5/23/08

The north-central Washington State fishery 150 miles straight south of my home in Kelowna B.C. has been on my wish list of Big Trout waters to fish for several years. Finally on May 24th I got a chance to try it out. It was a long weekend and everything worked out to give this State Rainbow record holding body of water a try... read more

5/15/08

We haven't had a bigger winter than I can remember, since I moved here in 1995. This has caused two conditions I have struggled with: 1) a major case of "cabin fever" 2) a pent up desire to pursue some brown trout. With only open water on Wickiup this Opener, I didn't have the stomach for the crowds and wanted things to settle a bit before I ventured out on it... read more

5/7/08

Ron and I had plans to fish at one our favorite locations this weekend as the ice had been off for a couple of weeks, but it had been cold, snowing and blowing every other day. Our planned weekend was the first weather break it looked like we would get. I wanted to try the new boat out and what better way to test equipment than on a Brown trout outing... read more

5/4/08

My wife Sarah and I were joined by our friend Jerry for some still water fly fishing in the Cascades. We had heard conflicting reports about what was accessible, so we were not sure where we would end up. After looking at Davis Lake, we settled on fishing the Davis arm of Wickiup. The weather was pleasant and we were excited with the hope of catching a monster brown... read more

5/3/08

Let's face it, I am stuck on the central coast of California. While the weather is awesome and the saltwater fishing is great, the trout fishing is virtually non existant. So, I have to get creative with my schedule to pull trout trips off.... read more

5/1/08

This has been one of the strangest Oregon openers in a long time. The snow pack has blocked many of the roads leading to our lakes and many of our top choices are still locked in by ice. There are some nice macks being caught out of Odell and the bulls are still around... read more

4/24/08

With bull trout fishing winding down for me, I really looked forward to getting out for some brown trout action... read more

4/17/08

I guess I impressed Dennis and Tim enough with the 10 LB. bull that we got into last trip, that they were game for another round. It was the only bite and fish of the day, but big fish do leave an impression... read more

4/3/08

This was my second trip out after a two week lay off due to tough conditions, off color water and poor weather. I took Dennis and his friend Tim, a couple of ODOT managers, for a day at LBC. The weather this week had improved a lot with building high pressure and let me tell you a 60 degree day feels wonderful after the winter we have had... read more

4/1/08

With the bull trout fishing being as poor as it had been since the opener, I deferred several of my trips until this week. I had Ross and Wayne out with me yesterday for my first outing in about two weeks. This year has been reminiscent of 2006 when things weren't happening in March for us. April was when things heated up for the bulls that year. Looks like it might be the similar pattern this year. Time will tell... read more

3/6-7/08

I was looking forward to the two day trip with former client and now friend, Vince Cattiottoli this past week. We had a ball last year and Vince did get a bull around 10 LB. to cap that trip. It had been pretty spotty at best the opening week so far and I was hoping we would get a hot bite somewhere in this trip. We did get lucky... read more

3/4/08

I was working the Redmond Show during the opening of the Metolius Arm on LBC this past weekend. The reports I got suggested a tough opener. Lots of boats but few fish! I did get a photo from Ed Pond of his 31.5 in., 13.5 Lb. bull and that was the second biggest that I had heard about. The ODFW creel census gal at the ramp confirmed a 16 LB. bull trout from opening day as the biggest verifiable bull so far... read more

2/18/08

After all winter off, I got back out this past President Day holiday to fish with buddy Tom Staley and his son Jared. A little pumped by a fairly successful outing just the Friday before with Steve Kelly, we set out a little earlier in the day and got right on the downrigger drill where Steve and I did well a few days before. We did find some kokanee balls and a mix of bulls in the same general area but no biters to speak of. Finally we got hit around 10:30 but it didn't hook up... read more

2/15/08

I can't believe this was my first outing of the year but it was. Although the snow and cold (we got down to highs in the single digits and lows down to -14 below) had a lot to do with it, I then had some business in California for a week followed by the Portland Show for most of another week. Six weeks into the year and I am finally getting out to fish with my buddy, Steve Kelly, at LBC for the day... read more

2/08

I just got word from my friend Dan McAllister from Trophy Trout Hunter that their trip to LBC this past weekend was a little tougher than previous winter trips. He said they were seeing quite a few bulls in front of the ramp at Cove Palisades but they were reluctant to bite. He was fishing with Brian Wildish and Jordan Whitten. They were graphing some kokanee balls and bulls from that area up to the Deschutes Arm where it dumps into the Crooked Arm... read more

11/11-12/07

Tahoe is a special place...no doubt about it. Even if the fishing is tough, you will not be left empty handed. The scenery is outrageous and the clear water is refreshing; even if just to look at. With a legitimate shot at trophy rainbows, browns or mackinaw on each and every trip, what isn't to love??... read more

