It was sometime in the early 1980's. I had a small advertising agency with combination graphics center and print shop. Our mainclient at the time was Bonanza 88 Stores. One morning the head-honcho, Jim Spellman, walked into my office and asked if I liked to fish. I told him, "Sure, but I haven’t done much fishing in the past few years." Spellman suggested I attend a fishing club meeting with him. How can you argue with one of your biggest clients? Two nights later we pulled into the parking lot on a hill in Renton that was packed with pick-up trucks and a bunch of good-ol’ boys talking fishing and adjusting their attitudes. Not a bad deal.

This was the Renton Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The speaker was Spellman’s bro-in-law, Tom Nelson. Jim and Tom had a plan, which was to recruit new members that would want to get involved and help build the club. One of their goals was to get a new newsletter editor and since I had the graphics and print shop, the bill was quickly filled. Soon thereafter we recruited Dave Colby, a print expert in his own right, and Al Bruce who owned a mail house.

The anchor had been dropped.

For a couple of years our little publication was titled THE SOCKEYE but as things went south with Trout Unlimited and we broke the line, others prompted me to get THE REEL NEWS (TRN) to emerge as a communication source for a banner group, the Puget Sound Anglers.

For a few years TRN was a little fishing club newsletter which consisted of nothing more than a few sheets of paper folded in half with a heavy paper cover. It wasn’t until April of 1990 that I took it to the next level and made it a publication for the outdoor public, in the tabloid format that you enjoy today.

So here we are, 300 months and deadlines later, stronger than ever and still fighting fish, politics and issues for our fisheries and outdoor enjoyment, Pacific Northwest style. There have been tens-of-thousands of fish caught, hundreds of fishery issues fought, more writers that we ever imagined and advertiser support that has been unbelievable. Readership has grown from 50 monthly readers to over 34,000.

Let’s take a look at some of those years past.

When we were still printing in the small format, (during our formative years if you will,) our pages held a lot of basic club information on meetings, outings and fund raisers. We also started getting into some fisheries issues and started informing the readers about the disposal of Trout Unlimited, the Pacific Salmon Treaty, interception of fish in Canada, a sockeye spawning channel on the Cedar River, sealions at Seattle’s Ballard Locks, and overall fisheries mis-management. Lead by Tom Nelson, was the formation of the Sportsmen’s Rights Coalition (SRC) and on October 29th, 1988 we marched on Olympia in protest of Governor Booth Garner’s closed-door agreements with the tribes. Jon Fulwiler first graced our pages the following year in August and he’s still one of our monthly featured writers with his column Plug Cuts.

In April of 1990 we printed the first issue in tabloid format, similar to how it is today. The Editor’s Creel was developed, Wildlife Director Curt Smitch got blasted, there was a steelhead philosophy review and SRC fought for sportsmen’s rights. A sportsmen’s store named The Reel Thing in Federal Way became our back page anchor advertiser for many years. Darrell Ticehurst joined our writing staff that year and Tom Nelson was writing about fishing Barkley Sound. By September TRN was being recognized state wide in Washington and we did our first editorial piece on salmon fishing issues in Oregon, British Columbia and California.

It was in February of 1991 that we produced the first issue of TRN by computer. I still break out into a cold sweat when I recall the anxious moments we went through for that. (And I still miss the clinking of scissors, smell of rubber cement and hot wax, triangles and T-squares.) Also this year my son David went into the Navy, SRC again marched on Olympia for the rights of sportsmen, Nelson and I made our first of many destination fishing trips for a story (Victoria and Sooke,) and then went on to introduce the Queen Charlotte Islands. Streater’s (Dick) Corner was introduced as a monthly column. Outdoor Emporium, Pay ‘n Save and Coors Beer became supporting advertisers.

In the next couple of years we saw Washington Fisheries allow the taking of 2,000,000 sockeye eggs from the Cedar River for reproduction. We were calling for Curt Smitch to resign from being the wildlife director, the economics of sport fishing was being realized and reported. Laurie invented Rods & Reels for Kids, the beginning of 10,000 kids catching their first fish and many of them walking away with their own fishing gear. Fulwiler introduced readers to Hakai Pass fishing from Oak Bay’s MV Marabell, Ron Profit did a piece on Rivers Inlet, and we accepted the first of many awards for publication from the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association. Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association was started.

In 1994 the big news was the consolidation of the Washington Department of Wildlife and Washington State Department of Fisheries into what we proclaimed as a "super" agency, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Good or Bad. We introduced ourselves and you to SE Alaskan fishing for the first time — Ketchikan and Elfin Cove. We also introduced the first thought of buying out the commercial fishermen to help restore our resources, reported a native steelhead slaughter on the Olympic Peninsula, a tribal review by Billy Frank Jr., Tiger Muskies, had Jon Fulwiler’s Elliott Bay Salmon Wake. All-in-all, it was one hell of a year for sportsmen in the Pacific Northwest.

