Northshore Trout Unlimited Site Map:
The President’s Cast
By Chris Tompkins
Greetings Northshore TU chapter members, we have a great
schedule coming up. This months meeting
(Tuesday March 2) we will host Eli Rico of Hot Shot Guide service.
Check him out at our next meeting, I’m sure you will be impressed.
Longtime Northshore TU member Steve Sedlacek
will host our April meeting to discuss Spring Chinook fishing, you don’t
want to miss this one, as Steve is a real expert in this subject. Our Kid’s
Fish-In is getting set to go for this June 5, 2004.
Once again we will host the kids to fish at Tracy Owens park in
Kenmore, Larry Holly (425) 743-4510) will
be the coordinator again, be sure to contact him if you would like to help
out (we can always use help at the Fish-In).
We are also currently planning our next fund raising banquette for
2004; we will be having the banquette in Everett this year on November 20th at
the Howard Johnson’s Hotel. Mark you calendars, we plan on having this be
another great event with lots of prizes.
The Banquette is our main fund raiser that helps us continue our
projects on Barr and Kissey creeks and our carcass project, as well as
support the state council. The chapter will be also be selling raffle
tickets for the WCTU fundraiser at the sportsman show in Monroe in February,
this will help benefit the WCTU and our chapter with much needed funds.Our
annual Solduc outing this year was a great success, we had 7 members attend
the camping \ fishing trip out to Forks, sorry to say the fishing was not
that great but the weather was. Outings
like these are great ways to meet new members and find some secret holes on
the river, thanks to everyone that came; it was lots of fun.
If you have suggestions for other outings please feel free to make
suggestions.
Chris Tompkins
Ctompkins84@hotmail.com
An Interview With Eli
Rico,
Hot Shot Guide Service
By Jeff Voltz
Eli Rico, guide and principal of Hot Shot Guide Service, has been
hooking-up Washington State sports fishers to a variety of fish for more than 15 years.
He specializes in salmon and steelhead, but also puts his customers onto
Sturgeon, Lake Trout, Burbot, Walleye, Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout, and
Halibut.
Rico uses his 24-foot Wooldridge jet sled, powered by a 130-horse Honda, in
both fresh and salt water. He also uses a Hyde drift boat for drift
fishing rivers in the Pacific Northwest.
Northshore TU: Tell us about your
earliest memories of sports fishing.
Rico: “Just like most
kids, I learned to fish with my father. He took me out on the Yakima River
throwing Rooster Tail and Mepps spinners for rainbows. My father worked
construction to help support a small farm that we owned in the Yakima
Valley. Due to his work, we moved back and forth between Southern California
and Washington. I have great memories of catching Bonito and Barracuda off
the Redondo Breakwater and Jetty.
My brother took me on my first fishing trip for Steelhead
when I was 13. I was used to fishing
with heavier saltwater gear, so as I was playing my first fish, I tried to
“horse” it in. That fish spit the hook back out at me and told me,
‘I’m not coming in until I’m ready.’ Well, I think the roles got
reversed and that fish hooked me, because it led me into doing what I’m
doing now.”
Northshore TU: How did you get into
guiding?
Rico: “Early
on, I was bank fishing for King Salmon in the Priest Rapids area of the
Columbia River. One week that I was fishing, there was a father and son that
would be on the river. I’d catch my two-fish limit, while they wouldn’t
even have a bite. Finally, after a couple of days, they approached me to
find out how I was catching fish. I showed
them how I was setting up, as well as explaining to them that the
fish usually came up through this section of river later in the day, so they
didn’t have to get there at the crack of dawn.
The next day, they caught their first fish, but only one.
And of course, I caught my limit again. The
following day as I was walking up the bank I heard a good-natured, ‘here
comes that hot shot kid!’ That’s how I got the name for my guiding
business, and that father and son became my first clients.”
Northshore TU: Ever had a tough customer?
Rico:
“I can honestly say that I’ve never had a bad experience. One
reason is that I interview my clients before we go out. If my prospective clients are
a party of four, and they want to know if I have coolers that can
accommodate 3 or 4 cases of beer, I gently back away.
I absolutely love to fish and am on the water 270 days a year. I want to
share this love with others and offer them an experience of a lifetime. That’s
why I guarantee my clients will catch fish. If we go out and don’t catch
fish, I give them another trip for free.”
Northshore TU: What’s your favorite
type of fish to catch and why?
Rico: “Yellow-Tail Tuna. I know it seems crazy, but yes, I go
fishing on my vacation. When I’m ready to relax, I head down to San Diego, and let somebody
take me out fishing. It makes me feel like a kid again. And the Yellow-Tail,
pound for pound, is the strongest and fastest fish I’ve ever caught.”
Northshore TU: What’s your favorite
method of fishing?
Rico: “Drift fishing for Steelhead. I guess it’s the kind of
fishing I’ve done most, and I’ve had so much success doing it. And you just can’t beat the
setting, the river, the trees, and the wildlife we get to see along the
water.”
Northshore TU:
As a lifelong sports fisher and someone who earns a living through
the grace of cold water fish, what do you think we need to do to
preserve our fish?
Rico:
I think ensuring the runs of wild fish is critical. I’m really
impressed with the work the Washington Council of Trout Unlimited and others did this
year, in convincing Oregon and Washington to maintain conservative limits on
allowable impacts (2%) to wild fish by non-tribal commercial fishing
interests and sports fishers. It would be ideal if tribal commercial fishers
would implement the same standard. I’ve had first hand experience seeing
too many wild fish being harvested by the tribes on the Olympic Peninsula
rivers.” We all need to work together and do the right thing to ensure
that there will be wild fish for the future.”