2/5/08: We had only one boat out today with Sam guiding and Rich taking the bait boy spot. They headed down to Hammer Creek in hopes to repeat Sunday’s great fishing. They caught 3 for the day with several hookups, including a monster that Rich said would have easily taken the lead in the big fish race. Unfortunately, Rhiannon Cooley just couldn’t keep that fish interested in that hook for long as he rolled right out of it! She did end up landing one for the day—a 23” native. Sierra Swain also took home two fish for the day and both were keepers; a 24” and a 27”. The girls had a great day with a little snow and a little breeze…they said FOR SURE, they’ll be back to try again next year! Great job ladies and thanks for giving it a shot!

2/6/08: Two boats out today, both going to Hammer. First off, we had Tony and Jeff taking some “rookies” to the land down under. It definitely paid off as Sierra Miller brought home a 24” hatchery and Alexa Vannoy topped it with a 26” Hatchery! Kim and J.J. want to send a shout out to these girls…Karla Hatfield and the crew! This was the first time for these girls and we know they’ll be back next year! They had a super time and we were able to spend some time with them after the fishing to help them “whoop it up”! What a great bunch of girls (GO VANDALS!) and we look forward to them coming back again—they are already making their plans for next year!

Also down at Hammer was Rich and birthday boy Mike! Today was his 33rd birthday; however, he was trying to be shy about it! Don’t worry…we didn’t let it go by without making a big deal about it! Their boat was our own Best Western Salmon Rapids Lodge girls!! What a fabulous day they had! Not too much action but when they did hit it, they hit it big! LeeAnn Medeiro caught a very nice 29” hatchery fish for her first time out. But the big news is with Candi Dobson!!!! She’s our new BIG FISH LEADER with a beautiful 36” hatchery whopper!!! Candi is also leading our local Chamber of Commerce steelhead derby! When you ladies get here, make sure to ask us how you can also be a part of our local derby too!! We want to again thank Cathy and the SRL crew for allowing us to have our sign ups at the lodge and also for simply taking care of all of us!!!! We appreciate the wonderful facility! We have a big weekend ahead and we look forward to seeing you all!!!!

2/7/08: We had one jet boat and one drift boat out today! First off, Mike Hicks took Shantel Archuleta and two of her friends upriver between Vinegar Creek and Spring Bar on his drift boat. They had at least 5 good hookups with Shantel landing two: a 24 ½” and a 25 ½ “ hatchery each!! Mike wants everyone to know that the drift boat fishing is HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!

Sammy Joe, Jeff and Hurricane Bob (Celebrity Bait Boy of the year reigning champion) took the big boat back down to Hammer Creek! A fun time was had by all with 4 fish landed for the day and 5 other hookups! Christina Chapman brought home a 24” hatchery and Macalah Kimball was the big winner on this boat with three fish—a 26 ½” native, a 25” hatchery and a very nice 33” hatchery. The fishing was hot in the morning but slowed down in the afternoon, due to wind. Temperatures are expected to be much milder in the coming days with less wind!!

2/8/08: Three boats out with a bit slower action today. Romine and Matt Parker took Ashley Hiatt’s group down river to Hammer Creek and they are pretty sure they hooked into a sturgeon! They never saw it but knew they had something HUGE on the line and both guides knew it wasn’t a “rock cod”! It stayed on for quite some time roaming around on the bottom, finally breaking off! How would you like to fight that for a few minutes!?!?! Don’t forget, the 3rd place ‘most fish’ winner gets a trip with us in Hells Canyon, sturgeon fishing for 10 guests…it’s a BLAST! If you don’t win it…just give us a call and we’ll help you plan your next sturgeon trip on the Snake River in Hells Canyon! Anyway, no fish for them for the day with a lot of wind…but they sure had fun!! Many girls had dinner at the Rodeo Club Bar & Steakhouse and they gave us the full report with pictures to prove it!!! They are calling in on Monday to rebook for next year! Good idea ladies…it’s already starting to fill up!

Upriver above Spring Bar, we had Sammy and Jeff Wieber, and Rich and Mike Estrada. Sammy’s girls had lots of fun and hooked a few but were only able to land one for the day…a 24” hatchery for Maureen Crowell! Last night at dinner at the Wayback Steakhouse (Rodeo Club), Sam told us the story and said it was a “lucky net” so our hats are off to Jeff for the great netting job! Apparently that fish almost had other plans for the day—he barely got the fish in the net before he spit the hook!! WHEW…close one! Meanwhile, Rich and Mike had Tracey Warfield and her crew on board. Rich said a real fun group with some pretty good fisher-women! Amanda Bottom took home a 25 ½” keeper, while Tracey Warfield landed a native 27”. Lisa Gray took home the big fish on the boat for the day…a 31” keeper!

Tomorrow, we are expecting much warmer temps with light rain. That’s good news to get some of the upriver ice out of there so we can start our way up past Vinegar Creek! Until tomorrow…

2/9/08: Two boats down at Hammer today and two boats up at Spring Bar. The boys down at Hammer said it’s almost sun tanning weather so they are telling those girls who are coming up in the future; don’t forget to pack the sunscreen and bikinis!! Silly boys! Anyway, back to reality! So Tony and Jeff had a nice day, but only one fish landed in the boat…a 22” hatchery for Bobbi Storey, which puts Bobbi in the lead for the smallest fish in the tournament so far! YUP! You can even get a prize for the smallest fish too!

Romine and celebrity bait boy contender Pim Hoogland took Maleta Henry’s group down to Hammer as well and they had a terrific day, but again, only one fish landing in the boat. This one was a nice 33” keeper for Maleta herself. We have decided that these girls were too busy daydreaming in the sun and enjoying the banana-belt weather that the lower Salmon gives us. We heard that Pim was a very fine waiter and kept those girls fed and hydrated all day long! They said that bait boys really are the bomb and Pim is right up there with the best of them!!!

Meanwhile, upriver, Sammy and Mike had a load of local girls who were trying their luck at finding the big steelies. Sam said they hooked at least 5 and landed three others. Kathreen Steiner reeled in a 25” keeper, while Rexann Zimmerman (NOT her tournament day) landed a 27” native. Sandi Deveny was the big winner for the day with a 32” wild fish!! A good time was had by all and they sure enjoyed being up river this year!! On the other boat, Rich and Matt Parker also had several on with 3 landed. Nancy Roberts had a 22” hatchery (which ties her for the smallest fish with Bobbi Storey), Cheryl Paoli had a 24” hatchery fish and Becky McKenney brought home a 26” keeper as well. Good groups, nice weather! The snow is starting to melt now and the green grass is finally peeking through! Nothing like being on a fishing boat on the Salmon River!!

