Fishing With Nick Popov | The Story Behind Peel The Reel | PNW Angler Series Pt. 7

When it comes to salmon and steelhead fishing in the Pacific Northwest, there are good fishermen, there are great fishermen, and there are guys who seem to have fishing running through their veins. And let me tell you something, if there was an all-star team of Pacific Northwest fishermen, this guy wouldn't just make the roster, he'd be on the starting lineup. From the legendary steelhead rivers of the Oregon coast, to the mighty Columbia River, and all the way to the wild waters of Southeast Alaska, This guy has spent a lifetime chasing some of the hardest fighting fish on the planet. He's a die-hard salmon and steelhead fisherman, a seasoned charter captain, a successful fishing guide, and the man behind Peel the Reel Guide Service. What really separates him from the pack isn't just his ability to catch fish, it's his relentless work ethic, his larger-than-life personality, and his absolute obsession with putting fish in the boat. and let's be real for a second you know that one guy who drives everybody absolutely crazy because no matter how tough the fishing gets he always seems to find a way to catch fish and just when you think you finally had an incredible day on the water you open your phone and there he is again with twice as many fish as you it's almost annoying how good this guy is he spent years building his reputation making memories on the water and sharing his passion with thousands of anglers through addicted fishing And if you ever spent a day in the boat with this guy, you already know you're in for one of the best days of fishing you'll ever have. He's a lifelong member of the addicted fishing family, one of the most entertaining guys you'll ever share a boat with, and without a doubt, one of the fishiest dudes you'll ever meet. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the fish catching machine, the salmon slamming, the steelhead smashing, an absolute force of nature himself, the one and only Nick Popoff. This is part seven of the Pacific Northwest Angler Series. Hey addicts, Nick Popov with Addicted Fishing and I'm going to give you an opportunity to win a fishing trip with me today. And all I need you to do is go down in the comments below, leave a comment about who got you into fishing. Was it your mom, your dad, your grandpa? What's the story behind it? And let us know how you got into this incredible sport of fishing. Make sure you leave that comment down below for your opportunity to go fishing with me and let's get back to the video. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, my name is Nick Popov. I'm the owner and operator of Pee of the Real Guide Service and part of Addicted Fishing. So my first experience with fishing was with my dad when I was tiny, two years old. I got pictures of me holding trout actually at Silver Falls, believe it or not. That was my first encounter with a fish. You know, between my dad and my grandpa, my grandpa was a big time fisherman and loved to fish and I was, you know, I'd be four or five years old out in Buoy 10, and that was kind of like my intro to salmon fishing was from both my dad and my grandpa. Okay, let's go, let's put those front rods to 14. So Chris, I just throw my bait off first, like here, then your flasher, and then you pop the rod out of the old fish fighter. Go 16, 18. Team. And it is snaggy in here. Smash fest, engaged. Oh jeez! He's already in it, unless I just doubled. I might have doubled, dude. I think I doubled. No, it's him. He bit both of them dude. He ate both the spinners. He ate both of them. What? I've never seen that before ever have you? He ate them both bro. That is crazy. That's a pretty good one Lucas. Lucas, let's hear about that one. That's so awesome! It's yours. It's yours. Well it started off with something weird I guess. That's it. That's such a nice one. Welcome to the club. Oh! Look, there's my spinner, and there's my other hook from my other leader, and they're both in his mouth. All right, guys, here's Lucas' fish. Look at that. So, yes, this is a wild coho, obviously. So we get a wild coho retention season. They're such a good fish. It gives us an opportunity to go out and harvest some of these beautiful animals. So look at that thing. And they are big down here. Nice fish, Lucas. He's got it in his mouth, there you go. Dude it's starting off fast, I don't feel like it's not even light out yet guys. It's not. We're already just, what do we got here? What do we got? Little guy we're gonna let him go. Oh good he's gone. Oh perfect. Perfect. Fish, fish. Someone get it, someone's got a fish right here, right here Chris go. Let's go. There she got one. I'm gonna let this guy, well he's gonna let himself go. Whoa, he tangled the end of the flasher. Let me see, we don't want those little guys anyway. Let me see this real quick. Dude, he pulled a serious escape