Our coastal estuaries are about to get inundated as our most prolific salmon, fall Chinook, begin their journey home to finish out their lifecycle. With that inundation comes a plethora of invasives, including, if not especially, humans. Even though sport-angling boats will soon number in the thousands at the Buoy 10 fishery, our sport take […]
Category Archives: Stories
Menhaden Madness
Bass with bunker. Photo by Capt. John McMurray. Are managers seriously thinking about increasing the menhaden quota again? I’m not gonna waste any space here this time talking about all the benefits of recent menhaden concentrations. Not just because I’ve already done that here, but really, anyone who fishes at all gets it. Massive schools […]
The Albies are Coming!
We live in an amazing world. After a two-year tuna hiatus, I finally got to go out in pursuit of albacore off of the Oregon coast. Albacore, despite its incredible fighting power and deliciousness, is still supposed to be a second-class fish amongst avid salmon and steelhead (cold water) anglers. But anyone who actually has […]
A Little to the Left, A Little to the Right
Using Common Sense about Unmanaged Forage Fish About every 6 to 8 months, my job experiences a bit of an implosion. I think that’s what keeps things exciting and certainly causes me to open my mind a bit more to other people’s perspectives. It’s not that I welcome such chaos, I’m told it just comes […]
Independence Day…Fact or Fiction?
Does it take aliens for us to protect our natural resources? Photo Credit: Dan Cherry, of the NW Sportfishing Industry Association Independence Day used to be one of my favorite movies, and one of my favorite holidays, too. Now, because of the sequel, and because this holiday’s fireworks festivities in my new neighborhood shook the […]
The Spring Bounty (Thanks to the Magnuson-Stevens Act)
Photo: A day’s catch of seabass and lingcod Like many sportsmen, we rely on fall to fill our freezers and what oftentimes feels like an insatiable need to harvest. I’m not sure I can explain it, but before I had the ability to drive, let alone work a rod, reel or rifle, I poured copious […]
Just for the Halibut
I know, such an over-coined phrase, but it certainly has some meaning in several different capacities. As we wrap up another successful halibut season off the Oregon Coast, it never ceases to amaze me how much there is to learn about our fisheries right under our noses. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but […]