9/27/07

This has been such a crazy year for me and my travels have kept me off the water a little more than usual in the last few months. I can say that the quality of the fishing trips has been great, especially the trip to Lake Diefenbaker with Mark in Aug. With business and family matters taking up all of the first half of Sept., I finally just got back out on the water last week to take some overflow trips from the spring and some new clients for bulls at Lake Bill Chinook... read more

8/13-17/07

I am truly blessed! Not only because I get to live near some of the most prolific trophy brown trout waters in the Western United States, but because I have quite a few really good friends. John "Dink" Werwie is one of them!... read more

8/3/07

My partner Mark was heading up for a family vacation and a much anticipated fishing junket with me. He laments that he doesn't get to fish near as much as he would like. It was my job to try and turn him on to the best fishing we have going at this time of year here in OR. We did get lucky... read more

8/1/07

One of the upsides of my guiding business is meeting some interesting individuals. One such guy is Vince Cacciottoli from Portland. Vince and I hooked up through the website last year and then he booked a bull trout trip with me this past spring. We enjoyed each others company and decided to get together again on one of his trips to OR... read more

7/26/07

Klamath Lake will always hold a special spot in my heart. After a co-worker reported catching 6-8 Lb. wild rainbows on his vacation to Agency Lake (the adjoining lake and part of Upper Klamath Lake), I knew I had to get up there to check this out for myself. This was way back in 1969 and when I landed my first 5 LB. rainbow the following year, I was hooked... read more

7/25/07

Some times when it heats up, the fishing does to. You wouldn't think that applies to brown trout fishing, but at East Lake in Newberry Crater, good fishing for browns has been the rule rather than the exception for the last few weeks... read more

7/23/07

On what would be our last brown trout trip of summer 2007, my grandson, Colin, and I headed up to East Lake. We decided on East based on some reports I had gotten back from a few friends that had done well in the preceding week... read more

7/22/07

I got a report from a buddy of mine from Portland a few weeks back. Vince Cacciottoli had ventured up to East to take a shot at some browns. The highlight of his outing was the one that got away. Somewhere out in lake is a nice brown with his Rapala in its jaw. He got busted off and didn't get to see the fish. Too bad Vince....better luck next trip!... read more

7/12-14/07

My job this time of the year is as tough as it gets! Don't bother sending me any consolatory emails for the difficult task....I'm tough and I just "buck up" and go for it. I take my grandson's fishing for trophy trout at some of the most beautiful and productive lakes in the Western United States... read more

7/11/07

Well, after getting a late start and arriving at Wickiup around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we were finally getting our lines wet. We had fished for over an hour when Jared said "I've got a fish - a nice fish."(3.5#) He was using that outfit I bought from Rick after our last trip to the same lake with a Pointer attached to the far end... read more

7/9/07

I wanted to take my 11 year old son on the trip of a lifetime. I have always wanted to fish the Labrador wilderness. Catching a brook trout in the wild weighing 8lbs or more is a serious trout!... read more

7/7/07

How lucky can a guy get? I have the privilege of exposing my two oldest grandsons to arguably, some of the best trophy trout fishing on the west coast... read more

6/19/07

Two weeks goes by so fast at this point in my life....seems like two days sometimes! This was the final week that my middle Grandson, Alec would be here and I asked what he wanted to do before he headed home to California. He wanted to go fishing again! That's my boy!!... read more

6//07

I was only home 4 days in May, but did manage some time with my buddy John "Dink" Werwie in mid-May. We didn't stick any monsters but caught over 100 browns in 5 days with this nice 8.5 Lb. hen brown sitting at the top of the heap. I think we had 5 over 4 Lb. amongst the majority of dink browns we caught. We always have fun fishing together... read more

5/21/07

I'm a little behind on getting reports up, but better late than never. I got word from Brian Wildish that he and his buddy Ryan Daniels were taking their Dad's on a brown trout excursion to East Lake in mid-May. That is prime time for the lake... read more

5/17/07

Just before spring runoff every year a few of us try and hit the Arrow Lakes in central B.C. This year was no exception. Sherm,Greg and myself all showed up at the Shelter Bay campsite and boat launch on Thursday... read more

5/6/07

This trip had been planned for several years, but we just couldn’t ever put it all together. When we discussed it this year and knew that the ice was now off, my buddy and I both jumped at the chance to spend another weekend fishing for trophy browns... read more

4/20-21/07

It was my pleasure to have one of my friends and some of his family out on Fri. Bob Bloomquist and his son, Bob and son-in-law, Mike met me around 6:00 for one of the final bull trout trips of this spring season. With water temps rising and more smaller fish showing, things are winding down... read more

4/17-18/07

I had Danny Zook and his son Jason along with an old friend for a day of chasing bulls. The day started with some wind that increased as the day progressed. Seems like the smaller bulls are starting to dominate the catch count and today was no exception... read more