move. They are just wrecking my gear right now. Look what this coho did to that. Oh my gosh. Pick it up now, that's a good one. Dude, he pulled a super good one. Nice, that was good. Okay, ready, Chris? Give me a lift. Got him. Oh, he got smaller. Should I let him go? We let that fish go. We're being pretty selective. Nobody on here is, like, in need of a fish or anything, and we're not trying to limit out. We're just out here to have a good time, catch some fish with some buddies, and hang out. So we're going to look for some bigger ones and see what we can come up with. Hopefully find a few snook mixed in the bag, too. He's going to bite it right now. He's got it. He's got it, Sean. Get him, Lucas. Reel that one up real quick, Chris. There's a fish jumping over here. Hopefully it's not that one. That's a pretty nice one. I mean, that's a pretty good one. I'm letting 12-pound silver go. Fish, fish. Someone get it. Chris, right here. Right here, Chris. No, it's not. It's just hooked under the chin. Fish on. Fish on, Chris. No. Oh, he's in the back. Look at him. So I have one particular moment that truly, like, Made my passion for fishing just grow exponentially and I have this story you know of me and my brother we we had gone down to the river one day and we had heard about this hole and it was called the glass house hole. It was only accessible by boat and so we decided one day we were going to figure out how to get there by the bank. So we waded through the craziest marsh. I got stuck in the mud twice. It was it was wild but we finally made it to this like point. We couldn't quite get it to the hole that we needed to but we were throwing blue fox spinners and my brother probably 10 minutes after we get there, my brother hooked a fish that I mean it just tore him up. We didn't have the right gear, we didn't have the right lures, we weren't fishing properly but we were able to catch this fish and we landed it and it ended up being a 42 pounder. It was the one fish that that moment just literally got me addicted to fishing because I knew that those fish existed and I wanted to figure out how to get better and you know find out how to catch more fish like that. It's a bigger fish for sure. What do you got, Marlon? I'm trying to get him, dude. I just can't. Oh, that's a dandy. Oh, it's a good one. I don't know what that is. He looks big. I couldn't tell. It's hard. I can barely see in the glare. Oh, it's pretty nice. Yeah, that's a good one. Not giant, but it's so hard because it's like they're all really nice. That's a pretty big one. Thank you very much. Oh, he has a seal bite in his back. Oh, he's got a seal bite? I didn't even see it. There we go folks. Talk about a dandy coho. Got a little gash on him right there. Got a real problem with seals out here. Oh that's like finger size. It's like a finger holster. What a nice fish guys. Look at that. Super cool opportunity to be able to come down here and put some non-select. Yeah, yeah, and it's kind of cool that they're doing this. You know, I mean, all we ask for is opportunity, and this is a really cool opportunity for us. So they've given it to us two years in a row where we get to go out and harvest some of these wild fish. You know, we have some of the largest wild coho populations down here on the coast, and it's really neat to finally be able to go out and catch them. So good job, dude. Oh, this one. Here we go. What do you think? You got one, Marlon. I know. What do you think, though? Look at that. You got a fish. Very at the surface. What do we got here, bud? Oh, yeah, bud, a coho on. Nice little coho. Here we go, here we go. Fish, someone come grab it. Who doesn't have a coho? Sean, get him, Sean, here. Go, give me the camera. Dude, the hand-off, the hand-off. Real, real, real. Come on, Sean. Ooh, it's a nice one. Lift him, Sean. Come on, get him, Sean, get him. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Got him. There you go, dude. Bingo. Look at this beautiful coho Sean just caught. This thing is like platinum. If I can come up with one moment that like means the most to me, you know, it's obviously goes back to my dad. You know, my dad got me into this, you know, sitting right here right now where we grew up and in fact, his ashes are spread right here. And when my dad was sick, you know, he told me in the end, he's like, dude, just try it, go for it. What do you have to lose? You know, just go, go become a fishing guide. That's what you're meant to do. That's the passion you have, like go for it, you know, and that's what he did in his life. And I think that's what's kind of, you know, honestly held me in here and, and, and made me choose this path was him. I get emotional thinking about it right now, but I miss the dude. And I just happened to be playing in a basketball, I was playing in a basketball game, and my boss at the time for Alaska was playing basketball as well. And we started