Spent a couple mornings out on the water with my good friend Jon Geyer. We were float fishing and tossing big ugly bugs with assorted dropper flies looking for some summer steelhead. We had a couple of great days. The fish were willing and it was nice to fish some steelhead for a change since we have been fishing salmon so much lately.
Here is my friend Mike Hansen with his first Rogue River Steelhead:

Some bent rod shots, the rods in these photos are Reel Tech Custom Float Rods as shown in the Custom Fishing Rods section. These rods are SWEET!!:

Some Rogue River Summer Steelhead:

I love the Rogue River….there is always something to catch, and often times you have the hard decision between targeting salmon or steelhead….life is rough!!
Tight lines and screaming drags to all!!!!

Spent the weekend camping on the middle Rogue with the family. We even had some time to enjoy some fishing. Took my brother-in-law Stephen and my Dad on Saturday morning to see if we could get Stephen into his first salmon. Lots of fish showing, but not going. We eventually found one that decided to chomp on the kwikfish.
Stephen Wittenberg with his Rogue River Chinook:

Sunday I took my wife Jennifer and my sister Diane out for a quick float in the morning. My sister went bendo 15 seconds after putting her plug out and the fight was on. We slid the net under her fish. My wife released 2 salmon at boatside that were smaller grade as well.
Here is Diane with her salmon:

A great weekend with the family, with some productive fishing thrown in for good measure!!
Tight Lines!!

Spent the day with a couple of great friends on the Rogue again. The salmon fishing has been good and getting even better. The quality of the fish has been great. It is of the opinion of many that the removal of the dams and the higher than normal water levels we are having are making these fish travel upriver much quicker than usual. Good news for us on the upper stretches of the Rogue River!!

George Freitas with a Pig of a Chinook!

George with another:

George hefting some Rogue River bounty:

Wyman White with a nice salmon:

The Reel Tech with a nice bright hen:

Spent a great day on the water with my good friends George Freitas and Barry Fillipone. The weather was hot today, and the fishing was a bit slow. I did get lucky with this one big Chrome Chinook late in the morning. Caught while backbouncing RGB (Real Good Bait).

Captain George Freitas at the helm of his fine fish whackin’ drifter!

Between fixing reels, repairing rods, and building rods, I have been hitting the local lakes chasing big smallmouth. It has been pretty good and we are catching a few better grade fish on each outing. The topwater bite should be coming on here pretty quick…..fun times!

Dad Bendo on a nice one:


Smiles:

Jerkbait Smallie:

Tube lovin’ Bronzeback:

Had the pleasure of taking my neighbor Sean Dega out to show him the ropes of bass fishing. Needless to say, he was very happy and connected with the his largest smallmouths to date.
Sean Bendo on a nice Smallie!:

Happy man:

Spring is finally here, and with the weather getting better and warmer, the bass fishing is showing signs of improving. Got a decent smallmouth and a nice largemouth during recent outings. The fishing will only get better. Now I will be spending my time both on the rivers chasing spring chinook salmon and on the lakes bass fishing. A great place to live here in Oregon!

Well, after a couple of trips chasing these often “tough to get to bite” salmon, my Buddy Barry Filipone and I finally got a couple to bite. Both were native and had to be released, but awesome, powerful fish to fight. Barry hooked a real brute of a fish that he fought for a long time, took us down river. The hook pulled out just as it was coming to the net so we could not get a photo of that trophy. My fish was taken out of the net, quickly photographed, and sent back on its way to continue its final journey. Barry’s RGB (Really Good Bait) backbounced through the slot did the trick!

Wierd fishing year this winter. Lots of rain kept the Rogue out of shape for most of the season unfortunately. The days we went out picked up a few fish here and there. Wrapped a couple of custom float/jig rods…..photos to follow!

Tight lines.