River Adventures LTD Riggins Idaho - Sport Fishing, Jet Boat Tours, Drift Boats, & Whitewater Rafting.

2008 Women With Bait

13th Annual Women’s Steelhead Tournament

February 1st through March 8th, 2008
Cost: $175.00 per contestant
Grand Prize (most fish/inches):
2008 Bombardier CanAm Outlander 4-wheeler ATV,
Sponsored by:


Hinson Power Sports
Largest Fish:
Fish Mount sponsored by:
Animal Kingdom Taxidermy

Big Fish!
2nd place (most fish/inches):
1-night stay for up to 20 at the Lodge at
Riggins Hot Springs, sponsored by: 

The Lodge
2nd Largest Fish:
$300 Gift Certificate from:


Riggins One Stop

 Women With Bait 08

3rd place (most fish/inches):
Hell’s Canyon “Sturgeon Excursion” sponsored by:


River Adventures, Inc

River Adventures
3rd Largest Fish:
A BEAUTIFUL strand of Pearls from:

Steve Rambo LogoSteve Rambo Jewelry
Everyone Wins!

We would like to thank ALL of our sponsors who we absolutely could not do any of this without:

Sportsman's Warehouse

Angela, Clayton & the CREW: for the annual Women with Bait T-shirts, hats, gift certificates and tons of really great prizes in every bag!

 Hinson Power Sports

Shane, Jim and crew for the AWESOME machines you provide us…and don’t forget the “sleds”, the service and most of all—your friendship!!

coke

Greg & Co: for Shirts, hats, and TONS of yummy drinks and way cool Coca-Cola “stuff”! Thanks for joining our family! 

Okuma high performance 

Jeff: for Rods, reels and lots of other cool fishin’ stuff!

River Rock Cafe 

Kim, Janeen & Crew: for all the “stuff” to stuff into the goody bags and boat prizes!!! 

Best Western 

Kristen, Cathy & crew: for letting us invade your beautiful facility for a month and make this a wonderful success! 

Summerville’s Café & American Bar
Glenna & Crew: for the goody bag coupons, the “FISH DANCE”, and all the support!!
Riggins One Stop!
Kim, Eddie & gang: for all your support since the beginning!

Also, much thanks to: Shane and Jim Hinson at Hinson Power Sports; Greg Blank at Coca-Cola Bottling in Lewiston; Tony Bradbury and family; Craig at Animal Kingdom Taxidermy; Angela Mikesell (local girl!) and Clayton Upshaw (Wishes he was a local) from Sportsman’s Warehouse; Patty Gordon with McCall Ladies Golf; The Hackler Family at Pinehurst Trading Post; Kim and Janeen at the River Rock Café; Kim, Eddie and crew at the Riggins One Stop; Cathy at Canyon Lites Candle Company; Glenna at Summerville’s; Michelle at the Rodeo Club Bar & Steakhouse; Casey at the Pautzke Bait Company; Richelle at the Current Newspaper; Tonya at Mountain Reflections; Shelley and Steve Rambo at Steve Rambo Fine Jewelry; and Jeanette at Salmon River Photography/Suncloud Productions/Idaho Arts & Gifts and my dearest J.J. for helping us with EVERYTHING, EVERYDAY!; and Hurricane Bob—just because! And our hats are always off to the entire community of Riggins, for showing these ladies what hospitality is all about!

Last but not least…our most important message is:

Give to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation! Remember—1 in 8 women WILL get breast cancer! 

Komen for the Cure 

Daily Fishing Results for 2008 Women With Bait Derby

Ship's Ahoy with Chris Coy and Crew!2/1/08: The tournament has finally started!!! Luckily, no snow today but a little windy down at Hammer Creek to start! Chris Coy and her pirate crew came out in style with some serious buccaneer attire...their guide Romine and bait boy Mike joined in on the fun too!! All the girls fished hard with Chris herself catching two! One was a 23” hatchery and a nice 34” native…so that’s the one to beat so far ladies!! J.J. and I met one of tomorrow’s groups as they were pulling into Salmon Rapids Lodge this afternoon. They were looking hungry for fish, so we’re looking forward to a great report tomorrow! Rich said he was going up to Spring Bar while Sam and Tony head back down to Hammer. Sam is searching to repeat Wendy Hafer’s big win last year over the first weekend. Wendy said just last week she sure does love her new 4-wheeler! Thanks Hinson Power Sports! Until tomorrow…

2/2/08: Yahoo, it’s Saturday and we had three boats out today. Tony and Sam headed for Hammer and Rich tried out Spring Bar. There was a little ice to contend with at Spring Bar, but nothing too crazy. The girls still managed to have a “raging good time”, I believe the quote for the day was! Angela Aeschbacher managed to pull in a 25 ½” keeper before the day was done. They had about 5-6 different hookups but none were successful in landing them. Rich and Jeff said it wasn’t because they didn’t give it their best try! The fish are definitely up there…they are just waiting for the girls to come and get ‘em!

Meanwhile, down at Hammer, Tony was kind of in the same situation as Rich…the fish were there but the girls were having some hard luck trying to get them in the net. They ended up landing nothing for the day, but again, they sure gave it their best try! Kim made sure they had the first round of toddies on River Adventures… we didn’t want them to go home completely empty-handed! Don’t give up girls…that’s why they call it “fishing” and not “catching”!

Now Sam on the other hand, had the Roxann Marshall crew with him and they have done themselves proud with 8 fish for the day…with 12 total hookups! Roxann herself brought in two fish: a 23 ¼” and a 26” keeper; her daughter Jenny Buckner brought home a nice 30” hatchery while Liz Rehn landed two—a 23” and a 24” hatchery. Marie Endecott also brought two keepers home with a 24” and a 31 ¼”. Lauren Bruett added another keeper at 25”. Roxann just called and said if the wind hadn’t come up, they were sure they would have been successful at landing some more! Great job ladies!

Roxanne Marshall and her Amigas!

2/3/08: Sunday brought us two boats…both of combined groups of girls. Rich again went up to Spring Bar with Jill Marolf’s group and Tamara Magnuson’s group. Susan McCoy brought in a 25” keeper with several hookups throughout the day, including a HUGE wild fish that Tamara Magnuson unfortunately lost before Mike could get it in the net! Those darn fish know how to do that special roll to get out of that hook sometimes!!

Sammy Joe has the new fish leader on his boat today! Diane Ford’s group, along with Terri Jacobsen, had some really great fishing down at Hammer! Terri took home a very nice 31 ½” keeper!! Great job Terri! Terri’s been a very loyal customer of RA and we sure are happy to see her again in the tourney! Andrea Creek also brought home a couple of keepers—24 ¾” and 31” even. But the big news is with Miss Paula Prescott, who is our new TOURNEY LEADER!! She has 5 fish ladies: 24 ¾” H, 23 ½” H, 27 ½” W, 24 ½” H, and 22” H for a total of 122 ¼”!! Congrats Paula and cross your fingers as this thing has just begun!!!!

Current tournament leader Paula Prescott with fish #5!

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:

Massive rock slide above French Creek

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

Breast Cancer Survivor Becky Evans showing off her beauty on the Salmon River

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 1
sisters-Take 2
Sisters-Take 2
Sisters-Take 3
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 1/2" keeper!
Suzann Palmer with a 34 ½” keeper!
The Tennessee girls with friend Dewayne Burnett-Go Volunteers!
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”!

Captain Mike Wallacewith a "heapa fish" that his ladies caught!

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!

Beautiful girls Marsha, Marcena, J.J., Taylie, Sarah, Dawn, Joyce2nd 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!
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
Terri with #6!
Megan 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!!!

Guide Rich and teh 'Chicas'!
New Biggest Fish Leader with Patricia Sowell and a very serious bait boy, Mike Estrada!

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!!

BIG NEWS EVERYONE!

We just got a call from Jim Burnworth, producer and host of the Outdoor Channel program “Western Extreme”!! They will be in town all weekend covering the last couple of days of the tournament and also the awards ceremony at Summerville’s!! So if you ladies happen to be in town over the weekend, make sure you tell them hello and let them know how much we appreciate them traveling here and covering our very special event!!!

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:

1ST PLACE—MOST FISH/INCHES:
Judy Bauer, 6 fish, 150 ½”

2nd PLACE—MOST FISH/INCHES:
Megan Jones, 6 fish, 150”

3rd PLACE—MOST FISH/INCHES:
Terri Hogmire, 6 fish, 146 ¾”

 

1st PLACE—BIGGEST FISH:
Patricia Sowell—37” native

2nd PLACE—BIGGEST FISH:
Candi Dobson—36” hatchery

3rd PLACE—BIGGEST FISH:
Nancy Durham—35 ½” native

SMALLEST FISH:
Brenda Cole—20” hatchery

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!!!!!!


12th Annual Women’s Steelhead Tournament

Riggins Idaho Women With Bait Steelhead TournamentFeb. 1st thru March 3rd, 2007
Cost is $175.00 per lady
All you’ll need is your fishing license, steelhead permit, and lunch!
Soft drinks and water will be provided by Pepsi of Boise—thanks to Vance Miller @ Pepsi!!
River Adventures will furnish all the gear and a bait boy!!
At sign up, we’ll have “goody bags” full of really cool stuff!!

Don’t miss the FISH DANCE which will be held on Saturday night,
March 3rd, at Seven Devils Steakhouse & Saloon
-- where all the prizes for the tournament will be awarded!

Women's Steelhead Tournament at Riggins, Idaho Women With Bait Steelhead Tournament Women's Steelhead Tournament 2-1-07 thru 3-3-07 Riggins, Idaho Women With Bait Tournament

2007 Women with bait prizes

Grand Prize (most fish/inches):
New Honda Rancher ES 4-wheeler ATV,
Sponsored by:

 

Largest Fish:
Fish Mount sponsored by:
Animal Kingdom Taxidermy

2nd place (most fish/inches):
1-night stay for up to 20 at the Lodge at
Riggins Hot Springs, sponsored by:

2nd Largest Fish:
$200 Gift Certificate sponsored by:
Riggins One Stop

3rd place (most fish/inches):
Beautiful women's watch, sponsored by:

3rd Largest Fish:
Polarized Sunglasses sponsored by:
Vision Quest Medical Center

We would like to thank ALL of our sponsors who we absolutely could not do any of this without:

Angela & the CREW: for the annual Women with Bait T-shirts, hats, gift certificates and tons of really great prizes in every bag!