4/13/07

I met Dave Bishop at the Redmond show in early March. He had purchased a couple of Walker Downriggers from me and was just waiting for his boat to be built up in Idaho. His buddy Jim Marshall from Gateway Game Preserve joined him for the day as we pulled away from the dock under a dying wind ... read more

4/10-11/07

I had one of my more interesting clients out this past week. Lynn Bridger is a hunting guide and outfitter from Idaho that also contracts with IDFG to shoot coyotes from the air. He had also shot one of the biggest typical mule deer of all time. I hope to have a photo of it to post on the site, when he gets home... read more

4/3/07

Len Schultz was tied up at the dock on Chinook Island a few weeks ago when Kelly and I pulled in to use the outhouse. Len had expressed his displeasure with the fishing of late. As we got to talking, I made some suggestions on his downrigger set-up and soon we got around to booking a guide trip... read more

4/1/07

I had forgotten that I donated a free guide trip to Quota International a year and a half ago. Susie at Sign Pro had approached me about being auctioned off and I agreed to it... read more

3/31/07

I met Rich Higgs at the Redmond show last year. We were both working this years (2007) show and he approached me about a bull trout trip this spring... read more

3/30/07

Ron had called me on Saturday evening letting me know that the ice had gone out of one of our favorite haunts and as our planned weekend trip had been postponed, I jumped at the chance to shake the cob webs out of the boat. As you know, we always hit what ever lake we are fishing at daylight and usually fish until dark. Brown trout, at least for us, usually bite way early and way late, so when I got the hard hit at 1:15 PM in the afternoon I pretty much figured it was a Laker acting tough in really cold water... read more

3/21-22/07

Paul Genho from Salt Lake City joined up with his Son-in-law Vince Stanton to fish with me on Wed. and Thurs. We were just coming off a small cold front and the weather got really nice. Boy does the sun feel nice after a long winter in CO... read mor

3/23/07

Vince Cacciottoli had found me on a web search earlier in the year while researching for a guide trip. We had a instant camaraderie and have been communicating via email for a couple of months now. We finally got together for his trip this past Fri. His buddy that was to accompany him was unable to make it do to illness, so Vince and I were on our own... read more

3/19-20/07

I had got a call from Brian Higa several weeks ago wanting to book two days for he and his Dad, Larry. He was excited about the prospect of trying to land a bull on a fly rod. I assured him I would do my part to get him into one. With the weather forecast calling for a front to come through Monday night, I was a little apprehensive about the conditions... read more

3/17/07

It is always a pleasure to have repeat business from clients you enjoy fishing with. I have known Brian Wildish for a couple of years now and he and his Dad, Gary, were out with me last year for bull trout. If I remember right Gary just missed a 10 LB. bull by 1/2 LB. last year... read more

3/14-15/07

This past week was my official start of the spring guide season on LBC. The weather is finally cooperating and it has warmed up into the 70's... read more

3/12/07

After what seemed like an eternity of Outdoor Shows (3 in 4 weeks), I finally got into my guiding season at LBC. I had heard from some people at the Redmond Show that it had been a little tough to put it mildly. One of the bright spots was Glen Chase's 12 LB. bull on opening day. Congrats Glen...if you read this, send me a photo... read more

3/10-11/07

I just got a call from Dan McAllister from over at Trophytrouthunter.com. Dan is one of my buddies from the valley who loves big trout as much as I do. I had forgotten that a group of them were heading to Crescent Lake for a shot at some early season browns... read more

2/07

Finally after a real dose of winter things started to clear off to where conditions looked like I could plan on getting out on Lake Okanagan for a few days between fronts. It seemed like every time a weather front moves thru the interior of British Columbia the fishing takes a nose dive and this winter we have seen more then our share of fronts passing through. Even the ice fishermen were complaining of a slower than normal winter fishing and all reports coming in off the big open water lakes were the pits... read mor

2/14/07

Who says you can't go fishing on Valentine's Day and expect to catch fish (besides your wife or girlfriend). I am here to debunk that old myth. The day turned out to be "St. Valentines Day Massacre" all over again for my buddy Steve Kelly. He only managed to catch and release his biggest bull trout to date... read more

2/4 - 2/6

Awaiting the start of the Super Bowl, I was stirred from my afternoon nap by a call from Dan McAllister, webmaster for Trophytrouthunter.com. Dan is a good friend and was giving me a report on how well the weekend had gone. This was the annual LBC bull trout derby that several of the "valley boys" have been holding for a few years now. Jimmy Lewis, Ryan Daniels, Brian Wildish, Bret Martin, Brian Sanchez and Dan had all agreed to meet up at the lake.... read more

1/26-27/06

This was my first time out this year! Weather has been a factor this winter with a cold snap pushing temps down into the 20's in the day and single digits at night. Most all of our lakes are frozen at this writing... read more

