As I was unhooking my fish, Gabe was already hooked up and brought in another beautiful Ling. The action stayed steady for the next 30 minu

Hanging out at the Reno Fly Shop!

2018 was an incredible fishing year. From the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska and many places in between. While there are way too many fish to mention, here is a quick recap of the top 10 fish of 2018 BMO Top 10 fish #10 This picture of a Pacific City Copper Rockfish may be my favorite picture of the year. Read more about fishing at Pacific City Oregon HERE. #9 Capt Mike Barksdale with a giant Neah Bay Cabazon. Read more HERE . #8 BMO Team member Andy Schmidt with this beautif

How I rig a "Columbia River Crawdad"

Yellow Perch for dinner!

October Rainbows on the Kenai River

At 930 total fish caught, Q3 was a great quarter for BMO. Net results on both size and variety of fish was up substantially over the previous year. Q3 fishing in the Pacific NW has many opportunities, and we took advantage of many, but unfortunately left several opportunities on the table. Please see the BMO Q3 fish Board at the bottom of this post for complete results. To make the board a fish must be remarkable in some way. Highlights: Q3 was highlighted by a sheer number

It comes around once a year, and it is a mixture of fishing, food and friendships that all collide in Venice Louisiana for one of the greatest fishing trips ever. It's called Marsh Madness. I love this place! Eric and Artie Cosby of Top Brass Tackle started this event 20 years ago as a way to get fishing product manufacturers and outdoor writers together to test out new product in one of the best fishing places on earth…Venice Louisiana. It has tuned into the best of the be

Earlier this Summer the “ Substation Fire” spread to the lower Deschutes River and burned a significant area along the river. You can read more about it in this article from the Oregonian . I had the chance to fish the river in August and saw the devastation first hand. Although the area was scorched, there are signs of life all along the river. Small patches of green dot the charred landscape, pheasants, deer, wild turkeys and even porcupines can be seen up and down the

Tom fishing Crater Lake Several months ago I was working in southern Oregon and stopped into the world famous Blackbirds Shopping Center in Medford. I met up with Tom Sittingdown, the sporting goods manager, and we went over some product lines. As we were talking Tom mentioned that he had heard that there was good fishing in Crater Lake National Park My ears pricked up at the mention of this and I wanted to know more. Tom went on to explain that he had heard that there can b

Joe with a Kenai River Sockeye! I had to make a trip to Alaska to see one of my biggest customers. As my trip approached I saw that my old friend and University of Montana Rugby Team Mate Joe Marks was up fishing on the Kenai river for the week. Joe was the “hooker” for the University of Montana Jesters back in College, a quiet, but tough dude that always had your back. We were both part of a great era in UM "Jesters" rugby . I had some extra time on Tuesday afternoon, so

Michael with a nice Smallmouth Bass My son Michael came home from college for a few days and I asked him what he wanted to do while he was home. He said without hesitation that he wanted to fish the big “C” for Smallmouth Bass (SMB). He had been Fly Fishing in Montana for the last year and needed a SMB fix. We looked at the wind forecast and realized that if we wanted to go, it had to be the next morning because the wind would be howling the rest of the week. I loaded up ou

Umpqua River bass fishing with Todd Harrington In July I had the opportunity to fish the Umpqua River in Southern Oregon. The Umpqua is a beautiful river, with fantastic runs of Salmon and Steelhead, and also an incredible population of Smallmouth Bass. On this day we would be targeting Smallmouth with professional guide Todd Harrington of Living Waters Guide Service . I was joined by good friend and Eagle Claw Hook legend, Tenny Mount, Greg Zash and my new best fishing frien

Dory Boat fishing , Pacific City, Oregon

Gabe Miller and Capt. Mike Barksdale with a 37 Pound Neah Bay Ling Cod At a total of 745 fish caught for Q2 2018, BMO had one of the best quarters ever! Net results on quantity, size and variety of species was up substantially over the same quarter in 2017. Q2 has abundant fishing opportunities in the PNW and our team took advantage of many of them. Please see the BMO Q2 fish board at the bottom of this report for complete results Highlights: Q2 was highlighted by the large

BMO Bass Camp 2018! As tradition would have it, this past weekend we headed to the beautiful John Day river for our annual Bass Camp. We have been fishing this river for over 15 years. In the beginning of Bass Camp, when my two sons were little we went fishing every year with master guide and all around great guy Steve Flemming of Mah-Haw Outfitters guide service . If you want to enjoy this river, do yourself a favor and book a trip with Steve. He is an amazing guide and

Eagle Claw Featherlight rods have always been one of my favorite rods. They are bright yellow, fiberglass and have a ruler on the blank, but for the money they are one of my very favorite rods! Over the years, I have caught a lot of fish on both Featherlight spinning rods and fly rods and I absolutely love the light action. All rods in the Featherlight series are made of fiberglass which gives them a great feel. You can see lots of reviews on line about these rods, one of

Oregon had a Halibut opener this week, and my good Friend Bill Scholtes had a trip booked with Barrett Sport Fishing out of Newport Oregon. Bill had booked the trip a while back, but due to unforeseen events, everyone else backed out so he asked if I could go. I gladly jumped at the opportunity. We left Camas, Washington at 3:00am and headed to Newport. The drive takes about 3 and a half hours. We met up with Bill Barrett of Barrets Sport Fishing in the Newport Marina. Ne

Contrary to popular belief, Spring Smallies will hit topwater lures. We tested this last week on the Columbia river with both topwater flies and top water lures. What we found is that the early morning bite is not great, but as the day warms up so does the top water action. We caught fish on both top water flies and topwater lures and just like during summer, fish are waiting at ambush points, across flats, along weed lines, and next to rock walls. The Gurgler! A great top

It’s Cinco de Mayo weekend and everyone wants fish tacos, so we decided to head to the Washington Coast to catch some of the best eating fish in the world, perfect for amazing fish Tacos. Our destination was Neah Bay Washington. Neah Bay is located at the far northwest tip if the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It is as far NW as you can go in the continental USA. There is no quick way to get to Neah Bay, but the trip is well worth the effort. Located on the straight