Winter fishing around here is a mixed bag right now, and that’s probably the result of the wet/windy/cold unsettled weather conditions since the big rainstorm earlier in the month.
That storm — and the resulting influx of dirty water into north Puget Sound from the Snohomish and Skagit rivers — has left blackmouth anglers looking for spots that are both out of the wind and relatively clean.
On Wednesday morning, charter skipper Gary Krein was fishing the Langley area on the east side of Whidbey Island, out of the wind but not out of the dirty water. “It’s fishable here, certainly, but definitely on the cloudy side,” he said.
Krein planned to work the usual 100 to 120 feet for a while, and then move closer to the beach.
“Often when it’s dirty like this, the bait will move inshore, to cleaner water in 60 to 70 feet, and the chinook will follow,” he said.
Under those conditions, and when he hasn’t been out for a few days, Krein normally starts the morning with a selection of gear in the water. On Wednesday, he was trolling a green/white Coyote spoon, a dark green squid, and two Tomic plugs. He planned to stay with that spread until he found out what the feeder chinook wanted.
As the water clears, fishing should improve in Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2, because reports indicate blackmouth are available. Fish have been boated around Langley, across Saratoga Passage at Elger Bay, in the Oak Harbor area, at Columbia Beach, and elsewhere. Krein said Area 10 has offered consistently good fishing for a month now, for those who don’t mind fighting a south wind on the run down to Kingston, Richmond Beach, or Jefferson Head. Popular Area 9 reopens Jan. 16.
State Department of Fish and Wildlife checks at the Port of Everett ramp showed four boats with two blackmouth on Saturday, and four boats with three fish on Sunday. Up north, three boats out of Oak Harbor had two fish on Saturday, and one boat at Maple Grove had one fish.
Blackmouth fishermen might keep in mind that crabbing remains open through Jan. 2 in Marine Areas 9 and 10, among others.
Steelhead: Fishing has been spotty, with some rivers dropping into fishing shape and others staying relatively high and dirty. The Olympic Peninsula rivers should be in good shape by this weekend, said Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks, but so far the hatchery steelhead season has been so-so.
The Bogachiel and lower Calawah should offer the best opportunities, but there are fish in all the rivers around Forks.
The upper Skagit is fishable, and putting out fair to good steelheading. Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington reported consistent action for anglers working the stretch from Concrete up to the mouth of the Cascade River at Marblemount. They had success boondogging (free drifting) Corkies, yarn, eggs or shrimp.
The Cascade also continues to produce, Ferber said, even though the colder temperatures have the river down and clear. Many fish, he said, have been taken with a float/jig rig near Jordan Creek and, because of low, clear conditions, finesse fishermen using 1/8- or 1/4-ounce jigs — in white or peach instead of bright pink or flame orange — are having the most success. The Cascade also offers a good opportunity for winter fly fishermen.
Ferber said the Whidbey Island beaches also are putting out steelhead, particularly for locals who can run down to Bush or Lagoon points, or Fort Casey, and fish the hour around the high tide change.
The Cowlitz remains productive, around the trout hatchery outfall, and Arlington resident/guide Sam Ingram said the upper Skykomish could be good this weekend, barring more rain between now and then. Stay above the Sultan, Ingram warned, which continues to run dirty. Hot spots have been Reiter Ponds and the mouth of the Wallace.
A steelhead note from the state: Electric motors will be allowed above the Modrow Bridge on the Kalama starting Jan. 1 and running until further notice.
Wildlife viewing: Winter feeding of elk and bighorn sheep at the state’s Oak Creek Wildlife Area west of Yakima is under way, and tours have started. Area manager John McGowan said elk are fed at 1:30 p.m. daily at the headquarters complex, six miles west of Naches on Highway 12. Bighorn sheep are fed mid-morning at the Cleman Mountain unit of the wildlife area, just northeast of the Highway 410 and Highway 12 junction, about a half-mile up the Old Naches Road. Washington Environmental Corps volunteers staff the visitor center, and can be reached for information at 509-698-5106.
Waterfowl: Hunting remains excellent as the weather cooperates and the number of ducks continues to build on Port Susan, and Skagit and Samish bays.
Excellent numbers of northern mallards (21/2 times the November numbers) were counted in the Columbia Basin on a recent flight by state biologists, along with a good population of Canada geese. Flooded cornfields are a good place to find both species, state experts said.
Oysters: The good news is that winter is prime time to harvest a limit of 18 oysters on the public beaches of Puget Sound or Hood Canal. The bad news is that low tides (you don’t need a minus for oysters) fall during nighttime hours in the winter months. If you have a propane lantern and a hankering for a batch of oysters, there are a number of opportunities.
Over on Hood Canal, one good spot is Cushman (Saltwater) Park, which has an excellent oyster population and has just been opened to year-around recreational gathering. The park is about two miles south of Hoodsport.
A little closer to home are several beaches on Penn Cove, on the east side of Whidbey Island. Madrona and West Penn Cove beaches are both open year around for clams and oysters, unless they’re closed for health reasons.
“Even though the tides are at night, winter is in my opinion the best time to harvest oysters,” said state biologist Alex Bradbury at the agency’s Point Whitney Shellfish Lab on Hood Canal. “This time of year they’ve regained the fat they lost during summer spawning, and are really in prime shape.”
Chinook forecast: The run size predictions are out for chinook on the Columbia River and one fact jumps out: If you fish Drano Lake or the Wind River for springers, or if you’ve ever wanted to, this coming spring season is the time to be there. It should be smokin’ hot for big, prime, chrome-bright spring chinook, according to Washington and Oregon salmon management biologists.
The forecast for Drano Lake (the mouth of the Little White Salmon River) is for a run of 36,800 adult springers, compared to 6,500 fish last spring. That could turn out to be a record return. The current record is 20,600 fish in 2002.
Biologists say the Wind River run is forecast at 10,000 fish, compared to 4,300 last year.
Of course, even if those run sizes develop, not all the fish will return. Allocations for tribal and commercial fisheries farther down river will be raised accordingly but, even then, the number of adult kings available to recreational fishermen should still be well above the dismal returns of the past three years.
Other Columbia predictions are mixed, but those for the Yakima River spring chinook run are also good. The predicted return is 10,060 fish, compared to 2,982 last year. Not many anglers from the westside have participated in the Yakima fishery yet, but it’s gradually becoming better known. It’s a pretty river, a nice size to fish, and readily accessible by boat and from the bank. The fishery is bound to prosper, given a decent return of adult kings.
The forecast for Cowlitz River adult springers in 2008 is 5,200 fish, compared to 3,700 last year. The forecast on the Kalama is 3,700, well below the actual return last spring of 7,300 fish.
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