John’s Guide Service Fishing & Hunting Blog

As most of our regulars already know and for those of you who don’t or are viewing our site for the very first time, we’ve been adding all of our “Updated Reports” and “Blog” articles over to our “John’s Guide Service Facebook Page” … http://www.facebook.com/johnsguideservice As busy as we have been it’s been far easier to shoot everyone “Updates” and “Reports” live from the field via Cell Phone over to our Facebook Page rather than coming home after a long day in the field guiding and dealing with all the HTML Code it takes to update our “Reports Page” and “Blog”… Way easier for people to stay connected and leave comments there as well.

I will still keep our Blog Page up and running and post articles here (That can also be viewed and commented on in our Facebook “Discussions” page) for your enjoyment and reading. Which brings us to the article I just wrote this past summer, “The Thrill Is In The Hunt”. Please feel free to join us on our Facebook Page and leave any comments on the article or other updated reports.

The Thrill Is In The Hunt

I still can’t get past the thrill of this past Friday morning’s bear hunt and can’t help but wonder if you other hunters out there feel the same about hunting as I do. I’m anxious to hear your comments on this, so please feel free to leave them.

The Scenario:

It’s black bear season and you have already done your pre-season hunting homework or hired a guide to do the pre-season homework for you. You’ve identified the desired black bear you wish to harvest, his traveling routes, routines, food sources in the area, etc. There’s fresh sign everywhere and you know it’s only a matter of time before preparation meets opportunity.

The time for your hunt has arrived. The first couple of days during your hunt you know for sure your homework has paid off. You have some close encounters where you can hear your quarry but no shot presents itself. You know that you’ve just missed crossing paths either by being in the right spot minutes too late or a little too early. Timing is more than a good idea.

Then comes the moment of truth. Does it ever. Our destined paths cross. Game time. Is it ever.

This is what it came down to for us last Friday morning: Coolest morning of the week so far. The day before the full moon. Now or never. We’ve been sitting in the truck waiting for first light to come, discussing the game plan for the morning before dousing ourselves down with bug dope (mosquitoes are unusually bad this season) and gearing up for the “fair chase” spot and stalk morning hunt to come.

The morning is crisp and cool with a morning fog rolling up the mountainside from the valley floor below… custom made for a good hunt.

First light and we’re off starting our morning hunt with the first few footsteps from the truck spent glassing the surrounding hillsides for any sign of our quarry and getting rid of a little extra morning coffee. The surrounding hills have been thoroughly glassed and our hunt continues, trying to hone our senses back in from a long night’s sleep. With soft slow steps we continue onwards.

Then it happens, not 40 feet away from our parked truck and not 10 to 15 feet below us. The hills come alive with the loud crashing and parting of brush and branches below us. We immediately look at each other and the first words since starting up the hill are spoken, “Bear!” Of course he’s headed away from us into the unit we just spent the last half hour or so glassing and into the morning fog just now rolling in. Go figure, right?

Hard to make out much of anything visually but we can still hear the crashing of brush as it comes to a rest somewhere in the middle of the unit below us. The best vantage point of the entire unit and best place to set up a shot is from right where we’re standing. However, we can’t quite zero in on the location of our quarry.

Adrenalin is not passive. Alive and surging.

I head down into the unit below us leaving my client, good friend John, at the best vantage point for a well-placed shot. The fireweed in this wide open unit is over six feet tall. More than hard to see much of anything from where I’m at. I try and find my best vantage point from where I think our bear has gone and begin calling.

Didn’t take long before I got my answer to where our bear had gone. He starts huffing and puffing threatening to blow my ass down. He charges in from the hillside below, and all I can see is the tall fireweed parting in front of me before he comes to a stop some 30 to 40 yards away. You can hear his loud huffs and snorts as he tries to get wind of me. Now I’m just praying that my client, John can see him from his vantage point and set up his shot.