02/10/08: Two boats up at Spring Bar again, two boats down at Hammer Creek. Sammy and Jeff had Tracie Pottenger and gang and the “Lip Rippin’ Snaggin’ Nags” on board today down at Hammer!! They had matching pink sweatshirts with hot pink feather boas to match—what a bunch of good lookin’ lady anglers they were!!! Their youngest member of their group…one of our own local girls, Miss Rachel Jaramillo caught her very first Steelhead ever with a 25” keeper!! Way to go Rachel! Mike Wallace and Matt Parker were also down river today with Sherri Potter and crew…with lots of bites but no takers! They still had a lot of fun as they threw in some sightseeing while they were down there too!! If you ladies happen to make it down river one of these days, ask your guides to show you some of the historical Native American Petroglyphs down in that area. It’s amazing to see!

Upriver, Romine, Pim Hoogland, Rich and Mike Estrada were taking the “H.O.T.R. Hookers”! They came out in big numbers…18 ladies in all! What a fun group!! On Romine’s boat, Terri Bowling landed a 24” native fish, while Becky Brotnov took home a 29” keeper. On Rich’s boat, they landed 4 fish in all. Dee Sangrey landed a 23 1/2”, Tammy Kolsky brought in a 24”, Andrea Pennick followed that up with a 25” keeper and finally Deb Bitton was the big winner for the day with a 33 1/2 “ keeper. These ladies came from all over, but many were from our neighboring fishing communities on the Clearwater River in North Central Idaho. We want to thank them for coming to our neck of the woods and really look forward to seeing them next year too!!!!

2/11/08: One boat today with 7 ladies up at Spring Bar. Several fish on but none landed. The weather was in the 50’s!!!

What we’ve been doing lately:

Hi ladies! Sorry we’ve been off the update blog for a few days, but as you can see from the picture above, we’ve been a little busy! Unfortunately, it’s a lot easier said than done getting a USFS road cleared that is called “seasonal” (which we all know is NOT the case!) but maintained by the county. This has been an extremely long and time consuming phone campaign to get the ball rolling, so we do apologize for no updates for a few days! UGH….sigh….I’m tired! We would like to especially thank Lonnie Simpson and the Debco crew for clearing the way for us! Please make sure you stop and tell them thanks as you make your way through the construction project at the bottom of the Salmon River Road!! Anyway, the slide is gone and we should start making our way back up there by the 17th!

We will continuously try to make the county and the USFS reclassify this road as a year-round use road so that we can see better maintenance and upkeep during the winter months. One way YOU CAN HELP is by writing to the Idaho County Commissioners office and telling them that you are one of those users in the winter months! Our #1 concern for our customers is their safety! The address to write to is:
320 West Main Street, Rm 5
Grangeville, Idaho 83530

You can also email them at the following addresses:
Skip Brandt: sbrandt@idahocounty.org
Randy Doman: rdoman@idahocounty.org
and Jim Rehder: jrehder@idahocounty.org

This road is the main way we get our boats upriver to open up all the ice bridges, etc., for good fishing for this tournament. If this road isn’t maintained in the winter months, then we cannot pull our boats to the end of the road safely and therefore, when the fishing gets slow downriver, we have to stay there until the conditions are better for us to pull them up. They only maintain the road between April and November. Call us at River Adventures, Inc. if you have more questions at 1-800-524-9710.

2/12/08: Today was a very special day for River Adventures and tournament sponsor, Sportsman’s Warehouse! We had the honor and privilege of taking 18 very special ladies fishing for the day! These ladies are breast cancer survivors and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate their victory over such a horrific disease! These ladies were presented with special goody bags from Sportsman’s Warehouse and the theme was definitely PINK! In attendance were also some very special people we’d like to thank: Clayton Upshaw, Angela Mikesell and Paula Sullivant-Fry from Sportsman’s Warehouse—thanks ya’ll for the awesome stuff and sharing in our passion for helping such an important cause as fighting breast cancer! We’d also like to thank Mary Guinard, the Executive Director of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (Boise affiliate) for joining us in our special day! And finally, I personally would like to thank my partner in all this—Patty Gordon of the McCall Women’s Golf Club! Without her reaching out and us putting our heads together…this thing would have never become a reality! We know this year was a trial run as it was thrown together at the last minute, but we are excited to get the word out there and hopefully see a few more sponsors come on board who can get some more ladies out there fishing for such a great cause! Now, to the results of their great day!

First off, we had both boats of ladies up at Spring Bar with the first boat of the Mike (Wallace) and Mike (Estrada) team! They had not only a heckuva day of fishing, but Mike said they put out the most beautiful and delicious spread of food ever! Renee Bradfield landed a 23” wild fish, while Patty Gordon also brought in a 26” native! Colleen Scrogham got to take home a 24” keeper, while Joan Wall was the big fish winner of the day with a nice 33” keeper! The second boat was piloted by the Rich and Jonny “Fishonee” team and they too had one heck of a great day of fishing with 4 fish for the day also! These ladies were our local “survivor” girls and they had lots of first time anglers on board! Beate Cook and Lani Adkins said this was their first time fishing EVER and Lani was able to bring home a 24 ½” keeper! Vickie Heath has lived here all her life and she caught her very first Steelhead EVER today with a 28” keeper! I know her husband Tim will be proud!! Then, Joyce Barnard got lucky with two keepers today: a 24 ½” and a 26” keeper!!

Joan Wall and her 33” big one!		A couple of our survivor sweethearts enjoying the ride up the river in their pretty pink attire!
Local girls Vicki and Joyce celebrating life and their fish with Jonny!		Drifting at twilight on such a special day!

2/14/08: Happy Valentine’s Day! Kris Van Cleave and her group of gals were in town and in force! Two boats at Spring Bar with a nice day and 6 fish for the day. On Romine’s boat we had Kim Stoddard catching the only two of the day with a 24” keeper and a 24 ½” keeper. Over on Rich’s boat, we had Molly Van Cleave landing a 24 ½” wild fish, while mother-in-law Kris took home a 25” keeper. When it comes to your mother-in-law, it might be a good idea to always let her catch the bigger fish. You did good Molly! Then Gretchen Pelsma got two for the day: a 24” keeper and a 27” native.

2/15/08: 4 boats today…two at Hammer Creek and two at Spring Bar. Tony, Jeff and the Gina Kuehl group headed downriver for their day of fun in the sun! Thanks ladies for the awesome hats!!! The ladies had a nice day with two fish for the day. Laura Urresti brought home a 24” keeper while Heather Luchte landed the whopper for the day—a keeper at 30”!

Sam and Rusty were also downriver with Paula Brown’s girls. Jean Humphries landed a 24” hatchery, while Kathy Gaskell reeled in a 26 ½” wild fish. But Bonnie McGraw had them all beat with a 32” keeper!

Meanwhile, upriver at Spring Bar, Romine and Jonny found a few fish with 3 for the day. Holly Bell took home a 23 ½” keeper while both Terri Kuntz and Roseann Dimmick each brought home a 24 1/2” keeper…we’re pretty sure the fish might have been twins!

Rich and Mike Estrada unfortunately had no luck finding fish this day…but they said their girls sure had fun anyway!

