SALMON REPORT: Francois' 16.4-pounder holds out for $10,000 at Roche
POSTED Feb. 6, 2009 / 7:45 p.m.

ROCHE HARBOR, Wash. - Funny how things work out in the quirky world of salmon derbies. An out-of-nowhere bite here, a suicide fish there, and the next thing you know, somebody whacks a derby winner despite the odds.

Ask Mount Vernon's Raymond Francois about that sometime. Despite a six-year history that virtually guaranteed a 20-pound winner. Despite the "San Juan Islands Code" that almost requires that you fish with herring. Despite a non-typical tide and a non-typical gear setup, Francois is $10,000 richer tonight, thanks to the 16.4-pound blackmouth he caught yesterday morning at the Roche Harbor Classic.

Francois, who, this morning on our live broadcast from derby headquarters here in Roche Harbor pooh-poohed his own chances of winning the Classic with a 16.4-pound fish, withstood a Day 2 charge to take home first place in the seventh annual kickoff to the Western Washington derby calendar. Francois' fish, which hit a spoon fished on a 5-plus-foot leader, trolled smack in the middle of the ebb tide at Humphrey Head, stayed atop the leader board from the second it was weighed in at roughly 3 p.m. on Friday.

"I think it's going to take an 18," Francois said.

As I pointed out at the awards ceremony tonight, Francois' prognistication skills won't win him many bets at tomorrow's Super Bowl, because the biggest fish weighed in today was around 13 pounds.

Shangle's wrap-up: Oddly enough - and this is a lesson in DerbyOlogy - two fish bigger than Francois' (a 17- and 20-pounder) were weighed in today ... out of Thompson Point, which is outside the boundaries of the Roche Classic.

Francois' boat also participated in the side bet, which rang up an additional $7,000.

-JS

WILDCAST: Wild Country goes LIVE from Roche Harbor Classic this morning!
POSTED Feb. 6, 2009 / 1:05 p.m.

ROCHE HARBOR, Wash. - Catch the highlights from this morning's show as Joel Shangle and Tony Floor went LIVE from Derby HQ at the Roche Harbor Classic:

8HOUR 1 FROM DERBY HEADQUARTERS includes a live check-in with derby leader Raymond Francois, who tells us about his 16.4-pound blackmouth. Joel Shangle and Tony Floor dissect the Puget Sound blackmouth fishery, and discuss the rich history of derbies like the Roche Harbor Classic. Also, a guest appearance by Jay Field, organizer of the new $100,000 Dash One Invitational.

8'ZOG CHECKS IN ON SEKIU, HOOD CANAL, where the blackmouth are snapping! Wild Country's Bill Herzog gets you up to date on the recently opened Marine Area 12 fishery, and spools the western Washington angling crowd up for the upcoming opener at Sekiu.

8BLAST OFF! WE JOIN PAT PHILLIPS AND KIRK HAWLEY LIVE as the cannon releases the 100 boats competing in Day 2 of the Roche Harbor Classic.

8"THE TRUTH" SPREADS THE GOSPEL OF SALMON FISHING as the boys wrap up their exclusive LIVE broadcast from the Roche Harbor Classic.

SALMON REPORT: Blackmouth bite stalls on Day 2 of Roche Harbor Classic
POSTED Feb. 6, 2009 / 1:05 p.m.

ROCHE HARBOR, Wash. - The San Juan Islands - at least, at this point in Day 2 of the Roche Harbor Classic - have turned into the "San WHERE Islands?"

As in, WHERE did all the blackmouth go?

Halfway through the second day of competition at the first derby of the 2010 season, Mother Nature is shining on kayakers and sunbathers, but salmon anglers are left to wonder if maybe the Islands' Chinook are afraid of the sun. As of this writing, only six fish have been tagged and verified by patrol boats working the derby boundaries, with only a 4:30 p.m. tide change left to kick-start the bite.

