Editor’s note: Each December we feature the Real Women of Northwest Fishing in our year-end magazine issue, and here are pictures from the 2021 edition!
When your birthday and Buoy 10 combine for your new personal best Chinook, hell yeahs ensue! Carissa Anderson hoists her 30-pound, 37-inch fall Chinook, caught this August. (CARISSA ANDERSON)Among the anglers who can’t wait for Wickiup Reservoir to get back to full pool and its kokanee fishery to recover is Kaye Smith, here with a beauteous landlocked sockeye from the Deschutes River impoundment’s “good old days.” (KAYE SMITH)The shores of a lake near White Salmon in the Columbia Gorge were kind to Bertha Logsdon, who put together this stringer of garlic PowerBait-nibbling rainbow trout. (LES LOGSDON)“I have been fishing all my life and love it!” says Sharon Horn, who reports fishing three days a week while also working full time. “It was a blast!” she says of fighting this Drano Lake Chinook. “Took line out to 150!” (SHARON HORN)“The true heart and soul of our company and best fishing partner one could ever have!” That’s Debbie Jahn, here with a fresh batch of Wallowa Lake kokanee from this year, says Jeremy Jahn. Together they operate KokaneeKid Fishing. (JEREMY JAHN)An overall slow fishing day turned into quite a productive one for Elizabeth Swopes when this 3-plus-pound rainbow bit for her at a Spokane-area lake this spring. (LES LOGSDON)Hard to get any brighter than this great Chinook that Leann Johnston hooked. (LEANN JOHNSTON)“I was so happy I was shaking,” says Toni Pollock-Bozarth after landing her first salmon in four years, this South Sound coho. Earlier last summer she tried for pinks with one of her sons but struck out, and she didn’t have much faith on the next trip with her other son, but with a little help from a Slag Pile sharpie, she got a takedown. “My only sadness was that neither of my sons got to experience salmon also,” she writes. Always next season, Toni! (TONI POLLOCK-BOZARTH)“Fishiest lady I know,” proclaims Roger Newton of friend Laurie Wulf, a Columbia and Willamette River Chinook and coho angler. “Definitely not a pro,” Wulf replies. “I just love to fish and hang out with fishie friends!” (LAURIE WULF)This 24-pound mid-August Westport Chinook was no match for Linda McDonald and her Lamiglas Classic Glass rod and Shimano Tekota 600HG reel combo. (LINDA MCDONALD)Misty Braaten lives in fishing and hunting paradise in Northcentral Washington and helps keep her family in good eats – here she holds a nice pair of Banks Lake walleye. (ERIC BRAATEN)With appearances in our magazine since she was 5 years old, Rylee Chmela, now 22, is a certified Real Woman of Northwest Fishing! (CARL LEWALLEN)The sun shines on a shimmering silver for Jaynie Preston, who’s also known to fish off seaside rocks for Chinook! (SCOTT MCBETH)Spring kings, summer Chinook, steelhead, sturgeon, coho, sockeye, chums, big rivers, small rivers, Puget Sound, North Cascades reservoirs – Kathi Lyons is fishin’ em all! (KATHI LYONS)Rhonna Schnell’s no fairweather fisherman, as pics of her decked out in raingear while salmon fishing and bundled up for winter kokanee prove. “She is a real trooper and the best fishing partner anyone could ask for,” says husband Tom. (TOM SCHNELL)Paula Corcoran’s no stranger to ocean lingcod and local lakes’ rainbows, but her favorite fishery might just be Deep South Sound Chinook, judging by pics that proud hubby Kelly has sent over the years. (DAN DOTY)If the Northwest tuna fishery needs an enthusiastic spokesperson, may we suggest Kelly Frazier? “It was so fun!! Highly recommend everyone try tuna fishing!! So exciting!!” she relayed after landing her first albie this summer. (KELLY FRAZIER)That mid-August day off the mouth of the Columbia was gray as all get out, but Jamie McLeod and her pink rod, nails and fleece brightened it right up with this chrome fall king! (RICH MCLEOD)Christina Miller doesn’t just fill stringers, she fills bellies, donating the trout she catches out of Western Oregon lakes to local food share programs. Nicknamed “Trout Slayer/Easy Limit,” the big-hearted angler detailed in 2017 how taking up fishing and the physical challenge of accessing the waters literally helped her fight back against crippling disabilities in one of the most powerful essays we’ve ever run with Real Women of Northwest Fishing. (CHRISTINA MILLER)
“My name is Coleen Goulet and I am from Prosser, Washington. I grew up fishing with my dad, so the love for it is in my blood. About six years ago, my husband said to me, ‘Honey, let’s try trolling for salmon,’ so we did and as soon as I felt that tug on the rod, I was hooked. We now fish year-round for salmon, walleye, sturgeon and trout, of which our all-time favorite is salmon at Drano Lake. We are empty nesters and this is a hobby we love doing together, not only for the fishing but for the beautiful sunrises in the Columbia Gorge and the family/friend time we spend on the water. We love trying different fisheries, new gear and scents. This year, I am two salmon away from filling my catch card, with time left – fingers crossed!” (COLEEN GOULET)Whether from shore or boat, you can bank on Maralee Moore catching all sorts of species around the western Columbia Basin – smallies, walleye, rainbows, sockeye, not to mention both summer and fall Chinook! (MARALEE MOORE)“She’s a trooper,” Mike Harcourt says of wife Michelle, here with a Detroit Lake kokanee, caught on a throwback Wallowa Lake monster koke setup. (MIKE HARCOURT)After learning that trout lived in mountain streams, Jolie Bruton-Jewett just had to go catch one for herself. And pairing her purple pole with a purple and pink Rooster Tail, she did just that! (BRANDON JEWETT) A 34-inch lingcod gave Iylee Belisle quite a battle this season. She hooked it near Puget Sound’s Deception Pass on a yellow twintail grub. (NIC BELISLE)Casting without any help, hooking a nice big rainbow and fighting it to shore on 4-pound line all by herself and outfishing dad that day? Priceless for Zoe Ross! (JACOB ROSS)Guide John Plughoff has future deckhands for miles, it looks like! Daughters June and Jade share a moment with their mom Kelsey and a nice mid-Columbia River summer sockeye they caught. (PLUGHOFF OUTFITTERS)Not only is Grace Bolt a Columbia Gorge winter sturgeon angler, she’s a fall Chinook slayer, catching this beautiful fish in August with her dad’s guide friend Bill. (MIKE BOLT)After hearing how much fun her older brother was having fishing for sockeye with their grandparents, Aubree Pedeferri wanted to try it herself. Her success in summer 2020 saw her jump at the chance to get back up to Lake Wenatchee this season. “She’s becoming an avid fisherwoman,” says her grandpa, Bob Curran. (BOB CURRAN)
