Q ua r te r l y N e w s l e t te r January-March 2015 Issue No. 5 Keep in Touch Michele Harrod, Editor Harrod Outdoor LLC PO Box 593 Leavenworth, WA 98826 www.harrodoutdoors.com [email protected] Sign up to receive this newsletter at [email protected] Add Color to Winter Colorful photos and video are difficult to capture this time of year because of bright white snow or grey skies. The auto settings for F-stop, white balance, and shutter speed on most cameras compensate well in normal conditions, but in these colorless environments it’s important that you make manual adjustments. Closing down the Fstop will limit brightness to the image and actually improve color and depth of field. Increasing shutter speed can limit brightness as well. White balance settings that are cooler (3000-4000 Kelvins) will emphasize the winter scene, while warmer settings (4000-5000 Kelvins) will make colors pop. Dark clothing on subjects in these bright environments will add contrast and allow you to adjust camera settings for the subject rather than snow or grey sky. If you can’t change settings easily, one trick is to shoot down on your subjects so that you eliminate grey skies in the background improving color. Try these tricks for beautiful winter images! -Richy Harrod, Executive Producer The Northwest Outdoorsmen TV Series The Northwest Outdoorsmen aired for 13 weeks this past fall with the last show airing on November 30. Viewers gave us some great feedback and we are very happy with the 2014 season! The end of this season marked the beginning of next year as we drew prize winners for our Free Drawing Giveaway and the grand prize winner will help us make a show for next year! John Mason and his daughter from Forest Grove, Oregon will accompany us to the Snake River near Richland, Oregon while we fish for crappie and shoot one of our shows. Bob Payseno from Renton, Washington was our second place winner and will receive a Work Sharp, Mack’s Lure fishing gear, and Harrod’s Cookhouse Seasonings. Finally, Kenneth Smith from Ellensburg, Washington was our third place winner and will also receive a Work Sharp and Harrod’s Cookhouse Seasonings. Congratulations to our winners and thanks to everyone who signed up! Be sure to check the Harrod Outdoors website for your chance to sign up for our 2015 drawings and contests! Issue Issue #: No. [Date] 5 January- March Dolor 2015 Sit Amet Sponsor News Work Sharp – Happy New Year from Work Sharp in Ashland, Oregon! We enjoy living, working, and playing in the Pacific Northwest, and absolutely love being a part of The Northwest Outdoorsmen series. We hope everyone’s 2014 harvest was bountiful, and that 2015 yields more great stories and trophy moments. It’s an honor supplying sharpening solutions for your hunting and fishing adventures, and we will continue innovating great sharpening tools for camp, field and your workshop through 2015 and beyond. You can sign up for our newsletter at WorkSharpTools.com to hear about new products and innovations, and you could win some really cool gear. Wishing a successful 2015 for all—we’ll talk again next season. Until then, stay sharp out there… -Tim Oates, Work Sharp Tools Mack’s Lure – You heard me say it first: It’s time for Kokanee! That’s right, even though it’s the middle of winter these delectable treats are being caught at a lake near you. It’s a huge misconception that Kokanee can only be caught during the summer months. The season can last from December through October, so bundle up and fill your freezer! Try using a Mack’s Lure 4” Double D Dodger® with a 1.5” Cha Cha™ Kokanee squidder for best results. -Lance Merz, Mack’s Lure Pacific Calls – Pacific Custom Calls is a waterfowl call company located in Spokane Washington that takes calls to the next level. Besides being 100% made in the United States and providing excellent customer service, there is so much more behind this company that makes them a great choice for the next item on your lanyard. This company is both owned and operated by hard working guys that wanted to do more than make calls, but make the call that will make an impact in the waterfowl community. Hour after hour they have worked, brainstormed, and created custom calls while at the same time balancing a day job, family, and hunting. However, there is more to the uprising of this company than meets the eye. Behind the owners and manufactures is a group of hard working pro and field staffers that have taken a hobby of hunting and created a family. This family has begun to impact their local communities through activities such as veteran, youth, and disability hunts that have spread the joy and love for the outdoors that we all know and cherish. Pacific Custom Calls isn’t just a great call; it’s an organization that takes a community interest that will make a lasting impression. - Owner Trevor Austin and Staff Member Colby Faulkes, Pacific Custom Calls These Kokanee were caught in December at Lake Chelan, Washington by Mack’s Lure Pro Staff Jeff Witkowski of Darrell and Dads Guide Service. 