankful my brother-in-law humored me, shared what he knew with me and took me downriver, sidedrifting the very river my entire life has been spent on.

Timing in life is a funny thing. I waited an entire year before I attempted the river once more. In that year I learned nothing as far as angling goes, but in the one that lay ahead I learned everything I needed to believe that I could and would in fact learn to fish!

Unlikely strangers turning into friends. Life-changing inspiration and guidance waiting for me on that bank, like it was destined to be. What a beautiful thing.

My first, most crucial inspiration came from a 76-yearold woman. I believe it was no coincidence the river brought Barbara and I together that January morning. She taught me the basic concepts, all while sharing beautiful stories of she and her husband’s life together, fishing from here to Alaska. Though we did not hook any fish that day, I left the bank full of inspiration and desire. I wanted to feel what I saw in Barbara’s eyes as she spoke of the rivers and the fish she loved so much. I went home that night, learned my knots, and truly believed I could and would do this.

SHARING THIS PASSION with my babes has got to be the greatest

sister Joni and I found, dragging trout out of that creek each summer – I am very thankful for the love and support my parents gave us girls growing up. They gave us the freedom to find comfort in nature, and to this day it is by far the place I prefer to be!

Today, if someone were to ask me what it is I do, I would tell them I am Mom to Nate and Ava and what I do is fish! Nearly four years ago I discovered something that truly made me tick and three years ago I decided it was time to stop dreaming and get after it. This amazing sport brought things out in me I never even knew existed! It allows me to pursue my lifelong passion of nature photography, all while chasing that killer adrenaline rush.

Each season’s backdrop is almost as stunning as the fish and the fight itself. But to capture that moment perfectly from behind my

angle of the sport for me. I fell in love with fishing just before I found out I was pregnant with my first child. Free trout weekend and one sweet husband was all it took. What I truly wanted in life more than anything was to be a loving, supportive wife and eventually be a mom, and when my first little blessing came, motherhood came first. But the flicker of the water and fish still simmered deep within me. I dove into growing gardens and loving my family. Time flew by, the babes grew faster than the gardens and life was good.

My opportunity knocked when they were still quite little. The first hatchery steelhead from the bank I ever hooked, they were there. My knots held and I was thrilled! I remember how happy I was, jumping for joy, hugging my babes tightly after I landed that chrome-bright hen. They were there for my largest springer to date too; the only fish landed out of that North Umpqua hole that night was by the only mom on the river who was independently fishing with her 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter.

As winter’s and spring’s stocks swam on, my addiction was in full nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 23

MIXED BAG swing and I realized another run of beautiful fish was just around the corner, my favorite on the North Umpqua system. My babes cheered me on and together we learned how to fish for summer steelhead on our beautiful river. Two Junes ago it was just us on the bank, hooking and losing fired-up summers. Those fish, they are just so hot! I hadn’t a real clue how to handle them. But I had been giving fishing my best for six months and my riggings were legit. I was in good shape, good enough to know I would rather

“Bring on sturgeon!” That’s what Kaley Adamen says after a banner year of fishing across the Inland Northwest for kokanee, as well as the Hanford Reach for fall kings. “She really is finding her own out there,” says her dad Calvin Schertenleib. “Choosing her own plugs, setting out downriggers, tying up her own sockeye and kokanee squids etc. – it’s awesome to see!”

A panel of images shows Sara’s success the past few years on hatchery and wild winter- and summer-run steelhead, as well as her “babes,” son Nate and daughter Ava who accompany her on the rivers. (SARA ICHTERTZ)COLUMN spend our summer days on the river sharing nature together than anything else. Unplugged from it all – that’s what kind of mom I wanted to be and strive to be. Yes, I am home-raising my children, but that doesn’t mean we can’t explore and fish while Dad is off making a living. We could fish and have fresh meat by the time he arrived home for dinner! I had what I needed: them, my gear, and a small amount of knowledge to fish independently. And so we did!

I hadn’t experienced anything like summer steelhead, though springers had worked me over right before those little beauties came into my life. The babes would let me know, as if the fish hadn’t already: “Mom! You lost the fish!” They were right; I did lose fish.

Death rolls snapping my leaders at the bank; spit riggings after one too many leaps out of the river; trying to figure out how to land them solo; touching them for a split second just to have them say, “Try harder, Sara!” One after the other, I lost more fish than I landed.

But in that summer I started believing in myself, just as my babes did. And by the end of that run. I was fighting and landing those beautiful fish, babes in tow and with not another soul in sight! I felt I didn’t truly know enough to guide Nate, but the times, 24 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

A beautiful evening on the Willamette near the St. Johns Bridge yielded this nice springer for Amanda Newton. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, ALL THIS COLUMN)

Sara Stefano says that her love of fishing and the outdoors has given her strength. “I’ll be forever grateful that fishing came into my life.”

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Northwest Sportsman 25

MIXED BAG they are a changing, and my son now fishes strong!

MY BOY LOVES it, and I feel my time on the river is paying off. He has that true, hardcore, travel-across-the-state, wait-on-the-sunlight, semifrozen-bodied, thrilled-with-anticipation, 45-minutes’-worthof-sleep passion it takes to get after these fish. He has a love for nature, and total respect for the rivers and what lies beneath them.

It’s an honor and a privilege to be sharing my greatest passion with him. To feel he loves it as much as I do makes it that much sweeter as I watch his skills grow. Since winter 2014 he has landed four winter-run steelhead and two summers, as well as countless trout and bass. This past spring, we experienced surf perch as a family, and that boy outfished us all! When I think about the journeys and adventures that lie ahead of us, well, that is surely something for this “Reel Mom” to smile about!

My daughter Ava fought her first steelhead with me at the age of four this past winter. It was a beautiful wild hen, just like her mom’s first fish, and just like her brother’s. Though she was screaming at the hen’s strength with each run she made, unsure as to what she thought of it all, she did amazingly well.

The past two summers, as the steelhead bite turns off, I tone su it down some, focusing on positive time with the do babes, and we’ve fished for bass. Ava said she b would like to cast when typically she just fights w them.

Her ability blew my mind! With only a t small amount of direction she stepped up s to the bank and not only cast, but hooked, fought, landed, unhooked and released a good fou majority of the 30 fish she caught. She has always been a trooper, but I could see the joy of fishing in everything she did that evening. And just like that, I get to hear those sweetest words from my baby girl: “Mom, take me fishing!”

I am a believer in fate. I believe both motherhood and fishing the rivers were chosen for me and presented into my life at exactly the right time. Every angle of the sport helps me. It drives me to try harder. Learn more. Share more. Show my children that anything is possible if you truly want it. Being their mom and being able to pursue the fish brings a true joy in my daily life and you cannot put a price tag on that.

“She loves to catch fish!” says Glynn Pennington of wife Lorelei Pennington, here with a Depoe Bay lingcod landed this past spring.

SINCE THE DAY I met Barbara in January 2013, I have independently tended to my own riggings, gear, bait and rods. Though my first fish was out of a boat and the set-up not my own, that was my one and only. Over the last three runs I have landed 48 big fish off of river banks. I have dabbled over the bar of the Pacific rockfishing, and was blessed to experience tuna last August. What a massive and amazing thing the ocean is! But the rivers are my heaven on earth, from the waters 173 miles up my river targeting the evertemperamental spring salmon, to the mouths chasing after fall fish, to the small coastal streams that have changed my entire perspective on winter. I find myself constantly dreaming of winter and the drop that will cram-pack those amazing streams full of my 26 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

Chase Gunnell says Jennica Prescott loves fishing and crabbing in the San Juans so much, she agreed to get married there (and let Chase get in a little Chinook angling before the big day). Here’s Jennica with one of several nice lingcod she mooched up out of the islands’ depths. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, BOTH THIS COLUMN)

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Northwest Sportsman 27

MIXED BAG favorite fish of all, steelhead! So majestic, beautiful, full of fire and will. In the cold of winter and the heat of summer, they keep their fire. Steelhead stole my heart and they feed my soul. Chasing them fulfills a part of me that nothing else compares to.

Through true desire and want I’ve become a Reel Mom, a true fisher, and I am proud of that. Hearing my children say their mom is the best fisherlady in the world warms my heart beyond measure.

Fishing the rivers allows me to be a better woman and a better mom. I can step away from the bank feeling at peace and thankful for my time on the water, ready to take on the day and whatever might come my way. Fishing is the first thing I have ever done solely for me, but as it continues to unfold, I realize this isn’t just for me. I am meant to share this passion and my photography with others – my children, my husband, my niece, my friends, anglers and other women out there who might be a little scared to get to the bank on their own. So if I can inspire other women to follow their dreams, no matter the dream, then that is awesome. I feel a true sense of happiness that comes from pursuing and catching the fish, so my advice to every man, woman and child alike is, if you have the desire to pursue something, pursue it! Go outside your comfort zone, explore a new side of you, be willing to learn, give yourself the chance to see what you are made of. Chances are you just might surprise yourself.

The journey that lies ahead is a mystery, but I like that! I am thankful to be who I am, embracing my life on the rivers with my children. I have found my calling. My heart is on the river, and I couldn’t change it, even if I tried.

Editor’s note: For more on Sara’s adventures, see For The Love Of The Tug on Facebook.

Brandie Mergens paddled this Baker Lake sockeye.

Gonna need a bigger cooler for Nichole Jones’ ones’ Upper Columbia summer Chinook!

Water maybe a degree above freezing couldn’t ice the excitement of Donna Boykin, here with a rainbow she caught at Oregon’s Clear Lake last April. “I don’t know if I have ever seen a more happy, beautiful smile before,” remarked John Larson, who sent the pic. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, ALL THIS COLUMN)

SHE SETS THAT HOOK!

L

isa Woodward grew up fishing Tacoma’s Commencement Bay with her dad, but had not really spent much time fishing afterwards.

Now she is on the river year-round with me. She spends winter on the Wynoochee, spring on the Olympic Peninsula and late summer and fall on the Puyallup, Carbon and Satsop.

Float fishing is Lisa’s favorite. She float fishes for big kings, silvers and chums every year. When that float goes down, she knows to set that hook!

(RANDY WOODWARD, BOTH) It is fun to watch guys get out of her way, thinking Lisa is just some woman who will cast over them and tangle their gear, only to watch her make pinpoint casts and hook fish after fish. Last year she walked into a combat zone on the Puyallup, made 10 casts and hooked eight fish, including two 10-pound silvers – see ya, guys! –Randy Woodward

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Northwest Sportsman 29

MIXED BAG On her way! Spokane’s Courtney Michelson shows off her first king, caught over Labor Day Weekend on the Snake River while fishing with her uncle, Marc Vigue.

Real Women of Northwest Fishing hall of famer Kristin Bishop shared this image of her friend Vy Kernaghan with a dandy fall Chinook, caught on the Columbia. “Darn thing barely fit in the net!” reported Kristin. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, ALL THIS PAGE) Karen Chapdelaine shows off a nice pink salmon from the Skykomish River, one that gave her a pretty good fight after it bit her jig.

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MIXED BAG

AN ALL-AROUND

NORTHWEST SPORTSWOMAN

P

at Johnson is as comfortable with a group of business people at a fancy dinner as she is reeling in a Chinook salmon with a lot of boats around her.

Retired from being a commercial loan officer some years back, Pat is known for pink clothing that she wears most days fishing. Matching her attire, Pat has a pink Okuma fishing rod along with her Lamiglas salmon rod that has pink/purple wrapping along with pink pearlescent eyelets.

She has named them “Pinky” and “Sissy.”

You can find Pat in Oregon’s Cascades fishing Diamond Lake for big trout and Odell for kokanee, but her favorite is fishing the deep channels and shallow waters of Coos Bay for salmon.

Pat is pretty competitive and has some hardware to prove it. She won the women’s division one year on the Rogue at Gold Beach and was the first women to win the Coos Bay Salmon Derby. The biggest salmon she has caught was a 48-pounder on the Nestucca River. She has also landed marlin and other warmwater fish in Mexico and Panama.

She is now teaching her middle-aged daughter the fine art of salmon fishing, with pretty good success. When time allows, Pat helps her granddaughters catch trout at the Junction City Pond and win rods and reels in the local derby. She is also a real go-getter when it comes to clamming and crabbing too.

Pat is also into hunting, having bagged wild hogs in Florida, California and Oregon, buffalo in Montana, black bear in British Columbia, deer in Oregon and turkeys all over the U.S. You could say Pat “can bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan.” –Doug Johnson

Along with hunting, Johnson also really digs shellfishing the Oregon Coast, whether it’s clamming the flats or dropping pots in the bays.

Pat Johnson, a retired commercial loan officer, enjoys a variety of fisheries, but her favorite is coastal Chinook, and she was the first woman to win the Coos Bay Salmon Derby. (DOUG JOHNSON, ALL) 32 Northwest Sportsman

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Northwest Sportsman 33

MIXED BAG Rock on, Sophia Churchill! Here she holds a Lake Stevens kokanee, caught early in this year’s season on pink mini hoochie and Dick Nite UV dodger.

(FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, BOTH THIS COLUMN)

(TROY RODAKOWSKI)

‘I JUST WANT TO GO’

“

Annika Luellen’s passionate about fishing, and while she enjoys chasing salmon and trout, her dad says she most most loves catching and releasing bass. “She is known around here as little miss fish slayer!” says Russell Luellen. “She is the best fishing partner a father could ever ask for!”

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I

think the thing I love about fishing ng the most is the adventure with the he water!” exclaims Sasha Mord.

The angler from the southern Willamette Valley enjoys chasing different species and exploring all the nuances that each adventure offers.

“When I was young, the only fishing I did was on the Long Tom River,” she recalls. “We had a pond on our property, and to keep me entertained my grandpa would give me a 5-gallon bucket and send me down to the murky water. I would sit down there and fish with whatever pole and reel we had lying around, using worms that we dug up in the yard around my grandma’s flower pots.”

It was these special times with her grandpa that Mord remembers the most. As she grew older, she fell in love with the McKenzie River and its beautiful waters.

“I spent a lot of time there, met a lot of fellow fishermen and made summer money flipping cars for local fishing guides on their trips,” says Mord.

Shortly thereafter she was fishing the Siuslaw and other local rivers for Chinook, finding that there’s always something more to learn about the fish and waters. It intrigued her and she knew at that time she wanted more.

Two years back Mord fell in love with Montana’s Clark Fork River, where her interest in fly fishing was born.

“I still don’t care if it’s fly fishing a new river, trolling for Chinook in the big water, chasing pretty chrome steelhead on the riverbank in January, going 40 miles out for tuna in the dead of summer, or taking my 8-year-old daughter out after carp in that old murky water I grew up fishing, I just want to go, “she explains.

For Sasha Mord, fishing isn’t just about the catch but about the adventure, the community, the water and the circle of life.