2/16/08: Another 4 boat day today. Vinegar Creek Update: The slide is cleared and Rich has been working upriver on any remaining ice bridges that might interfere with a decent day above Vinegar Creek. He is also checking out the conditions at the end of the road to make sure you ladies can make it all the way up there. Even though the road is open, we just want to make sure everyone has a safe trip up and back!

Mike Wallace and Matt Parker teamed up again with Kathy Wilder and her crew down at Hammer Creek! First of all, Mike is one of our newest guides around here, but he’s been operating a boat for about as long as he’s been alive! He just finally decided he might want to take some folks fishing once in awhile, so he joined our crew! We’ve known Mike and his family for many years and we’re happy to have him become part of the family! You will all be seeing a lot of him as Romine seems to think he’s trying to retire. I try and tell him otherwise, but you all know how it can be arguing with Romine… Anyway, Mike said this group was a total blast and he and Matt laughed a whole lot on their fishing day! That’s a good thing because they only managed to get one fish for the day: a very nice 31” hatchery belonging to Kristin Collins! I saw them later that night and the girls confirmed that Mike and Matt were a whole lotta fun and can’t wait for next year!

Sam and Rusty on the other hand, seemed to find a few down at Hammer Creek with Kelly Acree and crew. They landed 4 steelhead for the day, while hooking 6, and then topped the day off with a 16” trout and as Sam called it, “one BIG Sucker Fish!” Noreen Percifield took home a 23” keeper and Kelli Martinez barely beat her with a 23 ½” keeper. Both Tami Irle and Sherrie Aevermann tied with one 24” fish each, one wild and one hatchery.

One note about Sam…he’s got a Rock Band called “River Rock” and they are playing TONIGHT! I’ve heard them before and I think all of you ladies coming up will really enjoy them!! They will be playing tonight at Seven Devils Saloon. Then, you’ll be able to catch them play at the Rodeo Club on both February 23rd and March 1st and then again at the FISH DANCE on March 8th at Summerville’s!!! DON’T MISS IT!!! Don’t forget ladies…in each of your “goody bags” are a “buy one, get one free” drink coupon to both the Rodeo Club and Summerville’s! Don’t forget to support our local businesses who take such good care of all of us!

Okay, back to fishing. Also today at Spring Bar, Romine and Jeff Wieber had a very nice day with 5 fish! Lots of local girls on this boat and lots of fun! A “new” local to our area, Brigitte “Gitte” (pron. GEE-TA) Dupont, a native of Denmark, caught her very first Steelhead, a 23” keeper! Then, the mother and daughter team of Tonya and Paulina Ormsby (and good friends of the River Adventures family) each caught a 23” keeper…I swear they weren’t the same fish because they took them both home! And then Tonya caught another keeper at 24” while Becky Roeder also took home a 24” hatchery.

Tony and Mike Estrada had Lydia Aguirre and her lovely ladies on board today! They got three fish for the day—all caught by Carla Armentrout! 23” hatchery, 25” hatchery, and a 29” hatchery! If only they had a little more daylight, Carla might have been in the running for most fish but so far, is the 2ND PLACE MOST FISH LEADER!! Way to go Carla! Just remember me when you invite your crew to the Lodge if you win it!!!!

2/17/08: A very slow day for 3 out of the 4 boats today. Sam was downstream at Hammer Creek with Wendy Hafer and company. Thank GOD this wasn’t Wendy’s tournament day (she loves to fish so much, she always fishes two days in the tournament and chooses which day to “count” before the tournament begins). Remember, she is last year’s returning champion and she is definitely out to keep her title! She was the only one to catch a Steelhead today with a nice 32” native. Sam said they did hook a couple more and also landed 3 Sucker Fish, which did add to the fun! Tony and Romine didn’t do much better up at Spring Bar catching no fish for the day. Their ladies still had a lot of fun and one of their boats already booked for next year! We should see another wave of fish come through in all areas below Vinegar Creek as that is the tradition of how they show up!

We’ve been holding out Rich’s boat until last to report. As we’ve said in the last couple of days, we’ve been trying desperately to get upriver and Rich even took a day to go and break ice, check the road, etc., to see if we could get you ladies upriver to open up our options in this tournament! Well, he and Jonny had to break ice for about an hour or so in the morning just to get to Vinegar Creek. Finally, after getting the boat up through Carey Falls and on to Vinegar, they loaded the ladies up and away they went. They had high hopes as no one had fished up there yet this year. First drift in Long Tom…nothing. Rich was very skeptical and thought…”holy cow, there should be fish here! Where are they?” Then he and Jonny made a led adjustment to make up for the slight breeze they had and attempted another pass through. BOOM! A double hook up! That was pretty much the story for the rest of the day! BAM! BAM! BAM! All day long, those fish kept those ladies and their guides on their toes! Ya’ll better sit down for this….they boated 22 fish for the day! We got new leaders all over the place so grab a cup of coffee…I’m probably gonna be awhile!

First up, we have Jamie Wolf with two fish…a 23 ¼” hatchery and a 25” hatchery. Then we’ve got Kalisa Karnes with another two: a 24” native and a 24 ½” hatchery. Stephanie Hammer landed three for the day with a 23 ½” hatchery, a 24” hatchery and a 25” hatchery. Not bad for a day’s work! But now we’re getting into the serious fish. Miss Denise Peterson did herself proud with 4 fish—a 22 ½” hatchery, a 24” native, a 24 ¼” hatchery and a very nice 31 ½” hatchery. Up next is Kerrigan Kalange with 5 fish! Folks, this will put Kerrigan in 2nd place so far in the tournament with a total of 133 ½”, moving Paula Prescott into 3rd with her total of 122 ¼”. Kerrigan landed a 23 ¼” hatchery, a 24 ¾” hatchery, a 25 ½” hatchery, a 26” hatchery and a 34” hatchery HAWG! Unfortunately, she didn’t keep the 34” to get measured in the Riggins Derby, but that puts her tied with Chris Coy for 2nd place for biggest fish so far in the Women With Bait tournament! Now we come to our NEW TOURNAMENT LEADER with 6 FISH!!!! Miss Judy Bauer has been fishing in the Women with Bait tournament for at least 6 years and she said this obviously was the best year yet! She was on fire with 150 ½”!! She landed the following: a 23” hatchery, a 23 ½” hatchery, a 24” hatchery, two 24 ½” keepers and a 31” wild fish! Holy Macaroni!!!

I can only imagine tomorrow’s numbers as it will be Wendy Hafer’s tournament day and they’ve got some determined fisher-gals on board! And don’t count out the other three boats we have out for tomorrow either! They’ve got some serious work to do to catch up to Judy! As the oarlock turns in Riggins…..

