This report is for four days of fishing, one at the mouth of the Deschutes river and three off the mouth of the Klickitat. Myself, Aaron Borg, and Rob Holman were at Ed Iman's Fish Camp 2016 enjoying his hospitality and meeting with various tackle reps. We also got to fish with some really great guides that Ed has at the event every year.

Our first day we fished with Walleye Willie off of the mouth of the Deschutes, hover fishing. The crowds were not too bad, we’ve seen worse. The catching was “OK” and good for those that knew what they were doing (Wallie Willie). Aaron and I, on the other hand, only managed one nice chinook, which slammed my rod down. This is not the typical hover fishing bite, but I’ll take it. Perhaps it was the new “super soft” scented hevi bead I added to my eggs. In any case, Willie generously gave us his fish, so the week was off to a good start.

The next two days Aaron and I fished with a couple different guides. I was with Rick and his wife Brenda from Adriatic Outfitters. We also fished with Steve from Angler Innovations, Loren from Hevi Beads, and Lisa from the Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce. Steve provided us his great Maruto barbless hooks and Loren handed out the new soft and super soft Hevi Beads. We fished the mouth of the Klickitat each day. Fishing was tougher, and there were a lot more boats out on the water. I really have to give credit to Rick, who does not fish this area very often. He did a great job avoiding the beginners. We had our chances, but the Chinook were biting very light and none of us could hook up. We did see fish caught around us. I would rank the fishing as “fair to good”. One highlight of the two days was Steve hooking a monster sturgeon. He battled the fish for a good half hour until a troller, oblivious to us, ran over Steve’s line and the big sturgeon popped off. We really wanted to see that fish. The sturgeon had to have been in the 9-10 foot range. I will say, we were all super impressed with the Cousins salmon rod that Steve was using. I really expected that rod to snap under the pressure but it held up just fine.

On Thursday I got the pleasure to fish with David Eng of FishingEng and his wife Cindy. What a gracious couple. And more skilled anglers you won’t find anywhere. Dave fishes these waters and knows the run like the back of his hand. He put on a clinic catching salmon, but all of us were into fish, including twelve year old Sabastian. This young man is going to be a real up and comer in the sport fishing world, I can tell! Dave had us fishing with pro cure eggs and shrimp, and it was just the ticket. We came one fish short of limiting the boat. We would have limited the boat no doubt, but I had to return to shore and hit the road home. I did manage to get one nice 15 pound Chinook.

I ended up bringing home four beautiful Chinook salmon that will be shared with friends and family. I had a filet on returning home, wow, what a great tasting fish!

Thanks to all the sponsors and guides that helped make Fish Camp a big success. In addition to the above, thanks to Grays Harbor Unders, Work sharp, Izore Line, Lamiglas, Handle Rite Tools, Mack's Lure, and the Sportsmans Warehouse. And thanks to the guides that provided boats and expertise, including Adriatic Outfitters, Fishing for Fun Guide Service, Columbian Basin Guide Service. My apologies to those I have missed.

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