–Troy Rodakowski

nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

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2016 A ‘TURNING POINT’ FOR VALERIE

B

uoy 10 and Lower Columbia fall Chinook weren’t just fisheries for Valerie Holmberg. They were learning experiences and provided a “very real turning point,” she says. Holmberg spent a good part of August and September on the big river catching big beautiful kings while fishing and deckhanding with ace guides.

“The best part about Bouy 10 for me this year was the amount of confidence I gained by watching how so many different

The tiny Quilcene River in Hood Canal provided a good day of coho fishing for Bianca Bailles. Her biggest went 28 inches.

(FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, BOTH)

36 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

(VALERIE HOLMBERG, BOTH)

masters created success for their clients,” says Holmberg. “I learned a great deal about targeting big fish and combat fishing in general – boat-handling skills, bait prep and running six rods at a time. I really focused on the process involved in running a sled, trolling and how fishermen work together to find fish.”

At last check she’d carded nearly 30 salmon and said she wasn’t done fishing yet. Stay tuned for more from Valerie Holmberg in the future!

Megan Billinger bridged her 2016 seasons with a nice Buoy 10 coho.

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LEMONADE FROM A LEMON OF A SALMON SEASON

(TONI POLLOCK-BOZARTH, BOTH)

T

his year saw the gloomiest salmon predictions for the areas I usually fish – Puget Sound and Sekiu – but in July, I was able to seek them in new locations. I journeyed to Neah Bay for a salmon/bottomfishing trip with my brother and sisterin-law. Though it wasn’t too successful, I was able to experience humpback whales that were so close I could see the baleen in their mouths. That was something I couldn’t even imagine. I returned home from that trip on a Tuesday and was in the Southern Washington port town of Ilwaco by Thursday morning. Fishign with a group of ten other anglers I was last to get my limit. However, it was worth waiting for: an 11.9-pound coho, the biggest salmon of our trip. The first week of August I was honored to fish out of Westport with friends. There I was blessed to catch a 17-pound king.

The most challenging year for salmon fishing turned out to be exciting as I traveled from one tip of Washington state to the other to catch some beautiful salmon and lasting memories. –Toni Pollock-Bozarth Editor’s note: Toni builds and sells tackle through wannafishalure.com.

38 Northwest Sportsman

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Ashley Masters enjoyed a great year on the Columbia chasing springers, oversize sturgeon and fall Chinook.

“Fishing doesn’t get any better,” she says.

Ashley Peterson’s a “true fisherwoman,” says boyfriend Justin Pease. “She did great this year, her first time at Buoy 10, and once again had a great winter steelhead season! She takes hiking to another level – she’s by my side on every trail and canyon we fish! She reads water like a pro and can outfish most. She’s famous for the firstcast hookup!” (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, BOTH THIS COLUMN)

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NorthRiverBoats.com nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016 Northwest Sportsman 39

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Shane Vanderlinda admits his wife Angela often outfishes him when they’re fishing the Cowlitz River and American Lake – and that she’s got a pretty fast first step (not to mention good stiff arm) when their kokanee rods go off. “She loves fishing and I love fishing with her,” he says.

Growing up, Brittany Schmidt always loved hunting and fishing with her dad, mostly for trout and kokanee, but not too long ago her boyfriend introduced her to coho “and that’s when the new addiction started!” she writes. “I fished for coho last fall and winter, springers this spring, kings this summer, and now it’s time for cohos again!

I also learned how to fish for rockfish, lingcod and surf perch.” (FISHING PHOTO

Ashley Mueller gives credit to her guide, but landing an Olympic Peninsula steelhead this size also speaks to some pretty good fishing skills too!

CONTEST, ALL THIS PAGE)

“I love catching Chinook!” says Malorie Dobyns, here hoisting a 26-pounder that not only provided her with a relentless, 30-minute fight but helped fill her “freezer with delicious healthy meals! The first thing I always do is thank these incredible creatures for their lives.”

“I love everything about fishing and the outdoors, especially steelhead,” says Marian Caballero, here with a Skykomish summerrun. “Nothing more rewarding than having a steelhead at the end of your line, jumping around and taking you for a ride down the river!”

40 Northwest Sportsman

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Northwest Sportsman 41

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HEALING AND LEARNING “

I

was always drawn to fishing but never really had anyone in my world who fished, so it was just something I might do ‘someday,’” says Gretchen Dearden.

The smiles of happy anglers and the peaceful scenes from the water intrigued her, but also were intimidating for the Everett resident.

That is, “until a few years ago, when I went on a guided tour with Mr. Dave Perez and got my first salmon ever,” she says.

Since then, Dearden has made sure to visit the water regularly, and not just to catch as many as she can but also to absorb all that she could about baiting hooks, the gear and how to manage her own. She has done a pretty good job over the last few years and now spends even more time fishing.

“I wanted to spend all my free time on the water; I wanted to learn everything,” she adds.

Dearden’s life has not come without challenges. In August 2015 she lost her exhusband in a tragic canoeing accident while her two boys watched during a Boy Scout trip in Montana.

“It took me months to be able to leave my boys and even think about fishing again. But when I finally did, with that first sunrise on the Columbia I knew it (GRETCHEN DEARDEN) was where I belonged. That spiritual moment of feeling close to their father and talking to him and God, telling them to please protect my boys,” says Dearden.

Being on the water with nature helps to cleanse the soul and heal her heart.

Dearden has also been blessed to meet Jay Johnstone of Wraptor Rods and become a part of that family. Everyone there has been so helpful to Dearden. Several people have taken the time to teach her something.

“In all honesty, they saved me and kept me believing I could fish and be good at it,” she says.

Folks like Bill Monroe Jr., Sara Dodd, Jay and Julie Johnstone, Pam Magley, and Dan and Corin Snider all are very special to her.

Dearden wants to continue with her passion and never give up. She wants to be that grandma who is taking her grandchildren fishing and creating a lifetime of memories with them. –Troy Rodakowski

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Sometimes all it takes is one fish, and this was it for Ravyn Velikanje, a 16-pound fall Chinook caught out of the Columbia River’s King Hole in 2014.

“She has been hooked ever since,” says her dad, Bob. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST)

Tobey Anderson is at home on the Olympic Peninsula, whether it’s chasing coho, Chinook or steelhead, both summer- and winter-runs. (MIKE ZAVADLOV)

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Northwest Sportsman 43

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Cigi Gilcrease was just biding her time on the Cowlitz waiting for springers when this beautiful steelie bit her coon shrimp behind a chartreuse Spin-N-Glo.

44 Northwest Sportsman

If it swims in Central Washington, Holly Engley fishes for it! Here she is with a pair of Brewster kings, caught in July.

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

Kimberly Whitehead has Baker Lake sockeye down! Here’s one from this year’s opener. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, ALL THIS PAGE)

MIXED BAG

FISHING A FIELD TRIP

T

eresa Schmeck, a seventh-grade history and English teacher at Ochoa Middle School in Pasco, has become an excellent angler over the last five years.

“My personality of calm peace in my thoughts, patience, attention to detail and competitive tenacity make fishing perfect for me,” Schmeck says.

Friend Andrew Templeton says she enjoys bass, crappie, kokanee and lings, but walleye and salmon are her faves.

“Fishing has helped me as a teacher of Washington history,” Schmeck adds. “I’ve seen so much of our state’s amazing geography, natural beauty and influential history while travelling the state and fishing.”

“I always want to be learning. Steelhead next, please!”

(FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, BOTH)

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Northwest Sportsman 47

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CAMARADERIE F ishing and hunting have been male-dominated industries for as long as they’ve been around and us girls were always left waiting on the dock, figuratively speaking. Well, not anymore, ladies! Every year more and more women get into fishing, and over the last five I have had the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing ones who I am proud to call my friends. There is no greater feeling than sitting in a boat full of other female anglers sharing stories.

Whether on our boat, deep sea and tuna fishing, or the all-girls tournament this year on the Big C, we share the same passion for fishing, and it’s very empowering.

Every summer a group of us girls from beginners to experienced get together for a trip of a lifetime. About 25 of us book out a charter boat in Westport.

Spending the day out in the ocean hoping to catch the big one while surrounded by other women is the best feeling in the world. From the deckhands teaching us how to filet our day’s catch to throwing your rod in the holder to help out the girl next to you bring her catch in, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

And following this year’s deep-sea trip, a few of us girls stuck around another night to embark on a new adventure – tuna fishing! I tell you, that was a whole new adventure. I still have yet to catch my first tuna but I am no stranger to reeling in sharks! It only makes me push harder next year to finally get that first tuna!

And now on to the next adventure – come on, winter steelhead season!

–Kari-Lynn Smith

48 Northwest Sportsman

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Kari-Lynn Smith (right) and a few of her friends take a moment before leaving the docks at Westport for their deep sea fishing adventure this past summer. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST)

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Northwest Sportsman 49

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Sister act! Krystal Corke and Sarah Johanns hoist a pair of great Columbia fall kings, caught on Super Baits. (FISHING PHOTO CONTEST, ALL THIS PAGE)

Camille House makes an annual trip to Buoy 10 to fish with her dad, and this year she landed the biggest salmon of her life, this 27.76-pounder.

“After 23 years of marriage, what wife is still excited to get up at 4 a.m. and take her husband fishing on his birthday?” asks George McKinnon. Liz McKinnon, that’s who, here with a brace of nice Puget Sound Chinook caught while “trolling with precision that only the wife of a fisherman would appreciate.”

(TROY RODAKOWSKI)

50 Northwest Sportsman

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nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

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POWER OF THE PINK ROD

S

he has this pink rod and I believe it’s magical. I witnessed it ďŹ rst-hand on a trip with her – guess which one of our rods went o? Yep, Vicki Tindall’s hot pink one. “I don’t ever remember a time when my family didn’t hunt and ďŹ sh growing up. I always loved helping my dad gut anything he killed. Fish, deer, elk – it didn’t matter, I loved being there and watching my dad,â€? recalls the SpringďŹ eld resident.

Good thing, too, since her father was a ďŹ shing guide on the Umpqua and McKenzie Rivers for many years. Tindall has endured struggles in her life, with family members abusing drugs, and the loss of her grandmother and father very recently, but ďŹ shing is what has kept her grounded and alive inside.

Tindall’s become good friends with local guide Guy Springman and they’ve spent countless hours on the water ďŹ shing together.

Both have been good therapy for one another through tough times and losing close family members. “In spring we decided to do the Scappoose Bay ďŹ shing derby. I was super excited, and Guy came over with a present – a hot pink ďŹ shing rod! I couldn’t wait to ďŹ sh with this new rod. It has caught

a crazy amount of ďŹ sh, and it saved me from dying inside,â€? she says.

Fishing is more than, well, just ďŹ shing for Vicki Tindall. Her favorite moments on the water? “I think seeing someone catch a ďŹ sh for the ďŹ rst time is very (TROY RODAKOWSKI) special, and just being around to help is rewarding,â€? she says. “Of course, catching ďŹ sh always makes me happy, especially when it’s given me a great ďŹ ght.â€? –Troy Rodakowski

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Northwest Sportsman 53

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GUNFIGHTERS Kenai Chest Holster The Kenai Chest Holster was designed to offer a comfortable way to carry your firearm while engaging in a variety of outdoor activities. It gets the gun off your hip and out of the way of backpack straps, hip belts and waders. If you’re fishing, hunting, hiking, snowmobiling or just spending time outdoors, this is the holster you want. Available for over 300 guns in 40 different colors. GUNFIGHTERS.COM

MICRO TOOL 100 Speedy Sharp Speedy Sharp manufactures the fastest, easiest-to-use sharpening tool on the market right here in the USA. Perfect for every hunting, fishing, camping and survival situation, it is only 4.5 inches by 1/2 inch by 3/8 inch, and 1.5 ounces, so it is easy to carry and will last for years. SPEEDYSHARP.COM

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DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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TICA USA Tica Quinault ESP Did you ever wish there was one rod that you could take drift, spoon, spin and float fishing, but was also sensitive enough for steelhead, fun enough for coho and had the power to handle mighty Chinook? Here it is, the Tica Quinault ESP, made with high-modulus TC4 Japanese graphite, 15 Fuji8 Alconite ring guides on casting models and 12 Fuji K-series Tangle-free guides on the spinning model, an ultralight Fuji skeleton reel seat that is up to 54 percent lighter than a conventional reel seat, beveled cork foregrip, and a thin-narrow cork butt. Get that custom-made rod you’ve always wanted at a not-so-custom-made price! Comes with a five-year limited warranty.

TICAAMERICA.COM, FACEBOOK.COM/TICAAMERICA BRADLEY SMOKER The Bradley Smart Smoker After years of advancement and testing on existing smokers, we’re proud to introduce our newest automatic electric smoker – The Bradley Smart Smoker. Including many of the same features as our Bradley Digital Smoker, plus our new innovative iSmoke Technology, you can now control the smoker from Bluetooth-enabled smartphones in real time and from the touch-screen control center. The 40 percent larger smokehouse now gives you space for 10 racks of food.

In addition, two removable color-coded temperature probes allow you to measure heat in different areas of the smokehouse simultaneously, for advanced monitoring. The fully insulated stainless-steel interior and commercial-grade silicone door seal makes for easy clean-up and keeps the smoke where it’s supposed to be. Your Smart Smoker comes with four adjustable feet, two optional wheels, six racks and a recipe booklet.

BRADLEYSMOKER.COM BIG CREEK FISHING CLUB Salmon and steelhead fishing, lodging Big Creek Fishing Club is located on lower Big Creek, just off Highway 30 at Knappa, Ore. We offer day-use and yearly fishing rights on over a mile of private bank fishing, along with overnight lodge facilities. We can handle large groups, so ask about discounts available. Species/season: silvers – Oct.Nov.; winter steelhead – Dec.-April; spring Chinook – April-June; sea-run cutthroat (catch & release) – May-July; fall Chinook (tules) – Aug. During September Big Creek is closed to fishing. BIGCREEKFISHING.COM SCAN MARINA Wallas Nordic Dt Stretch your seasons with safe, diesel-fired heating and cooking! The Wallas Nordic Dt stove/ heater provides cooking and dry heating in a single compact package without any hazardous pressurized gas. WALLAS.US SEAL 1 Complete Gun Care Kit-SKIT-4 SEAL 1 CLP PLUS products clean, lubricate and protect your firearm. USDA-certified biobased, no other products are needed to care for your entire firearm. Each kit contains: one 4-ounce paste, one 4-ounce liquid, two swabs, four 6-inch-by-6-inch presaturated gun cloths, one microfiber cloth and one tactical double-ended brush. SEAL1.COM

ROGUE JET BOATWORKS Coastal The “Coastal” model has been Rogue Jet Boatworks’ best-selling model over the last four years. Full hardtop, welded frame top or fold-down tops are all available. Boats come in 20- through 26-foot lengths. ROGUEJET.COM BOW PRO Precision Applicator Pen-BP-PEN BOW Pro is the new all-in-one product for bows and crossbows.