02/18/08: We had four jet boats and 1 drift boat out today. First off, we had Norm Klobetanz in the drift boat and for those of you who don’t know Norm…he is the “bomb” when it comes to drift boat fishing! He even has an instructional video/DVD that you can purchase by going to www.suncloud.biz and we can just tell you…he really knows how to catch fish! He’s one of the most sought after drift boat guides on the Salmon River! Look for the DVD called “Drift Boat Fishing for Steelhead” under the products page! Anyway, he was nice enough to take a couple of our ladies out with him by the name of Becky Evans and Susan Burgin!! They had a nice day with both ladies catching fish!

Susan caught a 24” hatchery and Becky caught two; a 24” hatchery and a 25 ½” hatchery! We’d like to give a special “welcome back” to Becky as last year, she had to stay home because she was battling breast cancer. Again, another one of our fine ladies coming out of the woodwork that they too, were a victim to this awful disease! We are so happy to have her back as she kicked its butt and she’s back fishing!! Don’t forget…1 in 8 WILL get breast cancer so make sure you become involved in upcoming Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation events in your area!

Next up, Tony and Jeff took a boat load of ladies up to Spring Bar. Fishing was a little slow for them with only one fish caught for the day. Glenda Carter caught a 23” keeper!

Sam and Rusty were also at Spring Bar today with a different outcome! 5 fish landed with 7 other hookups!! Debbie Dines took home a 24” keeper while Val Hruza landed a 27” native. Tanya Lampman was the most fish winner for this day with three fish: a 22 ½”, another 22 ½”, and a 26”—all keepers!

Now we move upriver. Romine and Jonny had the Shelley Rambo group on day 1 of a 2 day trip for them—today being their tournament day. They ended up with 9 fish, all hatchery, for the day with all ladies catching at least one! Teresa Minor caught a 24”, Kara Draper landed a 25”, Carole Clements a 28”! Then we had three ladies with two fish each! Miss Shelley Rambo herself caught two 24” keepers (by the way, a shout goes out to her and Steve for so generously donating our third prize for the biggest fish: a beautiful strand of pearls from Steve Rambo Jewelry! Thanks so much for always supporting Riggins and River Adventures, Inc.!), while Cindy Clancy got one 24” and one 25”! To finish things off, Katrina Lynch caught a 25” and a 26”! They said they had a fabulous time and have already booked for next year!!!

The final boat for the day was with Rich and Mike Estrada and Wendy Hafer’s girls! This day was their tournament day so they were out for the big prize! Their boat also caught 9 fish for the day. Norma Bates caught a 24” keeper, while Robin Hampton took home a 25” hatchery. Kristi Cox took home her first steelhead with a 25 ½” keeper! Then our returning champion from last year caught a 25” keeper and a nice 33 ½” keeper!! She was cheering on her friend Sam Logan to try and become the winner this year as Sam landed 4 fish!! IF ONLY there was a little more light in the day! She was working hard and we are proud of her efforts! She landed three keepers: a 24”, a 25”, a 27” and one wild fish—a 24 ½” native.

02/19/08: Today we had 3 jet boats out and all above Vinegar Creek. There is still some ice coming down, but the guides are getting through it and picking up fish everywhere right now!

We had a special group with us today called “Sisters on the Fly”. You can learn more about them at www.sistersonthefly.com and find out how to join!! To quote an article written in the Bay Area Equestrian Network, “"Sisters On the Fly" is the brainchild of two real sisters, Maurrie Sussmen and Becky Clarke. They dreamed up the idea six years ago, while fly-fishing on a river in Montana. That dream now has a membership of over 117 women with trailers and over 200 women total (not all the members own trailers).” These ladies travel all over fishing, camping, horseback riding, and just doing whatever they want and going wherever the wind takes them! We’ve been so proud to have them join us every year for Women with Bait since about 2000! When they come to Riggins, they come in force and they definitely come to fish! We always plan on fishing at least two to three boats of them for at least two days!

On boat #1, we had Romine and Jonny. They ended up with 5 fish for the day…Becky Clarke and Mary Pennell both got a 25” keeper, while Ceci Bennett landed three!! She got a 24” keeper, a nice 33” native, and a 21 ¾” keeper—which puts her in the LEAD for SMALLEST FISH of the TOURNAMENT! Way to go Ceci! Meanwhile, on Rich and Mike Estrada’s boat #2, they took 6 fish home for the day! Katie Weingartner took home a 23” keeper, Fern Krumm a 23 ½” keeper, Kealy Boggess a 26” native, and Pam Bond a monster 33” hatchery! Kristin Manas landed a 25” keeper and a 26” native! We’ll see more from all of these “sisters” in tomorrow’s report!

On our last boat, we’re back again with the Shelley Rambo girls, who which by the way, Carole Clements and Shelley Rambo are also both members of “Sisters on the Fly”! 11 fish caught, 10 others hooked for the day for these lovely ladies, with two of them flopping right out of the net! Now there should be a law against that sort of thing!!!! Anyway, here are their stats for the day: Katrina Lynch had a 22” keeper, while Kara Draper had a 23” keeper. Carole Clements took home a 27” keeper, while Cindy Clancy had two 26” fish and lost one out of the net! Shelley Rambo had 4 fish: a 24”, two 25” and one 27” and she also lost one right at the boat! What a crazy and wonderful day!

02/20/08: 3 boats out today…all fishing upriver. First off, we had the “Sisters on the Fly” returning for their 2nd day of fishing, non-tournament. Mike Wallace and Matt Parker took the ladies out but boating only 1 fish…a 26” native for Colleen Lockhart. Rich and Rusty had a little bit better luck boating 5 fish for the day. Tani Gibson took home a 26” keeper, while Kristin Manas landed two fish: a 24” keeper and a 25” keeper. Kealy Boggess also caught two fish: a 24” and a 26”—both keepers!

Sisters-Take 1

Sisters-Take 2

Sisters-Take 3

Meanwhile, Sam had a combo boat today. We had Mrs. Donna Fox, from Mountain Home Air Force Base on board today and she caught herself a 25” keeper!! She and her husband Richard have come many times in the past and are already on the calendar for next year! Thanks for coming back! Also on this boat were some gals (and they also had a gentlemen with them today…Dewayne Burnett!) from the great state of TENNESSEE!!! They caught some bigger fish today with 5 for their group. Lisa Skelley caught three fish: a 22” hatchery, a 25” hatchery and a 27” native. Michelle Skelley caught a 29” keeper while Suzanne Palmer caught a 34 ½” WHOPPER!

Suzann Palmer with a 34 ½” keeper!

The Tennessee girls with friend Dewayne Burnett-Go Volunteers!

02/21/08: Liz Mamer and company had two boats out today—both upriver! Rich and Jeff Wieber got caught in the ice and ended up boating only 2 fish. Cat Becker brought home a 24” hatchery and Karen Frank got a 21 ½” keeper, which puts her in the LEAD FOR SMALLEST FISH!

