Coho Salmon in Oregon’s Tillamook State Forest. Photo courtesy Wikipedia/Oregon Department of Forestry. Anglers from across the nation converged in Washington DC recently, this angler included, for the National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit to discuss gains and losses that the sportfleet has experienced in recent times. The take-away: recreational fishermen care about the future of […]
Author Archives: Bob Rees
The Building of a Conservation Army: Protecting Fish for Today and for Tomorrow
Photo: two-year-old Haylee and mom Leeann Hubbard with Haylee’s first trout The Association of Northwest Steelheaders just completed its 3rd annual Family Fish Camp at beautiful Camp Angelos on the banks of the Sandy River in Troutdale, Oregon. Of course, we ordered up a nice batch of weather to go along with some monster trout […]
Managing Fisheries for Generations to Come
Photo: Oregon coast, via Wikipedia Just like a day on the water, if you pay attention, you can learn something every day, even stuck in a large meeting room full of representatives with diverse interests. I attended the first (hopefully annual) Roadmap to the Outdoors Symposium sponsored by many great companies, agencies and organizations. It’s […]
New Year, Renewed Effort to Conserve Fisheries
Photo: Tamara Mautner from Garibaldi Charters with a large lingcod taken from a deep reef out of Garibaldi on October 12, 2016 Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d wake to a welcoming ocean on January 1st; it was truly a metaphor for the possibilities that lie ahead. I think I may have […]
Fisheries Management Gone Right
It’s been about two months since I’ve spent any measureable time on the water here in Oregon. Can’t say I felt I was missing much, when late-run Chinook catches were grim, the rivers were high, and the rain cold and ample. Even the drive down from Portland to the coast tonight seemed unusually long. Been […]
The General Public’s View of Fisheries
After guiding for about 60 days straight, I decided it was time for a vacation. After all, I hardly had any time with my daughter all summer, and my wife was headed to Chicago for her I-won’t-say-how-many-year class reunion. I can entertain my 8-year old on the water, but one-on-one stuck in Oregon City, I […]
The Lay of the Fisheries Land
Photo: Amy Baird with a 21-pound lower Columbia River Chinook caught in warmer times with pro guide Bob Rees The rain has set in. Maybe it’s not officially winter just yet, but cold, damp and darkness is in the air. We’re all supposed to have our freezers full of fish and now turn our attention […]
When Salmon Fishing is Slow
Photo: Mike’s big lingcod A group of guys from California has been fishing with me for about seven years now. These veteran sportanglers pursue many of the same species we do up here, and more. Steelhead, salmon, lingcod, sea bass and albacore are all options for these Cali kids just like they are for us […]