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nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 55

56 Northwest Sportsman

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PHOTO CONTEST

WINNERS!

Haakon Allison’s first walleye, this whopper from the Multnomah Channel earlier this year, is this issue’s monthly Fishing Photo Contest winner. It wins his dad, Abe, a pile of loot from the overstuffed office of our editor!

Kent Wilkinson is this issue’s Browning Photo Contest winner, thanks to his picture of son Kyle and his black bear, harvested near Yakima during archery elk season. It wins him a Browning hat!

Sportsman Northwest

Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource

For your shot at winning Browning 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 | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 57

58 Northwest Sportsman

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Deer Decoys Bust Spotlighter

P

atterning game isn’t just for hunters – wardens do it too to take down poachers. Such was the case in Washington’s Cowlitz County this fall.

“A convicted felon was using highpowered spotlights to kill deer at night,” reported the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife early last month.

“Officers tracked his movements over several weeks until they were able to anticipate his movements. Two decoys

were set up to capitalize on his patterns.”

“The suspect shot one of them with a rifle as his wife held the spotlight. Both were booked into jail. The vehicle and rifle used in the violations were seized for forfeiture,” the agency said.

A search warrant served on their home turned up a deer allegedly taken outside of any season, plus illegally bought duplicate tags.

In an odd double twist connected to

By Andy Walgamott the case, when that warrant was served at 3:30 a.m., officers heard a cry for help.

“A man working on his car had used particleboard for a jack, which resulted in a tire crushing his hand as it gave way,” WDFW reports. “Officers administered aid, but the man was a wanted felon, so he received medical treatment in jail.”

JACKASS OF THE MONTH

Rewards For Info On Elk Poachings

T

he Oregon Hunters Association was offering rewards for information on a pair of elk poaching cases that occurred this fall in Western Oregon.

They’ve ponied up $2,500 for tips in the case of a very large bull (above) shot between two houses near Glendale, in western Douglas County. The illegal kill occurred around 2:30 a.m. Sept. 17 in the 4000 block of Rueben Road.

Contact: Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Aaron Baimbridge (541-817-4473; aaron.baimbridge@state.or.us) or Turn In Poachers hotline (800-452-7888).

The other bull was killed in Columbia County, west of St. Helens in the Alder

Creek-Cedar Creek area, most likely on Oct. 17. Only its head was removed. There’s a reward of $1,000 in that case.

Contact: OSP Trooper Joe Dezso (joseph.dezso@state.or.us) or TIP Hotline.

Pardon JOTM for kvetsching a little here, but earlier this fall a Utah man got off easy for the 2011 killing of a massive mule deer buck nicknamed The Rabbi.

Stephen Dick Rueckert, 50, had the chutzpah to claim he first shot it in the leg outside an off-limits National Guard base south of Salt Lake City, and then tracked it for hours before delivering the fatal shot, according to a local newspaper report.

Only problem: Prosecutors said there was no such wound on the deer’s body, which was recovered by a sergeant investigating reports of shots fired on the base, nor was there any blood trail.

Rueckert himself was tracked down after dropping the buck and its curly double droptines reminiscent of Jewish payots, or sidelocks, off at a local taxidermist.

Following his felony conviction in a trial last year, Rueckert faced up to five years in jail, but a judge granted him a new trial because of “a faulty jury instruction.” He then pled guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to probation for 18 months, a $100 fine and $8,000 in restitution.

Oy, vey. nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 59

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DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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Derby Boat A ‘Dream Win’ E ight and a half months after Matt Griffin fished February’s Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby he learned he’d won big.

Not the event, but the grand prize of the Northwest Salmon Derby Series, a Hewescraft 220 set up with a Mercury 225 Verado, 9.9-horse ProKicker, trailer, Scotty Downriggers, Lowrance electronics and more, a package valued at $85,000.

Griffin, who goes by Griff, called it a “dream win for a Northwest outdoor family” and a “huge blessing.”

“We love spending time with our girls on the water and around the islands. This boat will take our adventures to an entirely different level,” he says. “Towable to Chelan for Stehekin adventures. San Juans for salmon and crab. Hood Canal for shrimp and geoduck.”

His name was drawn at last month’s Everett No-Coho Blackmouth Salmon Derby from all of those who bought tickets to fish 2016’s events. Usually the boat is given away at the Everett Coho Derby in September, but this year’s was cancelled, so organizers moved it an event down the calendar.

Griffin is the CEO of Combat Flip Flops in Bellevue. A biography describes him as a West Point graduate with three tours of duty in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, as well as a skier, dirt bike rider and bowhunter.

Matt Griffin is 2016’s winner of the Northwest Salmon Derby Series Hewescraft 220.

(NORTHWEST SALMON DERBY SERIES)

He says his family is thankful to the derby series, sponsors and fellow anglers who participated in it this year, calling it a “top notch” event that also takes service members out fishing.

“This boat was a team win, so we’re deciding where to place the boat. All we know is that it’s going to be ripping lips and pulling pots between Oregon and Alaska with authority!” says Griff.

For more on the series, see northwestsalmonderbyseries.com.

No Coho, But A Nice Blackmouth Wins Everett Derby

A

nice-sized immature king was the top fish at last month’s Everett No-Coho Blackmouth Salmon Derby.

Lance Husby caught the 15.62-pounder on the second day of the event, topping the fish of first day leader Derek Floyd by nearly a pound.

The derby was a mashup of the usual early November Everett Blackmouth Derby and September’s Everett Coho Derby, which was cancelled this year due to low forecasted returns (though ultimately enough returned to open up rivers upstream of Everett).

Husby, who is a derby regular and once operated a Sitka charter, won $4,000, and Floyd, who runs Anglers Choice Charters in Admiralty Inlet and the San Juan Islands, scored $2,000 for his 14.64-pounder.

Third place finisher Dylan Cochran went home with $1,000 for his 12.70 and Scott Bumstead won $500 for his 12.33.

In the kids division, Kozmo Zajac took first and $300 for a 9.05-pound Lance Husby won the Everett blackmouth, while Ella Trout scored No-Coho Blackmouth Salmon $200 for her 7.46-pounder. Tyler Derby with his 15.62-pound Nance came in third with a 6.18 that immature king, scoring him $4,000. (EVERETT COHO DERBY)

was good for $100.

In the team competition, Team Quickspin’s 9.33-pound average led all boats by a wide margin.

Organizers report selling a total of 550 tickets, and that 146 blackmouth were put on the scale for a total weight of 976 pounds and an average of 6.63 pounds per fish.

The derby was put on by the Everett Salmon Association.

Sponsors included Les Schwab, Dick Nite, Bayside Marine, Harbor Marine, Silver Horde, Roy Robinson Chevrolet, John’s Sporting Goods, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Bickford Motors, among others.

MORE UPCOMING EVENTS Sundays through mid-December: Tengu Salmon Derby,

Elliott Bay; info: Seacrest Boathouse, (206) 324-7600 Dec. 1-3: Friday Harbor Salmon Classic, Area 7;

fridayharborsalmonclassic.com Dec. 2-3: Resurrection Salmon Derby, Area 7;

resurrectionderby.com Jan. 14: NW Ice Fishing Festival, Sidley and Molson Lakes,

Molson, Wash; info: edenvalleyranch.net Jan. 19-21: Roche Harbor Salmon Classic, Marine Area 7;

info: rocheharbor.com/events/derby Feb. 17-19: Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby, Areas 6, 9;

info: gardinersalmonderby.org nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 61

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Date 1960-64 9-13-87 8-23-94

Species Largemouth bass Chinook (lake) Channel catfish

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7-10-96 9-19-99 7-2-07 5-15-08 6-29-08 7-29-09

Pumpkinseed Kelp greenling Pumpkinseed Pikeminnow Peamouth Rainbow

.48 4.42 1.09 7.915 1.12 20-02

9-8-13 Yellow bullhead 2.06 5-11-16 Tiger trout 1.86

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Angler Mrs. M.W. Taylor* Jane Clifford Jessy Newberry, Kim McCormick L. Oswego (OR) Linda Mar San Juan Islands (WA) Danita Rixen L. Terrell (WA) Barbie Hathaway Snake R. (WA) Pamela Ramsden Columbia R. (WA) Tanya Merrill Snake R. (ID) Michelle LarsenWilliams Potholes Res. (WA) Monica Beckley Jim Moore Pd. (ID) Meleah Phillips

* IDFG lists no specific date for this catch, but archival newspaper references narrow down its recording to between March 1, 1960 and May 4, 1964

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Northwest Sportsman 65

66 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 67

68 6 8 NNo Northwest Nor oorrthw thw th hwest est es st Sp SSportsman poort orrrttssma sm man ma

DECEMBER D DE DEC DECE EECE EC CEEMBE MBE M MBER MB BER BEER R 2016 20 2 201 01 0 6 | nwsportsmanmag.com nw n wspor ssp spo por po p or ortsm ttsma sm sma maaanmag m nma nm nmag n ma mag m ag g.c .co .com co co com om m

COLUMN

Brought To You By:

Prepare To Travel, Sound Steelheaders A

s I page through my fishing log of years gone by, one word keeps coming to mind as I look forward WIESTSIDER to December and the annual “unofficial” start

By Terry Wiest of winter steelhead season: Crap! I’ve always been a fan of Forks for steelhead, and of course still am. But sometimes I like to stay close to my home in south King County. Some days I just can’t afford to leave at 2 a.m. and return home at 10 p.m. to get my fish fix. For those days when I just want to “hit the river” for a few casts or a few hours, well, where am I supposed to go anymore?

It used to be I could fish the Cedar River on the way to work in the morning for an hour, then hit it again on the way home for an hour and still get in at a decent time. I’d do this from December all the way to March. The Cedar, of course, has been closed for years, so it’s not an option. Words cannot describe how mad I am at this situation, one that in my opinion could have been avoided, or at least rectified with a decent return in years since it’s been closed.

I can be at my favorite holes on the Green River in 15 minutes. But without any smolt releases meant to provide harvest opportunities, I guess that’s not going to be an option either, unless I just want to practice casting.

My notes say the Carbon was good for me a few years ago, and it wasn’t crowded.

But, dang, no plants for 2016-17 either.

A little further away on the other side of Tiger Mountain summit from me is the Snoqualmie. Wow, the second week of December has been money for the last 20 years, as long as water conditions

There aren’t as many opportunities for early winter steelhead as there once was, especially with releases into four Puget Sound streams scrubbed for this season and the general move towards rearing local late-timed stocks, but there are fin-clipped fish like this chromer Bry Zimmerman holds to be caught this month around Western Washington. (JAKE BANNON) permit. But alas, another river within decent driving distance shut down by the ludicrous idea of not planting these rivers with steelhead, this one a victim of the Wild Fish Conservancy’s 2014 lawsuit settlement that barred smolt releases for two springs, including what would have been this year’s return.

Next?

The Skykomish. Well, hot damn, 144,000 young steelhead planted – it’s going to definitely have fish! It’s also going to have a million people trying to find a rock at Reiter Ponds. You’ll see some great winter-runs caught on this terminal fishery east of Gold Bar. A jig under a float will catch the majority, as this is the perfect float fishing water.

nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 69

COLUMN Downstream from Reiter is the Wallace, which saw 34,000 smolts released, so if the crowds force you off the mainstem Sky, this small river may be an option. There’s access near the hatchery, on the west side of Gold Bar. Further north is the Stilly, but it saw no releases for return this year, though the river is currently open.

So, it looks like me and a buttload of other frustrated Pugetropolis steelheaders will be traveling a bit this month.

THE FIRST RIVER that comes to mind is the Wynoochee. The ’Nooch is a fantastic river and always has produced for me. While its 88,000 smolts will primarily make it a January, February and March river, don’t overlook it in late December, as some early returners will be caught this month, if past catch data is any indication.

Same goes for the Skookumchuck, Satsop, upper Chehalis and Newaukum, all receiving late-timed smolt releases of 97,000, 61,100, 29,500 and 29,160,

respectively, that will provide fisheries deeper in the season with a few fish popping up later this month.

OK, let’s head further south, to the Cowlitz! It never lets me down.

Or – welcome to 2016 – at least it never used to. It too no longer receives early-winter smolt releases, just the latetimed local winter stock and of course summer-runs.

Guess we’ll just have to keep on trucking south, and the Elochoman might well be worth the drive, as 66,000 were planted in Beaver Creek. I love this river, as does almost everyone who fishes it.

Closer to the Pacific, good DecemberJanuary options include the Grays, which has some bright and superaggressive fish coming right in from the ocean, and Willapa Bay’s Naselle, Willapa, North Nemah and North Rivers. The quintet were stocked with 23,500, 129,775, 87,583, 19,675 and 9,800, respectively.

And in the Westside’s other southern corner are the Kalama, North Fork

Lewis and Washougal, all of which have decent plants and should produce some very nice early fish, though locals may be a little testy, as this year promises to bring more Puget Sound anglers to the waters. The Coweeman and Salmon Creek are also stocked, the latter better than the former and with better access below I-5. And Rock Creek in Stevenson sees small releases.

HEADING TO THE West End is another river which received nearly 133,000 early plants, the Humptulips. It can be amazing in December right after a big rain. The fish throw on their jet packs and shoot upriver to the hatchery on lower Stevens Creek and are usually milling around a few days before heading up the creek. Timing is everything, so watch the weather on this one. It can be downright spectacular. After that first rain and first big surge of fish, the rest of December is rather mediocre.

Now, for my favorite part of the state for steelhead, both hatchery and wild.

The Bogachiel, always known as “the” river for fin-clipped fish in December, will not disappoint, thanks to 125,000 smolts and 15,000 yearlings. I’ve had several double-digit days on the Bogy in December.

I also love the Sol Duc, but of course the state shut down releases into this excellent river too. Can you imagine the traffic on the Bogy this season? Really smart, they are.

But other Olympic Peninsula streams that saw releases for return this year include the Salmon and Cook Creek on the Quinault Reservation and Sooes (Suez) River on the Makah Reservation; fishing on them largely requires either a tribal guide or recreation pass.

So there you have it. My take on the start of the 2016-17 winter steelhead season. Yes, there will be fish – just not as many opportunities as in the past, and you’ll need to drive to get to them. NS Editor’s note: Terry J. Wiest is the author of Steelhead University: Your Guide to Salmon & Steelhead Success and Float-Fishing for Salmon & Steelhead, and is the owner of Steelhead University, SteelheadU.com.

70 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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Northwest Sportsman 71

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COLUMN

Jennifer Wells holds a nice Chetco River hatchery winter steelhead, caught while bobber doggin’ yarn balls and soft beads. (OREGONFISHINGADVENTURE.COM)

Bobber Doggin’ South Coast Steel F

all kings have spawned and so here come winter steelhead, ready to gorge on salmon eggs as the roe rolls SOUTH COAST along rivers’ bottoms.