Vance & Co: for Shirts, hats, and TONS of yummy drinks and way cool Pepsi-stuff!

Jeff: for Rods, reels and lots of other cool fishin’ stuff!

Kristen, Cathy & crew: for letting us invade your beautiful facility for a month and make this a wonderful success!

There will also be a random drawing for an exquisite string of pearls from Rambo Jewelers for filling out our survey that you will receive in your goody bag!
And a drawing for a fuel voucher from Crump’s Chevron!!

Also, much thanks to: Cathy at Canyon Lites Candle Company; Jan at Canyon Jan’s; Glenna at Seven Devils Steakhouse & Saloon; Michelle at the Rodeo Club; Casey at the Pautzke Bait Company; Richelle at the Current Newspaper; Tonya at Mountain Reflections; our dear friend Jeanette at Salmon River Photography/Suncloud Productions/Idaho Arts & Gifts for all of her patience, amazing photographs and ideas; finally, Shelley Rambo and Carol Clements for all of their knowledge, support, and advice…and of course, for all the laughs! And our hats are always off to the entire community of Riggins, for showing these ladies what hospitality is all about!

DON’T FORGET!!
This year, we would really like to see at least 7 ladies per boat!!
Once you officially reserve your spot, we will ask for a 50% deposit with the remainder of the balance needing to be paid on the morning of your check-in date.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Tournament fees are non-refundable unless River Adventures or you can find another lady to take your place. River Adventures will refund your fees in full after your replacement has paid in full.

Women With Bait 2007 DVD Slide Show
(2004 - 2006 also available)

COLOR PHOTOS combined with ACTION VIDEO and
UPBEAT MUSIC brought this steelhead tournament to life!

New! Your photos can be added!
Simply email Jeannette your JPEG images within a few days of your trip!
The final version will be available the first of March.

This exciting show reveals the tournament winners along with fun filled days on the Salmon and Snake Rivers fishing with RIVER ADVENTURES LTD. The action packed slide show reveals over 230 photos of ladies, their friends, and the elusive steelhead! This high quality DVD plays on most set top DVD players and DVD *computer drives.

Cost is $25 and includes tax & shipping (within the U.S.A.)

To place an order:
Email – jeannette@suncloud.biz
Include your mailing address & phone #

Mail a check or money order to:
SunCloud Productions
P.O. Box 211
Riggins, ID 83549
208.628.3307

Orders will be filled upon receipt of payment.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
*If using an older DVD player, specify DVD+R or DVD/R

2/1/07
No fishers

2/2/07
We're off and running up here in Riggins with 20 ladies fishing today! Due to the heavy ice upriver, we fished 2 boats over on the Snake in Hell's Canyon and 1 down at Hammer Creek on the lower Salmon. Gina Kuehl caught a 23 1/2" hatchery fish. Nancy Petross--24" hatchery, and Carrie Nelson--a 25" keeper over on the Snake. Meanwhile, the girls were on fire on the lower Salmon! All hatchery fish were caught by 4 ladies--with a total of 10 fish for the boat. Victoria Brooks--1 fish @ 21 1/2"; Sam Logan--2 fish @ 24" and 33"; Anne Slayton--2 fish at 25" and 32 1/2"; and finally, OUR TOURNAMENT LEADER Wendy Hafer--5 fish at 23", 26 1/2", 27 1/2", 31 1/2", and 33". What an awesome start to our busy month! We're looking forward to more ladies and a warmer weather forecast which should send us back upriver soon! We'll update more in the next few days!

2/3/07
30 ladies traveled to Riggins to take part in the tournament today! Jenny Buckner caught a 22 1/2" hatchery while her mom, Roxanne Marshall, caught a 26" wild fish; Marie Endecott--a 23" and a 33" hatchery; Kimberly Fournier--a 24" hatchery; Becky DeMark--a 27 1/2" hatchery. Karen Daniels caught a 27 native. Carol Andrews caught a 33 1/2" hatchery, a 22" native & 24" hatchery--this is a gal who is in her 50's and never remembers fishing!!! We all question that now! Almost all the guides and bait boys are down with "the crud"--but they are struggling through it! Don't forget ladies--TIP YOUR GUIDES!!!! They really deserve it, especially when they are dealing with the flu bug!!! And we all know how boys are when they are sick!!!

2/4/27
16 ladies fished today! On Romine's boat, Joyce Pottenger, a friend of ours who has fished in this tournament every year since 2000, finally caught herself a nice big keeper--31"!! Congrats Joyce! J.J. Hopkins (River Adventures employee of the month!) caught herself a 22" and a 22 1/2" keeper as well. Meanwhile, her mom-in-law Robbin Hopkins caught a very nice 33 1/2" keeper also! Way to go ladies!

Over on Tony's boat, he and Jonny had their hands full with a few competitive anglers of their own in Chris Coy's group! Denise Martin caught a 23" hatchery; while Chris Coy, Wendy Shell, and Rebecca Winter duked it out with 2 fish a piece! Chris caught 2 hatchery fish at 24 1/4" and 25"; Wendy caught 2 wilds--27" and 27 1/2"; and Rebecca had a 25" hatchery and a 33" hatchery. A fun time was had by all!!

On Sam's boat, he only had 4 ladies and NO BAIT BOY--but he still managed to land Yvette Monroe a 23" keeper and Mia Ridley a 31" hatchery fish. To top it off, Mia is leading the tournament with the biggest fish at 36"!! Way to go Mia! Sam did all of this while battling that nasty flu bug! What a guide! We are so glad to report he is feeling much better after a few days of rest and thera-flu!

2/5/07
What a gorgeous day in Riggins today! It reached almost 60 degrees in Riggins itself and on the river, the fishing was hot with 14 ladies fishing out of Hammer Creek! Angie Dick caught a 23" wild fish, while Kayla Adams landed a nice 33" keeper! Another great day on the river!

2/6/07
No fishers.

2/7/07
Today we wanted to take some time to appreciate the ladies of the Best Western, Salmon Rapids Lodge! We fished 7 of their employees and what a blast they had! They have helped us make the sign-ups go so smoothly and really show off our event the way it should be done!! Thanks everyone at the lodge! We are so glad you had a great time! And our hats are off to Barb Galli, who caught a 27" wild fish and to Lorraine Campbell who took home a 25 1/2" and a 26" fish! Way to go ladies!

2/8/07
17 ladies came from far and wide to fish on this beautiful February day! Big numbers were brought in and a new leader too!

First of all, let's start with a few girls on Liz Mamer's downriver group with Rich. Cat Becker got herself a 27 1/2" keeper, while Karen Frank got a 24 1/2" as well. But today's big winner was Liz herself! She pulled in a 21" hatchery fish--which puts her in the lead for the smallest fish! Way to go Liz! She is now in the running for that rod and reel combo, sponsored by Okuma!

As we move upriver, Sammy Joe's boat had 5 ladies and a little ice to deal with. So, they were thankful that Vicki Hatfield landed a 27" keeper! The ladies still had lots of fun and Sammy said they were super fisher-women!

But the big numbers came from Romine's boat! He only had 3 fishing holes to fish in due to the ice build-up, but his girls found a pocket and landed 17 hatchery fish! We had 3 ladies that were really trying to take the lead away from Wendy Hafer's 141.5 inches, however, they didn't quite make it. Cherie Barton caught 4 fish--22 1/2", 23", 23 1/2", and 28 1/2"; then we have Michele Andrew, also with 4 fish--33 1/2", 34 1/2", 32 1/2", and 33", but Keely Duke is now in 2nd place for most fish with 5 fish--23", 23 1/2", 24", 25", and 26" for a total of 121.5 inches! She's already making plans for that Riggins Hot Springs Lodge prize! We don't want to forget to mention a few other ladies who landed some nice fish that day as well--Kathy Reynolds landed a 22 1/2"; Mary Faurot got a 24"; and Michelle Kemner caught 2--a 22 1/2" and a 27 1/2". What an awesome day of fishing!!! Way to catch 'em girls!!!

2/9/07
15 ladies came today to fish all together, but split up between Romine and Sam. The word got out about yesterday's big catch up river, so the battle was on! Both boats did pretty well and we're announcing a new leader as well. On Romine's boat, Erin Ingersoll had a 24" hatchery, Shelly Williams a 25", and Jentry Fife a 29" keeper. Christy Snider got 2 with a 23" and a 27 1/2" keeper. Meanwhile, on Sammy's boat, we had several ladies who caught fish. Vicki Jarvis landed a 24" keeper, Pearl Bengochea got a 26", Cammie Garner a 31". Congratulations to Maureen Crowell who got 2--a 20 1/2 native and a 26" hatchery. That puts Maureen as our new leader for the smallest fish! Corinne Faught got 3 fish--a 21 1/2", a 23" and a 24" keeper. Well done ladies!

Our hearts and prayers are still with Rich, Tony and Scott Warden--they all are the newest victims of this deadly crud that is going around! Get better soon guys! This stuff is nasty, so everyone needs to double up on the Vitamin C and Echinacea!!! Thank you to Amy and Exodus for providing us some back up with guides and boats! Jeff Wieber is joining us for a couple of days until we get through this flu business! Good luck to everyone and we'll check in tomorrow!!!

2/10/2007
Holy Cow Everyone! I think we have a new record at WWB!! On this day, we fished a whopping 37 ladies and landed 30 fish for the day! Sammy J. thinks that is definitely the most ever ladies fished in one day! How awesome! We loved having all of you up this weekend and hoped you had fun as well!

