fishing

seth2
Field Notes

Dispatches from the North: Kotzebue Sound Salmon

“Fish are hitting already, splashing. Seals surface nearby. Andrew whoops, “Rich!” and roars down-current to find a spot. I wring my sopping gray gloves, curl stiff cold fingers around the lines, and start pulling in salmon.”

Seth Kantner has fished commercially in Alaska for 49 seasons. He’s also a best-selling author, wildlife photographer, and wilderness guide. During changing seasons in the arctic, we’re excited to have Seth writing for us about his life in Alaskan Arctic and on Kotzebue Sound. Read the first of the series exclusively on The Filson Journal.

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5 Min
man carrying pole spear on the beach
How-To's

How to Make a Pole Spear

Just under the surface of the frigid ocean is a bounty of saltwater fish to be foraged. Many an outdoors person would agree that, in a survival scenario, the ocean can often be a far more productive source of food than the land, especially the cold, nutrient-rich waters that circulate around our shores. But how to pursue these fish? Here, we’ll show you how to build a pole-spear, a time-tested, simple tool that is incredibly effective for putting fish on your dinner plate.

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5 Min
Man transfers trout from one pond to another
Profiles

Revival of a Trout Hatchery

Cold water creeks and rivers course through Appalachia like veins and arteries. Over the eons, their breadth and depth have carved through earth and stone to spread life across this mountain chain. Forests of rhododendron, maple, and dogwood trees line their banks, along with healthy carpets of lush ferns. Beneath the surface of these streams hovers of trout swim year-round, and whenever Ty Walker of Smoke in Chimneys wades into the water and casts his fly, he now holds the trout in higher esteem than ever.

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3 Min
Portrait of female fisherwoman Chloe Ivanoff
Profiles

Chloe Ivanoff: finding her sea legs

Shortly after Ivanoff began working seasonal jobs in geology, she started to feel she’d missed an important rite of passage by not having spent a summer living and working aboard the New Dawn. She decided to train for it by joining her father’s crew for the annual sea cucumber harvest, typically done in October. The excursions were short, just 3-5 days at a time, and took place in calm bays, which helped Ivanoff build her confidence aboard the New Dawn.

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3 Min
A wooden halibut hook, hand-crafted by Tlingit Master carver Jon Rowan of Klawock, Alaska.
Field Notes

Halibut Hooks of the Northwest Coast

Traditionally, a náxw, or “halibut hook” in the Lingít language, was carved out of two pieces of wood attached with cordage (natural fiber) to form a V-shaped hook. A piece of bone (later metal) would also be wrapped to the bottom piece of wood and angled towards the inside to create the barb. The upper piece of wood might be plain or carved, with a fishing line attached. The line would run to the surface, where it would be affixed to a wooden float or inflated buoy made of seal stomach, while the fishhook could be weighted at the bottom with a simple stone sinker. The finished assembly was designed to keep the hook near the ocean bottom, where large halibut feed.

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5 Min
Fly Fishing Los Angeles River_HERO
Profiles

The punk rockers of fly fishing – angling on the LA River

Few Angelinos are aware that prior to the 1930s, the LA River was home to native rainbow trout and seasonal runs of steelhead and Chinook salmon. The Los Angeles River was, in fact, a trout stream. Then, in 1938, the Army Corps of Engineers began a nearly 20-year process of channelizing the river, encasing its banks in concrete in an effort to control flooding. Today, the concrete canyon of the LA River is not the idyllic, catalog-ready backdrop that comes to mind when most people think of fly fishing. When the water is low, it makes a great location for Hollywood car chase scenes, but it’s not a typical destination for the average fly angler. Luckily, the community of misfit fisher-folk who call the LA River their home waters is anything but average.

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5 Min
person swimming underwater with large flippers and a harpoon gun
Profiles

Subsea Hunter: Freedive Spearfishing with Lucas Murray

As many land hunters can attest to, part of the reason they choose to hunt is to get in touch with an instinctual, ancestral aspect of themselves. There is something primal about the pursuit of an animal that we find alluring. Breath-hold diving in the pursuit of fish is particularly addicting as it connects us to two innate and perhaps often-forgotten aspects of ourselves: the physiological dive reflex and the pursuit of prey.

