We’re heading down to Puyallup for the weekend, excited about what we’ve packed! Fetha Styx will occupy booth 763 at the 2012 Washington Sportsmen’s Show from Wednesday through Sunday.

We have our brand new Pacific Northwest-inspired Chrome series fishing rods — that you named — with us, as well as our Homewater series and some super show-only specials. Yippee!

The Washington Sportsmen’s Show runs from today (January 25) through Sunday (January 29) at the Puyallup Fair and Events Center.

The show is open from noon-8pm Wed-Fri, 10am-8pm Saturday and 10am-4pm Sunday. Entrance fees are $12 for adults, $5 for juniors (6-16) and free for those under five. The Outdoor Line offers a $2 off coupon to the show here.

Make sure to come introduce yourself and get a first glimpse at our brand new Chrome rods! Hope to see you there!

The fish were biting topwater which is always the best.  I made my 722 my topwater rod while out on the water and I am glad I did.  It was the best topwater rod I have ever used!!! I caught about 20 fish in two days all on that one rod.  I managed to catch several nice fish and missed two bass that were about four pounds each.  I am definitely dedicated or just dumb to go fishing in a tropical storm, but I love fishing enough to do that!

Jody Purnell

The Fetha Styx team has elected @FishingFury as our winner, with the following entry.  We fully agree!

@FethaStyx Fishing is best done on work days.

July 20, 2011 9:37 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@FishingFury

Fishing Fury

Take some time to read through the rest of the entries.  They are fantastic!  We’d like to thank everyone for participating.

@FethaStyx @twitter "Fishing is, everything else isn't"

July 21, 2011 1:49 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@catarafter

LeeAnna

@FethaStyx Fishing is mandatory

July 20, 2011 10:32 pm via HTC PeepReplyRetweetFavorite

@flyfishsc

Mark Allen

@FethaStyx "Fishing is a precious Outdoor Heritage. Treasure it. Enjoy it. Pass It On." #ofscom

July 20, 2011 9:42 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@ofieldstream

Arthur O'fieldstream

@FethaStyx @fhcoutdoors ok bad auto correct.. Fishing is sweet serenity!

July 20, 2011 8:41 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@jdvanest

Jeff Vanest

intoxicating RT @FethaStyx: “@FHCOutdoors: @FethaStyx Fishing is compelling.” It sure is! Fill in the blan… (cont) http://deck.ly/~kvELl

July 20, 2011 8:37 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@Tina_Caviness

Tina

@FethaStyx Fishing is compelling.

July 20, 2011 7:00 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@FHCOutdoors

Daniel Rice

RT @fethastyx: For our @twitter followers only! We've got a visor to giveaway.. Fill in the blank: "Fishing is fly" and be entered to win!

July 20, 2011 6:48 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@BackwoodProShop

BackwoodsProShop.com

@FethaStyx Fishing is exhilarating!

July 20, 2011 6:34 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@ChrisChicoLopez

Chris Chico Lopez

@FethaStyx FLY FISHING IS FUN!

July 20, 2011 6:29 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@lily1L

Lily

Graphic courtesy of BoaterExam.com – Get Your Boating License Online!

Visit the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office for complete details on obtaining your boater education card. Here’s a list from Washington State Parks with online and classroom options for taking boater courses.

Are you licensed? If not, how do you plan to obtain yours?

Marc Marcantonio and Mike Matkowski.

Anglers battled it out to just minutes before weigh-ins.

Nothing beats a bass boat when it comes to covering water.

Gary Stiles, the man behind NW Bass was our guest on the show this past saturday and when asked about some of the anglers that had the best chance, two of the names he mentioned placed in the top three. Ron Hobbs Jr. and Marc Marcantionio, both guests in the past on TOL, led the way. Ron Hobbs was coming off a win the week before in the American Bass tourney on Lake Washington but with changing conditions, he made the call to fish a completely different area than he fished the week before. Making the call to not even fish an area that had been so good to you the week before took guts but using the instincts that Hobbs Jr and his partner, Mike Wolsky, posses , it was the only call that made sense. Marc Marcantonio and his partner, Mike Matkowski, used the experience they have to target a few areas that they knew should be holding fish but knowing that cold springtime weather had slowed the fish from moving up on beds to spawn they fished those areas a little differently than they would normally have fished them this time of year. Their call was the right call as they caught and released over 20 fish.

Ron Hobbs Jr. telling the story of how he and Mike Wolsky came away with the win.

In Hail Mary fashion, 2nd place finisher's Ruffin Hernandez and Tyler Walcker caught a nice largemouth on the last cast of the day to put them in second place.