Starting just after

By Randy Wells Christmas you can expect decent numbers of steelhead to flood into the South Coast’s Elk and Chetco Rivers, as well as the Smith in Northern California. They’re predominantly fished

by side-drifting small baits or pulling plugs like the Mag Lip in sizes 2.5 to 3.5, but the past two seasons I’ve been exploring another technique and have become very pleased with the results I’ve gotten while bobber doggin’ with a twohook/bait set-up.

SIDE-DRIFTING’S EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE, but it can be difficult and requires that the angler have some skill and that the oarsman be experienced. For example, when two anglers are side-drifting

simultaneously, their lines and baits need to be in the same current running parallel with the boat and each other’s lines. If one angler reels up and recasts while the other is still in the drift, it is difficult for the oarsman to maintain the drift for either. However, with bobber doggin’ from a drift boat, each angler can cast as they want/need too without affecting the other angler in the boat.

Also, the float will clearly indicate a strike, whereas with side-drifting the angler must distinguish between the bottom,

nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 73

COLUMN a snag or a bite, which can be difficult even for an experienced angler. Moreover, side-drifting can be a snaggy, gear-losing proposition, but with bobber doggin’ the float keeps your weight ticking perfectly off bottom and cuts snags and lost gear to a minimum. In addition, the float helps the oarsman by keeping the baits away from the boat and in the strike zone longer, therefore producing more hook-ups.

With that said, there are a few mistakes that I see made on a regular basis while bobber doggin’. If you rigged your rod correctly, you’re using braid as your main line and a mono leader. The braid should float on the surface of the river, with slack between the float and the rod tip. This slack is needed to ensure your bait floats down the current line while matching the same speed as the river and staying in the strike zone during the entire drift.

By contrast, a tight line between your rod

tip and float will cause line drag, pulling your bait back toward the rod tip and gear out of the drift. If you’re rigged correctly and fishing with slack on the surface, an additional problem may arise and that problem is your desire to set the hook at the first sign of a bite. To hook fish while bobber doggin’, you need to quickly reel in all the slack, and once your line comes tight, swing and set that hook!

RIGGING UP IS simple, and I’ve been successful with the following set-up.

I use a 15-pound braid as my main line. I then connect the braid, via an Albright knot, to a 10- to 15-foot-long leader of 12-pound mono. The leader is connected to a snap swivel, followed by a 12-inch, 8-pound tippet with a No. 4 hook. Finally, if your river allows you to fish with a two-hook set-up, attach a 12inch, 6-pound mono dropper tippet to the shank of your first hook and finish off your rigging with another No. 4 hook. For

Where side-drifting requires good teamwork between rower and angler(s) and can be a snaggy, gear-losing proposition, in bobber doggin’ the float cuts snags and lost gear to a minimum. It also helps the oarsman keep the baits in the strike zone longer, leading to more hook-ups like Craig Howland enjoyed on the Chetco while fishing with the author. (OREGONFISHINGADVENTURE.COM) 74 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

more, see this issue’s Rig of the Month.

When fishing a two-hook set-up, be sure your dropper, or last, hook is smaller than your first. I like to run a large yarn ball with Pro-Cure Shrimp Water Soluble scent on the first hook, and a BnR Tackle Soft Bead on my dropper hook. When fishing beads for steelhead I use a size 10 or 12mm in natural, pink and creamsicle colors. I feel the Soft Bead outfishes hard beads 10:1 because when a steelhead hits that hard bead, they immediately know something’s wrong. But with the Soft Bead it feels like a great breakfast – until you hit ’em with a hook-set.

NOW THAT YOU’RE ready to roll, all you need is for the rivers to be in shape.

NorCal’s Smith fishes best between 4,000 and 8,000 cubic feet per second, and has a strong run of wild fish, which must be released, and a good run of hatchery steelhead, thanks to the efforts of the Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery. Built

2016 Skykomish Winter Steelhead!

After a dismal fall salmon season this year, Pacific Northwest anglers have high hopes for a strong return of our prized state fish. Winter steelhead is now on the menu, folks, and with the progeny of over 178,000 smolt plants returning back to the Skykomish River system, we have good reason to be encouraged!

Typical run timing is early December, with a few eager steelhead making their way to Gold Bar by Thanksgiving. As a rule, December is prime time, and from the Wallace River mouth down to the Ben Howard boat ramp is where these fish will slow down before making their final upstream journey to the hatchery.

Handfuls of winter steelies caught with Get the Net Guide Service.

Anglers intercept these prized fish in various ways, but drifting down a river and covering water from a comfortable boat is a relaxing and very effective way to spend a winter afternoon.

Side drifting is particularly productive because a boat can effectively cover water quickly with several lines before sliding down to the next run.

This is repeated until fish are found. Once found, the boat can be navigated back to the fish over and over until the operator is convinced the water is covered well and there are no more biters.

Fishing guides have used this method as their “go to� for years to put their clients into fish. If you own a jet boat, give it a try or hire a guide. A great one to call is Aaron Jordan of Get the Net Guide Service. Aaron is an extremely likable guy and downright fishy as well. Give him a shout if you want to fish the Sky this winter. He can be reached at (253) 961-2475 or go to his website at getthenetguideservice.com.

Steelhead daily limits on the Sky allow two adult hatchery fish per person but always be sure to check the WDFW website for current updates.

Tight lines and be safe out there!

nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 75

COLUMN and funded in 1970 by the Kiwanis Club of Smith River, this is one of the largest nonprofit ecological projects ever undertaken on the West Coast and the hatchery continually needs our help, according to its website, rowdycreek .com. It costs 17 cents to raise a fingerling compared to 55 cents for a yearling, but operators feel the extra expense of raising fish at the hatchery is justified by the higher survival rate of these larger specimens. This, of course, requires additional money for food, the facility’s single largest expense. If you plan on fishing the Smith, please stop by the hatchery and show your support, as without it there would be no hatchery fish. For more info, contact Andrew Van Scoyk at (707) 487-3443.

My favorite drift for steelhead on the Smith is between Jedediah State Park, off of California Highway 199, and Ruby van Deventer County Park, off Highway 197.

There are no motors allowed upstream of the Highway 101 bridge. For a shuttle,

76 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

An array of gear and tackle used by the author while bobber doggin’.

(OREGONFISHINGADVENTURE.COM)

contact Mick Thomas at (707) 458-4704.

The Chetco is my home river and produces amazing runs of both hatchery and wild steelhead. Although anglers are allowed to keep the latter stock, I highly encourage the release of wild fish. That’s not to say I haven’t kept a few, but I try hard

to release them. With that said I contacted Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife district biologist Todd Confer regarding the status of the river’s run. He says that current data shows the native fish to be healthy enough to allow the harvest of wild steelhead. In addition to a strong run

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Northwest Sportsman 77

COLUMN Brandon Wedam of BnR Tackle with a nice steelhead caught while bobber doggin’ a soft bead. (BNR TACKLE)

of native fish the Chetco has a hatchery winter broodstock program, which relies on angler contributions of wild fish. There are three fish boxes located throughout the river, from Loeb State Park down to Social Security Bar. Anglers are encouraged to participate by placing live, unharmed wild steelhead in these boxes when possible.

According to Conifer, between Jan. 2 and Feb. 27, 2016, 40 male and 46 female winter steelhead were contributed by anglers, yielding 56,000 smolts that will be released in the river this upcoming March and April.

Motors are currently allowed on the Chetco, and if you bring your kicker, bring a positive attitude and share the river with other boaters and bank anglers. Earlier this year, a large number of people gathered signatures and presented a proposal to ODFW, which requested a motor ban 78 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

on the river. The idea was to minimize the number of boats on the river during steelhead season, and to try and address the conflict in the lower river between boat and bank anglers. In my opinion, the best way to address this conflict is by adjusting our attitudes as anglers and sharing the river with each user. As a fulltime guide, the last thing I want is a motor ban on the Chetco. Keep your tip up, share the river and be respectful of all users.

In addition to the Smith and Chetco, the Elk has a great run of wild winter steelhead that start showing in December and are plentiful into February. A short, narrow river just north of Port Orford, the Elk does not have a hatchery program for winter steelhead and also allows native steelhead to be retained. The river can be extremely dangerous to float because

high winter water flows cause downed trees and debris to pile up throughout its length. There are two places to launch your boat, one above the salmon hatchery and one below. If you launch at the former, be prepared for the chute just downstream. It can cause a pucker factor. I highly recommend a guide for first-timers due to the ever-changing river conditions.

Because the Elk can be snaggy, bobber doggin’ and pulling a Mag Lip work great.

For current flows and water conditions, contact the hatchery at (541) 332-0405.

For a shuttle, call (541) 253-7001. NS Editor’s note: Randy Wells is a full-time fishing guide in Oregon and Alaska. His websites are oregonfishingadventure.com and fishsewardalaska.com. He can also be reached at (541) 500-7885.

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RIG MONTH

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Bobber Doggin’ Set-up NOTES

With this bobber doggin’ set-up, it’s important to use a longer rod. I use a Lamiglas Infinity 9-foot-8, 6-15-poundrated spinning rod. This long of a rod

is needed to mend the slack braid floating on the surface between your float and the rod tip. You need to keep the slack upstream of the float to prevent line drag and an unnatural bait

presentation. Not enough slack will pull your bait towards the rod and gear out of the drift. To set the hook, quickly reel in all the slack and then pull back on the rod. –Randy Wells

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FISHING

Walla Walla Can Be Sweet For Steelhead Changes also coming to western Blues system.

Stocked with nearly a quarter million hatchery smolts and host to wild runs of steelhead, the Walla Walla and Touchet Rivers in Southeast Washington offer good fishing in fall and winter for both flyrodders and conventional gear users. (MARK BOVE)

By Mark Bove

W

ith hunting season winding to a close, many Northwest sportsmen are starting to gear up for steelhead season. Eastern Washington hosts some of the best and storied steelhead rivers on the planet, streams such as the Grand Ronde, Methow and Wenatchee.

This year, as a result of low A-run returns, the entire Upper Columbia basin is closed to steelheading, with the exception of the Ringold bubble in the Hanford Reach, putting the Met and Wenatchee off limits.

Anglers might want to look at some of the lesser known streams that can provide excellent steelheading to those who do a bit of exploring to learn the ins and outs of the fisheries.

CHANGES COMING The Walla Walla and its principal tributary the Touchet are perhaps two of the most underrated summer

steelhead streams in the state of Washington. The system is stocked with nearly 250,000 smolts split 45:55 between the Walla Walla and Touchet, and it has a stable population of wild A-runs. In a recent conversation with Chris Donley, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s regional fisheries manager, we discussed some changes that will be coming to steelhead stocking in the basin.

Currently, Lyons Ferry fish, a highly domesticated stock that is easy to breed and raise in captivity, are being released in the basin. These fish generally have a high survival rate and return in good numbers, but when they breed with wild steelhead, survival of the offspring is virtually nonexistent. Because of that, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries branch is mandating that WDFW switch to an “endemic” broodstock, one that is native to the basin. So in the

years to come, state managers will be raising smolts in the hatchery facility in Dayton, along the upper Touchet, using local fish mined from the basin to stock in the Walla Walla.

This is not without its challenges, as smolts from native fish don’t rear well in captivity without some special infrastructure, so research to discover the best methods of raising this particular strain of steelhead is needed. But with some trial and error, Donley believes that the Walla Walla hatchery program could look like the successful Wallowa stock on the other side of the Blue Mountains and which powers the Grande Ronde’s stellar fishery.

Despite the uncertain future of the steelhead program, there is a bright spot on the salmon side of things. Donley informed me that the Walla Walla basin is destined to have a spring Chinook fishery through an emerging partnership with the Umatilla Tribe. Since these fish have nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 85

FISHING

Public access to the rivers is scattered, but there are a handful of state sites and right-of-ways, and the Walla Walla is floatable in small boats or pontoons from McDonald Bridge down to the town of Touchet. This crossing is on the Touchet River. (DENNIS DAUBLE)

been extirpated from the basin, the immediate focus will be on creating a population that can support a fishery.

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Once flows get above 400 cubic feet per second, it is time to hit the Walla Walla. Flow events bring fish that have been holding at the river’s mouth since arriving in summer and fall due to low flows, into the system.

Shore-bound anglers can access the river at several WDFW sites, including McDonald Bridge and Stovall and Swegle Roads just west of the town of Walla Walla. Anglers can also try fishing the deep, slow water around 9 Mile Bridge.

The Walla Walla can be floated with a raft or small pontoon boat. The 9-mile-long float from McDonald Bridge to the town of Touchet puts you in the heart of some of the best water. It should be noted that there are inflatable diversion dams in this section for agricultural irrigation during certain times of year. They are typically taken down when the steelhead arrive in full force in December, but it is wise to do a bit of scouting before you float or risk a treacherous portage.

The best steelhead water on the Touchet is from Dayton downstream to the town of Prescott. It is not a bad plan to hole hop downstream of the hatchery in Dayton to locate pockets of fish. And don’t be surprised if a large wild steelhead grabs your offering; there are some in the 30-inch range that run up this tiny stream. These gems need to be handled with care and are not to be removed from the water.

TIPS AND TACTICS The Walla Walla basin lends itself well to both conventional and fly angling.

For fly fishing I prefer a 10-foot 7-weight with a floating line. Airflo’s Super Dri nymph line is perfect for chucking large Thingamabobs and shot. This line gives you the ability to mend correctly and get a perfectdrag free drift. On the business end,

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Releases of Lyons Ferry stock summer-runs will discontinue in favor of an endemic broodstock from the system’s beautiful wild steelhead. (MARK BOVE)

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stonefly nymphs, yarnies, egg patterns and beads all work well on these summer steelhead in the winter.

For conventional angling I pack a Lamiglas HS 94 MS with a 4000-sized spinning reel loaded with 40-pound high-visibility Power Pro. I attach a 12-foot bumper of 20-pound P-Line fluorocarbon with an FG knot (for those unfamiliar, a number of YouTube videos demonstrate tying it). The knot is the strongest and smallest mono-to-braid connection available. On your bumper add a bobber stop and slip on a bobber. I prefer Aero-Floats’ Beadmaster for running jigs with a bead dropper, and the company’s Bobber Doggin float for that technique.

On the business end, any number of jigs tipped with shrimp will take steelhead. Recently, I have been very successful using a yarnie spaced halfway up a 6-foot, 12-pound-test leader with a pegged 10mm bead.

I use a ½-ounce slinky to sink this rig below the float. This is the most natural-looking way to present a bait to holding steelhead. These summerruns spend up to nine months in freshwater and can be very picky, only taking baits with a natural drift.

