The best local steelhead opportunity, now that rivers have started edging their way downward, may not be local at all. Reports from over the hump indicate the Methow has started putting out its usual good late-winter fishing, now that a prolonged warm spell has melted ice and raised water temperatures.
A lot of westside steelheaders wait each year for this opportunity, and it looks like it’s here.
Fish, which came in last fall, are scattered throughout the river, but action has been reported particularly good around Twisp. Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologist Bob Jateff at Ephrata said the most popular fishing setup has been a float and jig.
Closer to home, the Cascade River at Marblemount is still producing bright hatchery fish, although on the downward side of its season. Same with the Skagit above Rockport, eminently fishable but a little on the high side as of early this week.
The Snoqualmie system has outproduced the Skykomish and its tributaries this winter, and so the Tolt and Tokul Creek remain the better small-stream bets as water drops and clears. The Wallace, Pilchuck and Sultan should all be fishable by this weekend, barring a lot more rain. Reiter Ponds has been hot and cold, all season.
The Cowlitz has been disappointing this season, and checks last week on the lower river – three winter and one summer steelhead for 22 shore anglers at Blue Creek and the barrier dam – did nothing to change anyone’s mind despite high water conditions. The data agrees: This winter a total of 813 and 876 hatchery winter steelhead have returned to the Cowlitz trout and salmon hatcheries, respectively. Last year at this same time, the numbers were 964 and 2,373.
Kalama hatchery returns are slightly better than half of last year’s, while Lewis River returns are down slightly.
Cowlitz smelt: Commercials are still netting smelt in the mainstream Columbia, and the Cowlitz is running at 44 degrees, which is optimum for smelt migration, but so far no show. It could break loose most any time, however, since the river has been high and murky. If it does, the season will be open Saturdays only, so call to reserve a rental net at Carnival Market in Kelso, 360-425-6622.
Blackmouth: While anglers wait for the Feb. 1 opening of Area 9, some pretty good fishing continues in Saratoga Passage. All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein (425-252-4188) took a party up to the Greenbank area (north of the mouth of Holmes Harbor) on Sunday and quickly hit eight fish, bringing five of them to the boat. Unfortunately, they were all unclipped, so he headed back down to Area 8-2, south of Fox’s Spit (East Point), and boated two nice hatchery salmon. That’s not too bad, especially considering the murky water conditions in the whole area.
That day the state checker at the Port of Everett ramp tallied eight fish for 14 boats, one of the better checks of the winter season at that location.
Krein was fishing a glow green flasher, 42 inches of leader, and a two-tone green Coyote spoon in both 31/2 -inch and 4-inch sizes. He was trolling on bottom, in 105 to 110 feet of water.
Saratoga Passage has been producing clipped, hatchery-stock blackmouth at almost exactly a 65-percent rate since the season opened, Krein said. He has been keeping track of the data for the state, and said his fish have averaged seven pounds, with several in the nine- to 10-pound range and a high of 12 pounds.
Waterfowl: What has been an excellent duck hunting season ends Jan. 29, so there are just two more weekends to take your best dog friend afield. Anthon Steen at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington has done well all season on Skagit Bay, setting out up to 10 dozen decoys, along with a half-dozen Winduk movers. He said the bag has been a good mix of pintail, mallards, widgeon and snow geese (the goose season is closed now).
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has decided there are sufficient numbers of brant on Skagit Bay to open a limited season, Jan. 21, 22, 24, 26 and 28, with a daily limit of two geese. This is not a spur of the moment hunt, however, since participants must have prior written authorization and a harvest information card from the state.
River book: Frank Amato’s new “Washington River Maps and Fishing Guide” is now out, featuring 34 detailed river maps, plenty of how-to information for both standard and fly gear, river access points, launch sites, charts of peak fishing times for trout, salmon, and steelhead, and much more.
Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports calls this an absolute must-have for any Washington river fisherman. See your local tackle shop.
Oysters: Not too many outdoor recreationists are aware of it, but the state has rather quietly developed a pretty good artificial enhancement program for oysters in Hood Canal, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and a couple of other places. One spot is Sequim Bay State Park in Clallam County, now carrying a high enough population of the shellfish to warrant a year-around recreational season.
Outdoor show: If you don’t want to wait for the Monroe show, late next month, or wish to attend both, the Washington Sportsmen’s Show runs Jan. 25-29 in Puyallup. Show hours are noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Parking is free.
Adult admission is $9; juniors 6-16 is $5; and children under 6 are free. Discount coupons for $2 off the adult price are available at participating Western Washington KeyBank and Les Schwab locations, and online at www.sportshow.net/puyallup.
Commission meet: The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, meeting in Olympia, voted Saturday to continue pretty much unchanged previous allocation policy for spring chinook on the Columbia River through the 2007 season. That includes setting the allowable mortality rate for wild chinook (two percent of the run, by federal rule) at 60 percent for recreational fisheries and 40 percent for commercial.
The commission also approved permits for a limited number of deer and elk hunters to participate in all three weapons-choice seasons in the same year, but still limited to one deer and one elk annually. Interested hunters will need to apply for the special permits, which will cost $150 in addition to the regular license fee.
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