Would definately have to say the trips on the Wilson River with RT and Mark. The two best fishing partners I've ever had.You guys are the greatest!

July 28th on the Columbia River with Fishin Mission. I couldn't keep the steelhead off my rod.Then there was the "after work" Chinook with Fishin Mission.

The two Hot Tamale Outdoors shows. 14lb chromer native...who in their right mind would even think of killing one of these?

Thanks for the great year guys!!!

[ 12-18-2001: Message edited by: STEWY ]

Too many memories to remember. Definetly fishing with my buds RT and Stew for winter steelhead on the Wilson...Good times..good fishing.
Taping the Hot Tamale Show for Steelhead and plucking a fish on the first cast while the camera was rolling.
Watching my wife land her first Chinook on a jig was a blast.
Taking my son fishing and helping him land his first salmon was cool.
Catching and releasing numerous beautiful thick-as-a-football native steelhead that are finally making a comeback...yea baby.

Mark

WOW, this has been a banner year all around... overall, I'm just happy as a pig in [Bleeeeep!] that I moved out to the Olympic Peninsula last year, away from the rat race of Seattle... this was my first full year out here, and I have fished SO much more because of it...

Highlights:
- The coho season in the salt... weekend after weekend at Sekiu, bringing new fisherpeople and their kids out for a day of fishing, and hooking them up time & time again...

- Going out on a charter out of LaPush... SO much fun, limit 7 guys on coho by 9:30am, then go catch a bunch of lingcod...

- The coho season on the rivers... teaching and watching my girlfriend catch her first salmon on drift gear, then her following it up with three more... teaching and watching my good friend Greg land his first two salmon, and both on his birthday... coming into a hole, catching fish, getting the "how is it done?" questions, then having so much fun showing people how to fish and watching them catch their first fish ever...

- Fishing for blackmouth with John Keizer and Tom Nelson, on John's boat... just awesome to see the masters at work... we came home with three when pretty much everyone else got nothing...

- Catching my first steelhead just a couple of weeks ago... getting hooked on it, and realizing there just isn't enough time to do it all...

-N.

Getting my fishing buddy into his first summer steelhead. Having my son (8) hook two summer steelhead in a row, on his own, and getting the second one to the bank. Winter steelhead fishing was good last Saturday while the weather was nasty and the river was blown. The fish were rolling in the afternoon and were moving my line all over the place and I hooked four and landed two.

Being new to the sport, this year was frustrating, humbling and ultimately very rewarding.
First highlite was my first steelie, Jan 7 after getting tips from the board and spending literally 100hrs standing in cold Skykomish water.
My wife was as happy for me as I was.
Maybe the biggest highlite was my wife playing out a 37 lb king on the Kasilof after Bob worked his a$$ off to put us on a fish. I caught the whole thing on video and She and I still smile.
What a great trip.
Then I helped a couple of friends get their first steelhead and salmon and it was a great feeling.
Met some really cool and informative board members and hope to meet more.
Best wishes to all for a great new year!

It was Saturday August 11th and I woke up early to go to work, only my day didn't end up this way. I descided to call in sick to work and went fishing instead. (Sound familiar to some of you?) My cousin and I were lanching my boat at TOA in Tacoma for a little salt water fishing. I remember telling my cousin that I will probably catch a fish (King) of a lifetime and won't be able to brag about it because I was supposed to be at work. Well, we got over to Gig Harbor just before daylight and set up the downriggers. We started trolling along the shoreline in 70 feet of water trying to target migrating Kings to the South Sound rivers. I put my downrigger at 35 feet and began to relax and take in the morning calm. I remember discussing with my cousin that there were an unusually high amount of boats in the water that morning. Then it struck me, there was a salmon derby going on that morning (Boaters World?) We discussed going over to Pt. Defiance to enter the derby but didn't want to miss the prime fishing time so we declined. Needless to say, my downrigger released and I swear that I snagged an anchor! My line went straight to the bottom. Judging by the weight of the fish I knew I had a big King. 15 minutes and a couple of runs later, I had a 36 pound buck in the boat! Wow! This was at 0630 hrs and my day was suddenly getting better! My cousin was telling me to go join the derby but I declined. I'm a local boy and if I got caught, I would get banned for life from future derbys. It was never an option. Anyway, I missed out on the 1000.00 dollar first prize (23 lbs won it) but I will have a story and pictures to last me a lifetime. By the way, the fish had an adipose fin but also had a tag in the head. I'm still waiting to hear from the State to see what river system it was from, I'm guessing The Nisqually. You can bet that I will always enter any derbys that may be going on in the future if I'm going to be out there fishing anyway!

all the fly caught salmon in the sound. 35lb king at sekiu, 10lb humpy possesion bar, 15lb silver point no point. LIFE WAS GOOD THIS SEASON, then the rivers. could go on for days. Ben

1. Having a seal eat a humpy off my line all the way up near I-5 on the Stilly.

2. Taking my cousin out for one of his first silver fishing days, resulting in 58 silvers on the day, plus bonus humpies, kings, dollies, and a steelhead.