Day 1 derby leader Raymond Francois - who joined me LIVE on the air this morning from here at Derby Central - is clinging tenaciously to first place with 16.4 pounds. And even though the history of this derby indicates that a 16-pounder shouldn't win the $10,000 cash grand prize, today's sluggish bite might translate into a big, fat wad of $20 bills for a relatively small fish.

"The second day is almost never as good as the first," observes Tony "The Truth" Floor, who served as my co-host this morning on our live derby-HQ broadcast. "I'll have to admit, I'm surprised bordering on shocked that more fish haven't been caught today, but, that's exactly why we always say 'It's called fishing, not catching'."

Final wrap-up later today: I'll be back again late this afternoon with the final wrap-up from the Roche Harbor Classic as 99 other boats try to catch up with Francois. Final weigh-in is at 6 p.m.

nDOWNLOAD TODAY'S PODCAST at our ON DEMAND CENTER!

SPRINGER FEVER: The IFish crowd ponies up with first springer photo of '10
POSTED Feb. 2, 2009 / 12:45 p.m.

PORTLAND - I've been meaning to post this since yesterday, but, finally, here it is: photographic proof that Springer Fever, 2010 has begun.

As Jack Glass of Hook Up Guide Service told us Saturday on the air, there have already been a handful of spring Chinook reported in the past five days. The above photo is from Ifish.net member Blue Water 23, who whacked a 16-pound spring Chinook Monday morning trolling herring. That's Monday's Oregonian, to serve as proof.

8CHECK OUT THE IFish THREAD ON THIS FISH and start stocking up on herring. It's gonna be one of THOSE kinds of years, kids.

-JS

HUNT WIRE: Bull elk said to be "biggest ever" taken by a hunter
POSTED Feb. 1, 2009 / 6:45 p.m.

SELWAY-BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS, Mont. - There's big. And then there's bigger. And finally, as is the case of the above monster bull taken in the Selway-Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, there's biggest.

As in, the biggest Rocky Mountain elk ever killed with any weapon.

This beast green scored 575 inches and should net out at about 530 non-typical. He has and unbelievable outside spread of 79 inches, which is reportedly the biggest bull elk ever taken with any weapon.

-JS

HOTWIRE FLASH: $100,000 awaits winner of new San Juan Islands derby
POSTED Jan. 29, 2009 / 10:40 a.m.

ANACORTES, Wash. - For students of salmon-fishing history, the words "Puget Sound" and "big-dollar salmon derby" are synonymous. Many, many years ago, the Seattle metro area was the site of some of the richest salmon derbies the world has ever seen.

Jay Field is, apparently, an astute student of history. And YOU, my friend, should be an astute student of KA-CHINNNNNNG to the tune of $100,000. That's what awaits the winner of the just-announced Dash One Invitational Derby, to be held July 1-2 in Anacortes.

As Jay - the organizer of the Dash One Invitational - has hinted to the Wild Country crew in recent live interviews, it's high time that salmon anglers througout the country are given the opportunity to compete for "bass-type money".

MUCH, much more on the Dash One Invitational in coming weeks.

8FIND OUT ABOUT THE $160,000 DASH ONE INVITATIONAL HERE and be sure to tune in Saturday as we discuss the details of Washington's newest, richest derby.

FROM THE FREAKY FILES: Sabertoothed salmon - it was REAL, kiddies!
POSTED Jan. 29, 2009 / 6:40 a.m.

FISH WITH JD-VILLE, Calif. - Okay, so here’s yet another reason I need that time machine jet sled: So I can go back to the late Miocene epoch, (about 20 plus million years ago) and fish for oncorhynchus rastrosus, otherwise known as the “Sabertooth Salmon.”

This big boy was up to 10 feet long and weighed 300 to 400 pounds. As if that weren’t bad ass enough, ol’ rastrosus rocked some huge 4-inch fangs that extended down from the top of his jaw (bust out the wire leaders and titanium Kwikfish!)