talking and he's like, hey, he's like, if you want to come up to Alaska and check it out, he's like, you could come up and deckhand for me. So I bought a plane ticket. Two weeks I went up there and I ended up changing my plane flight ten times and I ended up staying about three months up there deck-handed and after that I was like this is what I need to do I was I love the people I love the experience I love watching people catch their first fish and I love being involved in it so I came back and and said this is what I'm doing and went study for my Coast Guard license and got my Coast Guard license and and it was all history from there Here he comes, Sean. He's going to bite you. Right now. Oh, we missed it. Are you kidding me, dude? Oh, he's still there, kind of. He tried to eat it the first time. I'm not Marlin. Marlin, Marlin. Oh, you just got mad. Damn it, dude. There was our king. Oh. Get it. Get it, dude. Get it, Chris. Be the right target. Get it. Reel, reel, reel, reel. There you go. Oh, that's a Chinook. We got one. No, he just came off. No. Oh, he just came off. Oh. Oh, there you go. That's a good king. There's one. The right kind, too. Coming at you. Oh, yeah, that's a stud king. Oh, that's a dandy. Steer him that way a little. The long arm. It's long arm Louie right there. Oh, there we go. Oh, my God. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Nice fish, dude. Yeah, look at that. So, guys, these things cut so unbelievable. The meat on these things are incredible. They're the best. It's red. It's as red as his little boat thing right there. Yeah, it's like my boat key. That's what they cut like. They're an incredible fish. That's a pretty standard fish for here. It's probably, I don't know, 15 all day. Yeah, yeah. Maybe a little bigger, but. And they get bigger in here. So, mission accomplished. All right. Oh, he's got it. Sean. Hey someone come get that. It's a Chinook. Oh no it's just a big silver. Fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast. He's still on. He's still on. He's still on. He's out running you. There you go. There you go. Real, real, real. To the right. Hold your rod to the right. Right, right, right. It's a key. Ready, lift. Don't back up. You're good. You got him. Landed him. Chris, good job buddy. All right, well that's how you like them to eat it. Look at that. We ain't letting this one go. So what we're going to do is we're going to get our kings here, and then I'm going to run back downriver, and we'll make one or two passes and go catch the rest of our coho. Look at that. What a beauty. The old coastal Paul Chinook. Someone come take Lucas. We need the king. He's there. Might be a silver. I don't know what's going on here. Oh, no, it's a little king. Oh, it's not a little king. It's a good king. Keep him away from the motor. Come down this way. Lucas, you almost pulled him in, dude. Come on, Lucas. Nice, nice, nice, nice. Got him. Yeah. What do you think, Nick? Good one? Keeper? We can get bigger than this. I promise you. Yeah? There it is. Lucas really wants this beautiful fish. Let's go. Oh. Oh, drop it. I'm Come take it. starting It's a good one, whatever it is. It might be just a giant coho. And if it is, we'll just hand it off. It's not a coho. I don't know. to He really is. He's just head shaking. speak You don't have king, right, Lucas? now. That's awesome, man. They're both looking. There's two fish looking at different rods. They're on my back rod and on the middle rod. They're on this rod. There he is. There he is. There he is. There he is. Oh, my God. Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Time for rapid-fire questions from Nick Popoff. Chinook River, fall Chinook tributary fishing. Thank you. Troll. I don't even have an anchor. Herring. 360. I take both. Rain. Sunrise, because I want to be getting my work done before the sun sets. Rattling stuff in my boat. Red lines. Ooh, bait. Ooh, favorite boat snack's going to be red ropes, but the originals, the round ones, like from the movie theater, you know, when you were a kid. That's it, that's a big fish, pick it up. Lots of reeling, lots of reeling, lots of reeling. Oh, that's a big one. Dandy, holy, those were all kings. Someone's gonna have to net this. I can get it. Keep fighting that, Chris. How's that? Just keep fighting, I'll take it at the very end. You ready? Ready, Lucas? Yes, sir. What a dandy. Ready, not yet. Don't like where it took, I can tell you that. No, you're good, I'll bring it up to you. Go. That was the worst net draw. Did you see what he did? Let's take a look at that one more time. Go, go. Epic fail by Lucas Holmgren. Just roast me in the comments. I feel like I may deserve it. At the same time, the angle of the fish, the blah, blah, blah. That was tough. Scooped him, heavy fish turned, knocked it out. Sorry, Nick, that it had to be you. I don't care. Who cares? Dang. Let's hear all the excuses from