FishwithJD

The web's best fishing magazine

  • Start Here
  • Guided Trips With JD
  • Catch Steelhead
  • Store
  • JD’s Gear
    • Steelhead
    • Kokanee
    • River Salmon Trolling
    • Plug Fishing for Salmon
    • Light Tackle Surf Perch
  • Techniques
    • Bass
    • Boats & Boating
    • Cooking
    • Fly Fishing
    • Salmon
    • Saltwater
    • Shad
    • Steelhead
    • Stripers
    • Sturgeon
    • Trout & Kokanee

How to Cure Roe for Salmon and Steelhead Fishing

October 21, 2014 By JD 12 Comments

how-to-cure-roe
Here’s a fun little exercise in futility: Ask a salmon angler what’s in his favorite cure. First, you’ll get a blank stare, followed by some incoherent mumbling and then a very deliberate attempt to change the subject – it’s almost as if you’re talking to a politician about illegal campaign contributions. Guys get very protective of their cures and it’s usually one of those don’t ask type of deals. It’s a dead end!

Luckily, there are plenty of commercially produced cures on the market that produce excellent baits. Pro Cure, Pro Glow, Shur-Cure and Pautzke’s Fire Cure  are all excellent choices, though my favorite ready-made cure for salmon is Atlas-Mikes Shake & Cure.  You really can’t go wrong with any of those. Each brand has it’s own suggested curing method so all you have to do is follow the directions on the side of the container and you’re in business.

Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing

If you want to really keep it basic,there are some new liquid cures out there that all you have to do is pour some over your bait and… Presto…in several hours, you have cured roe! Read my article on how to do that HERE  If you want to go ahead and try making your own cure, read on…

Click here to read more…

Filed Under: Salmon, Steelhead Tagged With: bait, curing, roe, Salmon, Steelhead

Steelhead Return to Malibu Lagoon!

June 2, 2014 By JD 8 Comments

Malibu Lagoon
Malibu Creek in Southern California was once a good producer of wild steelhead. But you know the story…civilization popped up all around the creek and it got completely trashed. Well, that’s changing now. There’s a big restoration effort going on in Malibu Lagoon, which is the creek’s estuary, which has been channelized, dewatered and filled with construction debris for decades.

Apparently, the effort is working! On May 15, a 20-inch adult steelhead was spotted swimming in the lagoon — while there have been a few adult fish in the creek itself in recent years, a steelie hasn’t been spotted in the estuary for over a decade.

The restoration work is moving along nicely!

The restoration work is moving along nicely!

You can read more about the lagoon HERE

Also be sure to check out the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project

Now, we need to get rid of this baby further up Malibu Creek…Rindge Dam:

Rindge Dam: Blocking steelhead for decades

Rindge Dam: Blocking steelhead for decades

Filed Under: River Restoration Projects Tagged With: Malibu creek, restoration, rindge dam, Steelhead

How to Clean Your Fishing Gear

May 12, 2014 By JD 5 Comments

20140511-220737.jpg
Blood, guts, roe, sardines, squid, sand shrimp, prawns, tuna, crawfish and a wide assortment of bait pastes, stink sauces and fish oils…fishing can be one messy business!

And just think: that stuff gets all over everything…Your rods, your lures, your boat, your reels, your clothes — and you!

If left unattended, all that slimy mess will turn rancid and cover everything you have with fish-repelling stink. Unsightly and unappealing to finned critters! So, it is imperative to thoroughly wash all your gear before you put it away.

Unfortunately there’s no one magic bullet that you can use to clean everything but I have found a handful of products that get the job done very nicely. Here are some suggestions to “de-stinkify” your fishing stuff:

Rods & Reels

My gear really gets hammered during salmon and steelhead seasons…when I’m using a lot of eggs.

20140511-221228.jpgClick here to read more…

Filed Under: Boats & Boating, Salmon, Stripers, Techniques Tagged With: boat, cleaning, Salmon, sardine wrap, Steelhead

Some Fishy-Sounding Baseball Teams

April 28, 2014 By JD 6 Comments

Bluefish BaseballBeing both an angler and a baseball player, I love when my two worlds overlap. Between the Minor Leagues, small colleges and traveling teams, there are some cool fish-based baseball teams out there. Sure, MLB has the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays (yawn!), but the lesser known teams like the Bridgeport Bluefish above are way more interesting. Here are some other fun fish teams…

Blue Wahoos
Back in 2012, the Carolina Mudcats, the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds moved from Zebulon, North Carolina to Pensacola, FL. You gotta love ’em — their team gift store is called the “bait shop!”

RedfishThe Charlotte County Redfish are an Independent Minor League Baseball team in the South Coast League. Founded in 2007, the Redfish are one of the founding teams of the SCL. The Redfish play their home games at Charlotte County Stadium in Port Charlotte, FL.

SacramentoSteelheads1The Independent League Sacramento Steelheads played a couple seasons in Sacramento and then a year or two as the “Solano Steelheads” before folding. The biggest story to come out of the franchise was when former National League most valuable player (played with the Giants) Kevin Mitchell, who was playing at the time for the Sonoma County Crushers, punched the owner of the Steelheads in the face after an on-field brawl in Vacaville.