Mike Wallace and Jonny Hinton were able to get above the ice early and boy did they turn on the heat with all their ladies and their fishing skills! 12 fish for the day… starting with Melanie Higgins with a 24” hatchery and Andrea Pierce with a 31” hatchery. Stephanie Johnson had a 28” and a 32”—both keepers. Kathy Reynolds caught a 25 ½” and a 28 ½”—both hatchery keepers. Then we had two ladies with 3 fish each! Amy Johnson had a 23 ¾”, a 24 ¼”, and a 25 ½”…again, all hatchery keepers. Finally, Karen Dillon had three fish that were all in the 30+ inch range! A 31” hatchery, a 31” native, and a 35” native!! We love to see those natives getting back up the rivers…it shows that nature is taking its course when it comes to these fish “doin’ their thang”!

02/22/08: 1 boat today at Spring Bar, 3 boats above Vinegar Creek with one not fishing at all due to ice. Mike Wallace and Jonny Hinton were at Spring Bar with LeeAnn Jasper’s group. Glad to have these girls back as they took last year off!!! Heidi Stutzman caught a 24” hatchery while Kitty Martin caught two fish—a 24” keeper and a 27 ½” keeper!

Rich and Mike Estrada had a nice day with 5 fish for their ladies. Nicole Plesner caught a 23” hatchery while Linda Jedry got a 24” keeper. Jacque Wasia caught a 26” keeper and Mary Davis caught two fish—a 24” native and a 26” native!!

Sam and Rusty had about the same luck with their ladies also, catching 5 out of 9 hookups! Karen Graham and Tera Seabaugh were able to jump on the Brandee Robbins boat at the last minute as Romine’s boat was stuck in the ice…thanks Brandee for helping your fellow fisher-gal out! Karen and Tera felt like that was a lucky move as they both caught a fish! Karen a 23” keeper and Tera a 24” keeper! One of Brandee’s girls…Tina Butcher, caught a 26” hatchery while another one of her gals caught two fish—a 24” and a 25”!! Nothing like a little teamwork on the river!

02/23/08: 4 boats out again today with one at Spring Bar (no fish for the day) and 3 upriver. Rich and Mike Estrada had Debi Ziegler’s group and what a great day they had! They only caught two fish, but when I checked in with them the next day, they said they couldn’t wait to come back! Megan Hutton caught a 23” hatchery and Katie Gray caught a 33” wild fish!!

Meanwhile, Afton Coles and her girls were over with Romine and Pim Hoogland. Afton and company were previously scheduled to go on February 2nd, but called me on the 1st saying that all roads surrounding them were closed due to the massive blizzard that was covering the entire state. So, we were lucky enough to get them on a last minute date change on the 23rd…now there is fate at work! Anyway, they had a good day catching 4 fish! Lenore Whitney caught a 22” hatchery; Angela Ragan caught a 23” hatchery; Afton Coles caught a 23 ½” hatchery; and Pam Shearer caught a 24” hatchery. So glad you could make it ladies!!!

Sam and Jonny “Fishonee” had a decent day with 7 out of 10 for the day. Kim Lively caught a 23” keeper, Marcie Jenson caught a 23 ¼” keeper, and Kenna Belloli got a 25” keeper. Two ladies caught two fish each: Nikki Peterson caught a 22 ½” keeper and a 23 ¼” keeper while Amy Nutch caught a 23 ½” keeper and a 24 ¼” keeper.

02/24/08: We had 4 jet boats and one drift boat out today. We had Mike Hicks and his drift boat, drifting from Spring Bar down to Island Bar with Mother and Daughter-in-law team of Laurie and Jennifer Correll. They boated two fish today, both caught by Laurie—a 22” hatchery and a 27” wild fish.

At Spring Bar, Tony and Jonny Hinton were on the jet boat. We’re still waiting for that next wave of fish to hit the Spring Bar area…they’re coming ladies…keep the faith! Only one fish caught today by none other than our very own Glenna McClure—a 26” keeper!! You will see her on the 8th of March at the FISH DANCE at her place…Summerville’s Café and Bar! DON’T MISS IT!!!!

Now upriver, the boys finally broke through that last ice bridge and really got into the fish! Grab a chair and relax as it’s another one of those kinds of reports!

First up was Mike Wallace and Pim Hoogland. They only had 4 ladies on board today (they paid up front for the last two spots as they really wanted that boat all to themselves to do some serious fishing!!). These ladies did alright for one of their first times out and caught 4 fish for the day! Mike said they did a great job and the ladies said they wanted to go with him again next year! Ronda Mitchell caught a 24” wild fish and Dawn Scarrow caught a 25” keeper. Kelly Moyle caught two fish: a 22” keeper and a 21” keeper, which by the way, just put her into the LEAD WITH SMALLEST FISH!

2nd was Rich and Mike Estrada. Now they had some girls that were near and dear to my heart…it was our very own JJ HOPKINS and crew!!! Now many of you have spoken to her on the phone many times here in our office!!! Ain’t she a sweetie?!?! We are so lucky to have her and I gotta tell ya….J.J. and her husband are Black and Tan Hound Breeders and Bear and Mountain Lion Hunters by trade…but I think she’s a pretty darned good fisher-gal too! EVERY GIRL ON THIS BOAT CAUGHT A FISH! How awesome is that? First off, another local gal and friend of River Adventures, Sarah Fellom (also from a Bear/Mountain Lion hunting family) caught a nice 23 ½” hatchery and local gal Marsha Mead caught a 24”! Dawn Paynter, a dear friend of the Hopkin’s family, also caught a 25 ½” keeper! Miss Taylie Hopkins…the 16 year old daughter of J.J. caught her VERY FIRST STEELHEAD EVER at a whopping 31”!! Taylie reports that she is just going to keep it in the freezer and take it out once in awhile to hold and admire!! Somebody get that fish to Animal Kingdom Taxidermy right away! Another dear and long-time friend of J.J.’s is Marcena Bjork (—we love her too as she comes and helps us on the river in the summertime!) caught two fish, both at 24” each! J.J. also did alright for a day’s work…two fish: a 23 ½” keeper and a 26” keeper. Our big winner for the day was another dear friend of the River Adventures and “Friend” family…Mrs. Joyce Pottenger! She brought home three fish today…a 24” keeper, a 26” keeper and a whopper 34” HAWG!

Joyce finally caught the big one!