Marc Marcantonio accepting his plaque and check for third place.

All-in-all, 64 teams fished this years tourney and almost sixteen grand was paid out. Points were also awarded for teams trying to qualify for this years championship in September.

From Rob Tobeck, view the original post on The Outdoor Line.

Even though mother nature may not realize it, the calendar does say May and for me, May is when it really gets fun living here in the NW. Gone are the dark and rainy days of winter spent out on the water in less than desirable conditions. May, for me, represents Spring time, long days, and opportunity on the water. Some of the best tasting critters in the water can be harvested in May and I make plans to take full advantage of it every year. Shrimp, lingcod, and halibut are on every saltwater fisherman’s menu this month. For the freshwater guys, trout, bass, walleye, and flyfishing opportunities heat up.

Around the Tobeck house, May marks the time when we can walk outside the house and target bass in shallow water. Unfortunately, this year the weather has been less than stellar and the water hasn’t quite warmed enough on the south end of Lake Wa. for the bass to move up shallow in any numbers. It took me until last night (12th) to catch the first bass of the year from shore. My neighbors must think I am crazy after I let out a yell over that one-pounder, but around our house that first bass of the year really means something — bragging rights until next year.

Madden with a Lake Washington smallie caught from the beach.

Another opportunity that I never miss is the shrimp opener in Puget Sound. I have had years where the boys had baseball games and I had to drop pots, drive to Puyallup for the game and get back just in time to pull my pots before time was up. It was work, but it was fun work and the rewards for all that work are in my opinion the tastiest morsels God put in the ocean. This year took some planning as well. Nelly and I had talked about hitting the opener together but wanted to have our pots in the water soaking while we were still on the air. Problem was, who does Nelly trust to run his boat without him on it? The answer was Ray Gombiski. He and his wife Kelly dropped the pots off Camano and met us back at the dock after the show. We quickly hurried out and starting working our pots. The shrimp were some of the biggest I had seen come out of Puget Sound and we limited the boat by one that afternoon.

A limit in one pull is cause for celebration.

Bottomfishing is something that I guess was bred into me. Growing up, my dad always loved to bottomfish and when we went fishing, that’s what we did. Here in the NW, there is no better time to bottomfish than right now. With limited halibut opportunity to start with, you have to get out while the getting is good and the getting is good right now. From close to home spots such as Mutiny Bay or the banks off Port Townsend, all the way out to the coast, halibut are being caught and the last few years have been really productive for halibut anglers in all marine areas. I like to spend my time halibut fishing on the coast. The richness of life off the coast of WA always amazes me. Not only are the halibut plentiful, but the opportunities to catch lincod, rockfish, and other bottomfish are there as well and really make the trip out to the coast pay off.

Ryan Dent with his first halibut out of Westport.

After flying 40 miles out in the ocean, this bird decided to hitch a ride home.

We took all day to land our halibut but the lings came in a flurry.

If you’re looking for opportunities to get out and enjoy the outdoors, there is no better time than from right now on through September. Don’t let this summer pass you by, get out and enjoy it, cold, windy, and rainy winter will be here before you know it.

Original article here.
More on Rob Tobeck here.

For the past few years, every time I’ve traveled back to Florida to see the family and do a little fishing, I’ve been met with windy weather.

So far, 2011 is shaping up to be pretty darn good as my Florida Keys trip in January was perhaps some of the best mixed bag fishing I have ever seen and this past trip with the kids for spring break proved to be productive as well with limits of grouper and battles with mystery fish.

Our trips to Florida to see the family for spring break are always very busy as we never get a full week but just a matter of days.

By the time you see family, spend some time at the beach, and take a day with the girls at one of Florida’s amusement parks, this time it was Universal for the new Harry Potter exhibit, it usually leaves only a day to go fishing. With grouper season just opening up April 1st and some colder water hanging around keeping the majority of kingfish further south it was a no brainer, we were going after some tasty grouper.

Mason with Uncle Jon

Our favorite grouper target, gag grouper, were still closed in federal waters but my brother Jonathan knew of a few spots for some nice red grouper. We launched the boat in Clearwater and went about 30 miles out on 2ft seas arriving at our waypoint full of anticipation. Jonathan readied the anchor, as I maneuvered the boat into position, my dad and Mason both readied their rods as it’s always a race to land the first fish. Once we got anchored up it didn’t take more than just a few minutes and it was fish on.

We were fishing an area of cheesy limestone bottom, using a chum block to get a slick going. Threadfin, mackerel, squid and live pinfish that the boys had been catching off the dock were our baits. In the gulf, red grouper have to be at least 20 inches for rec anglers to keep. (Only 16, I believe, for commercials, go figure.) We waded through grouper after grouper with one after another being 18 or 19 inches. Finally, my brother Jonathan hooked up with a keeper size grouper and then it was just a matter of time before we had six keepers on the boat.

