My highlight fisheries of the year were: summer run steelhead on the Sky; Lk. Washington Sockeye; Fraser River Salmon; Buoy 10 (not because the fishing was hot, it's just that you can't beat Long Beach in August); Snohomish River Coho; Yakutat Coho; and catching my first fat Tacoma king (thanks to Bob D).

My bombs: Elliot Bay Kings; the Jan/Feb steelhead season on the Sky; Wind River (just can't get those toothy fish to bite!, and yes, I know I'm the only one that has this problem!).

What about you guys? What were some of your highlights and bombs for the year?

[This message has been edited by Bobber Down (edited 12-12-2000).]

Highlights: Moving to Port Angeles from Dri-cities, Yellowstone Fly Fishing in June, Neah Bay Silvers on the fly in Sept.

Bombs: low water conditions this fall making river silvers and early steelhead fishing tough. Port Angeles saltwater fishing.

Highlights(in rewind from present)- Early BIG brats in SW, Quillayute kings & coho(every year), Snohomish and tribs coho, toutle coho, sky summerruns, Unbelievable springer and summerrun action in april may...where ?, sky c&r...got one 42x23=28+

Bombs!!! Sky chums(compared to recent years) Samish kings(more people than fish by 10x)thanks F&H LIES. Hoh river kings(got a few, but man hard work) Eilliot bay kings, seacreast kings(for me anyways 100+ hrs 1 coho)

Overall its been a great year, especially if you can drive and go without sleep like normal people. Thats one great thing about Washington....the fishing is always hot somewhere you just have to be willing to drive. Oh, and having fishing buds all over who fish 150+ days a year helps too!

The highlights of the year for me was watching my oldest Son boat a 30 lb nook' at Pt. Defiance this summer (his second salmon), putting one of my good friends on his first steelhead this July on the Cowlitz and for me the Nisqually kings and the great fall silver run on the Cowlitz. On the frustrating side was like you mentioned BD, the Wind River springers. Only trip there this year was spent fighting strong east winds for 2 1/2 days and not fighting any fish. Hope to see a Columbia main stem springer season this year with all of the predictions of good returns.
Another big highlight for me was all of the great people that I have met, fished with, or have come to be friends with through this and some of the other NW discussion boards!!!
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

High lights would be: #1 Sockeye #2 West port
# Neah bay halibut/sea bass #4 Bouy 10
Bombs would be: #1 Low water conditions #2 Wind river #3 Elliot bay #4 Chehalis river
#5 Elk river (Oregon) and tribal netting every where!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck, STRIKE ZONE

I thought the Green river silver run was excellent. Olympic summer runs were also awesome. Illwaco offshore silver was incredible, limits in less then an hour.

Bombs= chum runs almost everywhere
Elliot bay fishing
King fishing in Tillamook area rivers
Low water early winter runs

highlights...
after 15 years of effort i finially caught my first winter steelhead on a fly from the Sauk river.
Awsome summer of fly fishing in montana
wuith more that 30 fish over 20 inches.
Awsome first ever trip to BC where i fished the Babine for 8 days and caught steelhead to 17lbs on flies

bombs??? didnt have any I was however dissapointed with Depuyes spring creek near livingstone montana
not because of a lack of fish but because the fish were so used up they had all obviously been caught many times over and were rather beat up

Highlights... landed 2 kings this past summer, 50 and 51 lbs. respectively.

Bomb... Lived in P.A. last winter and though I managed to catch a few, from what I saw and read the winter steelhead season was poor. Also, now living in Lynnwood and hoped to spend some time on the Sky this spring, oh well.

Highlights: That gorgeous blonde gal that I met in Leavenworth while springer fishing. She even made me breakfast. How could I forget her?

Bombs: Montesano...oh, god, Monte Square motel, that troll that I woke up next to. I almost had to chew my arm off!!

Oh, yeah, fishing was good for the most part with steelies over 20, lots of silvers and chums although somewhat short-lived. I would have done better except some moron ran a stop sign and toatalled my Willie boat last March.

Justin

Raves:
--Montana/Idaho trout fishing--never tried it before, but after a week on those beautiful fish-filled streams I know I'll be back...
--Steelhead on the Stilly...caught my first half dozen steelies on the fly, though I lost easily three times that amount...my buddy also caught his first on the fly.
--Silvers on the Nooksack...haven't been much of a float fisherman before, but now I'm a convert...landing a dozen fish in a couple of hours does something to a guy!
--Kalama steelies...like, duh! (And on the fly, too!)Had luck in the SW area in Feb, June, August, Sept...hmmm...think I'll be back!
--Silvers off the beach in my backyard.
--Working the lakes on the island with muddlers boated me a 20", 2-18's, 2-16's, and quite a few 15" cutts. This year I want to catch a cutt on a dry fly in February!