12/27/06

I can't remember for certain, the last time Steve Kelly and I fished together this year, but I think it was a trip at the end of Aug. for browns. In fact, I had to think back to determine how many trips I had made this fall... read more

12/06

One of my "Brownbagger" buddy's sent me a Christmas card with photo's of (2) monstrous gerrard rainbows ( 20 LB.and 23 LB.+) from a trip this fall.  Curiosity getting the best of me, I called Gordon to get details of their trip.  Turned out that he and "Pop" had ventured north to fish the latter part of Oct. and early Nov... read more

12/2/06

It has been a difficult fall with my Son-in-law battling cancer.  Consequently, I haven't fished near as much as I usually do in the fall.  I did get a chance to hook-up with one of my buddy's, Tom Staley and his son Samson, for a day on the water at LBC... read more

11/06

Spinney is simply the premier big trout lake in Colorado. Period. Anyone who has fished it will know what I’m talking about. Anyone who hasn’t fished it… those guys need to get to Spinney and check it out... read more

9/27-28/06

After a long lay off of four months, I was back up at Lake Billy Chinook to pre-fish on Wed. for a guide trip on Thurs.  Interestingly enough, it was Rolf Donahower, purchaser of my home, back in May, who had lined me up to take himself and two of his friends, Kirby and Phil out for a shot at some bulls... read more

8/27/06

With my filming date just days away, Steve Kelly and I decided to give Wickiup a shot for big browns up in the Deschutes Channel.  I would be working with Gary Miralles and producer Justin Wolfe in an episode of Angler West TV in a few days.  Time for some serious pre-fishing!... read more

8/15/06

Ed Stanley is an old family friend that visits my uncle and myself several times a year.  We enjoy fishing together and have trying to get him a monster brown for several years now... read more

8/5/06

My wife Jan and I took a couple of young friends of ours for a day at Newberry Crater for some fishing at Paulina and East Lake. Jonathan and Kristi Black, along with their step dad, Tony Herron joined us for a day of chasing some kokanee and browns... read more

7/13/06

It doesn't get any better than watching your Grandson battling a monster brown trout and landing it! With no help from Grandpa, Colin landed his biggest brown to date and first over 10 Lb. This 12 Lb. 2 oz. hookjaw measured a little over 32 in. and is as pretty as they get... read more

7/11/06

One of my friends from church had helped me make my house move back at the first of June. I had promised Ken and his son Scott a full day of fishing when things got settled. This past Thurs. we made an early morning run to East Lake to see if the browns were on or not... read more

6/28/06

Since I hadn't fished for kokanee yet this summer, and my Grandson loves to catch them, buddy Tom Staley, Colin and I ventured to Crescent Lake to sample the kokanee action. Reports had it that the kokanee were running fairly large this year with many at 15 in. and some to 20... read more

6/21/06

The arrival of my Grandson Colin each summer is an exciting time for me and an event I truly look forward to. He has shot up to 5' 5" and is pretty tall for a 12 year old. He finally passed grandma by and will probably pass me by next year. Unfortunately, I seem to be getting shorter and larger around... read more

6/7-8/06

With all that is going on right now, it was therapeutic just to get out on the water with my buddy Steve Kelly. I hadn't been to Crescent Lake at all this year and was looking forward to it. We got there around 5:00 and started flatlining some of the familiar runs. The Lyman produced a beautiful 6 Lb. brown (guesstimation) for Steve right out of the gate, but the hookjaw got off while we were trying to grip him.....no big deal, though we would loved to have gotten a photo of him... read more

5/06

I just got an email from two previous clients from last year that just got back from a trip to Paulina Lake recently. Andy and Dave fished with me last fall and employed some of the techniques they learned from our trip. They came in from Arizona to fish this trophy lake and sampled some nice browns... read more

May Summary

We went from winter to summer and back to spring in a few weeks. Last week we had record temps to near 90, this morning I woke to 30's again. The old saying here in Central Oregon is "hang around it will change soon." I don't think I had seen it ever get this hot in May in the 11 years I have lived here... read more

5/17-18/06

It was great to get out and chase some browns after pounding nothing but bull trout all spring. Don't get me wrong, I really love getting into the bull trout. Especially the bigger ones. But after 3 straight months of guide trips fishing for nothing but bull trout, I was ready for a change... read more

5/10/06

This past Wed. was, in all probability, my last guided trip to Lake Billy Chinook this spring. It has been an awesome, though different year up at the lake than years past. We caught many more big bulls with a lot of them over 10 LB... read more

4/20/06

I got a call from my good buddy, Steve Kelly, after a day out at Billy with a friend of ours. Seems that they did really well with a total of 13 bulls and exquisite weather, to boot. It was perfect conditions with little or no wind and plenty of sun... read more