3. Same day as number two above. Six casts in a slot approximately ten feet wide and twenty feet long. Six fish. Three silvers, a humpy, a chinook, and a summer run steelhead. Not bad for ten minutes of fishing!

4. The Wild Steelhead Coalition. Old problem, new solutions. New friends.

That's about enough for now!! Happy 2002!

Fish on...

Todd.

I have two memories that fight for my attention every night when I close my eyes.

In August I went to Astoria with my friend who is a fishing nut. His father once had him his see a therapist because he spent all of his time fishing. Anyway, we landed twenty salmon with a mixed bag but a lot of chinooks. I landed a 48 pounder. That fish would not give up. First it ripped line so fast off of the reel that I got a blister on my thumb. Then when we caught up to it I could not get it out from under the boat. My arms were so tired that I thought that I had been moving hay all day. Not bad for a guy who had caught one steelhead previously.

The second happened a few days ago. My buddy from the valley came east and we fished the John Day River. I had never spent any time fly fishing but I was told that I would have to learn. By about 9:00 am I was able to cast (if that is what you call it). At 10:00 am I landed my first steelhead. In all I landed 10 steelhead with the largest being 8 pounds. The only way that I could feel them on that dang whippy rod is when the fly was down below me. I had a great time and I will always remember that day.

At the end of the day we sat on the bank of the river and my buddy said that I should remember this day as a special one. Heck, I can't even close my eyes with out seeing the end of my rod twitch. If you read this thanks for a great trip valley boy -

What a great year it was. First was the awesome springer fishing on the columbia. We sure got spoiled out there this year, we averaged close to 10 hookups a day and The best day was 10 keepers for 20 hookups. Then there was the trip on the Sandy in early april. went up in the afternoon to see if there were any fish around so we would know where to fish in the morning. Hot sunny day and We ended up hooking 7 springers. Total surprise for that spot that early. Then there was buoy 10. Went down most every Monday or tuesday from mid august to mid sept, sometimes both days. Best day was the one we hooked 17 fish between the two of us to get our 8. Turned loose 6 chinook that day. A lot of other great days in between but those are the highlights. Didnt fish much in the fall spent that time hunting.

Such a good year you could go month by month but here is one nobody mentioned yet...

Westport was just phenomenal this year. I took my boat out there five trips and limited each time. Some times the waves/weather were cooperative other times it was nasty, but the fish were always there between 12.8 and 14.4 miles out. Just thousands of chinook and silvers out there...I came to love those new barbless Gamakatsus that are a semi circle hook design as they held the fish well and yet release all the nates easily.

What a year!!! When was the last year that you Knew that you were going to get into fish on every trip?? In alot of cases it was almost a given that you could limit.
Best of the year for me was B-10 & Deschutes summer steelhead, Columbia Springers weren't bad either. On one B-10 trip I hooked 2-25lb & 1- 35 lb nooks in one 30 minute period, that was some work! Oh yeah the new 21' thunderjet wasn't bad either. We are truly lucky to live in the Northwest!
Streetwalker

The year isint over yet and i had another awsome day. I hooked my first 3 steelies and landed one (almost 2). this was definitly the highlight of my fishing carrer so far.
tyler

My 6 year old catching his first steelhead.

The Snohomish brimming with silvers, and telling my friends to make sure to bring their cooler when I take them out.

A 21 lb Winter Steelhead, in early November.

It's been an OK year...

You the man, hilton. A 20+ lb. steelhead before Thanksgiving......now that's getting it done.

So many days this year.

Sekiu: Silvers until it was stupid.
Quilcene river: Right before the crowds showed up...WOW.
Chehalis River: Hatchery silvers pushing 20 lbs. on a semi-regular basis.
Satsop river: A good bite even in filthy water.
****** River: 20+ steelhead hooked by my buddy and I before 3pm.


If it doesn't rain just a couple more days, there's going to be more of "those days" coming real soon.

Catching so many silvers out of my float tube that my arms hurt, chums at Chico Creek with my best bud, my 8 year old catching his first silver, then 8 more in 30 minutes, and dare I say...two largemouth bass. 7-0 and 8-5 two days apart.

One of my most memorable days was the day before the Columbia closed down for springers. Fishing with my freind Jeff, who is the best fisherman I know. It was Monday and we both worked for a few hours in the AM, launched the boat at 12:50 and by 1:30 I was punched out and had passed one off to Jeff and he had not had a bite. Oh the joy. Believe me, this does not happen often with him. We were done by 1:45, tied the sled off to a bulkhead and we each hopped in 2 diff buddies boats and ran their kickers for them for a few hours.

The next best would be bobber fishing for springers on the clack and going 7 for 9 from 4:30 to dark and getting my buddie into his first two bobber caught springers.

My winter steelie yesterday on the pink worm!

Watching my five year old catch his first salmon.
Watching my two year old catch his first trout.
Winning Verle's sports center's big trout contest with a 7.5# rainbow.

Edit: Oh Yeah, Taking friends and family up to Sekiu and guiding 5 people to their first salmon.

[ 12-26-2001: Message edited by: Dogfish ]

Wifie getting a twenty lbs christmas nat


Tight lines

Kevin