‘95 brought us one of the first true sportsmen’s initiatives in Olympia. It was compiled by a group calling themselves Save Our Sealife (Initiative 640). Ultimately, the initiative failed but not because of the Puget Sound Anglers and Tom Nelson’s diligence. TRN Columnist Pam Roach ran for governor of Washington State (lost), boat access was being accessed, fisheries management was being manipulated by the commercials, J.D. Wade started his writing career here, Ticehurst fished the Charlottes and I had the opportunity to share fishing in Alberta with the readers. This is also the year when Referendum 45 was passed by a vote of the people, turning over fish and wildlife management in Washington State to a Commission — which is the referendum that Senator Jacobsen is trying to overthrow for his commercial fishing buddies this year in Legislature, removing the power of our vote.

The next year Fulwiler shared his experience of fishing Vancouver Island’s Esperanza Inlet while at the same time a wholesale salmon slaughter was happening in Sequim. F&W Director Bob Turner was questioned on his "destroy and bury" of 600,000 Green River salmon fry by Senators Morton and Oke. Our June front page featured the first of the new Director Bern Shanks monthly column as he introduced his thoughts on selective fishing. For the entire time that Bern held his position TRN was available to all department employees, stacked at his office door. This was the year that Terry Sheely’s name first graced our pages as he paid homage to our longtime friend John Thomas.

In 1997 two of us were lucky enough to be appointed the F&W Citizen Advisory Council. At the time, little did we know that this would turn out to be a set-up by WDFW employees that favored commercial interest. In March, Billy Frank Jr. Chairman of the Indian Fisheries Commission proclaimed, "We know what the hell is wrong with this God-damned state!" Hmmm... We explored the myths of commercial fishing, go motorhome fishing the Oregon and Northern California coast, exposed the Pacific Salmon Commission going bad, Gov. Gary Locke re-hired past director Curt Smitch as a special assistant, Ticehurst tests the circle hooks. Fish war, Canada First, blockade, overharvest and priority were descriptive words we were using over the unresolved allocation of salmon by the Pacific Salmon Commission. The Makah tribe requests slaughter of five gray whales.

1998 was a big year for us with the expansion across the river. Starting that February Terry and Natalie Sheely helped us expand into Oregon with Terry starting his long and still running columns, the Columbia River Region and Reel Books In Review. Natalie was handling the distribution and ad sales in Oregon. Also this month, wife Laurie was honored on the pages of Outdoor Life for founding Rods & Reels for Kids and directing the Youth Outdoor Fair at the sportsmen’s shows. We revisited Hakai Pass, explored the Columbia, introduced new columnist Rob Phillips. June was the announcement of Ban All Nets (BAN), a group compiled to ban all commercial fishing with nets in Washington State via the initiative process (I-696.) In June Director Bern Shanks was relieved of his duties after 2+ years of total commitment to our resources. This was also the year that Boater’s World became our back page advertising anchor and they continued to support us until last month when their parent company, Ritz Cameras, filed for Chapter 11.

In ‘99 Sheely fished "On The Wild Side" of the Queen Charlottes Islands and brought you the adventure while at the same time we were announcing the commercial bycatch of over 2 million pounds during the Oregon/Washington commercial halibut longlining. We did an interview of Canada’s Minister of Fisheries - David Anderson, announced that NMFS twisted Congressional law, proudly accepted Jim "Tug" Tuggle’s first editorial submission. The fish lost as Initiative 696 to Ban All Nets went down, but only because of lack of financial support. Tom Nelson gave this initiative his ALL, as did many other that believed then (and now) that the nets need to be outlawed. We contributed with 11 front page articles and 13 editorials in support of the initiative. As we quoted at the time, "We were outspent, not outsmarted."

We started the new decade by sharpening our hooks for Fraser River sturgeon, Tofino salmon, Prince Rupert hogs and the Kenai Peninsula. Oregon DFW was slaughtering hatchery fish as we started a $13,000 TRN Fish For Fun contest and also launched www.thereelnews.com. Many TRN writers were now receiving national writer’s awards and we received 1st place for Publication Of The Year from the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association. Lake Washington sockeye fishery was looking promising as was the B.C. outlook. We proclaimed Washington’s new Director Koenings as invisible for the first time. North of Falcon process was being questioned as to it’s validity and Fulwiler wrote of fishing with hood, lunatics and long hair. We closed the year exposing the Clam Scam where Washington may have been netting up to $9 million from commercial harvest.

‘01 featured Sheely and Fulwiler stories on Langara, Kamloops trouting, the Goergs (Dave and Jim) in Tofino and Ucluelet. NW fish managers were violating the Endangered Species Act on Idaho sockeye by allowing commercial netting on the Columbia and the Cowlitz springer salmon collapsed according to Tuggle. Plus he expounded of fishing Whalers’ Cove in SE AK. In this year sportfishing would have ranked 13th on the Fortune 500. A 99.125 pound salmon was caught and releases on B.C.’s Skeena River. We were all still reeling from 9-11 and the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) came to the Pacific Northwest. Also this year we took a new direction for the better with Diane Thomas as our Art Director. With much gratitude, she is still with us..