We are still dealing with ice, but are slowly making our way upriver into some new hot spots. Aleta Gilbert was able to land a 25 1/2" wild one on Romine's boat. We had alot of new ladies on his boat and Romine was pretty bummed out that they didn't catch more....but I think they understand that is why they call it "fishing" and not "catching"!! We know a few of the gals that were on his boat and they are local girls--they know how it goes on the Salmon! They said they'll be back for revenge on the fish next year! Thanks ladies! Romine still had a great time fishing with you girls!

Rich was still at Hammer Creek as there just wasn't enough room upriver with all that darn ice. So, he took some more local girls and their friends to stalk the big ones down there! Linda Schweich (who, by the way, flew all the way from Las Vegas, NV, to join us this weekend) and Sandy DeVinney both caught 23" keepers. Rexann Zimmerman--owner of the Riggins Tackle Shop and Liquor Store, was the proud owner of a 31" hatchery fish!! Way to go ladies! Rich also extended a little incentive to his ladies this day...."the next lady to catch a fish wins a new Okuma rod and reel combo!" Congratulations to Linda Schweich! She hooked one in less than 2 minutes after he said that! You never know what kind of great stuff you can win at Women with Bait!!!!

Moving back upriver to Spring Bar, Jeff Wieber (our fill-in for Tony who was still out sick) had a great day with 6 ladies on his boat. He reported that Eileen Wheeler took home both a 23" and a 28" keeper while Teri Skerjanec took home a 26 1/2" keeper. Angel Long caught a whopper wild one at 34". Thanks Jeff for a wonderful job! I know he had a good time with his group and we look forward to seeing alot more of him!!!

Also at Spring Bar, was our very own "Jonny Fishonee"--Jonny Hinton! Most of you know him as one of our resident bait boys. But Jonny is seriously working on taking over guiding these boats and he's doing an amazing job with our 22' inboard open sled. Karla Brown's group (from McCall) decided they wanted to try the sled out and I think they were glad they did! Mary McAlonie landed a 22" keeper, while Shawn Briley got a 29 1/4" native and a 31 1/2" keeper. Karla Brown didn't do too bad herself with a 23" native and a 24 1/4" native. But the big winner today was Michelle Applebee! Wow, she really slayed them by catching 4 keepers--22", 22 1/4", 26" and 27 1/2". If there was only more light in the day, she would have been in the running for the most fish! A great effort by all ladies!

Finally, upriver on Sam's boat, his ladies ended up with 14 fish for the day. He got into a little ice while trying to break it out so they could get a little higher upriver, and then got lucky by finding a pocket of steelhead! Sarah Murray landed a 21" hatchery, while Danell Dew went home with a 28" keeper; Heather Campbell got a 26 1/2" and Shelly Nolen a 28 1/2" keeper. Brandee Robbins got 3 fish--two 23" hatchery and a 29" keeper. Sherri Potter also got 3 fish--a 24", a 27" and a 31 1/4"--all keepers. Brittney Allison got 4 fish for the day--all hatchery--two 23", a 24" and a 25". What an effort gals!

We'll check in soon! Thanks for the great day ladies!

2/11/07
We fished 30 ladies today! Rich had a boat at Spring Bar and what a great day they had. Not necessarily big numbers but still 10 for the day. I was lucky enough to go along on this trip and I have to say, I was so glad as there were some very special moments with a very special lady. Her name is Kiera Yaritz and she is our youngest competitor ever at a mere 8 years old! She showed up in this little pink snow suit from head to toe, and I thought to myself, "this could be a long day." I have a 4 year old and I know how short their attention span is, so I was sure that she wasn't going to make it past noon on such a chilly and drizzly day. But folks, I am here to tell you, she was such a delight and totally caught all of our hearts! Not only did she NOT give up, but she pretty much outfished us all! She kept her pole in the water ALL DAY LONG! She was very intent on catching not just one fish, but as many as she could. She was the first to catch anything with a nice bull trout early in the trip. But she wasn't about to stop there. She ended up reeling in (all by herself) and nice 23 1/2" keeper that she was able to take home and show her little brother and her Dad! Her Mom was on the trip with us and I don't know if I've ever seen anyone prouder! But the topper of the day was late in the afternoon when she hooked a monster steelhead! Jonny Hinton, who by the way, was so very patient and such a special teacher throughout the day, helped her every second during her fishing experience. And Kiera was a good listener and student. She hooked this monster and finally Mom had to step in and help her keep the rod up so she could reel. We all got a really good look at this fish and Jonny and Rich figured it was at least 34"! Now for us adults, that's a great fish, but we could probably handle it. For an 8 year old, that's a small shark! We estimated she fought this native lunker for about 10 minutes before he finally decided that the show was over, took a roll and spit the hook for good. But you know, she never stopped smiling. Jonny told her that was what fishing was about....losing those big ones was what would make her come back. She had such a great attitude and was just happy to do as well as she did...which was way better than I did!! It was such a special day. I'll never forget that little girl and I hope she comes back year after year!

I don't want to have any of our other ladies on Rich's trip to feel any less special! We also had some super gals on there and we all became fast friends! Carmen Hartley, who had never really fished before, caught 3 keepers--a 21 1/4", a 22" and a 24". Kiera's Mom even managed a couple of fish with a 24" keeper and a 25" native. Tracy Custer also caught a nice native at 23 1/2" and her friend Annette Alonso caught the largest of the trip at 30"! The eldest of our ladies at 67 (sorry Gail)--and my great and personal friend, Gail Garwick, was happy to take home a 21" keeper--which puts her in a tie for second smallest fish with Liz Mamer! Way to go Gail!

Upriver, Romine's ladies caught 5 fish. Donna Flood caught a 21 1/2", and Cathy Jerrems caught a 24". Pam Bradetich caught a 27" while Anne McCoy also caught a 23" and a 27". Romine said even though the fishing was a little slow, a good time was had by all!

Meanwhile, over on Sammy's boat, Tracie Pottenger's girls (several came all the way from sunny California) were having a great time! Tracie's Mom Nancy caught her first steelhead with a 24 1/2" keeper, while her sister Tina Beatty caught a 23" keeper. Her other sister Tricia Shindle, who is due to have her first baby in May, caught a 24" keeper. We saw her husband upriver and I think she outfished him--way to go girl! And Tracie's best friend from California, Jamie Knibbe, caught 2 fish--a 23" Hatchery and a 25" keeper as well. I personally know these girls and they all know how to have a great time! See you gals this summer!

2/12/07
Sam and Romine fished the Dick and Patty Waltz group today. They decided to have the husbands against the wives today but split them between both boats. On Sam's boat, one of his only gals--Rachel Fenton, caught a 23" keeper. I'd like to believe she outfished all the boys on that boat! Meanwhile, on Romine's boat, a lady named Jan caught a 23 1/2" fish. Keep up the good work girls--we gotta stick together and show those boys how it's done!

Tony is finally back and off of his death bed. We were worried about him as the nasty "west nile bird flu" took hold of him about a week and a half ago. Thanks again to Jeff Wieber for filling in. He took Judy Bauer's group up to Spring Bar today. Kerrigan Kalange caught a 24" keeper while Jennie Marson caught two 25 1/2" keepers. Glad to have you back Tony!!!

2/14/07
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! We hope you all got something from your sweeties! If not, buy yourself something nice! You deserve it!

Romine and Johnny P. were the only team out on the river today with a mixed group of 6 ladies. Terri Jacobsen caught a 23" fish, Shawna Vollmer caught a 23 1/2" fish and Sherry Jacobsen caught a 27" fish. Hope you girls had fun and ate lots of chocolate!!!!!

2/15/07
Romine had 1 boat of the Kris VanCleave girls upriver with him today. Unfortunately, they were still stuck behind the ice and only caught one and it was Kris herself (who happens to now be a "local" girl as she is finally moving here on the river! See what the Salmon River does to people?) who landed a 24"!

Meanwhile, Rich was fishing out of Spring Bar and his boat of the Kris VanCleave girls caught 8 for the day. Jamie Naegele and Jessica Nelson both caught 26" keepers, while Jean Gillespie caught a 26 1/2" keeper as well. Karen Dillon caught a 22 1/2" wild one, while Briedi Gillespie caught 2--a 23" keeper and a 24" native. Kim Stoddard also caught a 21 1/4" keeper and a 24" keeper. Rich had told me that his boat had a lot of first time WWB'ers...I hope we'll see them back next year!

2/16/07
Romine had 8 ladies today. Tara Seabaugh caught a 25 1/2" keeper while Karen Graham landed a 32" native and a 32" keeper.

UPDATED LEADER CHANGE! My apologies to Liz Mamer and Maureen Crowell! I accidentally did not announce that her fish on 2/9/07 was actually leading for the smallest fish so far at 20 1/2"! That would put Liz Mamer and Gail Garwick tied for 2nd smallest fish at 21"!

Sam had 7 ladies fishing with 5 fish caught: Kresta Davis-Butts caught a 27 1/2" keeper; Melissa Blimka caught a 21 1/2" native, Lissa Colyar landed a 22 1/2" hatchery, while Susan Pfeifer caught 2 fish--a 22 1/2" hatchery and a 27" wild one.

2/17/07
We've had alot of ladies upset that we haven't been updating this site often enough. We apologize for this and have just been waiting for all the guides to give us their reports. At the end of the day, they are pretty pooped and often forget until they are almost to town. Most of you realize how rough that Salmon River Road is right now, so they think "I'll get it tomorrow". And then here we are. So, all I can say is please bear with us and we'll do the best we can. I'm just going to go ahead and report what I have and fill in the rest as it comes. We will show a spreadsheet at the end and post that as well. If anyone has any information we're missing or mis-reporting (one of our guides put the wrong fish next to the wrong names--sorry about that--see 2/11--Donna Flood and Cathy Jerrums!). WE LOVE ALL YOU LADIES AND PLEASE KNOW WE'RE DOING OUR BEST!