Fighting FishThe River Falls Fighting Fish are, as near as I can tell, an adult rec league or semi-pro team in Saint Paul, Minnesota. All apologies to the Fish if I’m wrong about that…

Kingfish BaseballWisconsin’s Kenosha Kingfish play in the independent Northwoods League.

LakeshoreChinooksAlso in Wisconsin (based in Mequon)are the Lakeshore Chinooks, who play in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Chinooks play their home games at Kapco Park on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin.

Palm Beach Atlantic UniversityPalm Beach Atlantic Sailfish are an NCAA Division 2 baseball team out of Florida.

BlowfishBaseballThe award for the the least fishy-looking logo goes to the Columbia Blowfish, which is a proud member of the Coastal Plain League, the nation’s hottest summer collegiate baseball league. Celebrating its 15th season in 2011, the CPL features 15 teams playing in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats.

carp logoThe Hiroshima Toyo Carp is a professional baseball team in Japan’s Central League. The team has not been in serious contention since their last championship in 1991. They remain the only team in the league to have never been above third place since the year 2000.

Filed Under: Cool Photos Tagged With: baseball, carp, chinook, fishing, redfish, sailfish, Steelhead

So, what is it about steelhead??

February 11, 2014 By JD 25 Comments

My passionSteelhead haunt my dreams and run through my veins. They have taken me to the top of the mountain and they have broken my heart. I’ve bled for them; I’ve frozen for them and I’ve driven, flown, hiked and floated thousands and thousands of miles for them…and there’s not a single day of the year that I don’t think about them.

I was once doing a phone interview with a writer from a big East Coast magazine. From his cozy office in New York City, he asked me what it was that made steelhead fishing such a special sport.

It was hard for me to answer. I mean, with steelhead…you either get it or you don’t. There are so many deep-seeded feelings and emotions for me that are tied to these fish that it’s almost impossible to articulate in a way that somebody on the outside can understand.

So, I spat out the first thing that came to mind:

“I fish for steelhead so I can see them up close…”

Huh?

And then, I just got on a roll and rattled off a total unabated stream of consciousness…

I fish for steelhead because I want to get as close to them as I can. I feel that they are like fine art, each one to be viewed quietly, taken in and remembered. I told him that I have never felt more alive and in touch with the world–and myself–as when I’m standing in a misty canyon, with a ribbon of emerald flowing in front of me.

Steelhead haunt my dreams and run through my veins. They have taken me to the top of the mountain and they have broken my heart. I’ve bled for them; I’ve frozen for them and I’ve driven, flown, hiked and floated thousands and thousands of miles for them…and there’s not a single day of the year that I don’t think about them.

Steelhead make me straight-up crazy. Even on dry land, I can close my eyes and literally feel what that moment of first contact is like, that initial tight line surge. And I can make my heart rate jump by simply imagining a float going under or a plug rod going off. Oh man…the plug takedown of a steelhead…wow…if that doesn’t get your juices flowing, you’d better check your pulse because you’re probably dead.

Steelhead make me want to follow every single anadromous river from the mouth to the source–and then float back down them again. They make me think irrational thoughts like maybe I should just sell the house and get a toy hauler that fits a drift boat and hit the open road…and never come back! They drive me to drink; they drive me to the limits–mentally, physically, emotionally. Steelhead make me wear the numbers off my credit cards and sometimes pull the hairs off my head.
Perfect Beauty
They give me this insatiable desire to fix all the damage that has been done to the rivers they call home. They drive me to pick up trash, fight for flows, plant trees and dump spawning gravel by the truckload into the water.

Steelhead are the fish I’d miss Christmas for and the reason I got married during the offseason. They give me sweaty palms and weak knees. Though I’ve probably shaved at least a year off my life expectancy due to all the junk food consumed on steelie road trips, I also believe that every day you fish for steelhead is one you get to tack onto the end. And speaking of the end, if I had a choice, I’d go steelhead fishing on my last day on the planet. I’ve informed my family what to do when my time is about up: Take me to the top of some whitewater gorge with a drift boat and a couple rods. No need for a life jacket or a shuttle…it will be my last ride. Hopefully, there will be a couple biters along the way!

Steelhead are responsible for all the drift and float and plug and fly and center-pin rods…the jigs and stacks of Pip’s and boxes of plugs; the BC Steels and the spinner boxes; the Slinkies and pink worms; the two deflated pontoon boats; the Fish Pills all over the floor; the nets and waders and boots and pink-stained fridge—that all make my garage useless to terrestrial vehicles. They’ve also ruined many a potentially productive day in the office…all it takes is a photo or a text from somebody on the river and I’m worthless the rest of the afternoon.

Steelhead are why my favorite color is green–because it reminds me of the perfect hue of a river just coming into shape and the giant redwoods that stand on its banks. And because of the dorsal color of one of those awesome-looking bucks that’s transitioning from ocean chrome to river camo–olive back and a faint pink cheek and stripe peeking out from silver flanks.

In short, steelhead are epic, nearly indescribable critters that make me tick and dream and feel alive. I’m not at all sure the interviewer ever really got the message, but I bet you all do…

Filed Under: Fishing Stories Tagged With: fishing, river, Steelhead

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • …
  • 18
  • Next Page »
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

JD’s Top Gear Picks

  • Steelhead
  • Kokanee
  • River Salmon Trolling
  • Plug Fishing for Salmon
  • Light Tackle Surf Perch

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Copyright © 2022 Richey Sportfishing