With a light breeze now coming up the hill to my advantage, but of course bringing with it the morning valley fog, the bear retreats back down the hill. I keep calling and you can hear the bear’s huffing, puffing and growls as he moves up the hillside a bit more. Again, the fireweed parts as if this bear were Moses himself, and again he charges in and stops some 30 to 40 yards short of my position.

Still no visual… “C’mon John, take the shot”, I think to myself. All the while, also thinking how freaking awesome this moment is. The adrenaline has found its voice, almost a scream. The bear, still not getting wind of me and not quite sure yet if I’m prey or predator, again retreats up the hill. Moves up a bit more. I keep calling and now this bear is really pissed off and getting very vocal about the whole situation. He defines primal scream, charges yet again. Only this time the light breeze has me at a disadvantage and I’m winded. Sorry, but being scent free and being eaten alive by mosquitoes is not my idea of an enjoyable hunt. The bear heads up the long hill and off towards the old growth timbered forest. I keep calling hoping and praying I can turn him around but he wanted no part of my little charade anymore and the whole time he’s headed up the hill he remained very vocal about his discontentment. Crap!

I head back up the hill to meet John… Cursed by the fog and lack of a good sight window for a shot, we both were pumped with adrenaline by the shear “thrill of the hunt”. John could hear every single thing I did even being a couple hundred yards away and appeared just as pumped as I was. To me that’s what hunting is all about…The thrill of the hunt! How about you?

This is the second season in a row that John has come hunting with us and the second season John has not bagged his big bear…but… over the past two seasons we have seen bear, passed up on a small one, missed a long shot, had a couple of close encounters and my “friend” John has already rebooked for next season as well.

So, to you… Is the Thrill in The Hunt or Is The Thrill In The Kill?

Definitely a very successful Modern Firearm season for us this year no matter how you look at it. For the two weeks we spent hunting our Modern Firearm season (give or take a few days spent fishing during those two weeks) we caped and quartered 3 dandy Blacktail this season and all 3 of the Blacktail this season were taken to the taxidermist for mounting.

We spent 2 days of the modern firearm season hunting the East-side for Mule Deer and the rest of our time was spent hunting Blacktail back here closer to home. This years bucks went into an extremely early rut and were out and about everywhere making my job that much easier (other than the “Go Left Greg’s” 3 mile pack out of his big buck) and we were into deer just about every single day.

To all those that joined us for this years Modern Firearm season, Thank You! I hope you all learned tons and I look forward to seeing you all again next season! For those that harvested your deer this season I hope you’re enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Here are a couple of pics from my “Blackberry” that turned out OK of two harvested Blacktail deer taken this season:

Gerald bagged this dandy 4 X 4 Blacktail deer with us this season… His first ever harvested deer. (Hey Gerald, send me those pics we took with your camera)

This was Gerald’s first ever deer hunt and I spent all 3 days of his booked hunt trying to cram years of experience into him. We spent the 1st day of his hunt on the East-side Mule deer hunting, learning the terrain looking for a legal buck to shoot and learning how to identify sign and track among the other aspects needed to complete a successful hunt. The 2nd day of Gerald’s hunt we spent on the West-side closer to home hunting Blacktail deer, learning an all new species of deer, sign, terrain, etc. and had a nice doe walk out within 10 yards of us. Gerald soaked all the teaching in like a sponge and on the 3rd and final day of his hunt I felt comfortable taking him to the same area we were in the day before and letting him lead the walk with a few hand gestures on which way to go. Even if he didn’t get to harvest his buck I was impressed walking behind him watching him demonstrate all he learned… To me that is what makes a successful hunt, its about the hunt and not always about the kill. Gerald cut a set of fresh tracks and began his stalk… I called him back once he cut the tracks to see if he could identify what we were following and he successfully identified the sets of 2 doe being followed by a nice sized buck. We walked another 80 yards or so and the Buck pictured above was there waiting for us. Not just a successful hunt but a successful harvest of a dandy Blacktail Buck as well. Congrats again Gerald!

This is the pic of Greg’s bruiser 2 X 3 buck taken with my “Blackberry”.