Well, you know I had to save Sam’s boat for the finale! This next boat has been coming to Women with Bait since 2006. They are a three generation family with Grandmother Delores, Mother Terri and Daughter Megan. In 2006, Megan won Women with Bait with 5 fish! These girls know how to fish and they came with a group name called “the Steel-HEAD hunters!” 24 for 30 fish for the day folks….holy cow! Let’s start off with Sue Benkert, who caught a 23” keeper! Then Destiny Huber caught two fish…a 23” and a 24”—both keepers! Lori Sprattley caught four fish, all keepers: 24”, 25”, 29” and 30”! Next up is last minute addition to their boat, Melissa Mackey, who caught 5 fish! I bet she’s glad she came on board for this trip! She landed a 23 ½”, a 24”, a 24 ½” native, a 26” native, and a 28” native! Just so you know Melissa, we looked back and that would have beat Megan back in 2006!! Now we move on to our NEW 3RD PLACE MOST FISH LEADER with 146 ¾”!! Terri Hogmire caught 6 fish today as she chased her daughter for the prize! I’ll just list them in the order they were caught: 25” native, 27” keeper, 24 ¾” keeper, 23 ½” keeper, 24” keeper, 22 ½” keeper. Terri’s daughter, Megan, was not about to let Mom win as she got 6 fish of her own today to make her our new 2ND PLACE MOST FISH LEADER! 24 ½” keeper, 24 ½” keeper, 25” native, 24 ½” keeper, 25 ½” keeper, and a 26” keeper! SHE’S ONLY BEHIND THE 1ST PLACE LEADER BY ½” !!!! Now that’s just plum crazy! I checked with Judy today and as far as I know, she’s still holding her nerves of steel together…..God Bless You Judy!

Terri with #6!

Megan with #6!

02/25/08: One boat out today with coverage from Spring Bar to above Vinegar Creek, landing three fish! Tony and Jeff took a combined group today with fun had by all! Sally Kau caught a 23” native, Cammy Benedict-Tharp caught a 24” native and Sherry Jacobsen…who is recovering from “Shingles” caught a 25” native—what a trooper! Way to go ladies!

02/26/08: “Oregon” Mike Curtis took his neighbor, Jamie Draper, out today in his drift boat and she was able to catch a keeper!!! Mike said she had lots of fish on throughout the day, but only one, a nice 30” hatchery, decided to stay on the hook! It sure is a nice time to get in a drift boat!!! Give us a call and we can get you in one too!!!!

02/27/08: Today, I finally got to go out on the water!! I went with the North Central Idaho Travel Association group, in which we are a general member!! Their mission statement: The purpose of the North Central Idaho Travel Association (NCITA) is strategic tourism development and promotion efforts for the 5-county region of north central Idaho (Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce Counties). Many of you who visit our area realize that Tourism is our way of life here and being part of the NCITA is an important step in getting our area recognized as a vacation destination!!! To learn more about NCITA and what our North Central Idaho area has to offer, please log on to North Central Idaho Official Visitor Information Site at www.northcentralidaho.info !! Okay, now to the “details”! On board we had: guide Mike Wallace and bait boy extraordinaire Jonny “Fishonee” Hinton, President Heather Killgore--owner of Killgore Adventures, Regional Tourism Coordinator Kelly Dahlquist, board members Jeanette Klobetanz--owner of Suncloud Productions and Salmon River Photography, Amy Sinclair--owner of Exodus Wilderness Adventures and general member Brenda Baugh--owner of Mountain River Outfitters. The neat thing about this day was that we all had the outfitting and guiding connection and even though we’re competitors, we are all on the same team—TEAM SALMON RIVER!!! We had a ton of fun and even caught some fish!!! Kelly Dahlquist caught a 22 ¼” hatchery, Heather Killgore caught a 25 ¼” hatchery, Brenda Baugh caught a 26” hatchery and Amy Sinclair caught a 27 ½” keeper!!

02/28/08: Two boats out today, but only one catching fish. Wendy Chamberlain and gang went out with Tony and Rusty, but only came home with some great memories!! Thanks Wendy for making the trip! We know we’ll see you again!!

Some more great folks who have been coming to River Adventures, Inc. for years came up to fish with us today!! Brad and Margene Ford and Bruce and Glenda Connelly brought some ladies to fish in the tournament, with Brad and Bruce acting as bait boys today! In all the years that Glenda has been in the tournament, today was a treat as she finally got to go above Vinegar Creek with Sam (ICE had interfered with all the other times)!! 7 fish caught in all today with several more take downs!!! Kristina Cenell caught two fish—a 23” and a 24” hatchery…Glenda Connelly caught two fish—a 23” and a 26” hatchery…and Brad’s daughter Leah Provencio (last year’s 2nd place big fish winner) caught 3 fish—two 25” hatchery keepers and a 29” keeper!!! We sure love to see our return customers come back every year!!! See you all next year!!

02/29/08: FIVE BOATS out today!! WOWZA! We got lucky after the ice went away and the ladies came a calling for that fifth boat!!! First boat out was with Mike Wallace and Jeff Wieber! Angel Long and company had a very nice day with two fish for the day…a 24” hatchery going to Angel herself and a 29 ½” keeper going to Eileen O’Laughlin!!

Tony and Rusty had a nice mixed group today with 4 fish caught for the day! Lois Barrett caught a 22 ½” keeper, while Jennifer Ingraham landed a 24 ½” native! Then Mary Farbo took home a 25” hatchery and Stacie Page topped it for the day with a 27” keeper!!!

Romine and Matt Parker went further upriver and got a few more fish too! Sarah Murray caught a two fish…a 24” hatchery and a 25 ½” hatchery! Heather Campbell caught two fish also, with a 24 ½” and a 27 ½”—both keepers! But Leslie Robinson got the big fish for the day with a nice 34” wild fish! Nice way to finish out the day ladies!

Rich and Mike Estrada had a nice day with a group of gals who work for the Idaho Fish and Game! It’s always good for those folks to see first hand how the fishery is doing!! Luckily, this was not a work day for them and fun was had by all!! 8 fish caught with 14 hookups for the day! Jenni Garren had a 24” keeper, Sue McDonald got a 24 ½” keeper, Cat Bell a 26 ½” keeper, Michelle Kemner a 27” hatchery, Cherie Barton a 31” hatchery keeper and Paula Eakens a 32” keeper also! Terry Mattulat got two today with 24” and 27” keepers!!

Sam and Jonny Hinton saw a big pocket of fish day today with 20 fish caught for the day, not including 2 Dolly Vardens, 1 Cutthroat Trout, and a Sucker fish! Kristine Kinsey and friends came all the way from the Seattle area to join in today!! The trip was sure worth it too!! Lots of girls with several fish each! Sasha Owen had a 29” native…not so bad for her only fish for the day! Kristine Kinsey had two fish…a 22 ¾” and a 24 ½”, both keepers. Lindsay Sturn also had two with a 24 ½” and a 27” native; Samantha Alt had two fish—a 23” keeper and a 30” keeper!! Sara Sarr caught 4 fish today!! Her numbers were: 22 ½” hatchery, 23” hatchery, 23” native, 25 ¼” keeper. Melissa Summers also turned in 4 fish—22 ¼” hatchery, 25” hatchery, 31 ½” native, 32 ¼” native. Brenda Cole caught the most fish today with 5! She just plain ran out of daylight or she might have been in the running! Her fish were: 20” keeper, TWO 23” keepers, a 23 ¼” keeper, and a 25” keeper! With that 20” keeper, she is now the LEADER FOR THE SMALLEST FISH OF THE TOURNAMENT! If anyone matches that, we’ll have a tie for the rod and reel giveaway!