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5 Min
hands holding an olive green colored fish above the surface of the water
Profiles

Matt Mendes of Spin the Handle: Chasing Reservation Chrome

Before Matt Mendes guided on the Deschutes River, he drove the Green Monster. It was 2002, and Mendes was 13 years old; the job was his first on the river. The Green Monster, an old Ford F350, nicknamed for its paint job, belonged to his maternal grandfather, Al Bagley, a revered fly-fishing guide and a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The tribe governs the 1,019-square-mile Warm Springs Indian Reservation, located in Oregon’s high desert and bound to the east by the Deschutes, one of the country’s premier steelhead and trout destinations. In 1997, Bagley became the tribe’s first fly-fishing guide, capitalizing on its exclusive access to 22-miles of the Deschutes’s west bank, per an 1855 treaty with the United States government. The business was gangbusters from the get-go.

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5 Min
hands holding a fish with a hook in its mouth held over a fishing net
How-To's

How to Take Care of Your Catch

The ethos of the Leave No Trace philosophy has always struck a chord with fishers like me. From leaving our campsite looking as though no one was there, to gently releasing fish that are unharmed, we strive to harmonize with nature. Big strong trophy fish have the strength and ability to survive adverse stream conditions, water temperatures, roaring flood waters and other seasonal challenges. Smaller fish cannot survive these hardships so well. Consequently, our Leave No Harm handling techniques can contribute to nature’s balance and a healthy ecosystem.

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5 Min
man holding oars while standing in boat
Profiles

Lael Johnson – Olympic Peninsula Fly Guide

Lael Johnson is a fly fisherman and guide on the Olympic Peninsula. His passion for the anadromous fish of Washington’s coastal rivers is contagious. He loves these fish, these rivers, and the people he is lucky enough to experience them with. Filson Contributor Ben Matthews spent a few days on the river with Lael to ask a few questions about guiding, steelhead, and life in general. If you’re interested in heading out on the river with Lael yourself, check out his website and book a trip. You won’t regret it.

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5 Min
sun shining through pine boughs on the side of a river meandering through piles of river rocks
Profiles

Why the Skagit River Watershed Matters

Nothing feels small on the Skagit River. It emerges from the Cascade Mountains, the ridgelines rising suddenly and severely, compressing the landscape and framing the view with their immense, sharp mass. For much of its length, the river is wide enough that three or four drift boats could easily pass side by side with plenty of room to spare. Anglers standing in its flow could never dream of reaching the far bank with a cast. If that angler is fly fishing, then they are likely to be using a two-hand rod to throw a Skagit head, a short specialty fly line developed on its namesake river a generation earlier to deliver big flies and sinking lines to winter steelhead-holding water.

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4 Min
filson rain proof jackets laid out on cloth surface various colorways olive green, tan, navy, brown, etc.
Signature Materials

Signature Materials: Technical Rainwear Pt. 1

When you’re outdoors and can’t escape wet weather, staying dry is a very real need. Quality rain gear not only keeps you more comfortable—in cold temperatures, it can prevent life-threatening hypothermia. Rain gear that strikes a balance between conflicting criteria such as water resistance vs. breathability, mobility vs. simplicity, and packability vs. durability solves problems for the outdoorsman. This article takes a look at some of the modern technologies available to keep us dry, and how they work.

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5 Min
Kathy Burek in green overalls gathering organic material from a beachhead
Profiles

The Puzzle Master: Kathy Burek

Anyone who has ever spent hours huddled over a puzzle knows the joy of finally figuring it out. Whether it’s an obscure image coming together piece by piece, that head-scratcher of a rhyme finally making sense, or completing the last box in a crossword, the endorphin rush of finally getting the right answer makes all of the effort worthwhile. But imagine devoting your life to untangling complicated mysteries but rarely knowing if you have solved the puzzle correctly. Most people couldn’t handle it, it might even drive them mad. But, Kathy Burek has done this almost every day for the last twenty-five years, and she loves it.

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5 Min