4/18/06

It was my pleasure to take Kelly Canaday and his daughter Bethany out for a full day trip this last Tues. I meet Kelly at the Redmond Show in early March and we had been planing a trip since then. The weather was as good as it has been since last fall. We had a full day of sun and very little wind....it was really a nice day. Sometimes this isn't the weather you want when fishing, but this day was an exception... read more

4/11/06

After 7 days of fishing and filming, I was slightly burnt out. The "American Outdoorsman" TV program looks to be a good one and it is in the can. I was fortunate to get some big bulls on film and can't wait to see the finished product. But wait I will as it won't be aired until later this year. Our DVD special on bulls also went well and should be out by summer. All I can say is we got some really great footage of big bulls and some scenery and wildlife treats we didn't expect.... read more

3/24/06

Steve Kelly and I made it up to LBC to try out the Walker Strikevision camera unit and see if we could get a little underwater footage. Unfortunately, the unit was a display model that we had used at the outdoor shows this winter and had some problems. Needless to say, we didn't get any footage at all. To make matters worse, my remote steering finally blow the cable and we had to make an on the water repair and it is difficult at best. They are fairly simple if you are in the parking lot behind the boat but laying on a dock and hanging over the water, is not my first choice... read more

3/20/06

A dear friend from Spokane called last week and said he would really like to get out a day to fish with me. George Mowry is probably one of the most influential people in my life and I was thrilled at the thought of a day together. He arrived the day before and we went through the license and permit drill at G.I. Joe's that afternoon so we could get out early on Monday... read more

3/16/06

I met Jeremy Buhr at the Redmond Show and he expressed a desire to learn about downriggers and fishing for bull trout. This last Thurs. I met him and his friend Casey for a day on LBC and a shot at some bulls... read more

3/14-15/06

I had the opportunity to take Bob Deveny from Portland out on his first bull trout trip with me on Tues. and Wed. of this week. Bob and I meet last year at the Portland Show and then he booked a trip with me last spring for brown trout up in Newberry Crater. The highlight of that trip was a 7.5 LB. hookjaw brown that we mounted for him... read more

3/13/06

I took Dave Pankratz and his Father-in-law, Gary Self out yesterday for some bull trout fishing at Billy Chinook. It continues to be very cold here in Central Oregon and I shuddered to think it was only 13 degrees when I pulled out of the garage at 5:30 a.m... read more

3/12/06

I got a call from a fellow trophy trout junkie on Fri. that I just have to share. Dan McAllister, his Dad Jerry and brother Dave had a trip to Crescent planned and pulled it off in spite of horrendous conditions at the lake. After all the recent snows and coupled with some major ice in the bay in front of the resort, they managed to finally hit some water to fish. Boy, did it pay off... read more

3/11/06

It was my pleasure to take Brian Wildish and his dad Gary out for a day at LBC. Brian had mounted a nice 9 LB. brown with me last year that he caught at Crescent Lake during the spring. He is one of the up and coming, young guns that are coming over from the valley to fish for trophy browns here in Central Oregon... read more

3/10/06

After 2 months on the road doing 5 outdoor shows, I was really ready to do some fishing! Honestly, I was only out on 2 days in Feb. since Dec. and that is the longest stretch I have gone in the last 10 years, with that little time on the water. My old buddy Steve Kelly joined me for a pre-fish trip before a guide trip scheduled on Sat. I was feeling like I needed to get some kind of drill going... read more

2/6/06

The big bulls have started to show and we have been fortunate to stick (2) over 10 LB. in the last two trips. Tom Staley and I had been trying to get out together since fall but with all the shows I had going on it was tough to even get to fish. Tom took half a day off from his school bus driving route, and we were on the road by 9:00 a.m. ... read more

2/2/06

After a little arm twisting and a promise of lunch at Mazatlan Mexican restaurant, I finally persuaded my wife to join me on a half day outing at Lake Billy Chinook, here in Central Oregon. I have been on the outdoor show circuit since the beginning of January and have not been on the water once this year. It was the best looking day in the short run according to the weather forecast... read more

1/20/06

One of my buddies, Dan McAllister and some of friends, made it up to Crescent Lake in early January for a shot at some browns. With very low water conditions, it is a bit of a crapshot to launch your boat. The resort is doing a good job of keeping the ramp open, but I would always call ahead before planing on a trip up there in the winter. They are currently charging $5 to launch if weather permits. Part of the problem is, with the lake hovering at 20,000 acre feet, it is very shallow and you have to put your rig way back to float a boat. Smaller boats are less of a problem ... read more

12/31/05

We lucked out and my middle daughter, Kim, finally decided that she would let us have our oldest grandson Colin for the last half of the Christmas vacation. Two years ago was his first trip to Central Oregon in the winter and he was delighted. We had two feet of snow in the driveway and for a kid that had never been in it, he knocked himself out. Between sliding down the driveway and tubing up at Skyliner Park, he was a kid in a candy store! ... read more