See Blog Post below, “Frank and Greg’s Most Excellent Adventures” for more but I think the “Blackberry” pic above shows the body size of this bruiser better than the other pics do. Truly a bruiser dressing out at over 200 pounds. Congrats again Greg! Next year we’re keeping you on a tether or a leash! LOL

The last week of October 2010 we were joined here at our place by long time client, friend and now considered family member Frank and his friend Greg for 5 days of fishing, deer hunting and water-fowling… A.K.A. the week of “If it flies it dies, if its brown its down, big and small whack em’ all!” (Should also be known as the week Frank and Greg beat up on John!! I needed a vacation from your guys vacation… I was flat worn out!

Frank and Greg arrived at our place with their campers ready to go! The first day of their stay with us we decided to go deer hunting and I took the two of them to an area I had been seeing a lot of deer sign in and previously got another client the week earlier into a nice 4X4 Blacktail. (Next Blog post I promise) Low and behold Greg gets himself into a huge bruiser of a 2 X 3 Blacktail Deer that dressed out at over 200 pounds!! WOW! Felt that 3 mile pack out in the pouring rain for the next two weeks!! Thanks, “Go Left Greg!” (I still swear you had to run up the hill after that deer)

Here’s a couple of pictures taken with Franks camera of Greg’s Bruiser Deer:

(Will post the pic I took with my Blackberry on the next Blog Post… playing catch up here today. While not the quality pics of Franks camera I think the Blackberry Pic I took shows more of just how big bodied this deer was)

Can’t quite remember exactly what we did the next day (I was so tired and sore after that long pack out) but I think it rained so hard the day before the river was out so we went on a short hike morning hunt for Franks deer and then took Greg’s deer to the taxidermist and then came back home and then started butchering Greg’s deer for him.

The days are all kind of a blur now… I should start keeping a journal like you do Frank. (Maybe you should have wrote this post here… at least leave a comment for us on what I missed) Actually you guys probably needed a vacation from your vacation too after all the hiking and fishing (I know those Chum beat on your guys arms as much as the hiking did on your legs)

Anyways, we did some fishing and water-fowling the next day when the river dropped back in shape, shot at some nice geese and caught and landed a bunch of Chum Salmon while trying to find some nice Silvers for you guys to take home for a little “surf and turf” (Deer and Salmon… Yummmmm!)

Here’s some more pics from Frank’s camera of a few of the nice Silvers we caught and landed over a couple of days of fishing:

Greg with a nice Silver

Frank with a nice Silver

Greg with a dandy Silver

and, Frank and Greg together with their Silvers

Took another day to hunt the 3 miles up to where Greg got his nice buck (I knew their were still others in the area) a nice long hike all pretty much up hill and saw lots of sign but no deer… on the way up. Hunted our way back down and low and behold about 70 - 80 yards in the woods next to us a nice 2 X 2 spooked and darted up over the next draw. Still standing where the 2 X 2 stood was another buck, a nice 4 X 4 starring straight at us. Definitely on the alert and ready to go I tried to set Frank up for the shot but he couldn’t quite make out the shot as the great northwest’s gray ghost blends in very well to its environment. When Frank finally could make out the buck it was too late and it headed up and over the next draw. (Thick woods don’t make for any opportunity to try and sneak towards an already spooked Blacktail when they dart… you’d just be chasing them into the next county) The whole reason its called hunting not killing or harvesting.
It was a bittersweet end to a great week and while my heart and mind say, I can’t wait till next season for the week of “Frank and Greg’s Most Excellent Adventures” my body is a little more reluctant.

Love you guys, no shiat! LOL Next year I’m putting a leash on Greg though!

See Ya in a few weeks for some Winter Steelheading Frank, can’t wait!!

While not the huge run of Silver Salmon WDFW originally expected (I’m positive we didn’t even come close to reaching upriver escapement goals… Thanks to the gauntlet of nets clogging the lower river… Don’t even get me started here!) we still managed to tie into some dandy Silvers this season. Definitely not the norm for Skagit System Silver fishing (Normally its like fishing in a pickle barrel for them and limits are easy to come by) this year we actually had to “fish” for them and cover lots of water to find them.