If you decide to give the Walla Walla and Touchet a go this season, be sure to check the regs, and respect the wildlife, land and others while you are enjoying the outdoors. NS

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Northwest Sportsman 89

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COLUMN

Gearing Up For Winter-runs

F

Hatchery fish power early winter steelhead fisheries in western portions of Oregon and Washington – Buzz caught this one on the Trask River last January – and drift fishing baits in terminal zones is a great way to hook one. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

or most a n g l e r s, winter steelhead are regarded as one of the most BUZZ RAMSEY challenging of fish to catch. After all, to actually land one means developing an understanding of their habits, learning at least one of the rivers they frequent, perfecting one or more of

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COLUMN the many fishing methods used, and having the gear (rod, reel, line, lures, bait, waders, and winter clothing) needed to tackle the challenge. It’s all worth the effort, though, as in addition to being big, these fish fight like crazy, are gorgeous to look at (don’t forget your camera!) and delicious eating.

THE TERM “WINTER STEELHEAD” – at least

In mid to late winter, wild steelhead begin rolling into Westside rivers, providing a trophy fishery for gear-testing natives. Ryan Reed and Bill Meyer show off a nice one caught on Washington’s West End last season. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

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for anglers residing in western portions of Oregon and Washington – is used to describe fish entering coastal, Puget Sound and Lower Columbia tributaries between November and April. Summer steelhead, in particular those that migrate up the Columbia bound for tributaries like Idaho’s Clearwater, are sometimes referred to as winter steelhead, but these fish dashed up the big river last summer and are now wintering over before spawning during the last days of winter and in early spring.

If your target is true winter-run steelhead, it would be worth your time to contact your local fish and wildlife office and ask about run timing for whichever river you’ve set your sights on. Some rivers, like Oregon’s Sandy and Clackamas, host runs that can offer hot action starting in December. Others, particularly those hosting wild runs or a combination of native and broodstock hatchery steelhead may not see much action until after the New Year.

The thing to remember here is that many hatchery stocks begin their migration in late November and December, while the majority of the wild fish and progeny of wild fish raised in the hatchery and referred to as broodstock steelhead tend to return later in the season, with most returning in the January-through-March time frame. Some rivers, like those on the Olympic Peninsula, host wild runs that continue to produce fresh fish into the month of April.

You can also sleuth out timing through past state catch statistics, hatchery escapement updates and weekly fishing reports. Those will also show you that the most productive streams include the Bogachiel, Wynoochee, Skykomish and Cowlitz in Western Washington, and the

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COLUMN North Forks of the Alsea and Nehalem, South Forks of the Coquille and Umpqua, and Wilson, Nestucca and Chetco put out the most winter-runs in Oregon.

A DRIFT BOAT or jet sled can provide access to many miles of river and a multitude of fishing methods, but those fishing from shore can achieve success too. In fact, many bank-bound anglers have upped their odds of success by employing more than one technique, often carrying two or more fishing rods with them so they can quickly switch from one method to another.

While a bobber-and-jig rod may be all you’ll need when rivers are low and running clear, it might be wise to carry a second rod rigged with heavier line and more weight (up to an ounce) and a larger offering – like a scent-filled pink worm or egg cluster – for when the water is medium in height. Though you don’t see boat anglers drift fishing like in years past, many bank anglers continue

to rely on this method, especially when the water is up and moving fast.

If you haven’t perfected drift fishing yet, here’s how: cast out, across and upstream with enough weight so your sinker bounces bottom as your outfit drifts downstream in the current. Your drift is complete when your rigging swings near shore, so reel in and cast again. Drift fishing consists of a series of casts, drifts and retrieves.

The key to success is learning to differentiate between snags and a fish.

It’s important to pay close attention as your outfit drifts along; follow your line with your rod tip as it proceeds downstream and don’t be bashful about setting the hook should it stop. The golden rule of steelhead drift fishing is, if your set-up stops, pauses or hesitates, set the hook, and set it hard!

It’s important to use just enough weight so that you can feel it tap bottom every few yards as your outfit drifts along in the current. If your weight is continually dragging bottom, it means

you’re using too much. Should your weight touch bottom only once a cast, you’re not using enough. The goal is to keep your presentation in the strike zone, drifting downstream, usually within a foot or so of bottom.

When it comes to tackle, most anglers use 9- to 10-foot spinning rods and spinning reels with a quality drag for float fishing, and baitcasting rods measuring 8-foot-6 to 9-foot-6, combined with low-profile baitcasting reels, for drift fishing. Fishing lines vary too, but most anglers employ 10- to 15-pound-test monofilament (I use Berkley Big Game mono) or 20- to 30-pound-test super braid. Generally speaking, the lower the water, the lighter the line and smaller the offering, while heavier line might prevent fish loss and larger offering should produce more takes when the rivers are high and moving fast. 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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COLUMN The North Fork Nooksack flows at its clearest in winter, but what is murkier is whether the scheduled steelhead season will proceed. None were released for return in 2016-17 because of spring 2014’s lawsuit settlement, though some hatchery fish may be in the river. (J BREW, FLICKR)

2016’s Last-gasp Ops W

ith the days dwindling down to a precious few in 2016

By Doug Huddle what now passes for a steelhead season gets underway this month on the Nooksack. Last hurrahs for bowhunters out after their deer and upland gunners seeking an escapee pheasant also are on the calendar.

NORTH SOUND

NORTH SOUND STEEL Waters of the North Fork of the Nooksack are by far the most hospitable for December – and, for that matter, dead-of-winter January and February – steelheading.

That’s not to say that its flows always have a welcoming 3 feet of greenishhued clarity. In fact, it’s often carrying a

much less inviting color of latte without the creamy taste.

But its waters are readily approachable, “in shape” at least part of the time and they’re eminently driftable. Also, and most importantly, on its banks at river mile 46 is the fish-rearing facility at Kendall Creek, to which its matured hatchery-bred winterrun steelhead are homing.

Coming off 2014’s Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit settlement that forced cancellation of several smolt releases that threatened to kill the hatchery program, this fall’s return will not be a robust one. In fact, it’s going to be hard to scratch out a cultured fish or two this season. A final determination on whether the 5-mile reach below the hatchery will be closed to ensure

escapement had not been made at press time early last month.

One mitigating factor that may allow it to stay open is that the staff at Kendall Creek has been able to tide the Nooksack program over with a captive broodstock rearing effort from which ample eggs will be available.

Also, while many other streams now have obligatory kill orders out for all fin-clipped steelhead, the North Fork does not.

Access to its banks is attainable via a fair number of overland foot-access routes – at Kinney Creek and Racehorse Creek, 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

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COLUMN change notice website, and if season is closed, the next best option will be on the Skykomish and Wallace Rivers near their hatchery traps at Reiter Ponds and Gold Bar. Bobbers and jigs work well on both.

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).

For all boat-borne steelheaders, the downstream take-out is a south-bank 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 the boat to get it to the trailer.

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

Still, keep an eye on WDFW’s rule-

LATE DEER HUNTS Blacktails continue to proliferate on farmed land in lowland Whatcom County.

It’s amazing the number of deer that can occupy a small parcel of forested acreage or wooded stream corridor. They’re innate masters at hiding, moving and emerging from these places.

Hunter success in such venues is not just dependent on a general understanding of deer habits and getting permissions to hunt. Accounting for everchanging general weather and microclimes, picking out places and setting up stands, blinds or tree seats are critical elements, as well.

Larger farms, especially those around Lynden growing berries, are among the best places to start making inquiries about access for these deer hunts.

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thicket, deer along with rabbits and other critters take refuge.

Internet scouting is a handy precursor to taking to the road, allowing you to zero on good spots without burning gallons of fuel. You get a better view of the lay of the land well off public roads, as well.

When dealing with farm land, often there is a lessee who has control of the property and can, if they choose and their lease allows, grant access. Do abide by the rules laid out by the landowner/grower and hunt safely.

LAST UPLAND BIRD BLASTS Hardcore upland gamebird hunters almost never pass up a December trip to the Eastside to hunt ringnecks, especially since the tent folds for Western Washington pheasants just after Thanksgiving.

It’s not just the cost of producing birds that limits the Westside program; it’s also the prevention of conflicts between the two camps on public venues shared with waterfowlers. The history is that many of those sites such as Lake Terrell and Skagit

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Northwest Sportsman 101

COLUMN Headquarters were originally acquired

by Pittman-Robertson Act monies with the focus on duck gunning. It’s not an exaggeration to say that, like oil and water, pheasant and duck hunters do not mix in the field. In the past on overlapping seasons, fist-fights have broken out between wandering ringneck flushers and blind-hiding webfoot gunners at several Northwest public hunting sites.

Not all designated pheasant release sites carry the burden of such controversy, and as long as the “fielded” birds last, pheasant hunting’s still possible the first 15 days of the Christmas month.

Do keep in mind that these are mop-up hunts. The last bird releases of the season

occur at Thanksgiving. But these seven upland locales, including four pocket venues on Whidbey Island, offer a reasonable cooloff lap for serious ringneck pursuers.

The former Game Department lands at Ebey Prairie west of Coupeville are no longer in the mix. Also nixed on Whidbey are its south-end bird stomping grounds at Bayview. But on the card are these island sites: • Zylstra Road/Arnold Farm complex, a set of private cultivated fields on the Penn Cove slopes northwest of the whistle-stop Juan de Fuca. From Highway 20 head west on Arnold Road to the farm entry.

• Seaplane Base, two formerly farmed parcels with some shrub/tree and fencerow cover on U.S. Navy property on either

side of large housing complex east of Oak Harbor’s downtown. From Highway 20 motor south on NE Regatta to a left turn to east-bound on East Crescent Harbor Road to the off-road parking lots.

• And OLF Coupeville, a occasionally mowed hay field under the final approach to the Navy’s carrier landing “touch and go practice” runway southeast of the county seat. From State Route 20 look for turn-off the north of the SR 525 junction.

You may enter the Arnold Road sites at your will, but to hunt the two Navy properties, upland gunners must first contact the NAS Whidbey Environmental Office at (360) 257-1009.

NEXT ISSUE

BACKUP RIVER OPTION

Late duck hunts, drift-fishing for steelhead, saltwater cutts. NS

Whitefish can be readily caught in the North Fork Nooksack River. Bait’s legal below Maple Creek, so 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 drift bobbers or tiny Corkies in the same color also will work.

Remember that these fish have relatively small mouths, so the combination of hook and lure size must be kept as small as you can make them. –DH

Editor’s note: Doug Huddle lives in Bellingham, is retired from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and has written about hunting and fishing in the Northwest for more than 34 years.

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Christmas

CAST & BLAST

THE

12 OPS CHRISTMAS OF

There’s plenty to fish and hunt for this month out of and around Portland.

By Andy Schneider

D

December’s days are dark, but the opportunities this month are bright for Rose City sportsmen, ranging from coastal ducks and late Chinook to local steelhead, trout and waterfowl, to mallards in the sage. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)

ecember just sort of sneaks up on you. You know it’s coming, but you’re in just a little bit of denial that it could actually arrive so quickly. Between shopping for Christmas presents, family get-togethers and trying to wrap up everything you promised to do way back in January, no one is quite ready for the last month of the year, it seems, and the older you get, the faster and faster this time of year returns. But instead of putting together a honey-do of things to get done before 2016 wraps up, why not make a list of much more enjoyable activities you can do when time allows? Often times, fishing and hunting get put on the backburner this month, but when the schedule opens up, you can be ready with fun and relaxing options that will help

relieve some of the year-end stress.

Duck hunting goes hand in hand with Christmas vacations for many of us Northwest sportsmen. Sharing a blind with family can be a great way to celebrate the holiday season, and definitely provides more positive memories than an intoxicated uncle doing karaoke through a Singing Santa doll. And while the start of winter steelheading is no longer as strongly correlated with December as it once was, there are still some options available, plus trout, crabs and late fall Chinook to pursue. Here are our 12 Ops Of Christmas.

12) COASTAL QUACKERS A wet, windy and cold day at the coast doesn’t sound too fun for many, except if you’re a stormwatcher and/ or waterfowler. Those conditions combined with a flooding tide at first light is the start of a good day of duck nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

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CAST & BLAST hunting here.

Birds can be relied upon to move from the sandy and muddy tidal flats of lower bays to freshly flooded grasses and millet with every incoming tide.

To make sure you deploy your spread in the right location takes just a little bit of scouting to find the travel lanes the birds are using and where they are setting down to feed.

A large incoming tide, where the halfway point is right at shooting time, is ideal. Combine that incoming tide with a Pineapple Express or a south wind and you have the recipe for a good hunt. Large decoy spreads are not necessarily needed on coastal estuaries, but being capable of moving with the tide and staying concealed at the same time is a must for success.

11) SAGELAND MALLARDS Heading east on I-84 can be one great way to get away from the gray skies on the west side of the Cascades this time of year. While some hunters may be lucky to have access to irrigation waters through friendly farmers, most will be utilizing public lands and waters. The Columbia offers miles and miles of good access and decent hunting, for those willing to put a little work in.

Hunting the big waters of the river usually requires large decoy spreads, a little bit of weather and some basic scouting to be successful. While a good Arctic blast can always be relied upon to push birds south, we just haven’t had any reliable storms the last few years to bring us loads of unwary, orange-footed birds. But you can always count on mallards flocking back to the Columbia come midmorning or early afternoon to digest their craws full of corn, millet or grain. A little bit of weather is key to keeping them from rafting in the middle of the river. A south wind works best for Oregon hunters, while north is the desired direction for Washington hunters. But no one will complain about an east or west wind, as it usually creates rough 108 Northwest Sportsman

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conditions midriver, pushing birds to either edge.

10) SAUVIE SIDE TRIPS Some times it’s just not feasible to spend an entire day in the marsh. Sauvie Island is the perfect compromise. For most hunters in the Portland Metro area, the island’s hunting grounds are only a few minutes away and they offer good to excellent shooting for those willing to wake up early, whether you have reservations for the Eastside or are taking your chances on a draw on the Westside. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife posts hunting results online for both sides of Sauvie Island Wildlife Area the following day, so deciding what unit to hunt is simple.

Quality decoys, little or no calling and good concealment are needed for high-pressure areas like Sauvie.

An often overlooked option is an afternoon hunt. While shooting is allowed only until 4 p.m., plenty of blinds start to become available after 11 a.m. When hunting is good, many blinds can limit out earlier, presenting a nice opportunity for a low-stress hunt.

9) COLUMBIA CRABBING A new Northwest tradition is taking hold in many households – Dungeness for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Not only are the crabs usually plentiful, they are long past their molt and full of firm, very tasty meat.

Not every estuary can be relied upon to be as consistently productive as the mouth of the Columbia.

With heavy rainfall in the coastal mountains, salinity levels in many North Coast bays may drop, pushing Dungies into the ocean. Even as the Columbia dumps more freshwater into the Pacific than any other river on the west coast of the Americas, its salinity remains very stable, making for consistent crabbing.