Rants:
--Finding out my fishing buddy is moving to Eugene next spring...sometimes the company beats the catching. What will I do without him?
--Low water...the chum I saw were beat up and spawning low in the rivers...ditto the silvers in some places. All I want for Christmas is a good, long, rain...
--October/November on the Stilly gave up no steelies for fishkisser...despite upteen hours flailing away...
--Finding out the Skagit/Stilly/Sauk would be closed put a pause on my plans to buy a two-hander spey rod.
--And my biggest rant of all: There aren't any rivers on this island!

The highlight of my fishing so far was landing three coho in area nine all over five pounds. The low point was when the Chum in Chico Creek never really ran. I think it was cause of lack of rain and those damned killer whales four years back.

Highlight: Samish kings. After four days of the big zero I was rewarded with 3 days of 10+ hookup and limits of kings each day.

Vedder River chums. After one day of fishing it took 3 days for my arm to stop hurting.

Skykomish, Caught summer and winter runs, got spooled for the first time and caching fish from underneath the people’s feet who wade out to far

Bombs: Drive for an hour to fish and having my corsair die after two casts and being the day after I picked up another one of those peace’s of sh**.


SAIKit2em, I hope you were wearing two raincoats when you SAUKit2 that troll

Hairball, yes, sometimes it is necessary to double up on the hefty bags. And no, Dave, I don't know what that smell is...I haven't started filleting the sardines yet.

Best dog fishing i have ever had, small creek, lots of good people, not combat, but more than cozy fishing, and loads of chum. Good limits had in an hour or less.

Worst, well there is no worse, as it has been said for years, a day fishing is better than any day working.

Best:
The night I went to my favorite local river for summer runs and hooked 5 fish in a period of 1 hour, one of which I hooked and landed in total darkness.

Worst:
For me, well it seams, that there are more worse moments than best moments.
Worst #1:
Running full blast to get to the creek and cork the best rocks for my buddies at Reiter on opening day and having a near asthma atack in the process. I had the best spot...Rick pulls the trigger, I cast and my lead flys out of my rubber tubing and in turn I get a massive backlash. 10 minutes later I get to make another cast and what do you know??...Deja Vu.
Worst #2:
Going 0 for a million on Nooks on the Hump this fall. I get one trip down there, rods are buckled everywhere and I cant seem to land a fish.
...and to put the icing on the cake. I hook a large nookie drifting eggs. Did realize it was hooked untill Reiter Rat was like "SPECIAL!!!...its a fish" and I look up and there I see the big nook with my eggs and cheater in his mouth. I then shout "Whoa ****, my eggs are in that fishes mouth!!" I proceed to set the hook and what do you know, WHIFF!!!. Thanks to Reiter Rat though for puttting me and Sean into loads of fish!!

------------------
Ryan S. Petzold
aka
Sparkey and/or Special

Highlights were twin Hoh River natives around 17 lbs. on back to back casts last March and great summer run action on my favorite SW Wash. stream all summer long. Not many low points this year, just the fact that I could not find time to get out to the coast this fall.

Best: a small hood canal tributary for silvers. It was unbelievable.
Using my driftboat.
Jeff Head with my buddy Josh.
5 fishing trips in a row and not getting skunked.
Worst: Chico Creek
My luck... haha

The best:

Westport....it was the best ocean fishing I've ever experienced.

Fall summer-runs....As good or better than years past.

Friendly ocean conditions.(for the fish)and a long-term forcast for those conditions to remain.

A high (very high actually) jack salmon count this fall that bodes well for next year's run.

The worst:

Lock-jawed salmon at bouy 10 and Johns river....the fish were there but had no appetite from gorging on the abundant schools of bait fish.

Half the state's sledders fishing the Wynoochee last winter (and surely this winter too.)

The closure of North sound rivers this winter that will send the masses to the coast.

My old trusty shimano bantam 201 finally cashing in after 16 years of great service. This one hurts!!!! God, that was a good reel. They can only be cleaned and rebuilt so many times. Certain parts finally wore out that I can no longer find.....crap!

BEST:
Discorvering the Vedder in Chilliwack B.C., fishing like it's supposed to be. 30 - 40 fish days. Coho by the hundreds, kings 40+, and chums to bruise your arm all in one day.
Lots of fish this year in all the combat holes, Carbon, Blue Creek, and the others.
WORST:
Seeing more and more trash on the rivers, trying to pick up as much as i can but appears to be a losing battle, still tryin' though. My steelhead hook up ratio is good per time spent but having trouble landing these beauties. Only seem to be landing about 1 in every 5 hook ups. Oh well!!! Still having fun every time i go.

I only went to the Snohomish system a few times for silvers but the fishing was great when I did go.
The tulalip bubble was great this year too, except for the one fish limit which can make a really short day for the zero dark thirty morning bite.
The Wind was a bit of a bummer, lots of wind and nofish for my boat, the locals must have some seceret juice, saw lots of fish caught, mostly in a small handfull of boats.