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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, April 9, 2009 OUTDOOR OUTLOOK: Here's a fish story you'll want to read By Wayne Kruse Herald Writer Got a fish story for you today, in four parts, so listen up: Part 1: Your humble scribe takes his two sons, Morgan and Murray, on a two-day trip to the lower Columbia River for spring chinook. His first time on that mainstem fishery, although he's fished springers before, up at Drano Lake, above Bonneville. Hooks an 18-pound chromer above the freeway bridge. Hot fish -- long run, back and forth, then out to port, where a pair of mallards, hen and drake, are camped, waiting for sandwich scraps, holding maybe three feet apart, 50 feet off the boat. Chinook dives, then comes straight up, four feet into the air, right between the two ducks. Chaos. Huge flurry of fish and ducks, thrashing, splashing, carrying on something fierce. Never seen the like before, and probably never will again. Part 2: Think king salmon. What comes to mind? Cold, north Pacific, pristine water, scent of spruce and cedar in the air? No way, not here. Morgan hooks a bright 16-pound buck, plays it expertly, and guides it tenderly to the net. Directly under the I-5 bridge. Listen to the 18-wheelers pounding overhead. Smell the diesel. Count the 200 other boats, or so, fishing the same area. Ah, well, you get it where you can. Part 3: Ever seen, or heard of, a Western Washington sport fisherman disappointed at catching a steelhead? Guide boat nearby hooks, plays and lands a hard-charging steelhead first thing in the morning, then catches nothing else all day. Beautiful 14-pound hatchery steelhead. Big-time prize. We hear through the grapevine that the party was majorly disappointed. Wanted a springer or two. Bad. Part 4: Have heard that Columbia River spring chinook are the best table salmon available in the state. Much like the Copper River kings. It's true, pardner. Put a fillet in an aluminum foil boat with a marinade Judyrae made up special for the occasion -- a mix of Italian dressing, brown sugar, and some other good stuff. On the grill, medium to high heat, heavy smoke. Deep red, sockeye-quality fish poaches for 30 minutes or so. I spoon sweet-and-spicy marinade over the cross-hatched fillet every little bit, and the dog and I wait -- and drool. It's ambrosia. Even Judyrae, who prefers ling, halibut, and other whitefish, says she has to admit this is some of the best fish we've ever had at our house. The fishery is relatively easy to learn, at least while the fish are holding in a small area above the mouth of the Willamette, and even small boats can be used, with caution. There's a big launch-ramp facility about two miles upriver from the I-5 bridge, on the Vancouver side, and the usual drift is from about a half-mile above the freeway, down to the railroad bridge a mile below the freeway. If you stay at the Red Lion, you have access to a nice public pier just below the hotel. The technique is to troll very slowly down river, just fast enough to beat the current and to keep a plug-cut herring turning. The rig is simple: a 3-ounce ball on a 16-inch dropper from a slider on the mainline, a swivel, five or six feet of leader, and a standard 2-hook herring rig. Many fishermen hang a Fish-Flash or other rotating attractor below the swivel and above a length of bead chain, while others fish a straight plug-cut. Keeping the lead ball bouncing on the sand bottom is crucial, and the only place you worry about losing gear is right around the bridge abutments. Checks by the Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife departments last week showed a catch rate of about a half-chinook per boat, for a record 3,248 boats counted during the April 4 flight, from Bonneville Dam to the Columbia mouth. We saw a fair number of fish caught Thursday and Friday last week, but it's still not the peak of the run. Although counts over Bonneville are increasing to something in the 100 per day range, they remain well behind this time last year. The cumulative count through Sunday was 436 adult kings, compared to 552 last year. Despite a low number of fish over Bonneville so far, checks at Drano Lake, the fishery at the mouth of the Little White Salmon River above the dam, showed 23 boat anglers with three kings over the weekend. TROUT Both Blackman's Lake and Flowing Lake received generous plants last week of triploid rainbow going 1 to 4 pounds, and with the recent warmer weather, those fish should be acclimating to their new digs quickly. The plants were made by the Snohomish Sportsmen's Club and the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club, with proceeds from their annual coho derby. Plants in Blackman's will be repeated every couple of weeks through May, according to the Snohomish club's spokesman, Mark Spada. There will be additional plants in Flowing as well, but the schedule is unknown at this point. Both lakes have public access and fishing piers. OUTDOOR RADIO: Don't forget the new outdoor radio talk show starting this Saturday morning, 6-8:30 a.m., on 710 ESPN Seattle, and featuring the call-in format of the pioneering "Outdoor Line" with Bill Davis. The new show, deliberately taking the "Outdoor Line" name, will be hosted by avid angler and local resident Tom Nelson, ex-pro football player and tournament fisherman Robbie Tobeck, and Alaska guide and ex-local river fisherman Rob Endsley. Funny guys. Should be a blast. END OF PRINT COLUMN KIDS CLINIC: Have a youngster who wants you to take him or her fishing, but you don't have a clue? Here's a two-hour kids trout clinic which should give you all the basics necessary to begin. The clinic runs 6-8 p.m. April 15 at Silver Lake Park on the west side of Silver Lake in south Everett. Experts will cover techniques and gear necessary to fish local trout lakes, along with basic casting. The event is sponsored by the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club and Everett Parks and Recreation, and is open to kids 5 years and older, accompanied by an adult. Call Ev Parks for more information at 425-257-8300. TURKEY: The spring turkey season runs April 15 through May 31 statewide, and while numbers are probably down a little this year, populations tend to remain fairly stable. WDFW upland game manager Mick Cope in Olympia said late winter bird counts indicate slightly lower numbers of turkeys this year, but that populations generally remain strong. The northeast quarter of the state offers Washington's best turkey hunting and wildlife biologist Dana Base in Colville said recently-completed winter population surveys indicate numbers down from the past two years, probably due to harsh winter conditions in 2007-08 and 2008-09. "The northeast district still has the highest density of turkeys in the state," Base said, "and will likely again provide two-thirds of the state harvest." LINGS: Coastal charters continue to take limits of black rockfish and mostly limits of lingcod, when weather allows them out, according to WDFW port sampler Erica Crust. "Crossing the Westport bar has been a problem some of the time," Crust said, "but on good days, most people are catching their two-ling daily limit." Bottomfish aficionados are waiting for April 16, when Marine Area 4 opens for lings. Neah Bay traditionally supplies some of the state's best ling fishing, and Crust said this spring should be no exception. All areas are open 7 days, and the minimum ling size in Area 4 is 24 inches. BASIN TROUT: Warmer weather has spurred trout success in many of the early-opening and year-around lakes in the Columbia Basin, according to WDFW fish manager Jeff Korth in Moses Lake. He suggests the Pillar-Widgeon chain of 10 small walk-in lakes as good prospects, situated on a square mile of beautiful canyon land on the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge north of Othello in Grant County. Access is from a point just southeast of Soda Lake, Korth said, and the lakes should provide good fishing, both from the bank and from float tubes. The best, he said, will probably be Widgeon, Sago and Pillar.

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