However, going out still requires caution and planning around tidal exchanges. These waters can be challenging and dangerous with winds predicted above 15 knots.

The softer the tide, the better the crabbing is going to be, but no matter how small the exchange, only work the incoming tides. When looking at a tidal graph of the Columbia, you may see a low tide at 8 a.m., but not actually see any sort of incoming

The author’s all-around hound Ollie retrieves a quacker he downed on a Columbia Gorge reservoir. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)

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CAST & BLAST current for another two hours. But as the tide transitions from high to ebbing, it can happen much quicker, so it’s imperative to pay attention to what the tide and current is actually doing, not what it’s predicted to do.

As anyone who fishes Buoy 10 knows, the Columbia estuary is vast and it may seem a little daunting to figure out where to start crabbing.

But over the years, Trestle Bay has become a clear producer. Located just downstream of Hammond on the Oregon side and directly south of Buoys 22 and 20, the bay is as big as some entire North Coast estuaries, giving crabbers lots of room to spread out and find their own productive waters. Trestle is easily accessible by boat from Hammond, and many bank-bound crabbers can drive to water’s edge and effectively cast any number of traps with fishing rods.

Most anglers stay off the saltwater this time of year, but between meat-filled Dungies and close-in rockfish and lingcod, it’s a good time to get out on the Columbia estuary, coastal bays and just outside the jetties during good-weather windows. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)

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8) NEARSHORE FISHING Winter can present some of the best bottomfishing of the year. Not only is competition low but lingcod move in shallower, rockfish are plentiful and depth restrictions are lifted. There’s opportunity out of every Oregon and Washington port (though lings are closed in winter in the latter state).

In spring and summer, the shallow reefs just outside of most harbors are hit hard and often by anglers, but during the winter the close-in structure offers just as good of fishing as reefs miles offshore during peak season, plus they’re close to the safety of ports. If you don’t already have productive reefs loaded onto your chart plotter, they usually show up well on mapping features and can easily be seen on fish finder.

Approach from downcurrent, paying attention to your finder. Look for suspended fish and save waypoints when marking large schools. Once you’re set up upcurrent from the reef, drop your gear to the depth you marked the suspended fish. Though you are bottomfishing, you don’t always need to be fishing the deck.

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CAST & BLAST shrimp fly or two tied on loops above the jig is one of the most productive and easy rigs to catch black and blue rock bass, while large rubber swimbaits and twist-tail grubs are best for lingcod.

7) SUPERLATE CHINOOK While the year is coming to a close, there is still an opportunity to catch a late-season fall Chinook. Many North Coast tributaries see a good push of fish deep into the year and even in January. Indeed, if you just didn’t get your fill of Chinook fishing this year, there still may be time for you to get out and get one, two or even a boat limit of chrome-bright fish.

The Wilson, Nestucca and Kilchis Rivers all are known for very late kings, but just about every tributary in Tillamook County sees a good return in December, so keep a supply of sardines and eggs handy. Backtrolling diving plugs like the Mag

Lip while back-bouncing eggs is one of the most effective ways to fish coastal tributaries. But as December progresses, drop down your plug size to target both Chinook and steelhead.

The Mag Lip 3.5 and Kwikfish K11X are versatile enough to lure either species into biting. Simplifying a multispecies trip even more, salmon and steelhead can be found in the same water types in coastal tribs.

6) TIDAL WINTER-RUNS One of the most often forgotten and overlooked pieces of winter steelhead habitat is tidewater. While everyone knows the fish have to move through this section of river, the lack of angler pressure shows that many don’t think of it as a viable option.

Just as with Chinook, steelhead respond to and move with the tides. When targeting this water for steelies, the outgoing tends to be the easiest and most effective tide to fish.

During the ebb, tidal areas resemble

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more of your traditional river and standard techniques can be utilized with success. Back-trolling plugs is very effective, especially in areas where the runs are narrow, leaving no option for a steelhead – it’s either fight or flight, and we know that these fish are partial to the former.

One of the easiest ways to pursue tidewater steelhead is with a bobber.

While beads have become a top option, a jig or eggs under a bobber work equally well. From a boat, bobber doggin’ covers water well, but can be more challenging than further upriver. Utilizing a bobber not only allows for long drifts without having to recast or reposition the boat, it keeps your bait above the abundant snags of tidewater.

5) BROODSTOCK FLINGS The Wilson and Nestucca are among Oregon’s best winter-run rivers, but unlike smaller coastal streams that see steelhead pour in after December

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CAST & BLAST freshets, their early fish tend to be tough to predict. Some years, a strong pilot run appears right after Thanksgiving, with more fresh fish pushing in with every freshet. Other years there might only be a trickle of steelhead through December, with the major push arriving from January through March. Spending time on the water is the only way to truly gauge what’s happening.

That said, there are suggestions things could kick off this month. As fall Chinook anglers took to the rivers following October’s rains, there were multiple reports of incidental catches of broodstock steelhead, which could be a good indication of a strong run of winter steelhead, making December all the more enticing and promising.

One of the most productive ways to pursue early fish is to cover lots of water. Side-drifting eggs or bobber doggin’ beads are two great techniques, but if December presents

Tillamook County tributaries provide anglers with a shot at very late fall Chinook and early arriving winter steelhead this month. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)

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CAST & BLAST us with low water, back-trolling plugs through narrow and shallowing waters may be best.

4) BRATS TO BONK The North Fork Nehalem and Necanicum are neighbors and tend to mirror each other’s steelhead run sizes and timing. Both rivers have fairly limited access to winter-runs, but what water they do offer up can be very productive.

Any high-water event this month will see steelhead push into these small tributaries. Speaking of their size, after hard rains they come into shape faster than the larger Tillamook rivers to the south. One of the most effective ways to fish either on the drop is to drift fish. But as they clear and stabilize, bobber and jigs tend to become a better option.

The closer you get to the hatchery on the North Fork Nehalem, expect fishing to get better as fish slow down

and start to stack up. The perfect river height is between 36 and 40 inches; you can get that info by calling the hatchery at (503) 368-5670. There is no river gauge on the Necanicum, but it can be approximated based off of the North Fork.

3) CLOSE-TO-HOME STEELIES Sometimes a trip to the coast can be too treacherous to be enjoyable, so staying local has a lot of appeal.

And just as Sauvie is to Portland waterfowlers, so is the Clackamas to Rose City steelheaders – a good option if your time is limited.

While the majority of the run may be a month or two away, plenty sneak in early, making the Clack a viable option. Start lower in the river this month; Carver to Riverside and Riverside to Clackamette Park are two good early-season floats. Sidedrifting roe or yarnies is one of the most effective ways to cover lots of water and fish the varied runs. Don’t

be surprised to find lots of downriver summer steelhead aggressively pursuing your bait – while they don’t provide the greatest table fare, they offer a fun fight and plenty of action.

2) SANDY DAY TRIPS Fishing the Sandy is a right of passage for any steelheader worth his levelwind. The river has such perfect steelhead runs that books have been written about it. Standing along its rocky, yet sandy banks, half hidden in the shadows of tall canyon walls and casting into emerald-green waters – it’s what a steelheader’s dreams are made of.

Indeed, the Sandy offers lots of options for bank anglers, as well as drift and power boat fishermen. Slowly back-trolling plugs through Oxbow Park is about the most perfect way to forget about the stress of Christmas shopping and office politics. But if time is short and a family get-together looms in the evening, a quick side-

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Northwest Sportsman 117

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CAST & BLAST drifting trip from Lewis and Clark up to Dabney Park may be perfect.

K11Xs, Mag Lips 3.5s and Tadpollys are some of the most effective plugs for Sandy steelhead.

1) AND RAINBOW TROUT IN OUR LOCAL LAKES Winter trout fishing can offer a lot more rewards than anglers give it credit for. While most think of spring break or late April as the official start of trout season, many lakes and reservoirs are open to fishing year-round. Heavy rains may blow out coastal and local rivers, but most trout ponds remain fishable even during the heaviest of Northwest monsoons.

Another bonus is that ODFW and WDFW stock many area waters heavily through fall. A trout caught in the cooler waters of winter has a very fresh and clean taste that contrasts dramatically with those

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The Sandy and Clackamas are acclaimed for their close-tohome steelhead, fishing for which kicks off in December with best action in midwinter. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)

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As if all that bounty wasn’t enough, Oregon and Washington fishery managers are stocking and offering more and more fall and winter trout opportunities.

(ANDY SCHNEIDER)

landed in the warmth of summer.

The key is to watch the weather.

Anytime slightly warmer conditions move into the region or a calm, sunny day is forecast, trout will respond with a more aggressive bite. Slowly trolling small FlatFish, Triple Teasers, Rooster Tails and small Simon wobblers close to the surface is one of the easiest, best ways to target winter trout.

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MOST WONDERFUL TIME ...

Family gatherings, Christmas shopping, holiday travel and lastminute honey-dos create a very stressful month. With daylight at such a premium, it may seem like there just isn’t enough time to get away for a day afield. But making some time for fishing and/or hunting with friends and family may be the biggest present you can give yourself and loved ones. With an arsenal of options in your back pocket, when an opportunity arises, you should have no trouble making the most of it.

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o it goes. Your plans to fish are cut short again.

The winter storm cycle isn’t cooperating with Byy Scott Brenneman your schedule and THE KAYAK GUYS another float on your favorite river will have to wait.

Indeed, with winter upon us, windows of opportunity to fish can sometimes be short-lived. What’s a kayak angler to do when Mother Nature is in a grumpy mood? Start a do-it-yourself project.

THERE’S ALWAYS BEEN a strong appreciation in the kayak fishing community for DIY fabrication. A necessity early in the sport’s beginning has evolved into a growing commercial market to meet consumer demand for kayak fishing accessories. Never the less, the ability to create and customize a project to your personal preferences is not only a satisfying experience but fills a void that a commercial product cannot meet.

The majority of my recent creations have involved the use of vinyl-coated polyester fabric – the kayak angler’s equivalent of duct tape. Just as duct tape is a universal material and has limitless applications for the handyman, VCP fabric, along with HH-66 vinyl cement, offers countless options to the kayak angler.

Sold by the yard from 60-inch-wide rolls, VCP comes in a variety of colors, plus clear. Thickness is measured by how much a square yard of the material weighs in ounces. It is sold in various thicknesses – 10, 14, 18 and 42 ounces. I prefer the 18-ounce material for most applications, as the thicker fabric is noticeably more rigid and holds its shape better than the lighter choices. HH-66 vinyl cement,

Weather’s too rotten to get on the water? Time to get crafting, crafty kayak angler! Here’s a dry bag and bait cooler author Scott Brenneman put together with vinyl-coated polyester fabric, a type of contact cement and other supplies. (SCOTT BRENNEMAN) designed to bond vinyl fabrics, works like contact cement. Apply a coat to both surfaces to be joined and wait a couple minutes. When the surfaces appear to be dry, they can be joined together.

THE SIMPLEST PROJECT is a basic dry bag.

Making a dry bag is a quick and easy procedure that rivals commercially sold dry bags for a fraction of the cost. Vinyl fabric, vinyl cement and a ¾-inch siderelease buckle are all that is needed.

Cut material to size. Apply vinyl cement ¾ to 1 inch from the edges of the material.

Join together when the cement looks dry.

Repeat this process for the bottom. Finish off the top by cutting a ¾-inch strip of VCP fabric to length. Glue around the top with the side-release buckles attached to the ¾-inch strip on opposite sides of the bag and you’re done.

Building your own dry bags offers the

advantage of fabricating for different purposes. With practice, ends of bags can be formed into circles, squares and rectangles. Sides can be reinforced by bonding additional layers of vinyl. Adding a waterproof zipper is an easy upgrade over the traditional roll-up style bag. Smaller bags can be customized to efficiently fit in hatches. On a larger scale, making a kayak storage bag is an option for those who are unable to store their kayak inside. Some other projects include floatation bags, fishing rod traveling cases, waterproof rifle bags, fish kill bags, splash guards for fish finders and waterproof camera cases.

A MORE CHALLENGING project is a bait cooler. I have tried them all and have yet to find one that meets my needs. Hardshelled bait coolers are too bulky for kayaks; they leak when tipped and don’t hold ice for more than a day. The size of nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 125

COLUMN

The base of a bait cooler comes together with a series of cuts, folds and gluings. (SCOTT BRENNEMAN) those soft lunch coolers are more kayak friendly, but they also leak, are hard to clean and are not well insulated. Rather than continuing to search for the ultimate bait cooler, I decided to build one.

My ideal bait cooler will be as small as possible, yet be able to hold three or four trays of herring and some ice. It needs to have a simple clean design with a handle, a couple of D-rings, a small cutting board and a place to store a bait knife. It must be leak-proof and easy to clean. The most important prerequisite is that the cooler hold ice for more than a day.

A shopping list includes the following: 8 ounces of HH-66, and 1 yard of white and half a yard of black vinyl fabric. That should provide enough extra material for some experimenting or mistakes. A sturdy handle, some D-rings and a 3-footlong water-resistant zipper will also be needed. All the materials and hardware can be purchased at Seattle Fabrics, on Aurora near Greenwood, or online at seattlefabrics.com.

The whole process is basically the sum of cutting and gluing a number of rectangles together. Constructing the 126 Northwest Sportsman

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base entails cutting a rectangle of fabric.

Don’t forget to add 1 to 3 inches to each side. Cut a 90-degree slit 1 to 3 inches from each corner. Fold and glue each corner, creating an open box. Pour some water in each corner to check for leaks; add more cement if necessary. The sides can now be bonded to the base; make sure to overlap corners by ž to 1 inch. Create an inner and outer shell. The difference in dimensions depends on how much insulation is being used. I used two layers of bubble wrap insulation, which worked out to about an inch difference per side. To enclose the insulation, apply cement and fold the

corners as you would wrap a present.

There is a minimal amount of sewing involved. The thicker fabric requires the use of heavy-duty thread and a size 18 needle. Sew the handle ends to patches of fabric and the zipper to a strip of vinyl.

They can then be glued onto the cooler.

VCP AND HH-66 cement are affordable options for the crafty kayak angler to work with. Because of the fun and personal satisfaction involved in planning and fabricating projects, they have earned a permanent spot in my garage, right next to the duct tape. NS

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Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (All periodicals publications except requester publications) 1. Publication Title: Northwest Sportsman. 2. Publication Number: 025-251. 3. Filing Date: Sept. 29, 2016. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly. 5. Number of issues published annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: 29.99. 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Contact Person: John Rusnak. Telephone: 206-382-9220. 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office of publisher: 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. 9. Full names and complete addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher: James Baker, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Editor: Andy Walgamott, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Managing editor: None. 10. Owner: James Baker, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities. If none, check box: none. 12. Tax status: Has not changed during preceding 12 months. 13. Publication title: Northtwest Sportsman. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: September 2016. 15. Extent and nature of circulation: a.Total number of copies: 71,500. b. Paid circulation (by mail and outside the mail). (1) Mailed ouside-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies): 8,491. (2) Mailed in-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies): 0. (3) Paid distribution outside the mails including sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other paid distribution outside USPS: 34,037. (4) Paid distribution by other classes of mail through the USPS (e.g. first-class mail): 1,815. c.