11/25/05

My buddy Tom Staley had asked me a few weeks ago about getting out to fish the week of Thanksgiving. Tom is a school bus driver and had the week off so we settled on going Tues. Remembering that Tom has an excellent smoking recipe for fish, I brought the kokanee rods as well as my full arsenal for bull trout... read more

11/19/05

I have had a guide trip lined up for Billy Chinook for several weeks now, but hadn't fished the lake since early Oct. Wisely deciding I should get up there before my trip, I took a friend, Tony Herron, to go pre-fish the day before the scheduled trip. It was a good thing I did! ... read more

10/28/05

This was the last shot for me as I got out at Paulina yesterday for the final time this year. I wasn't surprised to see the snow starting to show, as I passed the 10 mile marker on the way up the hill. We had some moisture and a small cold front come through on Thurs. night. There was between an inch or two on everything and it was beautiful, as the first early snows often are. It was also cold....the temp in the car mirror said 32 at 12:30 that afternoon... read more

10/7/05

Since I was staying with my buddy John Werwie at Paulina for part of the week, it was really convenient to have a couple of guide trips at the same time. Saved a little gas to boot. Bill Sysum and his father-in-law Russ meet me at the dock around 1:00 for an afternoon run at the browns. The evening before had been a little slower than I like so I hung in at Paulina for an hour or so. We then made a corporate decision to head to East... read more

10/6/05

I took Andrew Rose and his friend Dave out last week on Paulina for a half day trip. They flew in from Arizona for a little vacation and a shot at the browns. You never know exactly what to expect this time of year as the fish start to transition into the spawn. Some real heavyweights have been caught in the fall including the state record brown from Paulina a few years back. That big female went 28 LB. 5 oz. and the replica we did hangs at the store... read more

9/29/05

I think it was a line from the movie Poltergeist II that the little girl said "Their back!"
That is what came to mind yesterday when I returned to Lake Billy Chinook for the first time since spring. I meant that in the context of the bull trout being back where I thought they might be this time of year. It was almost a year ago that I stumbled on to the bulls staging up in the Metolius Arm. That first day we started fishing for them around 3:00 in the afternoon and quit at 6:30. After catching 19 bulls and probably losing another 8-10 that got off, we knew we were into something special. I made two more trips over the course of a week and had almost the same results before it ended. Mind you, these were 3-4 hour outings....not all day. Do the math!... read more

9/26/05

I took Dale Biencourt and his father out for some fall brown trout action at East Lake on Monday. It is getting a little cool up in the Crater right now and was 24 when I pulled into the parking lot to set up at 7:00 a.m... read more

9/25/05

I got a call from my buddy Tom Staley this evening. I had forgotten that he had taken two of his kids up to Billy Chinook for a shot at staging bulls up in the Metolius Arm. I didn't write about it last year because I wanted to keep it under wraps until it was happening this year. It looks like it is time. Tom, Jarred and Bob didn't get up the arm until around 3:30 this afternoon. I think Tom was going off what we had experienced last year, which I will get into after I cover Tom's outing... read more

9/22/05

After many projects at home and some other personal commitments, I finally got back on the guiding trail yesterday. Phil Hamblin and his son-in-law Dave joined me at East Lake for what was supposed to be a full day trip but turned into a half "dayer"... read more

8/22/05

My last trip turned out to be something far from ordinary. One of those experiences that actually define the saying "Small world." This even went beyond that but I will let you decide what the odds are of something like this happening... read more

8/17/05

Tony Wilson, who works at East, had lined up a trip for his visiting parents, Gaylord and Marie while they were up on vacation. We were on the water by 7:00 a.m. and had the first fish by 7:30. It was a beautiful 6.5 LB male, hook jaw brown. Not a bad way to start the day! ... read more

8/10/05

Just so all of you who read my reports regularly will know that I'm not padding my reports, I have to say that East Lake is finally slowing down from the torrid pace it had been on. The Thomson family from Michigan had contacted me prior to their vacation trip to Sunriver. We had agreed to take their two sons for a half day trip to East to pursue some browns... read more

8/8/05

I took Dave and Jo Greenberg from Vermont out on Monday for half a day on East and we did really well. Though the numbers were down from previous trips the quality more than made up for it. I guess it is unrealistic for me to think we can continue to average 16 plus fish an outing as we have the last 4 trips. Remember these are only half day trips and we are usually posting these numbers by 11:00 a.m. I'm just grateful that we have done as well as we have... read more

8/6/05

It was my privilege to take my web guy Mark out for some brown trout fishing at East Lake this past week. He was on vacation here in Oregon and we decided to get together for an outing. If you have been following my reports for the past month, you know that East Lake has been red hot for browns so far this summer. We have been able to get into numbers and quality on every trip so far. This trip was no exception... read more

