Northwest Fishing Reports

Roosevelt has really big kokanee; Banks did as well some time ago, but I can't say if there is still a fishery for them.

The only problem you'll have with mounting the transducer that way is when you pull your motor up to stow it. If you're only going to tilt it up or down, that won't be an issue. If that is a problem, then just zip the transducer cable near the head of the trolling motor and let the rest fly free. As...

You can get a little more fun out of Jet Divers if you rig them as a slider. Tie a short dropper to the rod end of the diver, and then tie a snap on the end of the dropper. Simply snap the dropper onto your mainline. You'll have to have a large bead ahead of your swivel on the mainline so that the s...

Speaking of the Slow Death setup--I was talking with a Minnesota touring pro about it. He said that it had been used for several years before P-K worked out their new hook/marketing program with Mustad. The original Slow Death used a Tru-Turn hook and Smile blade. He said it is deadly at times. I kn...

Braid, or any of the GSP lines, is definitely the way to go. Besides sensitivity, they are extremely strong but not as abrasion resistant as comparable-strength mono...i.e. 30-lb braid will be less abrasion resistant than 30-lb mono as abrasion resistance is a function of diameter. And if you're usi...

What do you want to know about bottom bouncers? They are not difficult piece of gear to handle. I've used them a lot, primarily with snelled spinners, Spin-N-Glos and small stickbaits. The basic idea is that they keep your gear off bottom and keep you from snagging. When you fish with them, the idea...

I lived in Spokane back when the first advisories came out. They were kind of scary until I started digging into some of the reports and science. (I will say here that I have a background in science but am no expert and should not be judged to be even close to one about the topics.) The thing that s...

Word from Westside Marine in PT today is that it's slow up here at Midchannel and around...will try myself next week sometime after installation of the new kicker, downriggers and sonar on the boat.

Things may have changed since I last fished there (maybe a dozen years or so ago), but the Potholes Canal just below the dam was good for lake whitefish that would move up it in the fall. The canal was good all the way to where it dumped into Soda. Banks has (or had) masses of lake whitefish, and th...

First, you've got to realize that I've never fished Lake Chelan, so take this for what it's worth. I have done some fishing for macks here and in Canada, but I've always jigged. I've used Luhr Jensen's Nordic jig, which is minnow-shaped, with good success. On my last Canada trip, I tried a white tub...

I used to have a set of those L-J downriggers, and they work fine. What I would do if I didn't have a downrigger would be to scout around for a linecounter reel. Then I'd find a trashed salmon rod, shorten it to say, three feet, make sure there was a good guide of some kind on the very end of the ro...

I like the Triple Grips for keeping fish on the hook as well as quality. However, I also like the Excalibur trebles--the ones with the points kirbed (I think that is the correct term) off to the side by 15 degrees. I've fished those on a lot of baits and like the Triple Grips, once a fish is on soli...

I was at the tackle show in Las Vegas when this was going around as a rumor. Attached to the rumor was the idea that McKinnis was going to produce a "reality" bass fishing show with 12 of the top guys competing. Supposedly, the rest of the tournaments (or maybe just the TV coverage) would be scrappe...

This has been in the rumor mill for yonks, but it looks like it will finally happen: August 3, 2010 ESPN Reaches Agreement in Principle to Sell BASS ESPN Inc., announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement in principle to sell BASS, LLC to a group of investors led by Don Logan, Jerry McKinnis a...

I'd try a #10 Tru-Turn Aberdeen. The longer shank won't spook the gills, and the Tru-turn function does provide a better hook set. It could be that the kids were trying to set the hook when the bobber went down, which can be a mistake. Have them reel until they feel the fish and then set, or you can...

I don't know of any covers, but there is (or used to be) an adapter built to convert that style of pedestal base to a 3/4-inch pin pedestal. That wouldn't resolve things as neatly as you'd still have to put a cork in the hole for the pin.