Total paid distribution: 44,343. d. Free or nominal rate distribution (by mail and outside the mail). (1) Free or nominal rate outside-county copies included on PS Form 3541: 4,500. (2) Free or nominal rate in-county copies included on PS Form 3541: 0. (3) Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other classes through the USPS (e.g. first-class mail): 727.

(4) Free or nominal rate distribution outside the mail (carriers or other means): 3,375. e.

Total free or nominal rate distribution: 8,602. f. Total distribution: 52,945. g. Copies not distributed: 18,555. h. Total: 71,500. i. Percent paid: 83.75% 17. Publication of statement of ownership: If the publication is a general publication, publication of this statement is required. Will be printed in the November issue of this publication. 18. Signature and title of editor, publisher, business manager, or owner: John Rusnak, General Manager. Date: Sept. 29, 2016. I verify all the information furnished on this form is true and complete.

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HUNTING No doubt full-body goose decoys are the bee’s knees, but they’re spendy too. Mixing in two-dimensional silhouettes adds different looks and volume to your spread. (JULIA JOHNSON)

A Deeper Look At 2D Goose Decoys The pros and cons of silhouettes.

By M.D. Johnson

I

f memory serves me right – which it might or might not nowadays – it was 2000. Maybe 2001, but it doesn’t really matter. Julie, my wife, and I had flown from Southwest Washington to Cleveland, where a high school friend of mine picked us up and taxied us to my hometown of Newton Falls in the northeast corner

of Ohio. The trip was a visit with my folks, with a little rabbit hunting thrown in for good measure. After all, it was late November, and what’s Thanksgiving without a little bit of rabbit hunting, eh? But I digress.

Day One. It’s snowy. It’s cold.

And cottontails seem few and far between. Canada geese, however, are flying overhead in droves, with some landing on the farm

we’re hunting, others passing close enough to down with the light loads of No. 6 shot we’re hoping to throw at bunnies. It’s lead, so that’s out of the question.

“Wish we were goose hunting, Jake,” says the old man during one of our frequent grab-your-breath breaks.

“Us, too, Pop,” I reply. “I just never thought about goose hunting [Note: This was an out-and-out lie, nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

Northwest Sportsman 131

HUNTING as I’m always thinking about goose hunting], and besides, my decoys are 2,500 miles away.”

Julie leans in and whispers something in my ear. “But,” I tell my dad, “we maybe can fix that.”

On the way into town, we make a couple stops. The first is at the local Walgreens to ask if we can raid their cardboard recycling dumpster. With a Are You Going To Rob Me? look on her face, the gal behind the counter agrees. Then, it’s off to the hardware store for wooden paint stir-sticks, and cans of flat black, white and brown spray paint. Back at my folks’ place, Julie carves a couple different lifesize goose templates, a feeder and a sentry, per se, from one of the sheets of cardboard. Using her handiwork as a guide, I cut a dozen silhouettes out and attach a stir-stick “leg” to each with a staple gun. She, being the artist, paints each one, creating, if I do say so myself, 12 pretty damn

Can’t afford the price of silhouettes? One option is making your own out of cardboard and spraypaint. (JULIA JOHNSON)

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Northwest Sportsman 133

HUNTING nice-looking Canada geese. All the while, my old man is sitting in the corner, smoking Camel Lights and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, with that Uh-huh look on his face.

Day Two. At daybreak, we’re hidden in a sparse fenceline behind an old bedsheet blind, our dozen homespun decoys skewered into the cold ground some 20 yards away.

Right after shooting time, a single honks his way into the spread like they were the last real geese on the planet. By way of greeting, my old man dumps him into the snow with a load of steel BBs. A half hour later, a group of 20 locks up and does it right; again, the old man stands and nonchalantly rolls his second and final bird of the morning.

“Tell you the truth, Jake,” the old man says as Julie shoots a few pictures and we roll up our impromptu blind, “I thought you were joking about the cardboard decoys. Seriously joking.”

And then, with a wink and a disbelieving headshake, he slings the big birds over his shoulder and starts for the truck.

The moral of my story? Silhouettes, even homemade cardboard, rattle can and stir-stick ones, can be deadly on Canada geese.

All the time? No, nothing works all the time, including groups of live birds on the ground. We were in the right place at the right time with the right weather and birds that simply wanted to cooperate. Still, the silhouettes did what decoys are meant to do – put birds in front of the guns. Simple as that.

WHY SILHOUETTES? As is the case with everything in this life, silhouette decoys have their pros and cons. On the plus side, they’re relatively inexpensive, incredibly realistic nowadays, lightweight, easy to store, quick to set, great for bulking up a rig of three-dimensional

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decoys, and easy to maintain. On the downside, they’re two-dimensional, meaning that from any of several angles, they either disappear or provide a minimal visual footprint.

From these angles, silhouettes simply don’t look like real geese, if they appear as anything at all.

And there are indeed times when pressured geese – I won’t go so far as to call them smart geese, only wary – require what seems like the Phi Beta Kappa of decoy spreads.

Let’s look closer at both the pros and cons, the former first: Inexpensive: A dozen full-body Canadas will cost from $250 to $350.

The same number of silhouettes will run, on average, $125, so it’s essentially a two-for-one type of scenario. Apples to oranges, you say?

You wouldn’t trade your 48 Brand XXX full-bodies for 1,000 silhouettes, you say? I won’t argue the fact that full-bodies work; however, flats work, too, and you and a buddy can

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Northwest Sportsman 135

HUNTING When placing two-dimensional decoys, remember to mix up the angles their flat sides face. Doing so ensures circling flocks don’t lose sight of geese on the ground, and also creates an effect that makes it look like the birds are moving. (JULIA JOHNSON)

pack 100 silhouettes into a place where you can’t get 100 full-bodies, but more on that in a minute.

Realistic: They’re digital photographs of live geese in any number of living, moving, breathing positions. The photographs are then reproduced onto a durable material designed not to fade, shine, chip, crack, buckle, fold, spindle or mutilate. Real-Geese, Dive Bomb – they simply look like the real thing.

Lightweight: Full-bodies, including their bases, will weigh 25 to 30 pounds per dozen, or thereabouts. Dive Bomb silhouettes weigh approximately 6 pounds per dozen, Real-Geese about 9. This means two guns can pack 100 to 150 silhouettes into a far-flung field on their backs with little or no problem. And if you haven’t seen a 136 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

live spread of 125 flats in operation, let me say it’s pretty impressive.

Easy to store and maintain: They’re flat, and as such, they don’t take up much space. No trailer? No problem. As for maintenance, I scrub mine at the close of the season – or periodically throughout, if necessary – with a bristle brush and cold water, and rinse them with a garden hose.

Done. Finished.

Quick to set: Silhouettes shouldn’t require more than 120 seconds per dozen set-up time, once you get in the groove. I’m not a dumb man – I don’t think – but I haven’t finished fighting with the buckles on my slotted full-body bags at the end of 120 seconds. Ugh. Great filler decoys: Want to bolster an existing spread of full-bodies and/ or shells, but insignificant things

like the mortgage, kids’ school clothes and heat making it tough to justify another $300 per dozen?

Shop around, find some silhouettes secondhand or look into Dive Bomb’s (divebombindustries.com) $70/dozen deal, and mix them into your late-season spread. Sometimes, bigger is indeed better.

As for those cons: They disappear: Yes, from certain angles, two-dimensional objects disappear from view; however, imagine for a minute you’re a goose circling a silhouette decoy spread.

You’re flying at 35 miles per hour at, say, an altitude of 300 feet and closing. That’s approximately 51 feet per second. Those variables in mind, the amount of time when that two-dimensional object is not visible can be measured in portions

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Northwest Sportsman 137

HUNTING of a second. Combine this with the fact that not all the decoys have been set facing the same direction, and there’s never a time when at least some of the silhouettes aren’t visible in their entirety. Directly overhead, you say? True; however, and again, I defer to the “portions of a second” timeframe.

They’re not full-bodies: Nothing looks better, decoy-wise, than highquality, three-dimensional goose decoys that move. That can be a wiggle, a waggle or shimmy, but if they look right and move a bit, well, then they’re pretty close to the real thing. Still, if you can’t afford them, can’t pack them in, or simply don’t have the space for them, then silhouettes make for a damn fine alternative.

STRATEGIES FOR SETTING FLATS Truthfully, I really don’t do anything with flats I don’t do with full-bodies.

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With a couple exceptions. One, and even if it means making a second trip to and from the rig, I’ll try to set as many silhouettes as I possibly can. Why? Because they’re not full-bodies. For several years now, I’ve written about and hunted over what one editor called a “micro-spread,” eight to 18 full-bodies set close and as realistically as possible. But you can get away with such meager offerings when you’re working with ultrarealistic full-bodies.

With silhouettes, I like volume.

Big numbers. An overwhelming assortment of shapes and sizes and configurations, all meant to befuddle even the smartest old honker. Or confuse a young dumb one – I’m not choosy, just hungry. And I do set them in every direction possible, thus ensuring at least a portion of the spread will always be visual to oncoming traffic.

The second point of order I adhere to when running silhouettes is to face the flat surface as best I can in the

direction from which I believe the majority of the birds will arrive. In some situations, this is easy; aim ’em at the roost, the day-loafing pond, or, if I’m hunting a loafing field or piece of sheetwater, then the feed from whence they’ll come. Sometimes I know the answer here; sometimes it’s an educated guess. The theory here is to give the birds the largest visual footprint possible as quickly as possible when they arrive on the scene. I still set them randomly – some this way, some that way – but the majority will be set flat-side to the approaching birds.

And finally, a couple more tactical tips for using silhouettes.

I do, whenever possible, mix flats in amongst full-bodies. Again, the numbers provide volume, and during the height of the migration numbers can mean everything. And second, I was told by goose hunting legend Fred Zink years ago that the disappearing/appearing/disappearing

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Northwest Sportsman 139

quality inherent to two-dimensional decoys makes it seem as if the entire spread is moving – a strobelike effect, if you will. A quick walk around such a mixed spread after it’s set will prove this implied motion to be a true thing. Perhaps not spectacular, but it’s there.

Silhouettes, too, are the perfect tool for downwinding yourself. There are times – maddening times – when geese simply won’t decoy, not even to live birds on the ground. But they will come close for a look before sliding away at 75-plus yards. When this starts to happen, I’ll run three or four dozen flats in a teardrop shape and then hide, preferably in a natural blind, that same 75 to 100 yards downwind. In your face with their feet down at 17 yards in front of the layout blind, à la YouTube and the Goose Pros? No, but you need to ask yourself: Do you want to make goose jerky, or do you want to start taking medication for high blood pressure brought on by Avian Frustration?

END NOTE – STILL NOT CONVINCED? Last year, Avery Outdoors introduced what I’ll call a hybrid silhouette – not a three-dimensional full-body, but not a true two-dimensional flat silhouette either. These new plastics measure 1½ inches thick, weigh 1.5 pounds each – 18 pounds per dozen – and feature textured surfaces, flocked heads/necks, and Avery’s Tru-Motion stake system for a little bit of shimmy. I used them alone and as filler with traditional full-bodies during the final days of the 201516 season, and was pretty pleased with their effectiveness. Their light weight, ease of transport into and out of the field and the quickness with which they could be deployed and picked up also work for me. The downside? At $249 a dozen, you might be better off shopping around for some secondhand Pro-Grade full-bodies. But if you have a couple C-notes to burn, they’re definitely worth their lack of weight. NS 140 Northwest Sportsman

DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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COLUMN

Last Hunts, Early Steel Ops Mark 12th Month W

ith the end of the year upon us, some will take the time to reflect back on fall’s hunting seasons, but others SOUTH SOUND will still be afield,

By Jason Brooks chasing deer, ducks and upland birds, as well as getting out on the water in pursuit of winter steelhead.

December is a special month. Between holiday parties and last-minute gift shopping, make sure to get outside and enjoy early winter.

FOR THOSE WHO still have an archery or muzzleloader deer tag in their pocket, the late hunts offer decent opportunities.

Personally, I prefer this end of season over September and October. The cold air often drives deer to eat more, which means they’re more active at midday. Snow allows the hunter to find game, as well as track it after the shot. And with all of the leaves off of the trees, it opens up Western Washington’s dense deciduous ravines and hillsides, which blacktails haunt.

The units in the South Sound that border Mt. Rainier National Park provide an added chance of a mature buck that has been forced down from higher elevations.

Hunters who have purchased the Hancock pass will have prime areas to find these bucks, as well as a high deer density due to how the timber company manages the land, creating a robust habitat for blacktails. Same goes for Weyerhaeuser’s Vail Tree Farm, except of course no highelevation bucks move down, but the lands does offer good numbers of deer.

Many of the units in the region are open for any deer for archery hunters, including Game Management Unit 654,

Muzzleloader and archery late blacktail hunts go deep into December, offering a chance at any deer or bucks, depending on the unit. The author bagged this doe several seasons back with his blunderbuss.

(JASON BROOKS)

Mashel, which boasts a five-week late season. Crunchy snow in the foothills can make it hard for those carrying a quiver full of arrows to put on a sneak, but with long seasons – some going clear to the end of the year – there should be many opportunities to get out. For muzzleloaders, GMU 633, Mason, offers an any deer hunt into December for hunters looking to fill the freezer.

GROUSE SEASON’S STILL open through the end of the month. Earlier this year I was a bit worried, as September didn’t produce a single bird for me. However, come October it seemed the grouse appeared out of nowhere. I encountered birds on every trip I made to the blacktail woods.

Now, as season starts to come to an end, grouse are easier to hit on the flush with the alders losing their leaves. Look for ruffies along the creeks and alder-filled flats and draws, while sooties, or Westside blues, will be hanging around stands of spruce, hemlock and fir trees.

December also means waterfowl, and looking at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s District 15 hunting prospects for the Hood Canal area, sea ducks are expected to have a better than normal year. Of course, finding places to hunt can be challenging with the many homes that are along the shore, but a little research and a good boat should put you in a place to set up a blind and throw out a few decoys.

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The Chehalis River’s tribs are primarily late winter steelhead producers, but a check of the catch stats will show that some earlyreturning fish are bonked in December. Adam Perez caught this big buck on the Skookumchuck last winter.

“They love the nightmare jigs,” he reports.

Inland, the Belfair and Tahuya State Forests offer some access to waterways, marshes and ponds. In the valleys, look for flooded farmfields and knock on doors for permission to hunt them. They should be very productive as long as the rains keep coming – we’re off to an even wetter fallwinter than last year, which was a record, and it is a La Nińa year. This is good news for duck hunters who had to travel last year to find places where the ducks would concentrate.

