Considering most Western Washington steelhead rivers are running low, clear and cold, there’s a fair amount of opportunity for the avid winter fisherman, led by the Cascade (see Pick of the Week) and the Snoqualmie.
The latter has “slowed a little from what it was producing two or three weeks ago, but is still putting out fish,” according to Bryan Nelson at Three Rivers Marine in Woodinville (425-415-1575).
The Snoqualmie is probably a better choice than the Skykomish for this weekend, Nelson said. While the bulk of anglers are working the stretch from Fall City to Tokul Creek, he said the river is in such good shape that it is eminently fishable downstream from the mouth of the Raging as well.
“Try a float and jig, or a float and small piece of shrimp,” he said, “on light 6- or 8-pound line or leader, and small setups.”
Other possibilities, Nelson said, include the Snohomish, where plunkers continue to hit at least fair numbers of fish; the Bogachiel, where he and a friend hooked four steelhead recently under low, clear conditions, and the lower Hoh, which often carries a little color and fishes better when other streams are showing their bones.
Guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram (360-435-9311) said the Skykomish is down nearly to summer-run levels and that anglers should go to long, light leaders and small baits. Two techniques that seem to work well under these conditions, he said, are to either drift eggs slowly through the deeper holes where fish tend to lie to wait for rain, or to backtroll diver/bait setups through the same type water.
Ingram said the fish he has seen so far on the Sky have been nice, fat 6- to 8-pounders. There have been few dinks and few teens.
“Who would have guessed December would be like this, cold and dry,” he said. “What I’m afraid of is a lot of rain, all at once, and these fish shooting on up to the hatchery before anyone gets a chance at ‘em. How many times have we seen that happen?”
A scattering of steelhead are being taken on the Skagit, from the Sedro-Woolley/Gilligan Creek area, to Lyman-Hamilton, to Rockport, and on up to the Cascade. Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington (360-757-4361) said there is also a good mix of late, bright coho being taken by steelheaders.
Retention of one wild-stock steelhead on the Satsop, Wynoochee and/or Chehalis, as has been the case for the past couple of seasons, is still up in the air for this winter. A lag in the regulation procedure, involving the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, means steelhead managers will not know which way to jump until some time in February.
Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks said the first good rain will mean limit steelheading in the Bogachiel, Calawah, Hoh and other area streams, where fish are hugging bottom in low, clear water conditions. Until the rains come, anglers are using 6- or 8-pound line or leader, small less-gaudy Corkies (peach, watermelon, pink pearl) and a small shrimp tail in the Bogy, and a float and jig (darker colors in low water – blacks, purples) rig in the lower end of the Calawah.
“Bogachiel hatchery fish turn into the Calawah, because it offers better holding water for about a half-mile upstream than does the Bogy below the hatchery,” Gooding said.
He said float fishing is getting more popular on the Peninsula, but the technique is “about as much fun as stubbing your toe.”
Having grown up with the more hands-on bottom drifting methods, he admitted to being no fan of float-and-jig.
Fly fishermen have started working the Sol Duc and Hoh, he said, but they don’t do too well because “we don’t have that many guys around over here who really know what they’re doing with a fly rod.”
Steelhead results on the Cowlitz have been fair for both boaters and bankers, with most bank anglers concentrating at Blue Creek. State Department of Fish and Wildlife creel checkers at the ramp near the steelhead hatchery checked 34 boaters with 14 winter and three summer-run fish late last week.
On the Columbia at Ringold, it was 12 steelhead for 33 anglers last week, but pressure was down because of cold temperatures.
Waterfowl: A lack of wind has hampered duck and snow goose hunters on the Skagit delta, but Bob Ferber said jump shooters, utilizing the cover of foggy mornings, have been doing fairly well.
Blackmouth: The first-ever Oak Harbor Salmon Derby went well on Saturday, apparently, selling 90-some tickets and giving all the cash to the owner of the largest blackmouth, a fish of 15-plus pounds. Ferber said he heard that more fin-clipped fish were taken from the Camano Island side of Saratoga Passage (anglers were limited to Area 8-1), and that the winner came from Onamac Point.
An unverified rumor had an unclipped 20-pound-range blackmouth being returned to the water off Widow Isle, north of Greenbank, recently.
All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein said Area 8-1 and the northern portion of Saratoga Passage have been putting out more fish than have Elger Bay, Hat Island or the racetrack at the passage’s southern end.
“The whole fishery has been spotty,” Krein said, “but the most consistent fishing has definitely been up north. An exception has been the Kingston area, on an outgoing tide. This weekend the tides are right for a very good fishery there.”
Krein likes a green glow flasher, 38 to 40 inches of leader, and either a Coyote spoon in two-tone green or frog racer, or a green glow squid.
Checks at the Port of Everett ramp over the weekend showed 28 boats with 10 blackmouth, many from the Hat Island area.
Columbia Basin: It’s prime time for big triploid rainbows on the pool above Chief Joseph Dam. Corps of Engineers fire pits are handy this time of year – bring some wood and stay warm while you plunk for 10-plus-pound rainbows.
Lake Lenore has had a very good fall for its big, Lahontan-strain cutthroat, but it’s probably getting too late for a trip.
Try fly fishing in the snow for classy rainbow in Rocky Ford Creek – an interesting experience, according to Dave Graybill in Leavenworth.
Call MarDon Resort on Potholes Reservoir (1-800-416-2736) for information on ice-fishing conditions.
Smelt: Nothing much yet at Oak Harbor Marina, but jiggers are at work in the La Conner Marina and at Cornet Bay. Oak Harbor Marina can be reached at 360-679-2628; Deception Pass Marina (Cornet Bay) at 360-675-5411; and Boater’s Discount Center (La Conner) at 1-800-488-0245.
Congratulations: Analissa Merrill, 11, of Lynnwood, has been selected to the prestigious Hooked On Fishing International Kids All-American Fishing Team.
Just six young anglers, between the ages of 8 and 14, were selected from thousands of nominations around the country. Nominees were judged on the ability to communicate their love of recreational fishing, on extracurricular activities, community projects, organization memberships and recommendations from teachers and others.
Analissa won a $5,000 savings bond to be used for education, plus gifts from corporate sponsors, and will be asked to serve as a youth ambassador for a year. She is a sixth-grade student at Meadowdale Elementary, a Washington Search for Young Scholars winner, orchestra member, girl scout, and is an active participant in Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club derbies and other events.
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