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“Icewater Lake”, 11 August 2026. I haven’t done much fishing this summer (but the pace will rise for the next several months). With a nice, but not blazingly hot day in the forecast, I decided to load up my pontoon boat and head up to “Icewater Lake”. This is a very oligotrophic (i.e., low...

Yellow with red head = male Western tanager. Yellow head = female Western tanager. Owls = barred owls. Congrats on the bear. Steve

Your rod, reel, and line are fine for albacore. Albacore do not have sharp biting teeth. I use 25 - 30lb leader in the 5-7’ range. Steve

Nisqually NWR, Mid July. In visits to Nisqually in late spring and early summer, I could hear the high-pitched trills of cedar waxwings high in the canopy where they were likely hawking insects to feed chicks and nestlings. But they were hard to see. Now that nesting is over, their diet has...

Great pictures, great fish diversity, great trip. You have it dialed in... Steve

Hi SF, Jellyfish have separate sexes. Individuals either produce clouds of sperm or of eggs. Even though individuals can release tremendous numbers of sperm or eggs, the ocean is a big place. Without aggregation and synchronization, many gametes wouldn't find its opposite number (dilution is...

That is such a wonderful compliment. I worked my whole professional life as a university professor (and scientist). I derived a tremendous amount of satisfaction when I was able to convey complex biological concepts to my students. That I am still having a positive impact with you all after I...

The France v England game has become the football equivalent of the NBA or NHL All Star games. "You get a goal. You get a goal. You get a goal."... Steve

I'm not sure why there is a game for third place. It is an alien concept in most sports. How hard do you expect the players to play in today's game between England and France? Will the game be treated as a "friendly"? No one remembers who placed where in the World Cup beyond the winner (and...

I did not know anything about the impact of smoke on bird behavior and I did a bit of digging this morning. It can be hard to get these kinds of studies funded because their locations and timing are not very predictable. I was able to find a discussion of this issue in "All About Birds" (see...

Some Birds of Paradise. [No, not this bird of paradise.]. More accurately, some birds at Paradise, Mt. Rainier Grouse can be cryptic, until they aren’t… This sooty grouse hen strutted across the parking lot at the site of the old Visitor Center at Paradise as soon as we arrived. I was...

Mt. Rainier 23 June 2026. A few weeks ago, my wife and I hiked several areas in the Paradise area of Mt. Rainier. Our wanderings included the Nisqually Glacier Overlook Trail, a section of the Skyline Trail, and the verge along then road to Reflection Lake. In addition to the stunning...

Yes, definitely coralroots. Given the time of year (but without seeing a close-up of a flower), I would predict that this is a cluster of spotted coralroots [edit, nope...]. [Edit: there is one clear flower in the second image (top center inflorescence). And flowers emerge from bottom of the...

If throwing out the occasional live anchovy keeps a school by the boat, then casting flies, even poppers, can just be a hoot. It does take longer to reel an albacore in with a fly rod, but I feel that the fight is more "visceral". Steve

I think that it will be a combo trip. I'll be using my fly rod as will @Burt Dagger. I'm not sure how the other two anglers intend to fish. Steve

Update: two seats are taken. DM me if you are interested in any openings that might appear or if we have to reschedule a boat in September due to bad weather. Steve

Update: seats have been taken. But if you are interested in a tuna trip, send me a DM and I'll keep you in mind if seats come up or if we have to do some weather-related rescheduling in September. Steve

Spain's precision passing is so impressive. Steve

Update, All Rivers is already landing tuna out of Westport (along side their salmon trips). The albacore are here... I still have two seats available for a charter with All Rivers on September 1st. Contact me if interested. Steve

Great advice about scopolamine patches. Unless the forecast is for flat seas (does happen), I will apply mine before bed the night before. It takes some time for the drug to be absorbed and to have effect. It does tend to make me drowsy at times on the boat and dries out my mouth. Some...