UPDATE: After this report was published Sept. 28, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the Snohomish River would open to fishing for coho (silver) salmon Sept. 29 through Oct. 2, and Oct. 6-9.
Important stuff, outdoor folks. Pay attention.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife opened the upper Skykomish to hatchery steelhead fishing Saturday and, according to Tom Sakamoto at Three Rivers Marine in Woodinville, action was brisk. “There seemed to be plenty of steelhead up there over the weekend,” Sakamoto said.
Bobber and jig, or bobber and bait were the hot items, he said.
The section of the river opened to steelheading was basically Reiter Ponds — from Big Eddy/High Bridge upriver to the forks — and the fishery was scheduled to last through October. Salmon managers decided an opening for hatchery steelhead would not jeopardize escapement objectives for coho and, in fact, dropped a hint via release that the Snohomish system may be opened to coho if in-season run updates indicate a harvestable surplus. An announcement would probably appear first on the agency website, www.wdfw.wa.gov/fishing. Another contact would be the agency’s Mill Creek office, 425-775-1311.
Farther north, the Skagit and Cascade opened Wednesday to coho and/or gamefish as managers decided the coho run was stronger than anticipated. Portions of rivers open to salmon retention are: the Skagit from the mouth to the Cascade River Road (Marblemount) Bridge, coho daily limit four, of which two may be wild, bait prohibited; Cascade from the mouth to the Rockport-Cascade Road Bridge, limit four coho.
Portions of rivers open to gamefish are: Skagit from mouth to the Hwy 530 bridge at Rockport, trout limit two, minimum size 14 inches, Dollies/bull trout minimum 20 inches; Skagit from the Hwy 530 bridge at Rockport to Gorge Powerhouse, catch and release except two hatchery steelhead daily; Cascade from mouth to Rockport-Cascade Road bridge, trout limit two, minimum size 14 inches, Dollies/bull trout minimum size 20 inches; Sauk from mouth to the Whitechuck, catch and release except two hatchery steelhead.
Kevin John at Holiday Sports in Burlington said he expects the best coho fishing in the Skagit to be from Burlington upriver, maybe in the Hamilton/birdsview area. The Cascade is also holding fish, he said. He’ll be drifting and casting Brad’s Wiggler plugs in purple or chartreuse, or Dick Nite spoons in greens, chartreuse or 50-50. “The fish haven’t been worked over, so hopefully there’ll be a bunch of dumb ones,” he said.
The Tulalip bubble was opened to hatchery coho as part of the daily two-salmon limit for a brief period — Sept. 17 through Sept. 25, weekends only — and ended Sunday. Charter owner Gary Krein said as far as he could tell, not a single coho was taken by a sport fisherman in that opening.
The best salmon fishery on the horizon, Krein said, is the Nov. 1 winter blackmouth opener in local marine areas.
Rising marine toxin levels have prompted the WDFW to delay upcoming razor clam digs at Long Beach and to review openings at other coastal beaches. The agency had recently announced a tentative schedule of digs for Oct. 14 through Dec. 31 at all beaches except Kalaloch, but WDFW coastal shellfish manager Dan Ayres said digs at Long Beach are on hold until tests indicate toxin levels have dropped and the clams are safe to eat. He said test results on clams dug recently at Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks beaches also showed a rise in toxin levels, but that they remain below the threshold set by public health officials.
Ayres said samples from all beaches were sent last week to the state health department and that he expects results by Thursday or Friday.
Derby
The 2017 Roche Harbor Salmon Classic has been scheduled for Jan. 19-21 this winter and tickets are on sale. Derby coordinator Debbie Sandwith at Roche Harbor Market said the 2016 derby sold out before Thanksgiving.
Follow the derby on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/rocheharborsalmonderby; print an entry form at the derby web page, http://www.rocheharbor.com/events/derby; submit the entry one of four ways: Call 360-378-5562; FAX 360-378-9850; email market@rocheharbor.com; or mail Roche Harbor Market ATTN: Debbie, P.O. Box 4001, Roche Harbor, WA 98250.
Columbia system salmon
The Hanford Reach fall chinook update by WDFW biologist Paul Hoffarth in Pasco showed an increase in effort from 6,718 anglers the previous week to 9,943 anglers last week, with boat counts ranging from 386 to 854 boats per day. Boaters continued to average a chinook per boat (16.5 angler hours per fish), with the best fishing found in the Ringold area at 1.7 chinook per boat. An estimated 3,573 adult chinook and 225 jacks were caught last week, Hoffarth said.
The numbers of fall chinook moving upstream through the McNary fish ladders has begun to drop off. The current in-season update for the Hanford Reach wild fall chinook is 127,378, well below the forecast but still a strong return.
On the Yakima River, 236 anglers were checked last week with 19 adult fall chinook, averaging about 31 hours per fish. That was a big improvement, Hoffarth said, over the previous week’s 53 hours per fish.
State biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver said the fall chinook run on the Columbia has been downgraded to 720,000 fish, about 76 percent of the preseason estimate of 960,000 kings.
Anglers on the Cowlitz found fair fishing last week for a mix of salmon and steelhead. Some 166 boat fishermen kept six adult fall chinook, 12 adult and three jack coho and seven steelhead, and released 17 adult and one jack fall chinook and 10 adult coho. Bank anglers had nine adult fall chinook, one jack coho and nine steelhead, and released 36 adult and five jack fall chinook, and five adult coho for the 235 rods checked. At Drano Lake, 71 boat anglers had 24 adult and one jack fall chinook, and 25 steelhead.
Best bass lakes
The Bass Anglers Sportsmen’s Society has released its annual list of the country’s top bass lakes, and the list is led by Toledo Bend Reservoir, which straddles the Texas/Louisiana border. Best waters in Washington were Lake Washington (number eight in the Western Region listing), Potholes Reservoir, number 12; Banks Lake, number 17; and the Columbia River, number 18.
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