Okay, back to the tournament! On the 17th, we had a big day with alot of ladies. 32 ladies in all came up to start off our President's Day weekend! Although the fish seemed to be sleeping today, everyone seemed to have a great time. Shari Aeverman caught a 23" hatchery steelhead over on Sam's boat. Romine had a fun bunch from the Lakeview Golf Club in Meridian and they did their best to show their bait boys (two of their husbands) how it was done! Mimi Beutter and Marla Marchant both took home 23" keepers, while Darlene Davis herself caught a 24" keeper. Tony's girls also caught a few with Laurie catching two fish--a 27" native and a 31" hatchery. Robin caught a 28" keeper.

2/18/07
This was another great day for fishing on the water, but the weather left much to be desired--lots of rain and sogginess! Still, Romine's ladies had a great day with a total of 10 fish caught between 6 ladies. Sonia Caldwell--22" hatchery; Ida Sweet--23" keeper; Marcia Bain--25" keeper; Karen Stark--27 1/2" keeper. Deanna Lee caught 2 fish--a 27 1/2" and a 28" fish, while Deborah Fisher was trying to live up to her last name by catching 4 fish--21", 27 1/2", 22 1/2" and 30 1/2". Way to go ladies!

Sam's boat, unfortunately, had a slow pocket of fishing but still produced one fish for Patti Schneider with a 23" keeper. She drove a long way and her group really had a great time as well--even in the rain!

Rich's boat had Pam Hoogland's group aboard today. We always love to take Pam as she's part of the family up here in Riggins! Pam's daughter, Erica Raichart is now in the running for the smallest fish at 20 1/2"; Riggins' own Tanya Ormsby caught a 22" fish; Anna caught a 23 1/2" fish while Pam herself caught 2 fish--a 23 1/2" fish and a 27 1/2" keeper. Rich said they had tons of fun and they've already booked for next year!

The award of the day had to go to the ladies who went with Jonny "Fishonee" Hinton on the open sled. That's right folks--no top to get in out of the weather! But that wasn't about to stop these ladies. After driving upriver to deliver them some extra rain ponchos, I wasn't worried as Jonny said they'd only been fishing for a little over an hour and had already landed a few fish. Rachelle caught a 24" keeper; Caprice Watson caught a 22" native. But Kathy Allison and Della Paine were duking it out for the most fish in the tournament. Kathy got 4 fish--24", 24 1/4", 26" and 27 1/2"--all keepers! However, Della--who was sort of worried about coming to the tourney all by herself, is now our lady in the 3rd place position with a total of 114 inches! Her fish measured in at: 20 1/2" (which at the time was actually the smallest fish in the tourney so far), 22 1/2", 23", 23 1/2" and 24 1/2"--again, all keepers! Congrats Della! That beautiful women's watch from Steve Rambo jewelers is calling your name!

2/19/07
Only one report was turned in so far for this day. (Don't worry ladies, I'm all over 'em like a woman on chocolate!) Romine is our "guide of the month" since he's always turned in his reports religiously! Thanks Papa! (He happens to by my son's grandpa!). Anyway, he reports that Mary Pennell caught a 24 1/2" keeper. These ladies were from the group "Sisters on the Fly"! Check them out on the internet at www.sistersonthefly.com . They are such an awesome group of girls! I know I've talked alot about our youngest competitor at 8 years old, Kiera Yaritz. Well, now we have our oldest. Ms. Mazie Morrison, who is 87 going on 29! She never sat down all day and can still show these younger gals a thing or two about fishing! I have to say, I dined with her later on that evening and was lucky enough to cast out a few lines with her the next day. I have totally fallen completely in love with her! She's a character and a doll! We love ya Mazie! Thanks for showing us how to never grow old! Keep it up and can't wait to see you next year!

2/20/07
This morning, Rich drove to Spring Bar to take his group of "Sisters on the Fly" for their regular fishing day and discovered that all the gear, tackle, lures, etc., had been stolen out of his boat. To whomever decided they needed that stuff more than we did and didn't bother to ask--remember, karma has a strange way of biting you right in the @$$. Hope you enjoyed yourself because you can't stop us from showing all of these ladies a great time! He got me on the radio, I did a mad-roundup of rods and gear--(thanks so much to Rusty, Jonny and Tony for lending us their gear to get us through!) and we were back in business! Even though his ladies had a slow day of fishing, they still had a lot of fun trying! In situations like these, there is always a bright side to everything and Rich is the one to find it! I guess you can't keep a good man down! Way to go honey!

Sam's girls were able to get themselves 10 fish in spite of our rough start. Shannel Sorahkoff, one of our own raft guides and brand new mommy, caught a 22" keeper, while another of our family--Carole Clements caught herself a 22 1/2" keeper. Teresa Miner landed a 23" wild fish and a 23" keeper. Cindy Clancy--who by the way, works for Vision Quest Medical Center (sponsor of the polarized sunglasses), also caught 2 fish--22" and 22 1/4" keepers. Finally, my sweet friend, Shelley Rambo, who I just can't thank enough for all of her generosity in donating our 3rd place prize for most fish and our random prize drawing--the exquisite string of pearls--caught 4 fish! They measured in at 21 1/4", 22", 23" and 24"!

Romine's set of "Sisters" had a great day as well. Arlene Tribble caught a 24"; Jessica Records got two--a 22 1/2" and a 24"; Tammy Fuller also caught two--22 1/2" and 25"; Colleen Lockhart got two--23 1/2" and 28 1/2"; but Ferne Krumm really got into them with 4 fish--20 1/2", 22", 23" and 26"!

2/23/07
Tony's girls were busy today, catching 10. Wendy Chamberlain got a 20" even keeper! That's the smallest you can go, so now the battle is really on! Other girls that caught fish today on Tony's boat were: Dana Stewart with a 30" native; Stacy Page with a 22" and a 22 1/2" keeper; Mary Farvo with a 22" and a 26 3/4" keeper and Jen Ingraham, who really wanted to win the most fish award and gave it her best, caught 4 fish--23 1/2", 25 1/2", 26" native; 26 1/4" native.

Romine's group today had a bit of a slower day, but still lots of fun! Patti Dovel caught a 23" keeper, as did Joni Barnett Stewart. Mary Hansen and Audrey Karpe both caught 28" keepers!

On Sam's boat, we had Katrina Lynch with 2 fish--21 1/2" and 23". Liz Mohar also caught 2--23" and 27". Chris Langhorst caught a 27" native, while Deanna Salazar caught a 26" hatchery. Amanda Patterson had the biggest fish of the day at 31".

2/24/07
The fish slowed down with the change in the weather. Deb Jenkins caught a 21 1/2" fish. Lori Hale caught a 25" keeper; Kathy Wilder caught a 28" keeper and Ronda Tuttle caught 2 fish--a 26" and a 28". Vanessa Prairie caught a 23 1/2" keeper, Beth caught a 24" keeper. Colleen Phelps brought a hog home with a 34" keeper! She is still grinning from ear to ear!

2/25/07
Julie Uranga caught a 25" keeper and a 33" native. Diana Maxwell took home a 23" keeper. Audra Connolly caught a 21 1/2" keeper, while Glenda Connolly caught two fish--a 22" keeper and a 27" keeper. Our very own Carolyn Friend caught a 25 1/2" fish while her friend Vicky Stempson caught a 28" fish.

2/26/07
Tony took a group of 4 ladies out today and Brandy Egnatz was able to take home a 22" keeper.

Meanwhile, Sam was having a little better luck upriver with the Delores Spaulding group and a few girls from Sammy's family. Megan Jones, last year's big winner of the most fish, came home with a 28" keeper. Delores Spaulding also took home a couple of fish...a 22" and a 26 1/2" hatchery. Josie Lear caught two 23" wild ones. We're not sure if it was the same fish just really, really wanting to go home with the girls or not! Samantha Ault caught a whopper 31" wild fish and took home two keepers--a 22" and a 26". But Sam's son's (Ryan) girlfriend Sheena Pullen decided to bring out the big guns when she landed two big toads--a 30" and a 34" wild one! Way to go Sheena! Okay Ryan...see if you can top that!

2/27/07
Our own Glenna McClure (of Seven Devils Steakhouse & Saloon and also of her own catering fame) decided to take a bunch of us local girls today down to Hammer Creek. Yup, I was lucky enough to go again! Of course, my catch never counts, but the trips always give me good fodder for writing in this blog! Anyway, we left the snowy banks of the main Salmon in Riggins, for the more balmy beaches of the lower Salmon by Whitebird. Boy, we sure gave those fish a run! Wendy Sallis--who had never caught a Steelhead in her life, caught 2 fish--a 21 3/4" and a 23 1/4". My best friend in the world, Michelle Hollon, caught a 21 1/2" keeper and a 22 1/2" native. I also caught two around the same size, but only to keep Michelle on the ball! She's really competetive!!! But Moe Een was the big slayer of the day with a 25 1/4" keeper. Way to go Moe! We had a great time with everyone on board, especially as the weather continued to cooperate for us all day! We were lucky enough to also have our very own Jeanette Klobetanz--the maker of our Women With Bait DVD! She got some really great footage, so get your DVD now so you can see all the great stuff from ALL the ladies this season!

Mike Hicks took a few ladies out today as well, but they had to battle the snowy weather upriver. Cathy Fata was the only one to land a fish this day...a 26 1/4" native. Good job Cathy! Way to stick it out in the bad weather!

2/28/07
Only one boat out today, but 5 ladies who were determined to make a dent in the leaders counts! Chris Uriarte caught a 22 1/2" hatchery fish, but it was Linnea Keebler who pretty much dominated on this boat. She caught 4 fish--a 23 1/2" native, a 22 1/2" hatchery, a 25 1/2" hatchery and a whopper 33". If only there was more time in the day! She just happens to be our own Jonny "Fishonee"'s lady! Don't worry girls...Jonny was no where to be found this day, just so she could concentrate and fish! Way to go Linnea!!!

3/2/07
Rich had Cindy Lou Baker's group above Vinegar today with 3 fish being caught. Jacqui King caught a 23" hatchery, Karen "Smitty" Smith caught a 25" hatchery, and Cindy Baker herself took home a 26" keeper.

