fishbear

I invoke my 5th amendment rights as to not incriminate myself,, or to make the wife tempted to pick up a rolling pin! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Although the Cougars have a special place for me,, I have but one thing to say. GO DAWGS!!!!!

I am in the same boat with avid and muddy,,, i am not sayin a word... :o ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I always had excellent luck with med. sized spinners with black chrome blades for Steelhead.... I also had good luck using salmon eggs or sand shrimp... with a spin glow or corky in front of it.

There used to be a lot of bank fisherman on the Columbia River that used R/C boats to get thier bait and sinker farther out into the deep part of the river for Sturgeon years ago. But both Oregon and Washington banned the use of them for any kind of fishing...... but, it sure is interesting to see what the bait monkey comes up with to try and get us to spend money... ;D ;D :) : : And all that extra stuff would do is confuse the heck out of me anyway, if I wanted to play with toys, I would sit at home and kick the kids off the playstation.. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Remember, fishing from a boat, you can chase the fish if you have to,, so less strain on your back. If you are going out of Portland, there are several really deep holes in the Columbia both eas and west of there that produce a lot of fish. Good luck. May is a really nice time of year out there, but be prepared for rain or sun,, it is the Pacific Northwest after all.. : : : : : :

I also throw a fresh chunk of charcoal in the bag everytime I close it up. It helps absorb any other odors that may be present.

Darn, I think i need new glasses... had to blow that picture up 4 times to see anything but the lure. :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/

Rotflmao Now that's funny right there. I dont care who you are. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

WOW! I logged on this evening and never expected to have tears running down my face from reading a post. That is powerful stuff man. Thank you for reminding me, that sometimes the little things that we do, do make a difference in someone's life.

God Bless our men and women in uniform all over the world. May they be safe as they stand watch for us, in this crazy messed up world, so we can all talk about fishing and such....

Steelhead will make you think you cant land a fish any more ;D ;D. I grew up drift fishing for them in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. Man, it is something to behold when a 10-12 lb. metalmouth dancing on its tail about 20 ft. from you in a fast flowing stream, and then he spits the hook back at ya. : : : :

You can check out the High Voltage Bass Anglers. They have a website www.highvoltagebassanglers.com They are a jon boat tournament club. A lot of really nice guys. I am seriously considering joining and fishing with them this coming year.

I fished for years off of the high bank below Bonneville Dam for Sturgeon, and caught a lot of them. My first question is: are you fishing from a bank or a boat? Second question is; What part of the Columbia River are you thinking of fishing? Third question is: If you are fishing from a boat are you hiring a guide? The Columbia is not a river to mess with, if you do not know the river or have a big enough boat, you will be in a big hurt in a hurry. I have witnessed and helped several people over the years get fished out, boat sunk, due to not knowing how much anchor rope to use, due to water flow, or any of several other issues, like barges, half submerged logs, etc... Weather can be a factor as well. This time of year, expect 30-45 degrees and lots of rain, freezing rain or snow. If you plan on waiting till warm weather hits, you can fish in shorts and flip flops. But, once you hook a monster in that current, you will never forget it. You will also be hooked for life. They fight hard, stick thier nose in the current and make you drag them up inch at a time. Then run and strip 200 yrds of line off your reel, making you think they are heading back to saltwater. I am not trying to discourage you with what I said in the first part of this, because it is something you will remember for years to come, just be careful, and do your homework. Also, I hope if you are not using a guide you know someone up there that has the gear you need. Fishing from the bank is an expensive proposition if you have to buy a 12-14 ft. rod and a very large reel. Fish Chris can help out even more, and I am sure he will post as soon as he spots this thread. Good Luck, and take lots of pictures.