Our season started off with a bang and with good numbers of fish, the nets went in and fishing got tough, nets came out and in came the Chum Salmon along with some fresh Silvers. We’re still catching quite a few Silvers now while weeding through the mass of Chum Salmon. (Not forecasted by WDFW) Not that I’m complaining though, pound for pound nothing fights harder than Chum Salmon…They’re just flat mean!!!

I still haven’t had a chance to go out and purchase a new digital camera yet and all pics that I have taken were from my “Blackberry” when it wasn’t pouring the rain on us. (Hey some of you that got some pics with your digital camera’s said you e-mail me copies… Where are they at?) Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera this year.

Below are some pics, that actually came out, taken from my “Blackberry” from our 2010 Fall Salmon Season:

Bob and Warnie back again for some more Coho Mojo this season. Always look forward to fishing with you guys! Yes Bob, it now official you “landed” the biggest Silver of the season with that 16# bruiser! Look forward to seeing you again soon for some Steelhead Fishing.

In the race for taking over “Most pics on the Blog” Dan and Chris back for some more Coho Mojo… These two definitely have the Mojo now, especially since we switched their hats out with some nice Lamiglas hats.
“Whose that good Dan?” Always a great day fishing with you guys and miss the music in the boat when you’re not around. Crazy looking back through all the older blog pics of you guys and seeing how much weight Dan has lost… Congrats again Dan! See you guys next week!

Bob back for another day of Coho Mojo, only this time we sent him home with some real sore arms after he got beat on by well over a dozen Chum Salmon while fishing light gear for Silvers. Sorry about that Bob… NOT! Notice Warnie is missing in Bob’s pic here? Warnie was in recovery after cancer surgery… We think they got it all and he’s recovering faster than anyone ever expected. (I think he’s just been itching to get back out in the boat and try for some Winter Steelhead!)

Yep… That would be an early Winter Steelhead caught on a fly

Dave came in from out east to try his hands out on some Silvers on the fly rod here on the Skagit for a day. Hooked into a few nice Silvers, lots of dandy Cutthroat, a few dollies and then got this surprise while swinging a fly through a nice drift… An early Winter Hatchery Steelhead. This fish was so fresh and covered with fresh outta’ the ocean slime that Dave couldn’t hold it for the picture and since it was all Catch and Release fishing for his trip out here (his choice) we just took the picture with the Steely still in the landing net. Congrats again on the Steelhead Dave and look forward to seeing you again next year.

Yes again… Another fresh Early Winter Steelhead

This was one of those real rainy afternoons where my “Blackberry” wouldn’t take any good pictures at the end of the day back at the ramp. (They just look like a gray ghost in the fog… not good) We did manage to get this pic early in the morning when it wasn’t dumping the rain on us of our first of two Early Winter Steelhead this day. Really sorry, having a brain fart on name here but this is Bill’s buddy. Bill landed the other twin Steelhead to this one and a dandy Silver as well. (E-mail me your name and I’ll make the correction) Look forward to seeing you again Bill, and friend.

Gary, his Dad, and brothers back again this year for two days of Silver Salmon fishing here on the Skagit River with us.

Great time as always Gary! This time out (O.K., sorry Gary, most of the time) Dad schools the boys and has his “getting jiggy with it” form down! Didn’t matter where the boys were in the boat or where Dad stood he was hooking up… and yes, it was a hoot watching Dad school you guys! Had a blast and look forward to doing it again with you guys soon! Thanks again!

Bill and Paul with a nice limit of Skagit River Silvers… But wait… Where are the girls?

Always look forward to our yearly trips with Bill, Joyce, Paul and Marnie! We hooked into quite a few Silvers early in the day (Can’t remember just how many though) and the girls decided to take a break and hang out back at the launch while we went back out to put some more whoopin’ on the fish so this years pic doesn’t have the “Queen of the Nile” Joyce or the lovely Marnie in it. Had a great time as always gang and look forward to seeing you all again soon! Congrats on getting the fishing thing down Marnie, you did great!