Tony took Linda Lazaris's group out today to Spring Bar. Still looking for last names on most of these ladies, so we're on a first name basis with this one! Jennifer caught a 23" and a 25" hatchery. Jane caught a 29 1/2" keeper. Patty caught 2 fish--a 23 1/2" keeper and a 27" wild fish. But it was Angie Riff who decided to take home the prize with again, one of the smallest fish in the tournament--a 20" keeper and also a 27" keeper.

Romine had the Gail Byers group today and they ended up with 6 fish. Janice Brandal caught a 23" hatchery; Toni Smith caught a 23 1/2" hatchery; Linda Newberry caught a nice 32" fish and Beverly Rhoades caught 3--a 21", a 23" and a 25".

But folks, the big action came from our very own Sportsman's Warehouse girls! This was a nice change for them as last year, they had a pretty slow day. This year, they changed all that with 13 fish caught!! I'm just going to go right down the list so we can get to the big news--A LEADER CHANGE! Debbie Mickeken caught a 23" keeper; Paula Fry caught 2--a 23 1/4" and a 33 1/2" keeper; our own Michelle Simpson of the Rodeo Club caught a 28 1/4" native; while another local girl--Angela Wilson-Mikesell caught herself a 28 1/4" keeper. Cynthia Pratt caught 3 fish--all keepers at 22", 24" and 29 1/4"! But it was Shannon Currier who really was nipping at Wendy Hafer's heels today with 5 fish! 2 wilds and 3 keepers--22"w, 28"w, 28"h, 24 3/4"h, and 33 1/4"h!! At 3:45 in the afternoon, she had her fifth fish and was only 5 inches from overtaking the lead from Wendy Hafer! Unfortunately for her, the lights went out and the fish went home! But she's now the new 2nd place leader for the Lodge at the Riggins Hot Springs Prize with a total of 136"! Congrats Shannon and thanks again to Sportsman's Warehouse for all the awesome loot for this tournament!

3/3/07
Whew! The last day of the tournament! I can't believe it! I'm already getting lots of bookings for next year and this year's tourney isn't even over yet!

Sam had Sue Ryder's group today and they didn't do too bad with 7 fish. Theresa Hughes took home a 29 1/2" keeper, while Nadine Burak landed a 27" native. Sue Ryder caught 2 fish--both keepers at 21" and 23". Lisa Greer caught 3--a 22", a 23", both hatchery, and a 32" native. Nice to see that big fish, Lisa!

Rich had some of my old Albertson's chums on board today and one of them took home a prize! Michelle Jarrard took home a 25" keeper, while Phyllis Foster also came away with a 26" hatchery. Our sweet little Dawn Coolbaugh got herself a 23" hatchery, while Michelle Guth matched her with another 23" fish. Amy Turner took a 24" hatchery home, but Tracie Huey was the big fish winner today with a 34 1/2" native! That puts her in a tie for 3rd biggest fish of the tournament so far!

Romine got into them today with Lucy Richardson and her group! 10 fish for the day! Becky Salone caught a 26", Debi Ziegler caught a 23" fish. Cheryl Gray caught 2 fish--25" and 33"! Bobbie Hermann caught 3 fish today--23", and two 24" fish. Finally, it was Lucy Richardson herself that took home 3 fish and also the biggest for the day--a 22", a 23" and a big 34"! Way to go ladies!

Mike Hicks took 2 ladies out in a drift boat today and they took home 4 fish! Mariah DeLong (who had a baby 7 weeks ago!) got a 23" keeper. Her friend, Tammy Cardia landed 3--a 21", a 23 1/2" and a 31" keeper!

SEE YOU ALL AT THE FISH DANCE!

ONE MORE THING! Ladies---don't forget, we're constantly trying to put together our DVD for this season so don't hesitate to send your photos to us! We'll get them to Jeanette with Salmon River Photos so she can add them to the video!

DON'T FORGET! The Fish Dance and Awards ceremony will be held this Saturday, at Seven Devils Steakhouse & Saloon! All are invited to come! We're gonna rock on and celebrate this season!

FINAL RESULTS--WE FISHED 490 LADIES THIS YEAR!

Most fish--winner of the Brand New Honda Rancher ES 4 wheeler - Wendy Hafer - 141.5" (five fish)

2nd Most Fish--winner of the night stay for 20 at the Lodge at the Riggins Hot Springs - Shannon Currier - 136" (five fish)

3rd Most Fish--winner of the beautiful ladies watch by Rambo Jewelers - Keely Duke - 121.5" (five fish)

Biggest Fish--Winner of a fish mounted by Animal Kingdom Taxidermy in Cascade - Mia Ridley - 36"

2nd Biggest Fish--Winner of the Polarized Sunglasses by Vision Qwest Medical Center & a $100.00 gift certificate from Sportsman's Warehouse - Leah Provencio - 35.25"

3rd Biggest Fish--Winners of $100 gift certificates to the Riggins One Stop & a Gortex Sport Jacket to each donated by Sportsman's Warehouse - TIE - Michelle Andrew & Tracey Huey- 34.5" (we had to change this award around a bit versus the 2nd place award due to the tie!)

AWARD UPDATE--PAY ATTENTION LADIES!

We've decided that instead of awarding just 1 award overall for smallest fish of the tournament, we are going to award the smallest fish for each week of the tournament this year! Thanks Rich! You just never know what surprises are in store for you here at Women With Bait!

Smallest Fish by Week!
Week 1 - Victoria Brooks - 21 1/2"
Week 2 - Maureen Crowell - 20 1/2"
Week 3 - Gail Garwick - 21"
Week 4 - Wendy Chamberlain - 20"
Week 5 - Angie Riff - 20"

All winners will receive a rod and reel sponsored by OKUMA!

ADDITIONAL WINNERS:

Pearls donated by Steve Rambo Jewelers - Jenny Marson
Candle gift basket by Canyon Lites Candle Co. - Jean Gillespie
"Hurley" brand sweatshirt by Pioneer Enterprises - Koko Neher
Etched Wine Glasses by Mountain Reflections - Sandi Floyd
Etched Whiskey Glasses by Mountain Reflections - Laureen Metzler
Hodgman Waders by Sportsman's Warehouse - Becky Clarke
Hand-carved picture frame by Vern's Specialty Woodwork - Mariah DeLong
$50 Fuel Voucher by Crump's Chevron - Sue Ryder

SPECIAL AWARDS:

Youngest fisherwoman in tournament (yes, she landed 2 steelhead) - Kiera Yaritz 8 years old--ROD AND REEL from OKUMA

Oldest fisherwoman in tournament (she founded the "Sisters on the Fly") - Mazie Morrison--87 years old--ROD AND REEL from OKUMA

CELEBRITY BAIT BOY OF THE YEAR - "HURRICANE" BOB RATLIFFE He receives his "very own goody bag"!!! Way to go Bob!

Who came the farthest? - Lisa Skelley group came all the way from Tennessee!

They receive 6 assorted t-shirts from Pepsi and Okuma!

For past year's winners and information click here

2006 11TH ANNUAL WOMEN'S STEELHEAD TOURNAMENT

Feb. 1st thru Feb. 28th 2006

Prizes will be awarded during the Fish Dance on February 28th

Women with Bait Prizes 2006

Grand Prize
Most Fish, with most inches
Oasis Auto -Car

2nd Most Fish with most inches
Steve Rambo Jewelers -Watch

3rd Most Fish with most inches
Sportsman warehouse - $50.00 Gift certificate

Largest Fish
Animal Kingdom Taxidermy -Fish mount

2nd Largest Fish
Sportman's Warehouse -$100.00 Gift card

3rd Largest Fish
River Adventures - $50.00 Cash

EVERYONE WINS!!

All participants receive:
Pepsi Giveaways
T-shirt provided by Sportsmans Warehouse

Bait and hats
provided by
Pautzke's Balls o' Fire

Thanks to our sponsors:

Oasis Auto
Sportsman's Warehouse
PEPSI
Animal Kingdom Taxidermy
Steve Rambo Jewelers
OKUMA
River Adventures, LTD

COST:  $175.00 per person

All you need is your fishing license/steelhead permit and your lunch. RiverAdventuresLtd.com will furnish all fishing gear.

Spots are filling up fast so book now!!!

Cancellation policy: tournament fees are non-refundable unless River Adventures or you can find another lady to take your place. River Adventures will refund your fees in full after your replacement has paid in full.

 

Women with Bait 2006

02/01/2006
No Fishers

02/02/2006
No Fishers

02/03/2006
Women with bait is off to a wonderful start this year! It was a sunny day with lots of fish. There were three power boats today, with a total of 21 ladies. They hooked 28 steelhead and landed 25. It was a pretty good day of fishing for a bunch of ladies. A gal by the name of Dana is in the lead for the most fish. She caught three fish with a total of 84 inches. She also caught the biggest fish, a total of 33 ½ inches. Kathy Alkire is in the second for the biggest fish. It was 33 inches. Heidi caught a fish that was 32 inches. It was the third biggest fish.

02/05/2006
Bobber Down!!! A total of 44 fish landed so far, as we reach the 5th day of the Women with bait tournament. 48 Ladies have jet boated up river. With the sun shining brightly, our lead changes to Stacey with 4 steelhead totaling 113”. Way to go Stacey! The longest fish 34” caught by Bonnie Boyd, moves Dana to second with her 33 ½” keeper. Kathy Alkire has taken third place with her 33” fish. And small fry or smallest fish was caught by Prudance Young coming in at 22”.

Great job ladies, fish on!!!

2/06/2006
Another beautiful day for fishing, 8 ladies hit the river today, and landed 9 steelhead. Two fish landed were 30”. Three ladies caught two each, which makes another GREAT day of fishing, but doesn’t break any of the previous records.

02/07/2006
Our first drift boat lady, Barb Bode, fished the river today. She caught two, one nice 31” and a 23”. Way to drift-fish Barb! Giving us a total of 55 fish, landed so far.