2 Issue [Date] Issue #: No. 5 Dolor2015 Sit Amet January- March Harrod’s Cookhouse We have some big news! Harrod’s Cookhouse has a brand new seasoning and the sale of our Elk Camp Roast Coffee will help the Wildland Firefighters Foundation. Our new Game Bird and Chicken Seasoning is the perfect addition to quail, pheasant, chukar, other game birds, or chicken. It combines savory flavors with a hint of lemon, smoked paprika, and just the right amount of sweetness. Game Bird and Chicken Seasoning is a must for the outdoorsman’s spice rack! In addition, Harrod’s Cookhouse is proud to announce our campaign to raise $1000 for the Wildland Firefighters Foundation through the sale of our Elk Camp Roast Coffee. The main purpose of the Foundation is to support families of firefighters injured or lost in the line of duty. Their work is extremely important and you can help us support them by purchasing all your coffee from our online store. We will be donating half of all proceeds from coffee sales, so please help us reach our goal! Visit us at our online store shop.harrodoutdoors.com. Product Reviews Cabela’s Inferno 2000 gram Pac boot Being as heavy as they are I would not recommend doing a lot of hiking in these boots. I use them for field hunting waterfowl when blood circulation is at a minimum. That being said they are a little difficult to get tucked into your ground blind because of the size. If I had to rate these boots on a scale of 1 being poor and 5 be excellent, I would rate them at a 4.5. The only deduction would be the overall weight and size of the boot. You can purchase these boots at Cabela’s with a price tag of around $180.00. All in all, I am very satisfied with this product and so are my feet.” “I purchased the Cabela’s inferno Pac boot for use in extreme cold weather conditions. What I found with this product is that with 2000 grams of ultra-thinsulate, I see where they came up with the name Inferno. These boots are extremely warm. Not only are they packed with thinsulate but they also provide waterproof dry-plus linings with moisture wicking technology. These boots are 12 inches tall and weigh 5.7 pounds a pair. -Justin Herold 3 Issue No. 5 #: [Date] JanuaryMarch Dolor Sit 2015 Amet Winter Trout and…Kokanee? As hunting seasons come to a close, most sportsman and women throughout the Northwest just hang up their gear and hunker down by the fire waiting for spring to arrive. Why not go fishing? Trout and yes, even Kokanee, can be readily caught this time of year and you’re likely to have the best fishing spots all to yourself! So as you store your waterfowl gun, pull out that fishing rod and organize your fishing gear because it’s time to go fishing! In this article, I’ll provide a few tips about gear and how to fish winter waters. North central Washington has some of the best year round fishing opportunities in the Northwest and it happens to be in my backyard. There are many other great places to winter fish in Oregon and Washington, so you can apply my local examples to waters near you. Most people think of steelhead when you talk about winter fishing, but I prefer fishing for rainbows and triploids because of the potential to catch numerous fish. Triploids are sterile rainbows that are voracious feeders and have the potential to grow to trophy size if not harvested the first season after stocking. They are stocked in 117 lakes in Washington providing anglers with numerous fishing opportunities. Lake Roosevelt and Rufus Woods Reservoir on the upper Columbia River are my favorite places to catch these rainbows. It’s not uncommon to catch triploids up to 10-12 lbs in Rufus Woods and a fish this size eats much like a spring Chinook, in my opinion. The best way to catch rainbows is to troll because you can cover lots of water in order to locate lethargic fish. Fish are typically near the surface this time of year as cloudy days and cool water allow rainbows to find food in the top water. We use several different combinations of Mack’s Lure tackle to catch rainbows, not just because they are our sponsors but because their fishing gear works! My favorite setup is the 1.5” Cha Cha Squidder, Kokanee Series on about an 18” leader behind a 7.6” Double D Dodger. Shorten the leader for added lure movement or lengthen for less movement. Besides added attraction, the larger dodger provides a little extra weight to keep your lure in the water while trolling. A nice feature of the squidders is that they come in a variety of colors and they have the Smile Blade, also in a variety of colors. We typically use pinks or hot orange; you can buy them pre-tied or buy the squid