Chris and his Father-In-Law with a nice limit of Skagit Silvers

Chris joined us again for another day of Silver Salmon fishing but Dan couldn’t make it for some reason and Chris’s Father-In-Law joined us for the day. (Yeah, the younger looking guy on the left with the full head of hair… Chris’s Father-In-Law… Some good genes there for sure!) You were certainly missed this day Dan and definitely not forgotten and many casts were made in your honor. Jimmy Buffet was the singer of the day in the boat the fish preferred this day Dan… So brush up on your Buffet for the next day out and see Ya soon! “Whose that good!?!” LOL

… And that ends the Mass Onslaught of “Fish Porn” from the pics that turned out from my “Blackberry”. Sorry I haven’t kept up on the Blog and made more frequent posts… I really need to get a new camera and doing this from my Blackberry is a pain in the butt. First have to hope the pics turn out taken from the “Blackberry” and hope the weather is decent, then e-mail myself the pics, then take the e-mailed pics and make them work and fit for the blog here. Sorry if you joined us and I didn’t get your pic and or it didn’t turn out for the Blog update and Thanks to all that joined us this season!!

Again, this is one of those hard to beat fisheries I am really looking forward to for future summers to come…. Great weather, great scenery, great fishing and great company… What more could one ask for?

Here’s a few more pics from the Baker Lake Sockeye Fishery that I took using my “Blackberry” phone (Hope to have my regular digital camera fixed soon)

Can only think of one thing more beautiful than viewing the sunrise on Mt Baker in the summer….

… and that would be my Beautiful wife and very best friend, Corrina!! Love you honey!!

Local Dave brought some of his family from out east out for a day of Sockeye Fishing up on Baker Lake… Even my daughter Anjelika got in on this pic with a nice Sockeye we kept for our dinner that night.

Big Chris brought his family up for a real fun day of Baker Lake Sockeye fishing and caught a nice limit of Sockeye.

Maybe a future deckhand in the making… Chris’s son David takes us back across Baker Lake to end the day and end out the pics left from my “Blackberry” and others to close out our Sockeye Season.

Next on tap… SAY IT ISN’T SO… WAHOOO… MY PERSONAL FAVORITE FISHERY… COHO MOJO 2010!!!

We had a surprise fishery this Summer here on the Skagit System with a first time every “WDFW Emergency Opener” of a Sockeye Salmon season up on Baker Lake… What a great fishery!! Very, very much looking forward to future Summer Sockeye fisheries up on Baker Lake. The scenery and fishing just cant be beat!

We were joined for a couple of days by our usual “Grumpy Old Men”, Warnie and Frank… back at it again. “The Beasts!!” Only this time around we were also joined by a few “Beauties” as well, the wonderful Marge and my summer deck hand and daughter Anjelika. We had a couple of great days of fishing up on Baker Lake for Summer Sockeye and were limited out both days before 10:00AM

NOTE TO OTHERS: I only give Frank and Warnie a hard time because to us here at Koenig household we consider them family… Oh yeah, and they dish it right back! This is my little pay-back time. If you go back through years of blog posts here there are more pictures of Frank and Warnie than anyone else… including me. (You guys better watch out though… The Dynamic Duo of Dan and Chris are making a run at your Blog Fame here!)

I certainly hope to see Marge back with you more often Frank… Love how she keeps you and Warnie in line!!! LOL

Since my camera went belly up on me in early June the Pictures below from our couple of days of Sockeye fishing on Baker Lake are from Frank’s very fancy camera. Thanks for the great time as always Frank and Warnie and thank you again for bringing Marge with you too Frank… She’s great!!

Sunrise from Baker Lake looking up at Mt. Baker… Beautiful isn’t it?

Warnie with the first Sockeye Salmon of the day! Ever heard of ladies first Warnie?