One of the things that I always do when I am bottom fishing in the gulf is set up a live bait on top with a bait runner and hope that something big and hungry swims by. As we were trying to catch two more reds to finish out our limit, the bait runner went off but by the time I could get to it the fish was gone. I reeled in to check my bait and saw only half of a big pinfish. We figured it had to be a toothy kingfish so I re-baited and tossed back out. A few minutes later, another zing and this time I lost the entire set-up as the fish severed the fluorocarbon leader with its razor teeth. Determined, I re-baited and tossed the big pinfish behind the boat avoiding the hungry bird that kept trying to get an easy meal.

After some time went by my dad caught a nice keeper sized gag grouper that we had to release but other than that the bite really slowed down. Just as we were talking about pulling anchor and trolling our way back in, the top rod went off again. This time the fish stayed buttoned as I set the hook and handed off the rod to Mason. I stopped passing the rod off to my son a few years back because he does a great job at catching more than his share of fish and his rubbing it in to the old man was more than I could handle. This time however, I figured that he was the only one on the boat that hadn’t caught a kingfish and I wanted him to have the experience.

It hurt my dad to throw this one back.

It turns out that what I thought was going to be a nice little first king mackerel for my son turned out to be an hour and forty minute test of will between Mason and whatever we has on the end of the line. It was forty-five minutes into the fight when we first saw color. We couldn’t tell what we had however; we just knew that it was big. Could it be a big king? Tuna? How about amberjack? After some debate and looking at the way it was fighting we decided that it had to be a big AJ. All fish in the jack family are known for their hard fighting abilities and Mason would attest, this fish wouldn’t budge.

Mason continued to battle as time went on, I lit a cigar and cracked a beer, I could tell we weren’t going anywhere soon. The fish stayed a comfortable distance from the boat and teased us with a flash of color before it made another run, tearing line off the reel just as fast as it did on its initial run. My brother Jon and I debated whether or not we should drop the anchor but I ruled it out as I thought it was just going to be a short while and Mason would have this fish bested. Turns out I made the wrong call.

After 100 minutes of Mason and this fish going toe to fin, the fish had finally had enough of play time.

Mason yelled for us to drop the anchor as the fish made one last blistering run. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done fast enough. Mason kept saying we were wrapped up in the anchor rope but Jon and I just couldn’t accept it. We cut the rope and left the anchor sit just hoping the rope would fall through but it didn’t, and eventually SNAP! It was over!

Mason was exhausted in the Florida heat, my dad, brother, and I all sat silently as we contemplated what might have been. Even though we had a great day of fishing, we couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Oh well, we had a great story and I’m sure we’ll have years of talking about the fish that got away.

Rob Tobeck
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Kevin Oldham.

The Bassmaster Classic may be over, but the positive impacts of bass fishing’s largest event are timeless. One of the most fantastic stories from this year’s Classic in New Orleans is that of Kevin Oldham. Recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Kevin’s fellow firefighters from Chicago raised the money to get him to New Orleans and experience his dream trip come true. Kevin passed on March 11, just after his trip to the Classic. Our thoughts are with his family and friends as they honor this remarkable man’s journey on earth. May the bass fishing world forever remember and support the Kevin Oldham Family.

Don Barone wrote an excellent feature story on Kevin and his trip to the Classic for Bassmaster.com, it is well worth the read.

Here’s a video of Kevin Oldham on the Classic stage with Gerald Swindle:

Thanks to Jerry McKinnis for tipping us off to the story on his Bass blog.

Saturday, March 12th at Three Rivers Marine & Tackle featuring Josh Hughs of Fetha Styx Rods and Agitator flashers.

Learn from the best on how to catch spring kings
-Trolling Techniques
-Anchor Fishing
-Herring Curing and Rigging
-Kwikfish (set up, wrapping and tuning)

There will be great in-store sales on Agitator Flashers, Gamakatsu hooks, Okuma reels and tons of other gear! As well as:

Free hot dogs and pop!
Free raffle prizes!

This one fills up fast, so please RSVP by calling 425-415-1575 or emailing Kent@3riversmarine.com

Doors open at 9 am — seminar is from 11am to 3pm.

This is a FREE SEMINAR and a great opportunity to take advantage of an awesome fishery!

Three Rivers Marine & Tackle
24300 Woodinville Snohomish Rd
Woodinville, WA 98072
425-415-1575
www.3riversmarine.com