By Tyler Hicks Summer just can't seem to release its grip on north-central Washington’s Okanogan country. We've had some tantalizing tastes of fall, but each time the heat comes back with a vengeance. With highs climbing into the upper 90's for the foreseeable future, options for trout fishing are limited. So, with a little free time, I decided to try something I had not done in a long time—fly fishing for panfish. After getting off work I dropped my kayak into Washburn Island Pond, a weedy and warm backwater impoundment off the Columbia River. I brought along my 3-weight glass rod setup, and a small box of metallic, brightly colored nymphs, as well as an assortment of micro-poppers. Those flies and more panfish food are online here.  It was a balmy 96 degrees when I launched, but as the sun dipped behind a dense layer of smoke the ... Read more

Where did those big bass go? I hear this question from our customer's routinely now. That’s because spring and early summer are exciting times for the bass angler, with the pre-spawn concentrating bass in shallow water where they are actively feeding and relatively easy to find in preparation for the breeding season. However, once the post-spawn and heat of summer sets in anglers struggle to find quality fish in shallow water. Where did they go? The answer is simple . . . deep. Let’s face it: There is no more challenging time to catch bass, outside of winter, than late summer. During late summer the fish spread out, with some fish hanging in shallow water haunts while others go deep. This makes fish more difficult to locate. And, the urgency to feed in preparation for fall isn't quite there yet. This creates a situation where the fis... Read more

If its bass you seek, get out your headlamps and bug spray. That’s what I did recently when I headed up to Palmer Lake in northern Okanogan County to see how the summertime warmwater fisheries were fairing. I got on the water around 6 p.m. covering my usual spots, marking fish on the fishfinder, but catching very little. Around 8 p.m. the mountain shadows spread over the lake and, like a switch turning on, the bite happened. I picked up numerous perch 8-10" in 10 to 15-feet  of water trolling small Storm Smash Shads in perch patterns. Check out the baits and lures we have online here.   When I tried trolling deeper all I found were large northern pikeminnow, which are staging in spectacular numbers on the north end of the lake. Switching to bass around 9 p.m. I landed several smallmouth in the 14- to 16-inch range, and one fat 4... Read more

  When Savage Gear announced a new 3D soft bait, cast in the image of a goby, I was immediately intrigued. While gobies are non-existent in my local lakes and rivers, sculpin--a non-related but very similar looking species--are abundant. I can't count the number of times I've fished smallmouth bass and had one cough up its last sculpin meal in my boat. For that reason, I was eager to get my hands on them and get out on the water. See our introduction to this Savage Goby fishing lure here. Savage Gear Goby 3D Lure Out of the package, I was struck by the intricate details of the tube with its highly flexible pectoral and dorsal fins, all of which add action along with the traditional tube skirt. Like many of my favorite plastics these tube jigs are highly salted and scented to help mask human scent and make fish hold on to them longer... Read more

As I slowly turned my boat the inside rod exploded into life, with the deep throbs and drag-screaming runs that tells an angler one thing: Chinook salmon on the line. A few minutes later I boated a beautiful 18-pound hatchery king that would soon migrate to my freezer. It is no coincidence that the bite came on the turn as, over the years, I've bagged many salmon "on the drop.” Unlike the boats now fishing all around me, I was not running downriggers. Check out our terminal tackle, fishing line, and our selection of fishing rods. I cut my teeth on lower Columbia River salmon fisheries where strong currents, snags, and variable depths largely precluded the use of downriggers. The standard method in this reach of the river is a sliding cannonball rig placed 18-24 inches forward of your flasher, on a bumper of heavy monofilament. This do... Read more

The Brewster Salmon Derby is one of Washington’s hottest summer fishing contests, and it takes place August 4th, 5th and 6th. This is the 12th Brewster Salmon Derby and it becomes more popular each year. You can win $2,000 for catching the biggest fish and reign “King of the Pool” for the year. There are other age-group specific prizes as well, so there’s fun for the whole family. Adult winner gets $1,500 Youth ages 9-14 can win $550 8-and-unders can win $100 This derby is a lot of fun and lots of money is up for grabs. Plus, even if you don’t weigh-in a fish, you still have a good chance to win on raffle prizes—this year there’s over $20,000 in raffle prizes up for grabs. You can register online until July 31st, 2017 by clicking here. The fishing can be tough; the pool always has a good morning bite, but the toughest pa... Read more