02/08/2006
NICE DAY!!! Two jet boats, jetting up the river. One drift boat floating down the river. All boats caught fish. But Shantel Archuleta on the drift boat set a new record for 2nd place. Catching 4 fish totaling 108”. Drift ladies caught 6 of the 8 fish, landed today. Good job ladies!

02/09/2006
Sunny today, with no wind. Three jet boats out, with 17 ladies, fishing. The fish are biting. A total of 19 fish were caught today Three of the ladies landed 3 fish, total inches 81”, 74”, 72 ½”. Great job of setting those hooks!

02/10/2006
It’s getting cold out there, so remember to dress warm. There were 23 ladies out on the river today. We now have a tie for the biggest fish at 34 ¾ inches. Heather Patterson and Erin Ingersoll both caught those big guys. Heather is also now in the lead for the smallest fish at 21 ½ inches.

Way to go!

02/11/2006
Sun out, but cold today, as 22 ladies and 5 boats hit the river. The fishing slowed downed a bit, as only 8 fish were caught. Bringing our fish count to 108, not bad for eleven days of fishing. Way to reel them in ladies!!!

2/12/2006
New records set today. A whopping 20 ¼” fish caught, for smallest fish. Thumbs Up, Robin! And Karen Stark reels in a 34” fish to tie for 2nd Largest.

2/13/2006
Fourteen ladies fishing on this chilly Monday, with a total of 13 fish caught. One of which set the new record for largest fish, measuring in at 35 ½”. Ruth Gibson was the lady, who reeled that big one in.

2/14/2006
Happy Valentine’s Day!!! Roses everywhere, but no fish landed today. Two boats went out with 13 ladies.

2/15/2006
ICE on the river as 18 ladies fished. Two ladies each landed one fish, today. Cold out there, so dress extra warm.

2/16/2006
Two jet boats, twelve ladies, four fish caught. As the river flows on.

2/17/2006
Freezing!!! The main Salmon River is floating ICE burgs. Took the day, to move boats the to Pittsburg Landing. Will be fishing in the Snake River, until it warms back up.

2/18/2006
Bobber Down!!! Fifteen women fished today, to make the total 200 ladies on the river so far. Five fish caught, making total fish caught 138. Don’t forget the fish dance Feb 25th at Seven Devils.

2/19/2006
Twenty more ladies brave the cold to spend a wonderful day on the river. Three fish caught, but no records broken.

2/20/2006
Nine ladies jet the river today with a total of 6 fish caught. Weather is warmer, but still chilly.

2/21/2006
Twelve women with bait, but no fish landed. It was just a drag-snag day. Lost lots of hooks, but never lost a smile. Ladies still had a fabulous day.

2/22/2006
Another dozen beautiful ladies, on the river, today. With fishing poles in hand, they land three more to make our total fish caught 150. Keepers-(hatchery) fish 115 Wild-(native) fish 35. Now that’s some good fishing women. Bait on. BOBBER DOWN!!!

2/23/2006
Three jet boats on the Main Salmon River, today. 7 fish landed. Trying hard to break records, one 33” just misses 3rd largest by an inch. And one 20 ½”missing smallest fish by ¼”. FISH ON!!! They are out there.

2/24/2006
Two jet boats were on the Salmon River at today. It has been just gorgeous on the river. There was plenty of sun and fish for all. There were 13 ladies fishing, and catching of course. They landed 6 fish. The records still stay the same.

2/25/2006
Great day! Fishing is picking up as 22 ladies fish today. Landing 21 fish, 16 -hatchery, 5 - wild.

2/26/20066
Cold today! 17 ladies fishing, landed two fish. One hatchery - One wild. Burr!!!

2/27/2006
Bobber Down!!! Bobber Down!!! Bobber Down!!! Was the saying for today. On Sam's boat, 7 ladies, reeled in a whopping 16 fish. Megan Jones caught 5 fish totaling 123 3/4 in. Breaking the record, for Most Fish caught. Also today Delores Spaulding caught a 35in. fish, which puts her in second for the Longest Fish. Now that's a boat load of fish. Way to go ladies!!!! 20 fish caught today.

2/28/2006
Last day!!! 6 women on the river today, raining off and on. Five fish caught today. Making the total of number of fish caught, during this tournament, 211. A Great Big "THANKS" to all the wonderful fishing ladies!!! You make this tournament great by catching lots of fish. THANK YOU ALL!!!

Winners of Women With Bait 2006

Most Fish-with most inches

1st Megan Jones 5 Fish 123 3/4 “
2nd Stacey Irish 4 Fish 113”
3rd Shantel Archuleta 4 Fish 108"

Largest Fish

1st Ruth Gibson 35 1/2”  
2nd Delores Spauldomg 35"  
3rd Erin Ingersoll 34 3/4"  
3rd Heather Patterson 34 3/4"  

Smallest Fish

Robin Hoppkins 20 1/4”    

Women with Bait Catch Record 2006

Date Ladies Total Fish Hatchery Fish Wild Fish
02/03/06 21 25 24 1
02/04/06 19 11 10 1
02/05/06 8 8 7 1
02/06/06 8 9 6 3
02/07/06 1 2 1 1
02/08/06 7 8 7 1
02/09/06 17 19 13 6
02/10/06 23 18 15 3
02/11/06 22 8 3 5
02/12/06 12 6 6 0
02/13/06 14 13 12 1
02/14/06 13 0 0 0
02/15/06 18 2 0 2
02/16/06 12 4 3 1
02/17/06 0 0 0 0
Ice on River
02/18/06 15 5 3 2
02/19/06 20 3 0 3
02/20/06 9 6 3 3
02/21/06 12 0 0 0
02/22/06 12 3 2 1
02/23/06 12 7 7 0
02/24/06 13 6 5 1
02/25/06 22 21 16 5
02/26/06 17 2 1 1
02/27/06 12 20 17 3
02/28/06 6 5 2 3
Totals 345 211 163 48

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Women With Bait 10
2005 Final Results

*Winners for WWB 2005*

Most fish caught

1st: Becky Adamson with 5 steelhead
(Wins a Car sponsored by Oasis Auto)
2nd: Kristine Pamperin with 4 steelhead that total 125 1/2"
(Gets a $200 certificate provided by Riggins One Stop)
3rd: Karla Brown with 4 steelhead that total 107 5/8"
(Gets a $100 certificate provided by Riggins One Stop)

Biggest fish caught

1st: Margene Ford with a 38 incher
(Gets her fish mounted by Animal Kingdom Taxidermy Studios)
2nd: Joyce Niederklein with a 37 ¼ incher
(Gets a watch donated by Steve Rambo Jewelry)
3rd: Debbie Shek with a 37 incher
(Gets a $100 gift certificate from Riggins One Stop)

Smallest fish caught

20" steelhead
Patricia Bradley
Linda Holyoak
Kim Mcfadden
Phyllis Sanderson
Dawn Coolbaugh
Donna Harriman
(All these ladies receive a Rod and Reel Provided by Okuma)

02/04/05
Women with bait is off to a great start this year. For the first day of fishing River Adventures had 15 percipients. All together we hooked 26 fish and landed 18. Kathy Elliot landed 3 fish with a total of 81.25 total inches and is in the lead for car. She also took the lead for biggest fish with a total of 31 ½ inches. Tayna Robbins has the lead for the smallest fish. She leads that with a 22 incher.

02/05/05
We had another good day on the beautiful Salmon River. Twenty ladies hooked 46 fish altogether. They landed 30 fish. Debra Hess took over the lead for the largest fish with a 32 inch fish. Sharie Kinney caught 21.75 little guy which beat the 22 inch lead from the day before. A lady by the name of Lois Murray racked in four fish with a whopping 100.5 total inches. How's that for one day fishing!!!!

02/06/05
The fishing ladies are doing well. We had 15 gals’ fish today. They hooked 23 fish and landed 17. After three days of fishing 50 ladies have fished women with bait, 95 fish have been hooked, and a grand total of 65 fish have been landed.

02/07/05
Today was a great day. There was lots of sun for all seven of the women. They pulled off the river at 5:00pm with a total of 15 fish. They hooked 17. Patricia Bradley is now leading for the smallest fish with a 20 inch steelhead. That’s as small as you can go. We now have a two way tie for the largest at 34 inches between Angie Thien and Sharin Bergmann.

02/08/05
Today there were 14 girls fishing. They hooked a total of 20 fish, and landed 13. We have a new leader for the biggest and the most. Debbie Salek has the largest fish at 37 inches, and Kristine Pamperin has the most, four fish totaling 125.5 inches. After five days of fishing 71 ladies have hooked 132 fish and landed 93 steelhead.

02/09/05
Day of rest!!!! No ladies fished today.

02/10/05
Thirteen ladies competed today in the tournament. Today was cold. It was so cold there was ice freezing on the tips of fishing poles. The girls toughed it out anyway. They hooked 20 steelhead, and landed 15.

02/11/05
Today there were 22 girls. They hooked 20 fish, and landed 13. We now have a tie for the smallest. Linda Holyoak caught a 20 incher for the tie. We have now fished 106 girls. They hooked a total 172 steelhead, and have pulled in 121 fish altogether.

02/12/05
At the present time it is sunny on the river. It is a bit breezy but the ladies are still catching fish. Out of the 28 girls there were 17 fish caught today. They hooked 24 fish. Not bad for a day on the river.

02/13/05
Sixteen ladies fished on this day of the Tournament. They hooked 23, and landed 16.

02/14/05
We had 12 ladies fish today. They caught 11 steelhead. They hooked 15 fish altogether. We have another 20 inch small guy caught by Donna Fox. She also was the tournament winner in 1998 for the most fish. She landed 3 fish that year.

Right now we are in the middle of the tournament. The ladies have been doing great! We have had 162 ladies that have fished. There has been a total of 234 steelhead hooked, and 165 fish landed. We just wanted to let you know who is winning.

As of today Kristine Pamperin is in the lead for the car with the most fish. Her 4 fish total 125 1/2 inches. Karla Brown follows her lead with 4 fish that total 107 5/8. In third place for the most steelhead is Lois Murray at a total of 100 1/2 inches. Debbie Shek leads for the biggest with a 37 incher. Kristine Pamperin with a 35 incher is in second place for the biggest. The third place winner is Karen Roedel with a 34 1/2 incher.

