In the Field

Previous Columns

• If it's movin', it still might be a decoy - 10/29/2009

  Some of Oregon's more seasoned elk poachers have learned to side-step getting caught in a backwoods wildlife-enforcement-decoy sting by following the mantra, "If it ain't movin', they ain't shootin'."

  
• Opening elk weekend rings true for couple - 10/22/2009

  EAGLE POINT — In a small ground blind hidden Saturday in a meadow near Eagle Point sat Matt Dunbar and his girlfriend, Adrian Lass, together reviewing the fine points on how to bag a Roosevelt...

• A memorable spot on the 'Bragging Wall' - 10/8/2009

  Thumb-tacked to the "Bragging Wall" at Sportsmen's Warehouse is a photo of a rather under-whelming black-tailed buck, a little forked-horn deer held up by a man whose smile is wider than the deer's...

  
• Bass masters come from all parts now - 10/1/2009

  Southern bass anglers see it as their birthright to chase the next "sowbelly." But bass fishing may be the latest American original to become outsourced.

  
• The end of a respected hunting tradition - 9/24/2009

  The 2009 big-game hunting season will kick off next week with the death of one of Oregon's storied fall traditions — guys standing in line to buy their license and deer tag at the very last...

• Fly-casters find a little respite on the water - 9/17/2009

  A smallmouth bass finning its way around an Umpqua River pool caught Shawna Henderson's eye, and she hoped this fish would usher her into the world of women on the fly.

  
• Salmon derby is a sight for strained eyes - 9/10/2009

  GRANTS PASS — Derrick Stevenson has waited for years to feel that first bite of a Rogue River chinook salmon, experience that tug-of-war battle to the boat and then to see — really see...

• Angler completes his catfish quest - 9/3/2009

  ASHLAND — Amid the moonless darkness, Andrew Jensen plied the murky waters of Emigrant Lake last Thursday for the big blue beast that had consumed his life and his fishing gear for much of...

  
• Lower Rogue bay is busy with chinook - 8/27/2009

  After 15 years behind the Costco photo counter in Medford creating snapshots of Rogue Valley fishing adventures, Laurie Stovall finally produced a Kodak moment of her own.

  
• Early signs point to 'solid' summer steelhead run - 8/20/2009

  SHADY COVE — Lee Wedberg's little prince nymph fly dribbled along a Rogue River riffle in the middle of town, stopping abruptly next to a submerged ledge and signaling the start of another epic...

• 'This will be my biggest challenge' - 8/6/2009

  Matt Thomas positions his feeble arms to prop himself upright on a padded hospital bench, trying to teach his muscles how to work again.

  
• King for a day - 7/23/2009

  TRAIL — With a freshly tied hook and leader on his rod, Frank Powell trudges down the Casey State Park bank and back into the Rogue River, pausing to peer into the shallows to see whether what...

  
• Survival suits this dog just fine - 7/9/2009

  AGNESS — Pete Pollard walked up the remote trail through the Lower Rogue River Canyon with the melancholy of a man who knows his one missed oar-stroke killed his daughter's dog.

  
• Perch boom spurs a derby - 7/2/2009

  ASHLAND — Luke Amuchastegui can't help but recognize the yin and yang of the yellow perch in Emigrant Lake.

  
• Holy Hatch - 6/25/2009

  TRAIL — A 14-inch trout rolls on the surface of the upper Rogue, and fly-fisher Chuck Campana is prepared to see whether this fish wants one more serving of the bug world's equivalent of a...

  
• Lunker largemouth roam Lost Creek Lake - 5/28/2009

  TRAIL — Catfish Cove is the new fishing hot spot at Lost Creek Reservoir, and Lonnie Johnson hopes extensive catch-and-release fishing there will allow it to remain that way.

• Sniffing out sturgeon takes skill - 5/21/2009

  PORTLAND — Bill Monroe is meticulous in how he "tunes" an anchovy in a manner that makes it perfect bait for white sturgeon, this city's ultimate urban denizen.

  
• 'No live fish in, No live fish out' - 5/14/2009

  Dan VanDyke continues to live out the fish biologists' nightmare of seeing aliens appear in Southern Oregon water bodies — transported by nitwits who think they know what's best for public...

• 'Mandatory' reporting system needs help - 5/7/2009

  Oregon's hunters are proving in loud terms that it will take a big carrot or a big stick to coax them into reporting their successes, or lack thereof, in the field each year.

• Expect a bigger tug at Lost Creek Lake - 4/23/2009

  TRAIL — Trolling slowly Monday through a stretch of Lost Creek Lake called the Quarry, Frank Lee's rod doubles over and begins a man-verses-trout tussle that's occurring with pleasant frequency...