Make that Newton or Walton Counties there Fluke. :D : :

Well, it was a great hunting trip. Saw about 150 head of elk total, and several bulls. Saturday morning the 4th was opening day, and there was about 3000 hunters (not quite that many, but sure seemed like it) in the woods with us. I had elk on a clear cut above me, I was just waiting for it to get light enough to count antler tips (it is at least 3 pts. on one side where we hunt). A hunter comes over the top of the clearcut and spooks the elk before I can see well enough to shoot. > Spent the day chasing elk all over the mountain, but no shot presented itself. Sunday, same scenario, I am watching the same clearcut and can hear and see the elk moving around, but still not light enough in the light drizzle to count antler tips, and the hunters come over the top and spook the elk again, they never even seen em. > > It was raining cats and dogs all afternoon and into the night. Found out later almost 5 in. of rain in less than 24 hrs. One hunter in his truck was washed away, down the Cowlitz River and over 200 had to be airlifted out after the only road into an area was washed away. The officials did not find another 28 hunters until Thur. behind another washed out road. The Forest Service closed the National Forest due to danger of mudslides and roads washing out. :o Monday we only hunted the afternoon hunt and did not see any animals. We hiked about 9 miles that afternoon, watching clearcuts, and trying to find fresh sign. Tuesday came and we hunted a diff. area, but had no luck. We saw elk but nothing legal, and they were all real spooky. Wednesday morning came, and we hiked in 4.5 miles to the same clearcuts we had seen the elk on over the weekend. About 8:15 I had 3 cows and this bull walk right underneath me about 100 yrds. away. They never knew I was there. I broke both shoulders with one shot from my .338 Win. Mag. He fell and rolled about 20 ft. down between 2 logs :-? :-/ :-/ While we are skinning, boning out the meat, etc.... we hear a cougar hissing at us from close by, man, we all went instantly on alert and someone held a rifle for the rest of the time we were butchering. We started back to the truck at about 12:30 in the afternoon, did not get all the meat into the truck and head home until almost 5:30 pm. Wed. night it started raining hard again, we all decided to take a day off, then the power went out for about 8 hrs. Friday, we were all back out, chasing the elk again. I had a black bear tag so I was legal to still be in the woods, I just could not shoot an elk. But I could spot and radio locations to the guys. Unfortunately, our elk luck was finished and this one bull was all we got. But man was it fun, and relaxing. As you can tell by the picture, I was slightly worn out by Wed. ;D

Rolling on the floor laughing..... Reminds me of the owner of my company,, he is completely technology ignorant...

All right guys (and gals). I will see you all in about 2 weeks. I am flying out of Atlanta early tomorrow am, and going elk hunting with my brother. We will be hunting in SW Washington State, where he lives. He has been doing a lot of scouting and has seen at least 7 legal bulls in the area we are hunting, including a couple of monsters. So, Saturday morning, I will be waiting on an unsuspecting elk to walk into my sight picture. Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT catch all the fish, until I get back ;D ;D ;D ;D Hopefully, I will have lots of pics of dead bull elk and stories to tell when I return.

It doesnt matter if you are in NYC, Detroit, Atlanta, LA, Seattle, or Podunk, Nowhere.... you are in danger if you do not pay attention to your surroundings and put yourself in a compromising situation..... This is not a nice world anymore, and there are people out there that prey on the weak and the careless.. You have to learn to watch your back, because most times there is no one else there to do it for you.

Sounds like my ex mother in law! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

from Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary. My bubba bettar bring back my fishin pole OREO me a new one. ;D

RW, You have become one voice on here that I absolutely trust when it comes to fishing with Fat Ikas,, I definately need to work on my hook sets, I know that I still have the big salmon hook set in my head,,,, my dad used to say I ripped more lips off of trout and kokanee than he could imagine,, ;D ;D

I caught a 1- 1 1/2 lb. bluegill on a Popper, during the last tournament I was in,,, only fish I caught all day, and bigger than my buddies bass.... : :.

I have had the same problem,, watched my line go ripping across the water, set the hook and nothing.. except the thought you better duck cause here comes the lure... . Yes, I have been skin hooking it as well, and I have been using 5/0 EWG hooks... that is one reason I want to change line,, need something with less stretch in it for sure.

Guess you have never seen my jigs then! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D