8READ ABOUT THE BADDEST-ASS SALMON IN HISTORY HERE at J.D. (Joe Dakota) Richey's kooky-cool corner of the web, his online magazine www.fishwithjd.com.

NEWS WIRE: NWWC "Crash Crew" member Cami Bayer on NWS cover
POSTED Jan. 26, 2009 / 4:40 p.m.

SEATTLE - Run out to your closest newsstand, Wild Country fans. The newly minted February issue of Northwest Sportsman is starting to filter its way through the racks at tackle stores and Auto Trader displays throughout the Pacific Northwest.

You might recognize the cover girl: Wild Country Crash Crew member Cami Bayer, with a dime-bright South Sound blackmouth.

Cami's cover is part of NWS' comprehensive February focus on Chinook, which includes a look at both saltwater and rivery kings. Walgamott has done his usual slam-bang job rounding up stories like the following:

n A map on San Juan Islands blackmouth, using 6 longtime Juans charter captains/veterans as sources. I've written plenty of stories on the San Juans over the years, but I'm not too proud to admit that Wayne Heinz's story kicks ass.

n Outdoor Emporium tackle manager Tim Bush's Tour de Funk: a detailed story about Sekiu blackmouth, tapping into NWWC's own General Zog as the source.

n Some sweet where-to advice on where to land the first springers of the 2010 campaign.

n From the "Doh! Files", a story that details "five potential state record fish in Oregon and Washington that have been A) breaded and eaten several hours later instead of weighed and certified, B) barbecued and eaten by the neighbors instead of weighed and certified, C) filleted, smoked and eaten instead of .. well, you get it, and D) misweighed and released".

At 144 pages, it's another full load of great stories from a magazine that's quickly become one of the most-read outdoors titles on the West Coast.

- Joel Shangle

ZOG BLOG: Learning from the old-school members of Steelhead Nation
POSTED Jan. 19, 2009 / 2:40 p.m.

The winter steelhead season, so far, can only be categorized as very good. But not everywhere.

Southwest Washington, average. Our North End rivers mediocre bordering on dismal ... so dismal that the Sauk and Skagit are now closed. Steelhead just don’t wanna be comin’ ’round, you dig? Hatchery steelhead on the coast, however, have returned in numbers I have to look back to 1985 journal notes to match.

The only problem has been mercurial water conditions. The rains have been spaced to tease, even with our genie-out-of-the-bottle, up-to-the-minute, computer-generated river level technology telling us exactly when to go. Many have been the days since Thanksgiving where a matter of hours being the difference between a long drive to stare angrily at brown rising water and banner mornings of nearly a dozen hookups.

What I want to discuss now is what happened to us in early January on a small river on the north coast, as J.D. Love and I were taken to class by members of the Steelhead Old School.

8CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST ZOG BLOG ON LESSONS LEARNED from members of the Olympic Peninsula steelhead crowd that stepped straight out of 1972.

DESTINATION WILD COUNTRY: Re-defining West Coast trophy tuna
UPDATED Jan. 3, 2010 / 3:30 p.m

SAN DIEGO - This winter, it seems, could be a big-tuna year for the record books off the Mexican coast. As of this writing, the number of 300-plus-pound yellowfin hauled in by Cabo-based anglers was already starting to ring up at a slot-machine rate, and with the San Diego long-range fleet deep in the heart of their 15- and 17-day big-game schedules, there’ll be plenty more 200- to 300-plus-pound cows where those came from.

8CLICK HERE TO READ THE CALIFORNIA SPORTSMAN article I wrote on the top five "cow" and "super-cow" destinations off the Baja coast.

8CHECK OUT SHANGLE'S ESPN OUTDOORS COLUMN on the ongoing trophy-tuna fishery for San Diego's long-range fleet.

8NWWC TUNA NATION 8NWWC HOT BITES REPORT 8NWWC SALMON NATION 8NWWC STEELHEAD NATION 8NWWC BASS NATION 8NWWC CRASH TEST PAGE

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