I’m Baaaaaaaacck…! I just arrived back home on 11/1/11 from my month-long guiding adventure at Heller Bar, WA on the Snake River. I was able to guide 27 of those 30 days with some great people on my boat. The scenery was epic and the weather, except for three rainy days, was fabulous. Summer-run steelhead were the fish of choice, but we caught many Chinook adults and jacks, plus catfish, squaw fish, white fish, sturgeon, bass, and suckers — all side-drifting good eggs. The Snake is a very healthy river system to say the least.

If you missed this fishery in 2011, not to worry: I am already working on my 2012 season on the Snake River at Heller Bar, WA. I will start around 9/15/2012 and finish up around 10/10/2012. I would recommend two days on the water, if at all possible. This year was wall tent central and I’m looking to rent a house next year. If nothing is available, I will run my trips through the Red Lion in Lewiston, ID which is 45 minutes from the boat launch and is surrounded by restaurants and stores for your convenience. Otherwise, you’re more than welcome to camp out at Heller Bar right at the mouth of the Grande Ronde River with me. Fish, big horn sheep, turkeys, chukar, deer, fires, glo corkies and spinners from the bank, drinks, and that day’s fish stories are all a part of the Heller Bar experience.

I was looking over my fish log for the month of October and my boat landed over 250 steelhead, not including king salmon and jacks! You can expect double-digit fish days on this river. We did have a couple of slower days where we caught 5-8 steelhead and kings. But, again, only a couple of slow days. The water was at a 20-year high for that time of year, which definitely changed the fish holding locations a bit … it took me a day to re-figure it out. But after that day it was on. Our best days were 25-30 hook-ups on salmon and steelhead — NO joke! Below are some of the fish that we caught. FYI those un-clipped fish (you will see in the pictures below) are legal to pull out of the Water with an Idaho fishing license. Get a hold of me with any questions regarding my favorite Jet Sled steelhead fishery, hands down!

I am now booking winter-run steelhead trips on the Cowlitz, Skykomish and Snoqualmie Rivers starting 11/29/11 through 12/30/11. Get your date before you’re too late! Fish ON! and see you on the water.

Bonner’s FishON! Guide Service
Website bonnerfishon.com
Cell 425-281-8772
Email bonnerdaniels@live.com

Also, don’t forget to check out Steelhead University’s fishing report as I put up a fresh weekly report there, you can go directly there through the links section on my website’s home page. Mention Salmon/Steelhead University and take 10% off of your next fully guided trip from now through December!

After the 31st of July, comes the August 16th opener for the pink salmon run on the Snohomish River System (odd years only). This system should see more than 500,000 of these pink salmon!!!! If you’re interested in catching limits of salmon GUARANTEED, get a hold of me sooner rather than later, as I only have a few select dates still open. This fishery is great for the family, friends, kids and less experienced fishermen and women … along with those of us die-hard fishermen who simply want to catch salmon, after salmon, after salmon.

The walleye action continues on a strong note over on the Potholes and Moses Lake. Trolling worm harnesses and crank baits are the top producers. Crab Creek, Lind Coulee, and the mouth of the Frenchmen’s have all been super productive on the reservoir. Fish early and late if you are targeting trophy fish. The large and small-mouth bass are in full swing. This year has given up some of the biggest bass we have seen in years on the Potholes. The bass we target will average right around 3 lbs … with the bruiser’s pushing near 10 lbs! My favorite fishery on the Potholes is chasing these lunker large-mouth bass — hands down. If anyone wants to see a little slice of summertime, Washington State heaven get a hold of me for a Sand Dunes large-mouth bass adventure. Top water fishing at dawn and dusk … soft plastics and spinnerbaits in between and you’re in for some serious BIG bass action from now through September.

See you on the water!

Sincerely,
Bonner Daniels
bonnerfishon.com
425-281-8772

Here are a few pics from our guided adventures since I last reported:

Here we go… the past month of January had me fishing on the Wynoochie river, as the Skykomish, Snoqualmie and Cowlitz were all blown out. We have had some stellar days on the Wynoochie so far this season, with our smallest hatchery fish weighing in at 12 lbs and the largest native — SO FAR — at 21 lbs!! We have been and continue to hook into multiple fish per day. I jet sled and drift boat fish this little gem of a river. The fishing will remain strong here through March. I typically cover 15 river miles a day on this pristine fishery and the scenery is simply fabulous.

I am also starting to switch gears again. I will be back on the Cowlitz and starting to fish on the Satsop, as well as the Wynoochie. From now through March on these rivers (mother nature depending, of course) we are in line for some spectacular winter-run steelhead fishing in our Washington state coastal rivers!! Big natives and loads of late-run hatchery fish are what we will be in for. Give me a call, or shoot me an email and lets get you a date to go catch some huge natives and/or hatchery steelhead for the barbeque.

Here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks:

Sincerely,
Bonner Daniels
bonnerfishon.com
425-281-8772

I have been over on the Eastside hammering away on the summer-run steelhead and sneaking back home to see the family and guide the local coho. The fishing went really strong over on the Eastside for steelhead. We have been side-drifting bait to catch these feisty fish and now that the water temp. is cooling plugs, along with divers and bait, also work well. The local coho have migrated up into the tributaries and are definetly on the tail of the run. As of a few weeks ago, there were some new fish coming in, but the chrome fish were fewer and further apart. Try fishing eggs under a float in the smaller tributaries and you will catch coho and you just might catch your first winter-run steelhead of the season, as well!