8/2/05

With my son-in-law and Grandson in town it was just a matter of time before we were on the water. We decided to give Wickiup a try because I haven't been there in a while and was dying to see if things had changed much since I was there last in June. The water is way down as is usual for this time of year considering that we are still in a drought here in Central Oregon. I think the lake level is approximately 88,000 acre feet and falling a 1,000 a day right now... read more

8/1/05

With my daughter, son-in-law and my other Grandson Alec on their way up, I squeezed one more guide trip in before we hit the "fun fishing" with the family for the rest of this week. Mark Burford had lined me up to take his brother Scott and his son Chris and Mark's son Cole out for half a day at East... read more

7/29/05

It was my pleasure to have George Harris, the director of the Northwest Marine Trade Association, and his father-in-law, Jack out this last Fri. for a kokanee trip at Paulina Lake. We meet at 5:30 at the main ramp and decided we would pursue kokanee unless they were as uncooperative as they had been of late. I think the full moon the prior week and slowed things quite a bit from what I was hearing. I had been fishing at East for browns the last few trips and hadn't fished at Paulina since before we left for vacation back in early July... read more

7/25/05

My buddy from Edward Jones, Mark Burford brought his visiting friend from Kansas City, Val Budd. It was a post card morning with only a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect trolling weather as I like to say... read more

7/23/05

Having back to back trips persuaded me to spend the night up at Paulina Lake. Mark Gardner from the valley and a couple of his friends joined me for half a day. It was pretty windy at the onset.....maybe 10 to 15 m.p.h. at 5:30 a.m. They were dressed in summer gear: shorts and T-shirts. I think they were wishing they had something more substantial. By mid morning the wind had laid down and their wardrobe was adequate... read more

7/22/05

An old friend of mine from Half Moon Bay, Ca., Ed Stanley was up on vacation and with his friend George, joined me for a day on the water in Newberry Crater. We hit East early and did well on browns working a hole I like on the West side of the lake. We were graphing fish at 25 to 40 feet in water of 40 to 65 feet. The browns seem to be pretty much set up in the summer pattern of hanging out in the thermocline right now... read more

7/5/05

After a few weeks off, I got back to business and took out Tom Loomis and his friend Ralph from Roseburg and Portland respectively. We meet at the ramp at 4:30 to take a shot at the browns before the sun got too high. It is a little late in the year for flat lining with surface temps of low 60's but we gave it a shot until the sun hit the water. After a dink rainbow and one small brown, I decide to break out the riggers and things improved dramatically... read more

6/19/05

I had planned a trip with some of our friends for a kokanee trip at Paulina Lake on Father's day. With some clearing weather, we were hoping that the kokes would be cooperating. I had been out on the preceding Fri. with 20 m.p.h. winds, blowing snow and temps that never got out of the 30's. I took Gary Miralles from Shasta Tackle Co. and Mike Abbott the Allsports salesman for Central Oregon to East Lake for some kokanee fishing and a test drive of the new Strike Vision camera from Walker Downriggers. It was double tough fishing with only two kokes landed before we got off the lake at noon. The camera is pretty cool to watch as kokanee appeared and disappeared that day. We saw a few strike the lures but they were definitely off the bite... read more

6/13/05

A referral from a bull trout trip earlier in the season led to my second trip out on Paulina in as many weeks. We meet at the ramp at 4:30 to hit it early for browns. We caught around half a dozen up to 2 lb. working in front of the resort and the area around the black slide. With some low cloud cover we were able to hang in there until around 8:30 when the sun started to poke through... read more

6/3/05

My first guiding trip at Paulina Lake this year was very successful by any standards. My client was a contact from the Portland Show last Feb. who had wanted to fish for bull trout. After pre-fishing a few days before at Billy Chinook, I decided to steer him to Paulina Lake for browns and kokanee if he wanted an outing now... read more

5/16/05

I had a couple of friends of mine out on a bull trout outing yesterday at Billy Chinook. It was a promotional trip for Pro-Troll so the pressure is less than the usual guide trips... read more

5/13/05

I'll back up to include the previous week to mention that I did catch a nice 6 lb., 25.5 in. hookjaw brown last Fri. night while fishing with Chuck Jones at Paulina. It was right before dark and we didn't mess with the camera in order to release him successfully. It is always a treat to fish and visit with Chuck... read more

4/29/05

Darrell Fevergeon joined me to celebrate his birthday and it turned out to be quite a celebration. He met me at the ramp around 5:30 a.m. and we headed up to the island where the kokanee and the bulls have been hanging out for the last month at least... read more

4/26/05

I had been enlisted by Paul Robinson's wife to take him out on a guided trip for a birthday present. Paul's friend Dave Gacke joined him for the day and we chased the bulls up around the island... read more

