Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Summer is typically a 'down time' for much of the outdoors. Too early and not enough rain for mushrooms. A month away from the opening day of bear season; six weeks for archery deer. Summer steelhead are winding down, and it will be mid-August before the silvers start slipping by the North Jetty. But the garden's going gangbusters, and that keeps many outdoors people occupied as we wander our way toward the end of yet another month. Where's the time going? With that all said, once I sat down...
Friday afternoon, July 4, and the call comes out to the county of a brush fire just east of Nassa Point. The Cathlamet Fire Department (CFD) arrives on-scene with an engine and a brush truck, along with Battalion Chief Will Lutz, who will serve as Incident Command (IC). Skamokawa arrives. District 4. Local law enforcement, with the Washington State Patrol (WSP), close State Route 4. The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is contacted, arrives on-scene and, within the hour, takes...
I'll be honest, but I'm sad. Not under the covers and sleep the day away sad, but almost. Why so blue? PIGYS is over for another year. No more Smash burgers and homemade bread pudding. No more S'mores cookies, popcorn, and hot dogs. PIGYS 2025 is over and, while there were fewer sales this year - not to mention the rain on Friday - I'd still call it an overall success. Fish poles, self-inflating air mattresses, spin-glos for steelhead, which, by the way, are already in a box marked "Julie's," so...
If y'all haven't noticed, it's a busy, bustling, vibrant time of year. Julie's strawberries are going plum wild. Truthfully, we've never seen the plants quite as full as they are this year; the cherries, Lapine and Royal Ann, too. However, the robins, jays, and crows appear to be getting their fair share from those particular trees. Still, I'm okay with sharing, and I find it comical to see a robin so full of "my" cherries as to make full flight darn near impossible. We have a pair of yearling b...
Once again, folks, there's a lot going on courtesy of Mother Nature, so we'll dive right into it this week. I'm writing this on Father's Day, so a Happy Father's Day - albeit belated by the time this article publishes - goes out to all the dads out there, including my very own, Captain Michael E. Johnson (U.S. Army, Vietnam 1965-66). Trump administration pulls out of PNW salmon restoration agreement Given the significance of salmon to the people, the culture, the history, and the wallets of...
It’s no secret that college or, for that matter, any post-high school education, is expensive for some. I use the term “expensive” because for some, this next step in the learning process is pricey to the point of being cost-prohibitive. What happens then? The individual in question - and I’ve known many over the past 40 years - doesn’t continue down the road to learning and then wonders, “What if?” Last Friday, I had the opportunity to sit with a group of people whose mission, in large part, is to erase this so-called “What if” and replaci...
Has it really been a week? Time goes fast, it's said, when one's having fun; and, if by "fun," that means trenching the yard, construction projects, mowing, more mowing, and having to have Julie's black Ford trailered back to the Elochoman from Bunker Hill due to a mechanical malfunction, well then I've been full up with 'fun.' Thank you, Randy Coleman for the lift and the assistance. Porcupines in June? I know. Anyone having anything to do with trees, i.e. loggers, tree farmers, and the like,...
June already? Where, if you don't mind me asking, did May go? There's a lot to go over this week. June 6, 1944 – Operation Overlord Gold. Sword. Juno. Omaha. Utah. As most of you read this, the calendar page will soon turn to June 6, 2025. That being the case, it was 81 years ago that history's greatest armada crossed The English Channel and began the liberation of Europe from the clutches of Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich. The statistics of this day, known in the annuals of Time as O...
It's Memorial Day and I, like millions of Americans, are giving thanks and praise to the men and women who serve, those who proudly served, and those who gave their lives in the name of democracy and the people of this great nation. Thank you, one and all, for your dedication, commitment, and sacrifice. Memorial Day also marks the unofficial start of summer. The fact is summer technically begins on June 20 this year; but hey, it's warm, it's nice, the garden's growing, and Julie and I caught...
I'm sitting on the back porch this morning with my black dog, Abigail at my feet. Both of us listen to the boats leave the Elochoman Marina for another day of trolling back and forth. Dropping something magical, colorful, and wrapped in or containing a small piece of Bumblebee product damn near to the bottom. Easing back in the captain's chair with the cap to the old school Stanley thermos filled to the brim and a hunk of fresh-made pumpkin bread at the ready. It's a nice morning, albeit a bit...
The Wonders of Garage Sale Gear I know it's early, but in honor of that most monumental event, the annual Puget Island Garage (and) Yard Sale, or PIGYS, which will be held June 27 – 29 and, owing to the fact it is indeed and has been for some time, garage sale season, I write this week on the finer points of what I call 'garage sale etiquette.' But garage sales and the outdoors? Garage sales can be great places to find outdoor gear at ridiculously low prices; however, not every $2 sleeping b...
As is often the case in the spring, at least when "The Great Outdoors" is concerned, there's a lot going on this week. By the way, if you haven't seen it, The Great Outdoors, starring Dan Aykroyd and the late John Candy, is a must see, but I digress; on to the outdoor news. Final razor clam digs May 10-15 Afraid you might not have enough razor clams in the freezer to last until November? Well, you'd best be taking advantage of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) final digs...