03/01/08: We had 5 jet boats out today and 1 drift boat!! Lots of great gals on the water! Mike Hicks took out Mariah DeLong and Alice Taylor in his drift boat. Mariah caught a 21 ¼” keeper today!!

Tony and Casey took Kerry Schmidt and crew to Spring Bar! 3 fish for the day with a 22” keeper for Angie Dick, a 24 ½” keeper for Donna Leslie, and a 26” native for Marty Kelly!!

Mike Wallace and Jesse had a mixed group of gals today with only one fish caught…Shaun Mulberry was the only gal to catch a fish today with a 26” native! Thanks Shaun…she drove all the way from Idaho Falls for that fish!!!

Meanwhile, Romine and Rusty had Gail Byers and group above Vinegar today with only 2 fish today. Jennifer O’Laughlin caught a 25” keeper and Carol Cloud caught a 27 ½” hatchery keeper as well!

Rich and Mike Estrada took my old friend, Dawn Coolbaugh, out today with three fish caught. Dawn and I go way back…working together at Corporate Albertson’s long ago and we became friends because she found out that Romine was my “Papa”-in-law! She said it was a MUST that we go on Women with Bait together. The first thing that came to my mind was, “now why on earth would I go and spend money on fishing on a jet boat when I already have a guide for a husband and a jet boat to boot?” Well, after further consideration and a lot of encouragement from my husband (Rich), I decided I better go…with of course, Romine being the guide! That’s when I realized that Women with Bait wasn’t about anything else I’d experienced before!! That was a long time ago and I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would “grow up” to take over River Adventures and send all you gals out fishing! What an adventure it’s been! Crazy how stuff works out, ha? Anyway, they only got 3 fish for the day, but Dawn told me that they had the best time they’ve had in years!!! Tracey Huey caught a 25” keeper and Amy S. caught a 30” fish!! Tracey Huey caught a 24 ½ “ keeper and Amy Turner caught a 31” wild fish!! Nancy Durham takes over the 3rd PLACE BIGGEST FISH with a 35 ½” wild fish!!! WOW!

Sam and Jeff Wieber took Lisa Stevens and ladies out today with 4 fish caught! Sheryl Putnam caught a 23” keeper, while Lisa herself caught a 25” keeper! Theresa Garvey caught two fish with a 23” hatchery and a 21” hatchery!!

03/02/08: 4 boats out today…one at Spring Bar. Tony and Rusty had the PINK FLAMINGO’S today!! These girls ALWAYS have fun wherever they are!! We sure enjoy having them too! They caught 2 fish today with Terrie Jones catching a 24” keeper, while Flora Silvers caught a 27” native!

Mike Wallace had a local girl, Debbie Ruark, and some of the Debco girls on board with her today! They only caught three fish, but they sure had some fun! (I can attest to this as I saw them on the river myself!) Debco happens to be our contractor who is working on the road from Short’s Bar to Lake Creek Bridge. They were also responsible for clearing that slide that we reported earlier in the month! We are so happy to have these girls having some fun in this tournament and sure appreciate the great job they’ve done and for helping out their fellow river folks! Carla Proctor caught a 24” hatchery while Patti Dovel caught two for the day…a 24 ½” keeper and a 25 ½” keeper!!!

Meanwhile, Sammy and Jonny Hinton and celebrity bait boy candidate Cody Wilson had Michelle Simpson (from one of our sponsors, The Rodeo Club Bar & Steakhouse) on board! By the way ladies, don’t forget to look in that goody bag! You’ll see a free drink on Michelle in there FOR YOU! Don’t forget to take advantage of that ticket!! Anyway, they had a really great time with 5 fish for the day. Local girl Shari Heath caught a nice 29 ½” wild fish while her mom Vicki Heath (another local gal who fished on the Susan G. Komen cancer survivors boat) caught two for the day and both the exact same size—23 ¾” keepers! Casey Koeppen also caught two for the day…a 25” keeper and a 25 ½” native!

Okay, I know it’s not fair, but you all know how hard I’ve been working! So today was my day to go on the water…and not in a work related way!!! Just for the record, I am not eligible for the tournament so don’t worry girls, I won’t tell you about all the many and big fish I caught! Just kidding! I did catch a 24” keeper though…I was glad too ‘cause I was kind of having a dry spell! We went out with Rich and Mike Estrada today and had a ball catching 8 fish for the day! My dear friends Corrina Roe and Jeanette Klobetanz both caught a 24” keeper, while Ronda Spickelmire caught 2 fish of that very same length…24”!! Mrs. Teresa Mignerey caught three for the day with a 24”, a 25” and a 24 ½”—all keepers!! Honorable Mention goes to Wendy Hook for catching a Sucker fish!! And a special mention goes out to my very best friend in the whole wide world, Michelle Hollon!! She is extremely competitive and it really bothers her that I caught a fish and she didn’t…so I just wanted to say “nanny nanny boo boo”! (Hey…she’d do it to me! I love ya girl!)

03/03/08: We had three boats out but only 6 fish caught for the day from the ladies. They aren’t giving up yet though! I truly believe we’ll see a big finale before it’s all said and done! Tony and Rusty had a mixed group with only 1 fish caught today. Miss Sheena Pullen catching a 25 ½” keeper for the boat!

Sam and Matt Parker did one fish more with two caught on their boat. Returning participant Debra Yaritz caught a 26” keeper and Susan McCoy caught a 23” keeper.

Finally, Rich and Mike Estrada had a great group of returning gals on their boat with Linda Lazaris and crew!

These gals only caught 3 fish, but they sure made it count! TJ Andrews caught a 23” keeper! But the big news is not that Patti Sowell caught two fish, but it’s because one of them just put her as the NEW BIG FISH LEADER!! She caught a 24” keeper and a WHOPPER 37” native!!!

New Biggest Fish Leader with Patricia Sowell and a very serious bait boy, Mike Estrada!

In the above picture, you will see that Mike Estrada is extremely serious…but ladies…that’s the only picture they have as they treat these native fish with a lot of TLC and it was only out of the water for seconds. Mike is one of the best deck hands we have and he’s very serious about caring for these fish! Thanks Mike for taking such good care of the fish and the ladies!

03/04/08: No boats out today.

03/05/08: One drift boat out today with Mike Hicks, who had the father/daughter team of Kent and Deidre Goldthorpe. Really nice people and they had a very nice day! Daddy Kent caught a 27” fish while Deidre had a fish on and fought it for awhile, but unfortunately it knew the drill and spit the hook! Better luck next time!!

03/06/08: 1 boat out today with Tony and Jonny Hinton took some ladies out but only boated one fish today. Tanna Elsberry caught a 22 ½” keeper!!

03/07/08: 4 boats out today, with Tony and Rusty at Spring Bar. They boated two fish for the day…Debra Henninger caught a 23” keeper while Lanett Palmer caught a 24” keeper! The guys said it was while Jim and Andy were filming on board, so hopefully we’ll see them on television soon!!!