In 2002 we wrote of catching in Alaska,, the central coast of B.C. and even Campbell River, We included the Chilliwack area, Sheridan Lake, Montana’s Flathead, South Sound Chums and we had sockeye!...all fisheries our readers were starting to enjoy. Abandoned commercial nets in the salt were starting to make our headlines as was WDFW budget cuts with devastation to enforcement and hatcheries (sounds like this year?) Washington Trout was starting to sue everyone while Keizer and Nelson were mapping Puget Sound and starting Salmon U. And we lost Bill Davis.

The following year we explored the Juneau fishing opportunities fishing both salt and fresh, bears included in the Juneau Junket. One of our own had bullets flying over his head while fishing Lake Sammamish. I reported on a solo fish safari to the Ucluelet area. Ticehurst reported on a fishing club suing California F&G and was then our first columnist nominated for a seat on the PFMC – Tuggle followed. Streater wrote on underwater camera fishing. Seattle’s Sportsmen’s Show moved out to Monroe and the Sheely’s fished Hells Canyon while I joined Ticehurst and Tim McDonald for albacore out of Half Moon Bay. Wade was just getting warmed up on the Crab Wars.

2004 brought a ton of Alaskan fisheries with Keizer in Craig, Sheely on Baranoff Island, in Juneau again and then to the Nushagak. Fulwiler was in central B.C. chasing (getting chased by) Old Grizzly while David and I also fished for Kamloops trout. Tuggle remembered the 30th anniversary of the Boldt Decision and sealions were gobbling up sturgeon on the Columbia River. The Elwha River Dams were looked at by Earl Sande and Jim Brauch offered insight for the five rules of fishing. Tom Pollack jumped on board with the first of Pollack’s Pointers and Bill Dever started his column on Fishing The Inside.

While Ticehurst fished the Amazon, steelhead harvest questions by Tuggle in ‘05 raised quite a stir with the commission while Jacob Fulwiler questioned illegal net poaching tribal fishers abused the rights. Washington got four new commissioners, Crab Wars was getting stretched and the Cowlitz River hatchery controversy was heating up. Favored commissioner Clyde McBrayer resigned under duress and Trout Unlimited fired their Washington volunteers as they became more out of touch with Northwest issues. Sheely’s travel features featured the Charlottes, Sitka and B.C. Kamloops trout just before heading for a week on the Columbia River for Fish Camp. Laurie and I introduced a trophy triploid trout program to Lake Stevens that is still in yearly production and we were all guessing if this was our last chance at saving Lake Washington sockeye. This is also the year we introduced THE SPORTSMEN’S REVIEW free classified web site.

1996. Finally! WDFW Invisible Director Koenings admits to the value of recreational fishers. (Still don’t know what he did about it though.) Ticehurst was tuna fishing Puerto Vallarta’s Cows while Terry Sheely and I explored salmon sharking stories out of Valdez. Tuggle listed his top ten fishing destinations and Wade was still exposing the State’s crab management. Tuna were on the rampage off the Washington and Oregon coast and David and I spent the opening day of crab season on the WDFW Enforcement boat in Puget Sound. This was also the year that Tuggle and I introduced ourselves to the first ever TRN Week At Punta Colorada. Now a yearly event and growing every year.

In the past two-plus years our writers have introduced and exposed many new issues that involve our interest in the outdoors. We’ve seen the Cowlitz fish kill, commercial fishing waste double, North of Falcon fall apart, the growth of Coastal Conservation Association throughout the Northwest, the waste by tribal elk hunting, ghost nets and their hidden harvest, a fight for governor in Washington, and proclamation that fish management in Washington is broken.

We have also gone fishing from Alaska to Baja, in the Charlottes, Washington’s Potholes, the rain forests on the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island, up and down the Columbia, Eastern Oregon then offshore for tuna. B.C.s Fraser River, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Costa Rica, Westport, and a place called Rufus Woods.

So where does all of this take us? Well, it never hurts to look back nostalgically for we can learn from those experiences and those who taught us. Where were you and what were you doing 25 years ago? Have you been a fisherman or outdoors lover for those 300 months or are you just getting your feet wet? Where do we go from here?

In my opinion there are three things we can learn from our past editions: Family fishing should be a major priority. Creating new friendships through outdoor experiences has untold value. Getting involved and expounding on issues of your passion will keep the hope alive.

Who knows where the next 25 years will lead us and our fishing and hunting expectations. I know we’ll lose more family and friends, and we’ll gain many more of both. There will be new leaders stepping up to take over, or more trying to overtake. The passion will live on through our readers and columnists and our ever so important supporting advertisers (of ALL sizes) who allow us to stay in production. There will be good. There will be bad. And there will be the love.

For you and for us, fishing is a passion, not a convenience.

Here is a partial list from the stable of writers we’ve been lucky enough to have grace our pages for 25 years (listed inalphabetical order.) This list does not include those hundreds of dedicated members of organizations that offered their chapter messages, nor the thousands that have offered Letters To The Editor. For those missed, we apologize.

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