Not to be outdone by Warnie, Marge quickly puts the second and largest Sockeye of the day in the boat.

Frank’s turn with a nice Baker Lake Sockeye

Our first days limit of Baker Lake Sockeye Salmon…. Too Sweet!!

Full sun on Mt Baker… what more could you ask for? Great scenery, great weather, great fishing and great company… doesn’t get any better than this!!!

Here’s a picture of our second days limit of Baker Lake Sockeye Salmon!!

Of course I had to save the absolute best for last… My summer deck hand, my best friend, the most beautiful 13 yr old I know… My daughter Anjelika!!

The new Lamiglas Poster Child… “I swear Dad, I really like fishing with other rods other than Lamiglas!” LOL

Yeah, yeah I know… I’ve been terrible at updating my Blog and reports page. All I can say is, “I’m sorry”. Been one crazy busy summer around here for us this year.

A quick follow up on our Summer 2010 Hatchery King Salmon Season here on the Skagit… I can honestly say it was one of best Hatchery King Seasons yet here on the Upper Skagit. Looking back on all of our trips we averaged 4 - 6 Kings a day every day throughout the entire season. In the beginning of the run and also through the end of June we averaged at least 1 boated Wild Steelhead a day. We boated lots of Big Dolly Varden every day, quite a few Jack Kings, along with a few resident rainbows and even managed to boat 7 Wild Sockeye on the upper river here while targeting Kings.

My Camera died in the beginning of July so I relied on my “Blackberry” and others cameras for getting most of our pics this Summer. My “Blackberry” doesn’t take half bad pictures… You be the judge.

Here’s a few pics of the Hatchery Kings we kept throughout the June July season:

Chris with a dandy Hatchery King Salmon caught towards the end of our 2010 season.

Dan joins us for our Hatchery Spring Chinook season and takes home a couple of dandies. Actually Dan and his brother Chris pretty much fished with us once a week and was definitely “Top Dawg” during our King run. Do you even remember how many Kings you guys boated this season Dan or Chris? I know you both had some very memorable days out there this Summer, Like Chris getting spooled by a monster King Salmon or the double header on Wild Steelhead, the 32″ Dolly Varden Chris landed, and of course the Wild Steelhead Chris caught, “Over there!”

Chris with one of his many Hatchery Kings of the season.

Chris with another nice hatchery king salmon.

Jeff with a dandy Skagit River Spring Chinook!! Hope you’re feeling better Jack!

Keith and gang with a few Hatchery Spring Chinook… Think this was one of our best “hook-up” days of the season. Can’t remember exact numbers but my daughter Anjelika (My summer deck hand) says we went 9 for 12 that day releasing a couple of Jacks, 2 Wild Kings and a Wild Steelhead… and we lost 3 really nice Kings. That sound right guys?

To all those that joined us during our Summer 2010 Hatchery King Salmon Run here on the Skagit River… Thank You!! Had a great season and look forward to seeing you all again this Fall and again next Summer!!

Yesterday was opening day of our Upper-Skagit River Hatchery Spring Chinook Season… “GREAT!!!!”… To finally be back out on the water after having the entire Spring off from being on the mend from a broken wrist and two full reconstructive wrist surgeries (Get the final stitches out tomorrow after fishing!) Original wrist injury was this past Feb. 22nd, while coaching wrestling…

Also, Great to be joined by opening day regulars Gary and Lorna again. (Sorry folks, they’ve already re-booked for opening day next season too) Yesterday was probably one of the best openers we’ve seen in the past 4 years with some great weather and we hooked into 6 King Salmon including a couple of very large Wild Summer Kings we had to let go and a couple that we couldn’t help but let go… They broke us off, Ugggghhhh! (We missed our fair share of fish as well yesterday… Too many to count) Thanks Gary and Lorna for the great company and the great day, very much looking forward to seeing you again later this Summer and again this Fall.

Lorna with a dandy opening day Spring Chinook!