The next boat we had out was with Romine and Matt Parker!! This was Jacqui King and her group of “OR” nurses!! The next time you are being operated on in Boise at St. Lukes Hospital…take a look around as these gals may know how to fish as well as how to save your life! They caught 7 fish for the day! Cindi Baker caught a 22” keeper while Denice Lyman caught a 25” hatchery. Jacqui King caught a 27” keeper while Kallie Forsberg caught a 27” keeper AND a 24” keeper! Denice Matthiesen also caught two fish for the day with two 23” keepers!!

Our next boat out Rich and Jonny, who took our very own sponsors from Sportsman’s Warehouse!! They caught 10 fish for the day with one girl catching 4!! Hilda Gonzales caught a 27 ¾” keeper and Andrea Johnson caught two fish today: a 27” wild fish and a 30” keeper! Debbie Betzel caught three fish: two fish were 23 ¾” keepers and one was a 26” keeper!! Cindy Pratt was the big fish catcher today with 4 fish…a 24” hatchery, a 24 ½” hatchery, a 25 ½” wild fish and a 26” keeper! We want to especially thank Angela Mikesell and Clayton Upshaw from Sportsman’s Warehouse…without them, there would be no awesome shirts, cool hats, great coupons, great gift certificates, etc., etc., etc.! I also want to personally thank them for all their hard work on the Susan G. Komen project—they helped make some pretty special ladies extremely happy!!

Last boat for the day was with Sammy Joe and Mike Estrada!! They knocked ‘em dead up above Vinegar today with a total of 14 fish caught and about 20 hookups! Let me just start by telling you that Judy Bauer is a very lucky woman…. Okay, we’ll start out with Patricia Papiez, who caught two fish: a 23” keeper and a 25” wild fish! ZoeAnn Greenfield caught 3 fish: a 24” wild fish, a 25 ½” keeper and a 27” keeper!! Then Debra Tish caught 4 fish and a couple of them were hawgs! She got a 25” keeper, a 26” keeper, a 33” wild and a 33 ½” wild fish!! Then we come down to Ms. Debbie Livesay! Holy Cow!! SHE WAS SO CLOSE! She got 5 fish and had her 6th fish on….Sam said she would have easily went over 170” with the last fish on…but was simply not to be and the fish came off! The tension and excitement was so high!! She ended up with two 24” keepers, a 25” keeper, a 32” keeper and a 32” wild. I tell ya…this stuff is just about to give me a heart attack! So far, Judy, you are safe! But great job Debbie! Way to give a great effort!

Okay ladies and gentlemen…Women with Bait in 2008 is officially winding down!! I am pretty excited about the annual “FISH” Dance and awards ceremony tomorrow night at Summerville’s!! Everything should probably start around 8 p.m. and then dancing all night long to “River Rock”…Sammy Joe’s band!!! They are pretty darn good and they always make sure we’re all having a great time with some great beats! The Outdoor Channel and the program “Western Extremes” host and producer, Jim Burnworth, will be in attendance with the very adorable cameraman Andy!! They will be getting their final shots and interviews for the show!! Also in attendance will be Shane Hinson, of Hinson Power Sports. He is our AWESOME sponsor of the 1st prize most fish—the brand new ATV!!! Don’t forget to say hello to my dear friend Glenna, who makes every event absolutely amazing—especially the venue of Summerville’s, her side-kick Beetle…she’s running the bar at Summerville’s and she’ll make sure you are never thirsty! Also, make sure to give a special thanks to Kim Zohlman of the Riggins One Stop for the 2nd place biggest fish $300.00 gift certificate, Shelley Rambo of Steve Rambo Jewelers…they donated the 3rd prize of the beautiful strand of pearls (EVERY GIRL needs a good set of pearls!). Last but not least, Mr. Tony Bradbury for the 2nd place most fish prize…a stay for 20 at the Lodge at the Riggins Hot Springs! He’s not only a guide, but he’s a business-owner here too and he understands how much every person coming to Riggins means!! I’m sure I’m forgetting someone here…but we just want to thank anyone and everyone who helps us with this tournament!!

03/08/08: WHEW!!!! It’s finally over! I can’t believe the tournament is finally over! All I can think about is “Let’s DANCE!” Let’s get right to the final day and final results!!

4 jet boats and 2 drift boats out today! Norm Klobetanz and Matt Parker fished the Spring Bar area with Norm boating three fish—all hatchery keepers, for the day! Michelle Harris landed a 24” keeper, while her friend Jennifer Kienle landed a 22” and a 29 ½”!! What a beautiful day to be on a drift boat!

Also at Spring Bar, was Tony and Jonny Hinton. They did great today with 5 fish for their boat! Anne Berry took home a 21” keeper, Selina Heck a 22 ¾” keeper, and Pam Gastelecutto a 23 ½” keeper!! Sabrina McFarland got lucky with two fish—a 24 ½” keeper and a 28 ¾” keeper! Tony said he was sorry to see it all end and looks forward to next year!

Meanwhile, Sam and Jeff Wieber took some old friends of River Adventures above Vinegar Creek! Nadine Burak and her husband Steve (not present today, but comes every year in the Fall!) have been customers of River Adventures since the beginning and we just wanted to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for sticking with Sam and us! I personally adore Nadine and think she’s one of the coolest chicks around! Anyway, they got four fish for the day today and every single one of them measured at 25”!! We’re pretty sure they didn’t keep catching the same fish, but no one is saying! Angela Barber got a 25” wild fish, and so did Teresa Hughes!!! Sue Ryder got one 25” hatchery and one 25” wild!!

Rich and Rusty got 5 fish for the day with another great group of girls!! They all donned t-shirts saying “Broads with Bait”!! These gals have been coming for years also…Colleen Phelps, Lisa Churchman, Renae Lewis, Beth Millick, Jessie Hawkins and Patty Farley said this was BY FAR…THE BEST YEAR EVER! They had a blast and have already booked for next year! Beth caught a 26” wild fish, Lisa caught a 24” wild and a 23 ½” hatchery; Jessie caught a 27” wild and a 28” hatchery!!

Romine and Casey had some lovely ladies on board today as well with a total of 5 fish!! Cheryl Gray and Shannon Shade BOTH caught a 24” each…and both wild! Connie DeMond caught a whopper at 32” native!! And Elaine Banberry caught two fish…one at 25” (native) and one at 26” (hatchery).

WE JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED AND ALL OF OUR SPONSORS FOR MAKING THIS THE BIGGEST AND BEST YEAR OF WOMEN WITH BAIT YET!

WE FISHED 642 WOMEN, CATCHING 621 FISH!

FINAL RESULTS:

We had some awesome prizes to give away from Sportsman’s Warehouse, Canyon Lites Candle Company, Mountain Reflections, and much, much more! We raised $1,579.00 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and congratulations to Melissa Blimka on her winning bid for a boat for next year!!!!

Thanks to the River Rock Band for providing SUPREME entertainment at the FISH DANCE!!!!!!