4/22- 4/23/05

Hating to fight the crowds at Paulina, Wickiup or Crane, I have opted out to fish one of my favorite lakes for the opener for several years now. Even though Crescent Lake is open year round, I look forward to going there because there are very few people up there in the spring... read more

4/17- 4/18/05

The promo trip with Houseboating Adventures magazine was a bust on the catching end of things. I took out two different groups from the houseboat but we didn't get started until 10:30 a.m. The first group of young adults didn't really want to stay out very long so I took them back within an hour. The second group wanted to fish so we worked it in vain. The wind got up to a steady 20 mph and the bulls just weren't cooperating that day. I enjoyed meeting Mike and Todd Low and we made the best of a slow day... read more

4/15//05

Steve Kelly and I went to Billy Chinook yesterday to pre-fish for the upcoming Promo trip with a houseboat magazine crew. They are doing a piece on Jim Cyr and Cove Palisades Marina. I will have them out for half a day on Sun... read more

4/14//05

Last week John Werwie hooked up for a little brown trout junket to Crescent Lake. John arrived early Mon. evening. I had got there about 2 hours earlier so I popped the boat in for a few laps. Nothing big but 3 browns to 2 lb. before dark... read more

3/31//05

As it sometimes goes, when you really want to impress someone it often falls flat. This was the case this last Thurs. morning when I finally had Scott Lewis the PGE fish biologist out with me for the morning. We picked up one small dink bull off the point past the island run. With only one other fish hooked and lost, the fishing that morning was really tough... read more

3/25//05

I had the pleasure of taking Steve Cramer and wife Irma from Gresham, Or. for a half day trip this past Friday. Steve has a fisheries consulting business and has a lot of interest in this specific fishery. Their grandson Chris was along for their spring break vacation... read more

3/22//05

Mark Burford, who watches over our I.R.A.'s and mutual funds at Edward Jones joined me this last Tues. for a guided trip. We started out in the dam area just to get a different look than the island drill. Of course I knew we would end up there before the day was through. On the first pass along the shore flatlining we hooked up on a dink and the ice was broken... read more

3/18//05

My first official trip (under Trophy Trout Guide) is under my belt and the results were great. I have taken quite a few people out fishing the last 5 years both for pleasure and business (corporate trips for Scotty, Pro-Troll and Shimano) but it is a little different when the money is on the line. It will take a little getting used to but since I love both people and fishing, I'm confident about the transition... read more

3/8//05

I got a call from one of my fishing buddies last night. Chris Rowton called to say that he had one of the best days ever on Billy Chinook for bigger bulls. He took one of his coworkers up last Tues. for their first outing on bulls since the arm opened on March 1st. They got out early and were fishing by 6:30 a.m. in front of the island... read more

3/7//05

After the Portland show and a few days of fishing with my buddy, John Werwie, I had the chance to head down to Calif. for some business and a little R&R. When I got back, the Redmond Show was staring me in the face so I had no time to fish the Metolius opener. Yesterday was my first opportunity to get up the arm... read more

2/15//05

After a week of the hustle and bustle of the Portland Show, I decided to take John "Dink" Werwie for some bull trout fishing at Billy Chinook before he had to return to California. John was gracious enough to help me run the Pro-Troll booth for the O'Loughlin Outdoor Show at the Expo in Portland for 5 days.... read more

2/1//05

I had caught the crude again on Fri. It seems like what I just got over two weeks ago and here it is again. The good news is that I was feeling good enough to go out with Kelly in his boat on Tues. This was our best outing this year so far. We accounted for 9 bulls to 10 lb. with 4 over 7 and the smallest was a dink that I caught way up the Crooked Arm... read more

1/26-28/05

I finally got my uncle Dick Arnold out with me for the first time this year. He is the one responsible for starting the development of my love affair with fishing. I will always remember our trek to 5th Street Park in downtown San Bernardino back in the early 50's where I caught my first bluegill and this whole thing started. I am forever grateful for the time he took to introduce me to the sport of fishing... read more

1/20/05

Since Steve Kelly has lost about 35 lbs. over the last two years, he has finally taken exception to my old nickname for him,"Greaser." Since he ran his first Marathon this fall, I have decided give him a new one, "Marathon Man." We do have too much fun fishing together! Yesterday was no exception.... read more

1/15/05

It was our first initial trip of 2005 to Lake Billy Chinook. Steve "the Greaser" Kelly, one of my favorite fishing buddies, and I finally got out to fish. We couldn't have picked a colder day. It never got much above 20.... read more

1/28/04

On the 8th of Nov., Jim Bringhurst, John Werwie and I headed off to one of my favorite spots on the planet! Lake Pend Oreille in the panhandle of Northern Idaho is home to the biggest rainbows in the world.... read more