Today we were joined by good friend and regular Dave and his Grandson Isaac… Definitely NOT the nice weather day we enjoyed yesterday (Lots of rain) and in typical Spring Chinook fishing fashion, not the same bite as yesterday… (Spring Chinook runs are notoriously known for being one of the most finicky of all Salmon runs… One of the reasons we throw so much gear at them trying to trigger a bite. Probably the only run of fish I actually carry 18 rods in the boat for, and for good reason.) … Still as usual it was a great day of fishing with some great company! I think you’ve got yourself one heck of a future fisherman there Dave… Great Job listening to and following instruction there Isaac! We hooked into a couple dandy Spring Chinook today, quite a few huge Dollie Varden and a dandy Resident Rainbow Trout too! Thanks again Dave, I really enjoyed the day!

Dave and his Grandson Isaac with another dandy Skagit River Spring Chinook!

** Still have some Spring Chinook openings the last two weeks of June… to book an open spot give us a call or drop us an Email!

Sorry for not keeping on top of the Reports page and Blog updates here… Been crazy busy, as usual! (Fishing every day and then coaching HS Wrestling again in the late afternoons and early evenings)

This is just gonna’ be another one of those pic heavy “Fish Porn” posts for Ya from the past few weeks!

First to end off the month of November for Ya… lots more “Coho Mojo” pics:

Brian and Brian with a nice limit of Silvers!

Jon, Larry and Hogan with a nice limit of Silvers!

Bob, John and good friend and outdoor writer Dave Vedder with a nice limit of Silvers… and As yearly tradition has it now… Bob boated the 1st Winter Steelhead of the season (Last year it was John… same crew though) Sorry no pics though it was a Wild Steelhead and we were in a bit too fast of water to get a good pic.

Good friend Dave Stasel and his son Aaron with a nice limit of Silvers!

Chris and Dan back for another nice limit of Silvers and a nice way to end the month of November out!

Now to get in on some December fishing! Well it took them long enough to lower dam levels down enough for some effective Steelhead fishing… but we’re into them now!! Yes… They’re here!!! (Was nice pretty much having the river all to myself… I’ll share now )

Mike and gang back for some more Silver and Steelhead action… a couple of nice Silvers…

… and a nice Hatchery Steelhead for the grill!

A little snow… and “IT’S ON LIKE DONKEY-KONG” STEELHEADING TIME!!! Rick and Gang with a boat load of Skagit Steelies!! (Rick’s first 2 ever Steelhead, our 1st and 3rd of the day were dandy Wild Fish and no pics were taken in order to get them back in the water unharmed and on their way… Way to go Rick!!)

Dan and Chris back again along with friend Grant for some Skagit Steelhead action!!

Yep!! Warnie and Frank again (Told Ya there are more pictures of these two on my site than me!) Wet one out there today… hope the Skagit stays in shape!!

Had a great time as always everyone (Other than last weeks freakin’ cold arse weather!! UGGGHHHH!! Johnny no like 13 degree days on the water!!!)

More soon… I promise!! Wrestling tournaments all weekend long then back on the water Monday!!

Been a great Coho season so far this season with plenty of big bright fish still coming in to the System… hope the run lasts a bit longer! Lots of Chum Salmon showing now as well… Still impressive just how hard they really fight! (They’re just flat arse’ mean!!)

Since our last Blog entry here we were able to get in a couple more days of Silver fishing before leaving for five days on my wife’s Elk hunt. Poured rain on us the entire five days down in the lower elevations with lots of snow up in the higher elevations, lots of fog too making for very limited visibility … saw a few elk but nothing shoot-able this season for Corrina. (Bad winter kill last year) Got back out on the water yesterday.

Nov. 4th, 09′ - Dan made it back again this season for some more “Coho Mojo” and brought along his brother to share in the action. Great job guys! See Ya again soon!

Nov. 5th, 09′ - Joon also made it back again this season for some more Coho Mojo action! See again next month Joon!

Nov. 12th, 09′ - Richard, Jim (”Spazz McGee”… told Ya’ you were now tagged Jim) and Tom out for some Coho Mojo!