bodies and a variety of Smile Blade colors to build your own combinations. I like the Kokanee series because of the closely tied, dual hook setup. It’s a good idea to tip your lure with a couple of pieces of Shoepeg corn brined in the secret sauce (Karo syrup and a scent, like Super Dipping Sauce (http://www.superdippingsauce.com/), but shhh…don’t tell anyone!). Troll at speeds between 1.5 and 2.0 mph making slow S-turns so that your lures will alternate between slower and faster speeds. Slow your speed if you notice that you always catch fish during the turn on the inside rod, or conversely speed up if it’s on the outside rod. A couple of variations to the setup above can work well too. Use a Flash Lite Trolls or Hot Wings in place of the Double D Dodger. These attractors do not have the side to side action of the dodger, so lengthen the leaders of your Cha Cha Squidders to 24-36”. Flash Lites and Hot Wings are pretty lightweight so you will need to add a couple ounces of weight or place onto a downrigger to keep the lure in the strike zone. You can also replace the squidders with a bucktail fly, Smile Blade Fly, or a lightweight Glo Getter Marabou Jig. These lures don’t require bait but you can add some scent. You can set up a rod rigged with one of these variations to see what works the best. Issue No. 5 #: [Date] JanuaryMarch Dolor Sit 2015 Amet If you don’t have a boat, you can catch rainbows from the bank. Rainbows will cruise the shallow water along the bank looking for food so using stationary bait will work well. The setup is relatively simple. Tie up a single bait hook (sizes 1 or 2 are best) on an approximately 3’ leader and attach leader to a swivel tied to your main line. I also slide a small bead and smile blade on the leader above the hook for added attraction. On the main line above the swivel, place a 2 oz. weight that will slide up and down the main line. The water speed in the Columbia River varies greatly so you may use more or less weight to keep you gear in place. Lighter weight will work in lakes. Bait your hook with artificial bait, such as Power Bait, worms and marshmallows, or shrimp and marshmallows. You want to use marshmallows or the artificial bait because this will float your hook slightly off the bottom and positions it in the perfect depth for trout. This type of fishing requires patience as fish are cruising slowly this time of year. Build a fire and pour your favorite warm drink and enjoy being outside! It’s true; you can catch Kokanee throughout the winter and early spring. Kokanee tend to be scattered and in smaller schools during the winter months so you may not catch the numbers of fish you would in May or June. However, 4 or 5 of these great eating fish can make any outing worthwhile. The setup for your fishing tackle is similar to that which I described above for rainbows. Again, I am partial to the Cha Cha Squidder, Kokanee Series and I like Hot Pink Glow or Pink Spatter UV for winter time fishing. Tip your hooks with a few pieces of Shoepeg corn brined in the secret sauce (shhh…!). Downsize the Double D Dodger to the 4.4” size and keep your leader lengths under 16” for maximum lure movement. Fish your lures off of the downriggers and look for fish in pretty deep water. In Lake Chelan, we find fish anywhere from 50-120 feet this time of year! Trolling speeds should be a little slower than for rainbows so try to keep between 1.1-1.4 mph. Again, use slow S-turns to vary lure speed and this will help you find the trolling speed the fish like. Really pay close attention to your electronics and if you spot fish, adjust your downrigger depth to match the fish depth. And if you catch a fish, mark that spot and depth and stay on the fish. The saying we use is “you never leave fish to find fish,” so stay on the biters until you either loose them on the depth finder or they stop biting. Winter fishing can be a lot of fun and provides a much needed relief to cabin fever. Give these tips a try on your next outing and let us know how you do. Send photos and comments to our email at [email protected], post to our timeline on Facebook (search Harrod Outdoors LLC), or tag us in your posts on Instagram (@harrodoutdoors, #harrodoutdoors). Buy your Mack’s Lure fishing gear at http://mackslure.com or at a sporting goods store near you. You can find more details about what gear to use and how to use it by watching the numerous technical videos we have produced for Mack’s Lure. Find these videos on our Youtube Channel by searching for Harrod Outdoors in the Youtube search bar. Finally, you can easily access our social network sites by visiting our website (http://harrodoutdoors.com) and clicking on the Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube icons on the bottom of the home page. Good luck fishing! Richy Harrod, Executive Producer