02/15/05
Today was alright. We did have a lady by the name of Karen Mechling catch a fish that ties for 3rd largest at 34 ½ inches. There was 13 gals on the river. They hooked 6 and landed 3

02/16/05
Today the ladies hooked eight fish and landed a whopping total of six. There were 12 girls fishing today. Stop fishing and start catching ladies!!!!

02/17/05
No changes were made today. Two jet boats and one drift boat went out. There were a total of 20 ladies. Six fish were caught and they hooked 9.

02/18/05
Today was slow. A lot of fish biting, but they just wont stay on the hook. We hooked ten and landed three. There were 13 ladies fishing today.

02/19/05
Today it started to pick back up. The ladies hooked thirteen fish and landed eight. It is starting to warm up on the river. It is still a little breezy though. Twenty ladies were on the river today.

02/20/05
To end our slow spell we came across a few changes today. A lady by the name of Margene Ford took over the 3rd place lead for the most fish. She also caught a fish that was 38 inches. That beats the first place 37 incher which means she is now in the first place for the largest fish. She caught 4 fish that totaled 107 inches. There were 20 ladies fishing today. They caught a total of 17 fish and hooked 27. The fishing is starting to pick back up. Hooray!!!!!

02/21/05
Today we had 12 ladies fish; it was a good day for the girls. They caught ten fish and they hooked eighteen. There have been a lot of ladies fishing in the tournament. There has been 272 ladies on the river fishing. They have hooked a total of 325 fish and landed a 218 steelhead.

02/22/05
Day of rest!!! No ladies fished today.

02/23/05
The ladies had a great day on the river today. There were 22 ladies on the river fishing. They hooked 36 and pulled in 17 steelhead. To top that off, a lady named Joyce Niederklein caught a 37 ¼ incher. That put her in 2nd place for the biggest fish. Kim Mcfadden caught a 20 incher. Now a 3way tie for the smallest one.

02/24/05
Twenty one gals fished the river this fine day. We came across one more winner for the smallest fish. Her name is Phyllis Sanderson. She landed a 20 incher today. That now makes it a 4 way tie for the smallest steelhead. The ladies landed 13 fish today and they hooked 21.

02/25/05
The girls had another wonderful day on the river. Out of the 18 ladies that fished nine of them caught fish. The gals hooked 21 fish and landed 18. Becky Adamson caught five fish today. She has now caught the most fish out of all the girls in the tournament. That puts her in first place for the car!!

02/26/05
Today we had 22 ladies fishing. They hooked 15 and landed 9 steelhead today. Altogether there were 365 ladies that fished in the tournament. They hooked 403 and landed 274.

 

Date Most Biggest Smallest
2/6/04
1st
*Kathleen Anderson
2 fish at 56 1/2"
Kathleen Anderson - 33" Vickie Perez - 23"
2nd Vickie Perez
2 fish at 50"
Heather McAlpine 28 1/2"  
3rd Kim Drussel
2 fish at 49 1/2"
Vickie Perez 27  
2/7/04
1st
No Changes No Changes Tie:
Vicki Perez - 23"
Kristyne Strike - 23"
2/8/04
1st
Diana King
25", 30", 30"
 Total of 85"
Deana Lee - 33 1/2" Vicki Stastivey - 20 1/2"
2nd Kathleen Anderson
2 fish at 56 1/2"
Kathleen Anderson - 33"  
3rd Deana Lee
21 1/2" 33 1/2"
Total of 55"
30" tied
Diana King and Lori Wold
 
2/9/04
1st
No Changes Pam Bradetich - 36 1/2" No Changes
2nd   Deana Lee - 33 1/2"  
3rd   Kathleen Anderson - 33"  
2/10/04
1st
Peggy Beach
31", 22 1/2", 23", 23"
Total of 99 1/2"
No Changes No Changes
2nd Diana King
25", 30", 30"
Total of 85"
   
3rd Cynthia Pratt
21 3/4", 24 1/2", 23"
Total of 69 1/4"
   
2/12/04
1st
No Changes Pat Bradetich - 36 1/2" Tie: 20 1/2"
Vicki Stastivey
Doris Allison
2nd   Deana Lee - 33 1/2"  
3rd   Shannel Sohrakoff - 33 1/4"  
2/13/04
1st
No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/14/04
1st
No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/15/04
1st
Peggy Beach
31", 22 1/2", 23", 23"
Total of 99 1/2"
Terri Jones - 39 1/2" Temperance Harris 20"
2nd Christine Hansen
22", 26", 23 1/2", 21 1/2"
Total of 93"
Joy Roberts - 37"  
3rd Diana King
25", 30", 30"
Total of 85"
Pat Bradetich - 36 1/2"  
2/16/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/17/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/18/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/19/04
1st
Kresta Butts
24", 28", 23", 34 1/2"
Total of 109"
No Changes No Changes
2nd Peggy Beach
31", 22 1/2", 23", 23"
Total of 99 1/2"
   
3rd Christine Hansen
22", 26", 23 1/2", 21 1/2"
Total of 93"
   
2/20/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/21/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/22/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/23/04
1st
Sandy Humiston
23", 21", 23", 34", 23 1/2"
Total of 124 1/2"
Terri Jones 39 1/2" Temperance Harris 20"
2nd Kresta Butts
24", 28", 23", 34 1/2"
Total of 109"
Joy Roberts 37"  
3rd Peggy Beach
31", 22 1/2", 23", 23"
Total of 99 1/2"
Pat Bradetich 36 1/2"
Carroll Clements 36 1/2"
 
2/24/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/25/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/26/04 No Changes No Changes No Changes
2/27/04 No Changes No Changes Tie 20":
Temperance Harris 20"
Mary Quinlin
2/28/04
1st
Sandy Humiston
23", 21", 23", 34", 23 1/2"
Total of 124 1/2"
Terri Jones 39 1/2" Tie 20":
Temperance Harris
Mary Quinlin
2nd Kresta Butts
24", 28", 23", 34 1/2"
Total of 109"
Joy Roberts 37"  
3rd Peggy Beach
31", 22 1/2", 23", 23"
Total of 99 1/2"
Tie 36 1/2":
Pat Bradetich and Carole Clements
 

2003 Final Results

This annual Woman With Bait fishing derby give us ladies a chance to go fishing and catch some fish, and boy the fish were biting.

On February 7, 2003, the first day of the twenty-three day long tournament, eleven women fished and landed twelve Steelhead, how’s that for an average, Glenna McClure, the owner of Seven Devil’s Bar and Grill, led the tournament the for the most and the largest fish. Glenna caught four fish one measuring 34” which was the largest for that day. She was also tied with Marilyn Johnson from Eagle Idaho for the smallest fish, which was 23.5” long.

Glenna’s reign as fish queen would soon come to an end when Tina Murrel decides to give her a run for her money. With Craig Morrison as her guide Tina landed six fish, taking the lead for the Subaru Legacy. Sam Whitten helped Susan Ryder from Boise get on the boards by catching a 38” fish. Nancy Roberts from Boise and Shelly Wallace from Nampa tied for the free Steelhead rod and reel when they caught a 22.5” Steelie. Hey Sam it looks like we are going to have to buy a couple fishing poles this year!

Craig Morrison on the third day of the tournament thought Tina would get that Subaru legacy with those six fish measuring at 181.5”. We’ll see about that Romine thought. Becky MacVittie landed six fish with a total measure of 185.5”. That makes her the leader for the most as of 2-10-2003. Ed Carlin showed Wendy Shell of Boise where the big fish was and she landed a 39.5” Steelhead. Way to show them how it’s done girl.

Elinore Anderson from Boise added another 22.5” to the tie on February 10th with Sam.
As day five rolled around Vicky Lowe from Riggins could tell Sam was getting a little nervous about the three way tie, so to ease the tension of her guide she reeled up a 22” the smallest as of 2-11-2003.

Day Six was really fun I got to go on Sam’s boat along with Sam’s sister Becky and the Bait Boy of the Year, well that’s what we told Waylon Herzig so he wouldn’t throw in the white towel on us. I tried to get that car from Becky but Angie Hall from Riggins kept catching my fish.

Well, we’ve made it to the halfway mark of the tournament. Only 13 days left to go. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed here that the guides are going to make it to the end. Way to make them work for their money girls! You’re wearing ‘em out. The competition has been fierce on the river. As of 2/15/2003 we have had 121 fisherwomen, 194 fish hooked, and 147 of those fish have been landed. Wendy is still the current biggest fish titleholder with her whopping 39-½ incher. Becky is also still holding on to the title for most fish caught at 6 totaling 185 ½ inches. However, Kay Bengochea of Eden, Idaho is now in 1st place for the smallest fish at 21 ½ inches. 

The days continue to fly by and the women continue to get more and more competitive.

On 2-16-03 Jacky Hall managed to land another 21-½ incher which tied with Kay’s for the smallest. As of 2-17-03 180 fish have been landed and 143 ladies have fished. No other records have been broken but on 2-18-03 Nicola Johnson from Riggins added yet another 21-½ inch Steelhead, making it a three way tie for rod and reel, again. Good job ladies. 

On 2-19-2003, fourteen women fished and landed sixteen.

On 2-20-2003, nine women fished and landed nine Steelhead. Marsha Judry was on her way to winning the car but fell short. She landed a two 38”, one 30”, and a one 23”. Nice try Marsha! 

On 2-21-03, twelve ladies fished and landed four fish. 

On 2-22-03, Ed Carlin helped Janet Black catch a whopping 20¾ “ taking the lead for the rod and real. Way to show the how it’s done Janet. 

On 2-23-03, eleven women fished and caught six Steelhead. 

On 2-24-03, fourteen ladies fished and landed eleven. As of 2-25-03, 236 fisherwomen have fished and landed 231 Steelhead. Not bad ladies, not bad at all. 

On 2-26-03, seventeen ladies fished and landed twelve fish. 

