Icicle River chinook season heating up

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Icicle River opened Friday for hatchery chinook, from the deadline below the Leavenworth Hatchery trap on down to just above its junction with the Wenatchee, but was relatively slow over the long weekend. Don Talbot at Hooked On Toys in Wenatchee (509-663-0740) said, however, that this weekend or next week could be hot.

“Everybody’s seeing a lot of kings rolling in the Wenatchee,” Talbot said, “and it’s just a matter of when they all get the idea to move on up.”

The river is perfect for fishing, Talbot said, which means plenty of water to keep salmon from the low-water spookies.

He took a couple of hours Wednesday morning and nailed a 7-pounder below the deadline, and said a regular there had already taken five kings, all on fresh eggs. The chinook are running from 7 or 8 pounds up to about 25, Talbot said, but since at least a few five-year kings are expected back this season, there could be some fish larger than that on the way.

The summer chinook season on the mainstem central Columbia, by the way, is scheduled to open July 1 – a couple of weeks earlier than usual – and is predicted to be a fairly good, but not great, run this year. Guide and Brewster resident Rod Hammons (509-689-2849) said early this week some 600 had already been counted over Wells Dam, and averaging about 200 fish per day. Best fishing for these heavyweight kings runs from the Wenatchee area up to Chief Joseph Dam.

Springer fishing on the lower Columbia is winding down – just about over at the mouth of the Wind River, but still producing some fish at Drano Lake (where the Wednesday closures have been extended through June 14). Summer steelhead action has taken over on the mainstem Columbia in the Longview area, according to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver.

Today’s opener on the Skykomish should be productive, according to guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram (360-435-9311), if rain overnight didn’t put the river out. The Skagit, also opening today, put out fish in early June last year, Ingram said, and is expected to do the same this year.

Halibut: The Port Angeles Halibut Derby, over the weekend, was won by Ronald Barnett of Seabeck, with a fish of 124 pounds, taken on spreader bar and whole herring. That’s a little down from last year’s winner, at 134 pounds, and considerably below 2004’s big fish, a 156-pounder. But hey, I imagine most saltchuck anglers would take a 124-pound halibut and a check for $5,000, any time.

Second, and $2,500, went to John Jacobi of Port Angeles, at 95 pounds; third and $1,500 to Bob Lucas, also of Port Angeles, at 71 pounds; and fourth to Justin Downey of Port Orchard, at 69 pounds.

Barnett’s derby winner was caught off Green Point, in just 80 feet of water. That makes sense, said Mark Ahrndt at sponsoring Swain’s Inc., in Port Angeles.

“We had some heavy tides during the derby,” Ahrndt said, “which didn’t do anything positive for the success rate. But another thing it did was to push many of the area’s halibut into shallower water, where they can get out of the tidal run behind bottom structure. As a result, many of our derby fish were caught in a lot less water than normal.”

State checks at Ediz Hook on the two derby days tallied 285 anglers with 32 halibut, and at the Port Angeles West Ramp, 294 anglers, also with 32 fish.

The Sekiu/Pillar Point area opened to halibut on the 25th, and Val Olson at Olson’s Resort in Sekiu (360-963-2311) said the season so far hasn’t been hot, but anglers are taking a nice mix of halibut, lings and rockfish. Tides will be a lot better this weekend, Olson said, and the area resorts are sponsoring a halibut derby for June 3 and 4, $15 per person, with a first-place payout of $10 per pound of winning fish, and a second place cash prize of $200.

State checks at Olson’s on the 26th showed 35 anglers fishing Marine Area 5, with eight halibut and four rockfish, and five anglers fishing Marine Area 4, with four lings (west of the Sekiu River) and 49 rockfish.

Partridge Bank and other eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca shoals continue to pump out the occasional halibut, and the state has announced two more days of halibut fishing out of Neah Bay and LaPush, June 22 and June 24. The 20-fathom depth restriction will not apply in those areas on those two days, although rockfish and lings may not be kept from deeper water.

San Juan Islands: Great combo opportunities right now for halibut, lingcod and shrimp (check the regulations for closures) in the Islands, according to Anthon Steen at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington (360-757-4361). Spot shrimp closed in the north part of the Islands, but remained open in the south portion at last look, and Steen said shrimping remains good at Iceberg and Biz points, among other spots. He likes commercial shrimp pellets soaked in scent oil and cat food for bait.

Ling action has slowed a bit, Steen said, but mostly because of a decrease in fishing pressure rather than a lack of fish.

Local lingcod: And speaking of lings, local waters continue to produce pretty good fishing this season, according to state checks. At Cornet Bay (Deception Pass) on Saturday, 43 anglers had 13 lings, seven rockfish, and six greenling. At the Mukilteo ramp on Saturday, 16 anglers had seven lings, and at the Port of Everett ramp on Sunday, 11 anglers had four lings and two greenling.

Big cutthroat: Another popular water opening today is Grimes Lake, in Douglas County just north of Jameson Lake. You pass the turnoff to Grimes as you drive in to the north end of Jameson, a rough road sometimes suitable only for 4Xs. The short season on Grimes produces Lahontan-strain cutthroat, six to eight pounds or larger, under one-fish, single barbless hook, artificial lures only rules. Fly fishermen do well, as do trollers pulling spoons and spinners. Take your own belly boat, pontoon boat, or cartopper.

Shad: Enough shad are now being caught from Camas up the Columbia to Bonneville Dam to warrant a drive down I-5 if you’re an aficionado of these scrappy members of the herring family. Averages are running about four fish per rod for bank anglers in the Bonneville area right now, and about 10 per rod for boaters.

There’s a small problem, however.

“River levels are so high,” said state biologist Hymer, “that boating becomes dangerous unless you stay down around Camas or lower, and fishing from the bank is difficult in spots as well.”

St. Helens elk: The state is now accepting public comment on its draft management plan for the Mount St. Helens elk herd, which has suffered from well-publicized winter mortality recently. Among other factors, the plan will address overcrowding on the available range and the improvement of wintering conditions for the herd.

One new policy proposal is to reduce the size of the overall herd from the current estimated 13,000 animals in four counties to about 10,000, over a period of several years. The major tool to accomplish the reduction, according to state assistant wildlife program director Steve Pozzanghera, is an expansion of cow hunting permits.

The draft plan is available on the department Web site, http:// wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/elk/ sthelens.htm. An additional plan, for management of the Mount St. Helens Wildlife Area, is available at wdfw.wa.gov/lands/wildlife_areas/sthelens/manage.htm. Hard copies of both plans can also be obtained by contacting the department at Wildlife Program, Washington Department of Fish and Wildliffe, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501.

The public comment period extends through July 15.