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's spring, obviously, and there's a lot of moving parts out there. The barn swallows are back and are remodeling their 2024 nest on the east side of the shop. Sure, they're messy "decorating" the side of the garage with white, especially as the little ones get bigger, but they're extremely entertaining to watch, and anything that eats that many mosquitoes is okay in my ledger book. Across the road, the barred owls are hooting up a storm daily, their...
As of today, we're 10 days into the 2025 spring turkey season here in Washington. I don't have much from the field except for a handful of birds taken during the Youth Turkey Season, which was offered statewide to hunters ages 15 and younger from April 1 to 7. During our 18 years in Iowa, Julie and I 'sponsored' (per se) many young turkey hunters. To me, it was the most enjoyable part of the season. These kids asked questions, sometimes a lot of questions, but it reminded me of the basics of Mot...
I'm writing this on Monday, April 14. It's an absolutely gorgeous perfect morning. The sun is coming up. Anna's hummingbirds are at the feeder. Golden-crowned sparrows are up front. Mama English sparrow is working on her nest in a house I built. Now there's a good feeling. Birds bringing off broods in a house you built with your own two hands. That and picking apples (or cherries or peaches) from a tree you planted (what's it been) four years ago? It's the little things, my friends. The small...
Julie and I took grandsons Tristan (14) and Wyatt (10) to the Radar Lakes on Friday just to get away for a bit. The weather was gorgeous. State Route 4 was virtually empty. The 69-cent rack at Johnson's One Stop in Naselle had recently been restocked. Can you say "Old Fashioned Glazed Donuts?" The lakes were devoid of humans, and the trout were incredibly cooperative. Finish this with hot dogs roasted over a fire, not one but two salamander sightings, and nary a single full frontal dunking, all...
On Thursday, April 3, members of Wahkiakum Fire District 4 addressed Wahkiakum High students on the science behind fire. District training officer and 2016 WHS graduate Jack Leavitt, who also serves as a career / professional firefighter for the Toutle Fire Department, Officer William Peek, and District 4 cadet Jordan Smith presented several fire-related demonstrations to a gathering of students before heading outside. The trio then used a "dollhouse," a two-story wooden representation of a...
Apparently, the Cowlitz River wasn’t good enough for this year’s run of Columbia River smelt, otherwise known as eulachon. Instead, the little silver fish bypassed their traditional tributary here in southwest Washington and continued up the main stem into Oregon’s Sandy River. On Tuesday, March 25, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced a surprise one-day smelt season along a specific section of the Sandy River to be held on Thursday, March 27, from noon until 7 p.m. Dippers were under the same rules as they were in Washi...
I often hear people say that the problem with young people today is this, or that, or something else. Following the announcement, I'll be informed of said problem; perhaps, more than one. However, what I don't hear is the solution. Problem, solution? No, sir. Problem, problem. Well, I ain't that guy. Do you want to know what the problem with young people is? No old men. Simple as that. The solution? Old guys. That's right. Get yourself an old guy. Problem solved. How, pray tell, is that a...
It seems there’s always a lot going on in the great outdoors, and this week is no exception. Smelt… again An editor of mine for whom weekly ‘smelt updates’ are a necessary evil wrote me recently saying how happy he’ll be when smelt season is over, and the weekly updates are a thing of the past. This got me thinking that perhaps you folks grow weary of my weekly updates de eulachon, eh? If that’s the case, we have but this one and the season will be done. The Washington Department of Fish and Wil...
Smelt dipping is a go! For the first time since announcing their ‘tentative dates’ process for the 2025 smelt season, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has approved and/or confirmed the dates of Wednesday, March 12, and Saturday, March 15. It’s a go, so haul out those waders, find that Spongebob Squarepants bucket, mend the hole(s) in your smelt net, dust off your propeller beanie, and take your St. John’s Wort because it’s going to be a good old fashioned hootenanny down on the Cowlitz River on Saturday morning. As has be...
Before I get started this week, I'd just like to once again thank the folks who have come up and said how much they enjoy the new column. Not that my 'journalistic ego' needs stroking, but it is nice to know that (1) people are reading the pieces and (2) for some of them, it's apparently dredging up some fond memories from back in the day. A time when things were simpler; not necessarily easier, but simpler. Before Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Al Gore's Internet, and the time, as Merle Haggard...
Welcome to this week’s rendition of The Eagle Outdoors. A lot to cover this week, but first, I want to thank all of you who have commented on the column and how much they enjoy it. The feedback is taken to heart, greatly appreciated and helps on several fronts, the least of which isn’t to make The Eagles Outdoors. I tip my hat to y’all for taking the time to read, reply and, at least to this point, not toilet papering my home in response to something I’ve said. Outdoor News By now, many of you avid anglers will already have heard the news as...
Ah, smelt. Despite the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) best intentions to provide us with smelt dipping opportunities, the first two days were not approved. Fishery managers evaluate weekly commercial test fishery landings, or catch reports, to determine if the smelt run size is large enough to support a recreational harvest. This week’s catch reports did not provide enough information to confirm whether the run is large enough to open a recreational fishery in the Cowlitz Ri...
The big news, if you haven’t already read the news release from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for February 2025, is the implementation by the agency of some brand new regulations surrounding the traditional smelt fishery on the Cowlitz River. Biologists determined that populations of Columbia River smelt, or eulachon as they’re technically known, began to decline in the mid-1990s. In 2001, the Washington-Oregon Eulachon Management Plan was drafted; nine years later in 2010, Col...