Lucas. Yeah, you know, so I haven't missed a net job in a good 10 years or so. And, you know, stuff happens. I mean, like, I'm pretty sure, like, the barometric pressure changed about a minute before that. You know, we're on a big tide right now. That stuff happens. I don't know what everybody's complaining about. It was the biggest fish of the day. And that's another thing. These big fish, they have a brain that is not as big as humans. But they have this cortex in it that is like a net avoidance cortex. I would mostly chalk it up to the moon phase because, you know, after a full moon, four days after a full moon, I mean, this is common stuff guys. 25 pound Chinook chrome, just a fish. So of course it's got to end right here on Nick Popoff's boat for your viewing pleasure. So give us the outro! Alright guys, I hope you've enjoyed this video. It's a beautiful country, beautiful area, and a lot of gosh darned fish. So don't forget to hit that subscribe, leave a comment down below, and click the big pop-up. We'll see you on the water. Be safe, don't be panicked, put your life jacket on, and have a great day. Woo! Yeah, baby! You know there's an option to be mediocre and there's an option to to really work hard and I think it's all the stuff that people don't see behind closed doors that it really makes it hard. You know we work crazy hours and we work long days and you know there's things that still have to be done at the end of the day no matter how tired you are or how how you know unprepared you are for the next day. It's like it's it's those things that I think I really struggled with in the beginning was that and like I don't know that there was ever a time that I didn't want to do it or didn't know if it would work but there was definitely a period of time where like in the beginning I was like you know how am I going to Get all these people and the marketing piece of it. That was the most overwhelming challenge for me. I was blessed enough to come into fishing during the Facebook boom where you could advertise on Facebook and get to know people and they could get to know you through the social media part of it. And then obviously pairing up with Addicted was a huge, you know, blessing for me in the forefront of my guide business. You guys ready for this? You ready? Yes. Follow the fish. Dude, it says follow the fish. Apparently this is the juice fish and chips. We're gonna go try it. Let's go see what's up. Dude, what happened to our fish and chips? Riverside, what the heck? You weren't even open. It became a cheeseburger. Yeah, we got cheeseburgers instead. Hopefully they're good. Chris is gonna might not be able to make it home. Alright guys, let's go back to the ramp. Well, I want to take this minute to say thank you to my wife and my kids. You know, I work hard, but they sacrifice a lot. Without them, I couldn't do this. My wife's the most amazing woman in the world. You guys probably don't get to see her too much, and neither do I. But without her, none of this happens. If you want to continue to fish with me, maybe we should say thank you to Nick's wife because she's the reason this happens. I mean, I travel eight, nine months out of the year at times and to have a family as strong as we do, my kids, I don't get to see them as much as I wish I did, but they're huge supporters of what I do. They're huge supporters of Addicted and everything that we've done together. And I love you guys and thank you so much. Man, what an awesome day it was getting to spend time on the water with Nick Popoff. i've known nick for a long time and i can tell you firsthand that there aren't many guys out there who have the same level of passion dedication and absolute addiction with fishing that this guy does what makes nick so special isn't just how many fish he catches it's the energy he brings the knowledge he's gained over the years and his willingness to share that passion with everyone around him And that's exactly what the Pacific Northwest Angler Series is all about. It's about getting to know the people behind the fishing, hearing their stories, learning from their experiences, and celebrating the incredible anglers who make the Pacific Northwest fishing community what it is today. Nick, I just want to thank you for being a part of this series and for everything that you've contributed to Addicted Fishing and the fishing community over the years. And most importantly, for being such a good friend. And to everyone watching, thank you for continuing to support this series. If you've enjoyed this episode, make sure you hit the subscribe button, leave us a comment, and let us know who you want us to feature next. We have a lot more incredible anglers and stories coming your way, and I can't wait to share them with you. Until next time, keep chasing that passion, keep making memories on the water, and we'll see you on the next episode of the Pacific Northwest Angler Series.