Speaking of winter-run steelhead, my winter western Washington guide season is up and flying, with fishing on the Cowlitz, Skykomish, and Snoqualmie rivers for the month of December. If you’re looking to catch hatchery steelhead for the BBQ or smoker, December is prime time! Call me ASAP to get your date of choice for December before it’s too late. Last year we hooked into limits on almost every trip in December.

Sincerely,
Bonner Daniels
bonnerfishon.com
425-281-8772

Here are some glory shots from the past few weeks. Again, this Eastside fishery is still good fishing and you can have the catch of a lifetime on any given day over there. It is a four hour drive from Issaquah, WA to Lewiston/Clarkston and another half an hour to the boat launch. Let me know what you want to catch and I will do the rest! See you on the water.

Brown Family King

The summertime sun has finally come to Washington state and with her heat came the king salmon retention closure on Sky River. With that stated, I am now shifting gears back to focusing on the Skykomish River summer-run steelhead. If you’re looking for a peaceful float down the river, with the opportunity to catch a summer-run chromer, look no further than your own backyard. The fish have moved up the system and it’s time to break out the drift boat.

Bonner With a Summer King

Otherwise, lets get a crew to fill up the jet sled and head down to the Cowlitz River to do battle with summer-run steelhead. Those fish have definitely shown up and are in the system, as well. Side drifting and pulling plugs are the keys to success down on the Cow.

Lets Go Catch Some Summer Run Chrome!

Sincerely,
Bonner Daniels
bonnerfishon.com
425-281-8772

PS The walleye bite is on over east if your looking for a change of pace. Just let me know when you want to go

Bill and the boys hit up summer-run steelhead opening day on Skykomish River (June 1st). Had a blast and snagged two nice 13 lbs. steelhead on the new Fetha Styx 9ft., 9in. 6-10 lb, slow, ultra light side drift rod. This blank was built for us by Gary Loomis and turned out to be the hot rod for the day. Hope you enjoy the photos from our outing.

The Skykomish River opening day fishing report. The water WAS a beautiful, deep green in the upper river, and little more colored up the lower you went, with the color coming from the Wallace and Sultan rivers and the river was running 6,900 CFS and 49 degrees. There was a lot of boat traffic and quite a few fish caught. The majority of the fish were steelhead with a handful of king salmon in the mix.

On my boat we side-drifted with eggs and corkies. We ended up hooking into several fish and putting two gorgeous 10-14lb summer-run steelhead in the boat, along with a couple of nice Dolly Varden. The bad news is…that it’s raining and raining hard here in the Valley. I expect the Sky and Snoqualmie Rivers to blow out soon (Editor’s note: the weather appears to be cooperating!)

Lets go out and go fishing — the river is full of fish and once the water levels recede we are going to be in for some really good fishing. Give me a call, I have a few prime dates still available. See you on the water.

Sincerely,

Bonner Daniels
425-281-8772
bonnerfishon.com

Ps. One last thing whom ever you are, drift boat guy who thinks he owns the mouth of the Wallace, you should get a clue and figure out that the river is a public place and not your own private hole just because you have an anchor out. It was opening day…, figure it out and learn to share.

Well, with the springer run starting to taper off it has been a pretty good year with lots of fish to be had throughout the Columbia River system. We have approximately another week left for me then it is time to stay at home (waters) with the Snohomish system opening up on June 1st. We are quite excited about the new opportunity for the Skykomish summer kings: much more section of the river is open this year and add 15,000 kings with summer-run steelies there too, it is definitely something to try out. Give me a call and get out on the river for some summer fun.

Todd
Tall Tails Guide Service
(206) 437-8766

P.S. Sorry to the weekend crews who had the dead battery issues. No photos, oops!!

To the fishing report: walleye fishing is very good right NOW and should remain that way through the month of May. The largemouth and smallmouth bass, weather permitting, have also been biting very well. A typical day in May with me consists of limiting on walleye for the grill, and then finishing off the day catching trophy-size bass. I am in Eastern Washington for these fisheries on the Potholes Reservoir and Moses Lake. If you would like a nice change of pace and a relaxing day on the water, catching fish…this May warm water fishery is for YOU

On the river side of things, June 1st is right around the corner and I will be spending my time chasing summer-run king salmon and steelhead on the Skykomish and Cowlitz Rivers. The catch-and-keep king salmon season runs from June 1-July 31 — and I am running out of open dates on my calendar. If you would like a chance at these chrome beauties call me before it’s too late.

Here are the pics from this last week’s guided adventures:

Sincerely,

Bonner Daniels

bonnerfishon.com
View Bonner’s blog here.

425-281-8772

PS Check out Mario at Doug’s Sports in Woodinville they have a wide selection of fishing and hunting supplies.

Well, after fishing on the River for a month straight (almost), we have been getting limits of salmon everyday. The pink season is still going strong–I expect them to be in the river into October (not table fare) with big silvers to be had. Thanks to everyone who has been out with me lately; I enjoyed watching everyone catch all those fish. and thank you for putting up with my bad humor, I’m working on better jokes! If you want to get out for some prime silver dates give me a call.

Sincerely, Todd Daniels

206.437.8766

Tall Tails Guide Service