At last year’s ICast show in Orlando, Florida, Savage Gear launched the Suicide Duck, a floating, soft-body bird with “Whopper Plopper,” which is Savage’s name for a couple small props on the back of the bait that create a wake that fish can’t resist. This bait created a serious buzz and was awarded ICast's highest honor as Best Hard Lure. This year, Savage Gear is launching a slough of hot baits that should contend, once again, for the hard-bait throne. One of the most interesting of these new baits is the 3D Bat. To create the bat, Savage used a 3D scan of a real bat to create an erratic topwater lure that swims with a fleeing action. We are most excited about the 4-inch size. Slightly different from Savage’s creative bird baits is the new Savage Goby. This is a tube bait that should be a great sculpin imitation. It’s cal... Read more

The Prank Fishing Lure from Booyah Baits Order Booyah crank bait lures from us online today. When Zell Rowland designed Booyah Baits new Prank, he must have confused the inside of the box crew. His design philosophy of blending “best of both world’s” features into one bait is catching on, but mashing a crankbait with a top-water bait must have seemed highly impractical to most people. You can be sure that confusion, combined with Zell’s infinite top-water bass fishing wisdom, led to the Prank’s creation. The Prank is a top-water popper with a twist. It has a shallow- running, square-bill cranking lip below the face of the bait. This allows for multiple things to happen; you can pop this bait like a standard popper, two-to four times in the premium area; and, once out of the prime water you can reel it back as a shallow-running c... Read more

The lake is finally beginning to clear up, and the fish are responding to the clear water. Last time I was out, there was 10-12ft of visibility.  I have heard a range of surface temperatures from 75-80 degrees! This is great for swimming, but a little rough for bass and walleye fishing. It is crucial this time of year to get on the water early or late in order to avoid the sun the best you can.   Check out our selection of fishing rods, lures and more right here. I am finding most of my Bass in 5-15 feet of water. Early in the morning (5-ish), they seem to be in 5-8 feet of water cruising flats and weed lines looking for baitfish and crawdads. As the sun gets higher, the bass retreat to a little deeper water, and don't eat as much. You can still catch plenty of Bass mid-day, they just tend to be smaller. Senkos and Shim-E-Sticks are ... Read more

After flying in from our homes in Montana and Idaho, we arrived in Orlando, Florida just in time to sneak into ICAST’s new product showcase, where we stole some looks at the fishing industry’s most anticipated new products. After inspecting the loot, we decided to share with you the products that looked most promising, the ones that really caught our eyes. Here is our list from the New Gear Showcase on Day 1 of ICAST 2017. 13 Fishing’s Fate Black Rod Look at the picture, not the name. It’s not black at all--it’s all chartreuse from tip-to-butt and stands out on Facebook and Instagram.  Whether you like the color or not, this rod felt great in our hands and it’s coming in at the right price, just under $100. Shimano Curado K This newest edition of the Shimano Curado , decked out in a matte black, is the coolest looking Curad... Read more

Lots of new products are launching from Rapala and Storm this year, and we wanted to make sure to give you a rundown of the "best of the best" new products. Storm's 360 GT Swimbaits in 2017 So, obviously not brand new because the Storm 360 GT swimbaits were one of the hottest baits of 2016- BUT- now, not only can you get the pre-rigged packs for 2017, but Storm has launched the components individually. Want to see the Storm 360 GT swimbait in action? That means now you can get those sweet translucent jig heads with the rattle in them separate, and mix and match them with the molded to fit bodies.  This way you can use any size body with any size jig head, and with any color combo. You can order the Storm 360 GT lure here, or opt to order the bodies and the jigs separately.  Rapala's Balsa Extreme Brat or the BX Brat Crankbait Fishing L... Read more

We have been getting more people asking about where they should start in the swim bait category when targeting bass, or many other species for that matter. We have our ideas, of course, and carry some of the products, but a friend of ours, Rob Bolke, is a fanatic. We asked him if he could give us a little deeper insight into swim bait culture; where people should start if they want to get into it, and to help us breakdown what is becoming a massive category in fishing baits. A guide to swim baits paraphrased: Swimbaits are becoming one of the most intriguing categories and an entire sub-culture has developed around the swimbait technique. It's been mostly out west in California but has been spreading across the country over the last few years. However, the big, deep, trout filled lakes of Northern California is the birth place (or as Rob... Read more