Outdoor outlook

  • By Wayne Kruse / Herald Columnist
  • Wednesday, August 25, 2004 9:00pm
  • Sports

The first powder smoke of Autumn will drift through the sagebrush and wheat stubble of Eastern Washington Sept. 1, with the opening of dove hunting season and, even though recent rains have probably moved some birds south, there should still be plenty around for the opener.

“The anecdotal evidence around here is that there are lots of doves,” said Matt Monda, Region 2 wildlife biologist at the state Fish and Wildlife Department’s Ephrata office. “Production was very good this year and, while everyone knows doves are a here today, gone tomorrow proposition, it should be a good opener.”

Some of the traditionally productive spots include the Wells Wildlife Area, between Brewster and Bridgeport on the south side of the Columbia, including Bridgeport Bar. Lots of wheat and lots of room, Monda said, if you’re willing to walk. Sagebrush north and south of Moses Lake are good walk-up spots and can also offer good pass shooting during morning and evening hours when birds are leaving, or returning to, roosting spots.

Areas in the Okanogan Valley which were once top producers are no longer planted with wheat on a regular basis and have become hit or miss, Monda said.

“Many of our larger wildlife areas provide public access and good dove hunting, if hunters come over a day or two early and scount around to find grain next to one of the areas, along with moving birds,” Monda said. “Grant County was one of our top dove producers last year, and many of those birds came from wheat stubble around our Desert Wildlife Area, particularly along Frenchman Hills and Winchester wasteways, and around Potholes Reservoir. Lind Coulee, on the east side of Potholes, is a traditionally good dove hunting spot, but again, successful hunters scount out the birds before opening day.”

The best dove hunting in Eastern Washington last season, according to checks by department personnel, was in Yakima County, Monda said.

Archery deer season also opens, in selected units on Sept. 1, along with coho salmon season on the Snohomish. Avid outdoorsman and river guide Sam Ingram (360-435-9311) said that’s a particularly attractive juxtaposition of dates, since he has already seen silvers in the Snohomish and said a combo trip for deer and salmon is a distinct possibility in units that are open. A reduction in deer hunting pressure locally over the past few years has resulted in a lot more animals along our river bottoms, Ingram said, and an increase in quality bucks.

Local coho: The big blip on the radar screen locally would be for coho, according to Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sport Center in north Lynnwood (425-743-9505). Ocean silvers seem to be coming in at least a couple of weeks earlier than the past few years, Chamberlain said, perhaps indicating a better than usual fall fishery.

Action is still spotty in saltwater, he said, and anglers are having to move around to find fish, but some nice ones are being boated, 7 to 14 pounds or so. Possession Bar, Scatchet Head, Hat Island, and the shipwreck have all put out a few nice silvers the past few days, and beach fishermen tossing darts and Buzz Bombs have been landing coho for a couple of weeks, at least, at Point Wilson, the westside Whidbey Island beaches, North Beach at Deception Pass, and others.

“Recent rain should only make it better,” Chamberlain said, “and should bring some nice fish into the Snohomish for its Sept. 1 opener.

The Edmonds pier is on the downward side of its annual summer chinook fishery, but there are still kings being taken. Chamberlain said Point Wilson darts in 21/4 ounces are probably the most popular lure on the pier, with pearl/white and pearl/green the best colors. The fishery – one of the few in the area where chinook can be kept – has been a good one this season.

Tulalip bubble: Rains could also make this weekend a good one in the bubble, Chamberlain said, with a fresh shot of water stirring up both fish and fishermen. Action had fallen off, as shown in checks last weekend by WDFW personnel at the Port of Everett ramp: 164 anglers Friday with 10 chinook and 18 coho; and 105 anglers with 5 chinook and 30 coho on Sunday.

Coastal salmon: Fishing has finally picked up for anglers out of Westport, according to Kelly Westrick at Westport Charters (1-800-562-0157), with limits now more the rule than the exception, and about a 50-50 mix of kings and coho.

And to improve the situation even more, the WDFW will change the regulations, starting Sunday, to allow anglers to keep all coho boated.

“That will make a big difference,” Westrick said, “because we’ve had to throw back unclipped silvers, and the ratio was about seven out of 10 fish with no hatchery mark.”

In making the decision to drop the wild coho release requirement for Westport, fisheries managers cited low catch levels compared to recent years, and compared to other ports such as Neah Bay, LaPush and Ilwaco, where fishing has been very good this summer.

Westrick said chinook are averaging 15 to 25 pounds, and coho, about 10 pounds. Charters have been running 12 to 15 miles, she said.

At Ilwaco, checks last week showed 1.4 salmon per rod, with coho making up just under 85 percent of the catch.

Buoy 10: Checks late last week showed an average of one king for every three rods on the lower end of the Columbia, and coho catches were increasing.

Hoodsport chinook: Chamberlain said recent rains brought a surge of hatchery chinook to the Hoodsport Salmon Hatchery, and beach fishermen there casting Vibrax and Mepps spinners have been doing fairly well on fish 12 to 20 pounds.

Upper Columbia chinook: Kings are starting to move around a bit more in the Columbia upstream of Wells Dam, said guide and Brewster resident Rod Hammons (509-689-2849), and while the peak of the summer fishery hasn’t yet arrived, action is improving. Dodger-herring rigs are still accounting for the bulk of the catch, Hammons said, but as the fish become more aggressive, Kwikfish become more productive.

Lake Wenatchee to close: The Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery closes on Aug. 31, and even though there’s one weekend left, catch rates and fishing effort have both declined substantially. The quality of the fish has also declined, according to WDFW biologist Art Viola in Wenatchee, as sockeye start heading up the Little Wenatchee, White, and Napeequa rivers to spawn. Total harvest for the 39-day fishery is projected to reach 5,700 to 5,800 sockeye.

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