On 2-27-03, four of the local ladies got together and thought they better give it a whack. However Cindy Carlson was the only one the reeled up a big one. 35” is pretty big but not big enough to take Wendy Shell place. Sorry Cindy, maybe next year.

The second to last day has come and the titleholders are getting nervous. We signed up fifteen women this morning and only time will tell is Becky, Janet and Wendy can keep their spots. Becky’s spot was almost taken by Kathleen Anderson. She was well on her way to the car with four Steelhead landed, but the almighty Fish God wasn’t on her side.

On 3-1-03, the last day of the tournament I might add, eighteen women fished and landed eleven fish. No records were broken and the winners are ecstatic.

River Adventures LTD would just like to say that all the women that competed in this were a blast and we can’t wait to see you next year.

The River Adventures Crew 

Written by 

Shannel Sohrakoff
And
Sam Whitten Owner

Date Fishers Hooked Wild Hatch Total Landed
2-7-03 11 16 4 8 12
2-8-03 21 45 12 27 39
2-9-03 20 27 15 7 22
2-10-03 12 20 15 4 15
2-11-03 7 15 4 4 8
2-12-03 10 20 5 8 13
2-13-03 5 2 2 0 2
2-14-03 13 23 7 11 18
2-15-03 22 26 9 9 18
2-16-03 8 10 3 3 6
2-17-03 14 23 3 12 15
2-19-03 14 20 4 12 16
2-20-03 9 12 8 1 9
2-21-03 12 9 2 2 4
2-22-03 17 20 2 9 11
2-23-03 11 9 3 3 6
2-24-03 14 20 1 10 11
2-25-03 14 6 2 1 3
2-26-03 17 12 8 4 12
2-27-03 4 4 2 2 4
2-28-03 16 16 4 6 10
3-1-03 16 5 6 11 11
2003 Fishers Hooked Wild Hatch Total Landed
Totals 291 374 123 149 272

2002 MEN'S STEELHEAD TOURNAMENT

  • 117 Men fished 

  • 125 steelhead were landed-18 fish were wild and 99 were hatchery fish

  • The smallest steelhead was 21 inches caught by Ron Dines

  • The biggest steelhead was 35 inches caught by Dave Wroblewski 

  • The most steelhead was 5 landed by Harvey Whitten totaling 132 1/2 inches. 

Prizes : 

Smallest rod and reel
The biggest $250.00 
The most fish $250.00

WOMEN WITH BAIT 

ALL WOMEN'S STEELHEAD TOURNAMENT

Women with Bait was started in February of 1996 with an idea that ladies would love to get away from it all (husbands, kids, house-cleaning, jobs, etc..), enjoy the outdoors, and FISH! Well, as it turns out, six years later we know that the idea worked. 1996 will always be memorable since it was the first of many great years to come. Six women fished that year.

By 1997 the tournament had grown to 13 fisherwomen and by then there was no stopping the stories about the fun that these gals were having on our boats. Each boat is equipped with all the gear, bait, and a baitboy/deckhand to get knots untangled, bait hooks, and of course, net those BIG fish. The captain/guide that operates our Coast Guard approved jet boats knows where these ocean run trout are hanging out.

The tournament was starting to get attention from sponsors by the third year, and Pepsi joined in the fun bringing great giveaways, prizes, and beverages for the ladies. Forty-seven women fished the tournament in 1998!

Each year brings more ladies and new memories, and our tournament is now the largest of it's kind in the United States.


Women With Bait

February 25, 2002
Final Results

A total of 342 women fished and 261 fish were caught in the tournament.

The Largest Fish was caught by Tina Murrell from Boise. Her fish was a 37" hatchery (keeper). She will have her fish mounted by Animal Kingdom in Donnelly. 

The Most Fish caught was by Donna Gill from Riggins with 5 fish totaling 
137 1/2". She is the lucky recipient of the 1988 Subaru from Oasis Auto in Boise. 

The Smallest Fish was tied by Kary Burin from Boise and Shirley Eastlick of Council. Both fish were 21 1/4". They will receive a fishing pole and reel from River Adventures

We would like to thank all of our sponsors listed above and Sunset Sports for the great shirts and Nagel Beverage/Pepsi out of Boise for all of the great give-aways and beverages. Also, a BIG thank you to our guides and bait boys for all of their dedication. You, and all these ladies who love to fish, made the tournament a success! Remember to get your reservations for next year ASAP! The men's tournament is March 1st through the 10th.

Tina Murrell has the biggest steelhead at 37 inches.

February 20, 2002

As of Feb. 20, 254 women have fished in the 2002 women's steelhead tournament. 191 fish have been landed. The smallest is still held by Kerry Burin at 21 1/4 inches. The biggest is still held by Tina Murrell with a 37- inch steelhead. On Feb. 20, there was a steelhead landed that was 39 inches long but the lady that caught it was not in the tournament that day. The most fish was held by Carrie Cereghion 4 fish totaling 111 inches, but Donna Gill landed 5 fish totaling 137 1/2 inches on Feb. 19. Donna is now the leader for the most. The tournament will end Sunday, Feb. 24.

February 14-18, 2002

As of Feb. 18, 233 women have fished. 158 fish have been landed. The biggest steelhead is 37 inches landed by Tina Murrell. The smallest fish is 21 1/4 inches landed by Kerry Burin. The most fish landed were four by Carrie Cereghino adding up to 110 inches.

February 8-13, 2002

128 women fished in the tournament in the first 6 days. A total of 76 fish have been landed. Carol Carlson has caught the biggest fish so far, 35 inches long. On February 9th Carrie Cereghino landed four steelhead, leading the tournament for the most. Carrie also landed the smallest fish, twenty one and a half inches long. There is still more space available in the tournament. It's not too late to sign up. 1-800-524-9710


Women With Bait 6
February 2001

Women With Bait 6 has come to an end with 151 ladies fishing in the tournament! These ladies topped last years numbers by hooking 111 steelhead and landing 69. These girls each have a story to tell and we usually have a fun one to share about them as well. (Winnemucca, NV girls are REALLY crazy!)

The Lodge at Riggins Hot Springs was a sponsor again this year by giving our Grand Prize winner two nights for two at their private getaway. Dawndra Rayback, of New Meadows, Idaho, is the awesome angler that caught a total of 87 1/2 inches of steelhead by catching three fish just big enough to make her our Grand Prize winner! We total the inches even though all but one keeper must be thrown back. The largest fish was caught by Pam Carter, of Boise, Idaho. At 33 1/2" this keeper put up quite a fight before being landed by Pam. Animal Kingdom Taxidermy will mount this great fish for her! Donna Morell, of Ontario, Oregon, caught the smallest fish in the derby at 21 3/4". She won a steelhead pole and reel, so that she can come back and catch the 40" steelhead that got off this year!

Thanks to Pepsi for all of their support by sponsoring us with prizes, giveaways, and beverages. They are always there to add to the fun for our tournaments.  The ladies all received a WWB sweatshirt, sponsored by Sunset Sports of Boise, Idaho, and Lottery tickets from the Idaho State Lottery. Fish certificates from Pauls Market in McCall, Idaho and a shopping spree at Riggins' own Riversong Antique and Gift Shop are among our giveaways! In addition, River Adventures gave each participant a free one-day float trip on the Salmon River at Riggins.

Congratulations to our winners and thanks to our sponsors, guides, baitboys, and all of you great ladies that love to fish with River Adventures! To all of our ladies that have fished the past Women With Bait derbies, thank you for giving it a try, and loving it enough to want to return every year! 

We are now taking reservations for the Women With Bait 7! The dates for February 2002 are the 8th - 24th. In order to reserve/charter a boat for your group next year we will need a 50% deposit. Call now for reservations so you will get the date that works best for your group.

"Something new for 2002": Mother/Daughter day (no age limit) on February 21st.

Women With Bait 5
February 2000

Women With Bait 2000 was again a success!  One hundred thirty six women participated, sixty seven fish were hooked and forty one were landed.  Everyone was a winner just by taking part in this great tournament.  You girls come out here and have a great time whether you catch fish or not.  The Breathtaking beauty and wildlife on the Salmon River is an adventure of its own!

The largest fish was caught by Lisa Dodds of McCall with a whopping 36 1/2 inch native.  This big fish won Lisa a free steelhead mounting by Animal Kingdom Taxidermy located in Donnelly, Idaho.  Rebecca Clarke is our winner for catching the most fish.  Our derby rules allow the girls to keep one fish each but they can continue to catch and release, adding to the inches of the fish as they go.  Rebecca ended up with a total of 58 inches, winning a two day float trip for four with River Adventures in Riggins with an overnight at The Lodge at Riggins Hot Springs!  The smallest fish was caught by Susan Riley of Boise with a 22 incher.  She won a fishing pole and reel from River Adventures!  Seven women land two fish each.

All of the women were given Women With Bait sweatshirts sponsored by Sunset Sports in Boise along with a coupon from Mepps for a steelhead lure and various items from Pepsi including drinks, tee-shirts, key chains and coolers.  Lottery tickets from the Idaho State Lottery were given out during the day to everyone, so as they fished the also had a chance to win big $ too!  Paul's Market gave NO FISH certificates, the ten recipients of these were picked from our drawing box and given only to those that did not catch a fish.  Bruneel Tire and Auto gave three gift certificates for lube, oil & filter change, these were also part of our drawing.  The person catching the biggest fish on each boat each day was given a one day float trip with River Adventures, so they can check out Riggins in the summer months!  Rumors Hair Salon in McCall gave nail files and sample hair & skin products!  We also had great deckhands (bait boys) this year.  Thanks for untangling line, tying gear, baiting hooks, netting fish and being so much fun!

We would like to thank all our sponsors for the fun gifts that were given out as the women fished, they are a big part of making this derby a success!

See you on the river, 
Sam, Ryan & Romine
River Adventures

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River Adventures operates under a special use permit from the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

River Adventures LTD
101 N. Main
P.O. Box 518
Riggins, Idaho 83549
1-800-524-9710

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