For more ideas on where to go duck and goose hunting in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Mason Counties, check out WDFW’s Waterfowl Quality Hunt Program and Private Lands Hunting Access pages, as well as the scattered wildlife area parcels that are open for waterfowling.

(FISHING PHOTO CONTEST)

AND WITH IT predicted to be wet this winter, the rivers and streams will fill with water and steelhead. December is almost like an unofficial opening month for our state’s most prized fish. While WDFW’s

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annual smolt release chart shows some young steelhead going into a number of South Sound and Hood Canal streams, those are mostly for supplementation or augmentation programs and not meant to support harvest opportunity. But the closest open waters aren’t that far outside of the basin.

Though more of a late-winter fishery, a short drive to the Skookumchuck can be well worth it towards the end of this month. This river, which is more of a stream, features exceptional bank access just down from the hatchery. WDFW planted 97,000 smolts in 2015, with this being their first year expected back. That is more than any other tributary in the Chehalis system.

Starting at the hatchery outake anglers can work their way downstream to fish the many miles of access at the Skookumchuck Wildlife Area. This is all prime float-and-jig water. Long rods are not needed here, as the productive water near the hatchery has overhanging trees.

Instead, the standard 8½-foot drift fishing spinning rod paired with a 2500-series reel spooled with 20-pound braid will allow you to fish jigs under a float or throw spoons and spinners, as well as drift Corkies and yarn.

Shrimp is the go-to bait on the Skookumchuck. A small piece of raw prawn tipped on a nightmare-pattern 1⁄8-ounce Maxi-Jig by Yakima Bait is a top producer. Drift anglers like smaller presentations with a size 14 Corky in peach combined with a piece of white yarn and, again, a small chunk of prawn.

One of the reasons why these colors work is because of the late run of coho in the river (daily limit: one fin-clipped silver through Dec. 31). As the salmon die off, the young steelhead smolts feed on the flesh of the fish. The peach-and-white yarn resembles a piece of meat and returning adult steelhead prefer this set-up over the typical red and orange colors.

If you’re up for a Skookumchuck cast-and-blast, chase blacktails during the late hunts, then switch out your bow or muzzleloader for a shotgun and steel shot and jump-shoot some ducks if the large fields have standing water, and then pick up a steelhead rod for a midday session. NS 146 Northwest Sportsman

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Please read the owner’s manual before operating your Honda Power Equipment and never use in a closed or partly enclosed area where you could be exposed to carbon monoxide. Connection of a generator to house power requires a transfer device to avoid possible injury to power company personnel. Consult a qualified electrician. © 2012 American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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Living in wide-open spaces, pronghorn aren’t the easiest critters to sneak up on, and while their sagesteppe diet certainly flavors their meat, it shouldn’t scare you off. (TOM KOERNER, USFWS)

Skewer Pronghorn’s Gamey Rep With N. African Kebabs

I

t was a windy Saturday in November when I gathered my two older boys, my CHEF IN THE WILD nephew and my

By Randy King buddy for a road trip to the happy antelope grounds. We had drawn the not-that-coveted doe tag for the area and were looking to make meat.

I’d read in one of those outdoor

magazines that using a flag can attract antelope, and the herd we were stalking was feeding in an unapproachable patch of knee-high grass. Chances were slim anyway, so why not take a gamble? I stuck my hunter orange cap on top of my shooting stick and gave it a wave in the air. This group – a doe-filled meat market 600 yards out – was having none of it. The only thing my flagging did was give them a focal point.

A doe noticed it first, then a small buck. Before I knew it 30 sets of binocularpowered eyeballs were trained on me.

The lead doe then fluffed her butt hair out and took off like a squirrel from a Labrador at the park. The remainder of the group promptly turned and ran as fast as possible – meaning, stupid fast – away from me. My son, Middleman, was not impressed. He knows his shot range, and those antelope were well out of it.

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COLUMN ANTELOPE KEFTA KEBABS WITH GREEK YOGURT If you’re skim-reading this recipe, here is the lead – antelope don’t taste like beef, they taste like antelope. And that is OK! The number of times I have heard that antelope are bad to eat is borderline depressing. But you also hear, from a fewer number of folk, that antelope is the lobster of the prairie, the meat bordering on sweet. Personally, I don’t buy either claim. I think antelope taste just like antelope. And I love them for it.

Unfortunately, most households have a limited range of proteins that they consume. Beef, pork, turkey and chicken are about the only meat outside of fish that is cooked up. Sure, a little lamb is eaten, maybe some goat, a hint of rabbit, but honestly, flavors outside of those are considered “gamey” by a lot of folk.

That is not a product of them having a poor palate, or of the meat being bad (most times). The gamey flavor is the only description most people have to describe meat that is not “normal” to them. The best way to get past the gamey flavor is to reframe your mind around the issue. Antelope is not beef, so thinking it tastes funny because it does not taste like beef is silly.

With properly treated animals “gamey meat” is not a thing.

Deer tastes like deer, elk like elk and antelope tastes like antelope.

A GENERALIZED “MEATBALL” dish made across the Middle East and Mediterranean, kefta – also called kofta, kafta and other similar derivations – is traditionally served with yogurt or curry of some kind. The goal with the sauce is to provide a “fat” to the often-lean meat that is used in the skewer. This particular recipe hearkens to the more Moroccan and Egyptian flavors of North Africa with the addition of the cinnamon and allspice.

Traditions vary on these meatballs being on a skewer or not.

The idea of ground meat on a stick gets some people hung up. It is not as hard as you might think. The following recipe serves two to three, depending on how hungry you all are.

2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced 1⁄3 cup onion, fine diced 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon ginger, minced ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon red chili flakes 2 teaspoons curry powder Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 pound ground antelope 1⁄3 cup currants, rehydrated, optional ½ cup Greek yogurt, plain 1 bunch watercress Add all ingredients, except the yogurt, to a mixing bowl. With your gloved hand stir to incorporate. Mix until the meat starts to become “tacky” or sticky, about one minute. This will give the 150 Northwest Sportsman

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The secret to getting the venison to stick to the skewer for antelope kefta kebabs with Greek yogurt (top) is refrigerating them before grilling three minutes per side. (RANDY KING, BOTH) meat a sausage-like texture. Next, channel your inner preschooler and roll about 2 ounces of meat into a finger-length “snake,” then skewer it. Refrigerate the skewers before cooking to keep them from falling apart. Grill to your desired doneness, about three minutes on both sides for medium well. Serve the skewers with a side of watercress and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

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

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“Wouldn’t work, told you I did,” he said, channeling his Yoda wisdom at only 10 years old.

I gave him a cockeyed look, not really appreciating the smack talk from a preteen, but understanding why he would remind me. We would never have flagged down a deer, an elk, a bear, a turkey – any other animal, for that matter.

So why the hell did I think it could work on an antelope?

No matter, the stalk was busted, our second that day.

WE WALKED BACK to the truck, which was parked on a rocky knob, to keep glassing for critters. Eventually we saw another herd of antelope, this one about a mile off. Luckily, they had chosen a location that was “accessible” for a stalk. A single row of sagebrush obstructed their view from the valley floor. If we got to the sage, we might have a shot. We grabbed some more water, a granola bar and hit the trail.

After an hour of careful wind checks,

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slow and quiet walking and some serious self-doubt about the antelope still being in their beds we came to our little patch of sage. We belly-crawled to our chosen location, not daring to expose ourselves over the top of the sage. And there they were, a dozen or so sleeping antelope at 200 yards. A chip shot for most adults but a solid 50 yards past my boy’s effective range.

We decided to risk getting closer and crawled slowly in the grass toward the animals. At about 160 yards the first doe rose to her feet. Five more yards had three does standing. It was shoot-now time. I propped up my shooting stick and my son took a kneeling shooting position. He waited for his breath to come under control and fired. The shot made a puff of dust right over the top of the nearest doe’s back. A clean miss.

Perfect stalk, blown shot.

As the does ran off I looked at the boy.

I expected to see a frown or a grimace.

Instead, it was an ear-to-ear smile. He got it. He understood that the hunt was a goal in and of itself. He understood

that shooting and killing was not always what was best.

“Well,” he said, “that was fun!”

WE PICKED OURSELVES up, dusted off and called it a day. Back at the truck we stashed the guns and drove out toward the highway. But then, unexpectedly, a herd of antelope wandered across the two-track in front of us at about 100 yards. We quickly hopped out, set Cameron up and watched as he let lead fly at a doe, filling his tag.

Some hunting involves looking and looking for animals. Antelope are fairly easy to spot, their sides being bright white against the yellow of the plains and dessert. Some hunting is just about finding the animals. Our location has them by the hundreds, almost making it harder to hunt them. Some hunting involves methodical and patient stalking.

This is the definitive way to hunt antelope.

That, or just have them stand off the side of the road and let you shoot them.

Either way. NS

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It’s hard to maintain a home with four children. It’s even harder when that home sits on four acres of property dotted with trees and landscaping. But Scott and Kelly Cengia manage it all with the help of STIHL Lithium-Ion blowers, trimmers and hedge trimmers.

“We’ve got practices for swimming, soccer and basketball all the time,” said Scott.

“Our four-acre property also requires a lot of maintenance. STIHL Lithium-Ion products really help with that.”

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STIHLdealers.com nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2016

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COLUMN A new Ruger Mark IV .22-caliber semiauto pistol and a couple of boxes of LR would make for “a very happy camper Christmas morning,” writes author Dave Workman. (DAVE WORKMAN)

Outdoor Gifts

For Under Your Yule Tree W hen the holidays roll around, it means gifts and giving, sharing memories of the fall hunting seasons and ON TARGET

By Dave Workman looking ahead to next year’s adventures.

It’s a good time to smoke up some venison sausage, maybe a roast or jerky, and take care of what that sportsman or -woman on your gift list might need. I said need; a lot of stuff gets ignored after the gifts are unwrapped, so make sure that the things you give are going to be useful.

FOR STARTERS, I think a great gift might be a new Ruger Mark IV .22-caliber semiauto pistol, available in either the Hunter or Target version. I got hold of the Target model in August for a test and evaluation,

and carried it in the field through September for head-shooting grouse.

It’s got a blued 5½-inch bull barrel and receiver with a black anodized aluminum grip frame. It weighs 35½ ounces and comes with a pair of 10-round magazines.

Overall length is 9.75 inches.

The Hunter has a fluted 6.88-inch stainless-steel bull barrel and stainlesssteel frame. It has an overall length of 11.12 inches and weighs 42.35 ounces, and has checkered laminate grips.

Now, the neat thing about this pistol is that it takes down so easily, separating into two pieces, the upper and the grip frame.

No more fiddling with that grip lever. For more, see ruger.com.

Toss in a couple of boxes of .22 Long Rifle ammunition for a stocking stuffer and somebody is going to be a very happy camper Christmas morning.

One good way to accomplish this is

to visit your favorite gun shop and get a gift certificate for the pistol rather than purchase the actual handgun. The grateful gift recipient will not waste any time heading to that shop after the holiday!

IF THE HUNTER on your shopping list had a busy autumn, or if you did and want to drop some hints, ammunition is always a nice gift, so long as you know what to get. For wingshooters, Federal Premium’s new 20-gauge 3rd Degree shotshell has a 17/16-ounce three-stage payload consisting of 20 percent No. 6 FliteStopper pellets, 40 percent copper-plated No. 5 pellets and 40 percent No. 7 HeavyWeight shot. Combined, they produce a longer shot string.

Also from Federal Premium is a Tactical Ballistic Tip round in two calibers, .223 Remington and .308 Winchester. The .223-caliber bullet weighs 55 grains and the .308 weighs 168 grains. Both are

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Browning’s Overtime and Hell’s Canyon Speed knives would be appreciated gifts. (BROWNING) loaded with a low-flash propellant and are designed for use in AR-type rifles.

Think ahead to spring turkey seasons and you might consider sticking a box or two of Winchester’s Long Beard XR turkey loads with Shot-Lok technology that stretches out the effective range of the shot string to well over the traditional 40 yards, according to Winchester (winchester .com). There’s a 3½-inch 12-gauge with 2 ounces of shot in either size 4, 5 or 6, and a

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3-inch load with a 1¾-ounce payload also featuring size 4, 5 or 6 shot. shot Both have an advertised muzzle velocity of 1,200 feet per second.

I DON’T KNOW any outdoors person who says no to a new knife. Earlier this year, Browning (browning.com) introduced fixed-blade models, including the Overtime model with laminated G-10 scales and D-2 high-carbon-steel 33/8-

inch flat ground blade. It comes with a top-grain leather sheath. Brown Browning’s Hell’s Canyon Speed model has a 3½-inch 3½ modified drop-point stainless blade with a carbon-fiber insert. The handle also has carbon-fiber inserts and black rubber cord wrap. It comes with a black fitted polymer sheath.

THIS FALL, I took my brother on a successful deer hunt over on the Snake River. He

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didn’t have binoculars, and it occurred to me that a superb holiday gift for any hunter would be a pair of binoculars. Steiner’s new NX roof-prism binoculars are offered in 8x42mm, 10x42mm, 10x56mm and 15x56mm. They feature Fast-Close focus with a central focus wheel and ergonomic eyecups. For more, see steiner-optics.com.

Know someone whose equipment took a pounding this fall? A new lantern or some replacement glass for one always come in handy. My aforementioned brother gave me a case of propane gas cylinders to feed my lanterns and campstove last year. Now who would have thought of that other than another hunter?

Know a target shooter or someone who needs a better way to zero rifles? Workman reports the Caldwell Tack Driver “has proven itself indispensable.” (DAVE WORKMAN)

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DECEMBER 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com

HERE’S SOMETHING ELSE that escapes most people: a good shooting rest. For several years I’ve used a Caldwell Tack Driver (btibrands.com/caldwell/) filled shooting rest to zero my rifles. This thing is built on an H-shaped design so a rifle can be nestled between the two padded sides.

It has proven itself indispensable.

Coast (coastportland.com) is another outfit in which I have faith, thanks in no small part to their lineup of flashlights.

Earlier this year, Coast introduced three headlamps and three flashlights. There’s a focusing headlamp with three light modes and another with dual colors. They operate on three AAA alkaline batteries. The flashlights include a rechargeable model, a flex power pocket model and the Polysteel 600 focusing LED model (I’ve got one and it’s a dandy).

Don’t overlook treating a younger hunter on your list with a 2017 hunting license either. And for that special hunting buddy, a subscription to Northwest Sportsman might be one of the best gifts.

THERE’S ONE MORE thing. Don’t forget to send your hunting pals a card, and do the same for any landowner on whose property you may have been lucky enough to hunt. Lasting friendships are built on small gestures, and it’s always nice to hear from those special people with whom you share some of life’s greatest adventures. NS

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