Crabbing on Camano

We spent the latter part of last week crabbing near Camano Island. The crabbing wasn't as good as last year but was still really good. On Wednsday and Thursday we invited the Noftle family to join us. It was alot of fun to have them with us. It's always exciting to see people experience things for the first time no matter what it might be. It was our pleasure to teach them everything we know about crabbing. As you can see from this pot we caught alot of crab at a time. Our best pot had a total of 50 crab. Although only 9 of them were keepers. We caught alot of soft shell crab that were big enough but none the less they were soft shell and had to be thrown back. We caught a total of about 50 crabs each day that  we were able to keep. Who knows how many total crabs we caught each day 100's for sure. We ran as many as 10 pots at a time.We used salmon carcasses,shad,and chicken for our bait. The salmon was the proven winner. On Friday uncle Duane and all his family came out with us. It again was very fun to teach another crowd how it's done. Savannah liked it so much that she spent the night and went with us on Saturday. Cameron also came Friday night to crab with us on Saturday. We had alot of eventful things happen on the water. It was another successful year of crabbing and we have plenty to eat for months to come.

Today I took Ken Jones and his sons Mathew and Rees. I took Ken last year and we doubled up on 25 pounders, so he had high expectations. He had spent last weekend fishing in La Push with no success so he asked if I would take them and put them into some fish. We went to Wanapum and got into fish quickly we were able to anchor up on the east bank and had excellent flow. We caught the first one a 23# and then caught the little one. Then we hooked another king and it tangled up on one of our other lines so we actually had to hand line it the last 25 feet. Unfortuantely as it got to the boat it ran under the boat and the flasher hit the motor and broke the hook off in the fish. We lost our flow at that point and had to go to the honey hole we caught the next one there on a diver and cut plug super bait. The flow changed and we had to troll that was the end of our hook ups. It was a very succesful day. I was pleased we got 3 out of 4.

Jose Solis and crew

Today I took Jose Solis and his son Josh and two of his ranch guys down to Ringold. It was a little slower day We hooked 5 but only landed 3. One of the ranch hands had a hard time figuring out the reels and wasn't able to capatalize on 2 fish. It was a little slower but still a succesful day. They were impressed by the size of the fish the biggest was about 20#. I had promised Jose I would take him and his Ranch hands one day this year. They had a great time. All fish were taken on Kwikfish.

Fishing with Brandon,Cameron and Chris Clark

Today we totally wiped the fish out. We were off the water by 8 with our limits. It was one of those days that you only dream of. Can't say I've ever done that much damge that quick. I think Chris was pretty impressed by the whole thing. The Kwikfish were incredible they could not stay off the "creamy one" size 16. I think it caught 4 of the fish, and had many other take downs. I have another trip tomorrow and then I think I'm done at Ringold. The fish are starting to turn alot now, but I have taken alot of hens and replenished my egg supply. It has been a great month of fishing. Sorry now pictures for the day.

Duane, Sean and Todd limited

Today I took Duane, Sean, Seans brother in law Todd and his son. It was another very succesfull trip we landed 9 and kept 8. We were done by noon. Todd has been fishinf with me for 3 years now and looks forward to coming and filling his freezer with fish, he was not disappointed today. Duane said he thought it was the best day of salmon fishing he ever had. It was one fish after the other with many rips in between. I think we saw about 2 other fish caught total for all the other boats combined. We put on a clinic for sure. We caught all our fish on Kwikfish with wraps and scent. Some of the old standby colors and some new with both 15's and 16's doing damage. Ringold truly has been very good to me this summer. The "trough" has been loaded with fish as the water temp. has warmed up over 62 degrees. The water has started to drop as well.

The Millers fishing trip

Today I took Dan Miller and his sons Ty, and Collin as well as Kale to Ringold. As you can see from the pictures it was an excellent day we landed every fish that hooked up. Not bad for some young boys on the end of the rod. It was alot of fun to see their excitement as they caught the biggest fish of their young lives. This was a trip that Michelle bought for Dan for his birthday. He said he'd like the same gift every year. Today 4 fish came on eggs the others came on K-15 kwikfish of my favorite colors. We had to move out into deeper water as the day got hotter to target these kings with the Kwikfish, wraps and scent. It was a great day for all involved we lost one rod and reel setup today while we were fighting one fish. I can't blame anyone but myself. The cost of catching fish is sometimes "Priceless".

Russ with his 32# King

Well yesterday we went to Wanapum dam to try our luck and some nice fresh Summer kings. We hooked 2 and landed this one in the morning it was a 32# King. The largest King that Russ has caught thus far, we intend to put him into larger ones in years to come. We also went fishing at Wanapum this evening but we were unable to capatalize on our only hook up we lost it at the boat half way in the net and half way out. Jim Gilbert needs one more good lesson on netting big fish. Although it was not ideal conditions lots of wind and we were in the white water to boot. Very tough to land big fish in ideal conditions even harder in bad conditions. We also caught one fish today at Ringold on eggs. Russ has been spoiled many times and always expects me to put him into fish fortunately for me it has always happened. Sometimes many fish and sometimes one at a time. We caught this big King on Super cut plug "Mountain Dew" color. These fish are super fresh and bright. We caught it anchored up on the East bank. We lost our flow after about 45 minutes and then lost all our bites as well.