High water over the weekend coaxed the first substantial numbers of winter steelhead into area rivers, although in southwest Washington and along the coast, there was too much water for comfort. Rivers in this area have for the most part dropped back into fishable condition, but that’s not necessarily the case everywhere.
“Our rivers have come down, but they’re still relatively dirty,” said Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks on Tuesday. “We have maybe two feet of visibility on the Bogachiel, which isn’t ideal, but the guys are picking up some fish even then. By this weekend, it will hopefully be back in top shape.”
In low-visibility water, Gooding recommends eggs or shrimp bounced on the bottom, rather than the popular float-and-jig rigs which are so effective in clear water conditions.
As of early this week, Gooding hadn’t heard of any particularly dangerous debris situations on the Forks-area streams resulting from flooding last week, but he said it would behoove boaters to be careful, nonetheless.
Down on the Cowlitz, Karen Glaser at Barrier Dam Campground said fishing has been good below the trout hatchery bypass outlet for both bank and boat anglers. The area around the bypass pipe has replaced Blue Creek as the hot spot for returning hatchery steelhead, she said, warning that bank fishermen must stay 100 feet above or below the pipe, and boaters 100 feet offshore.
“We’re seeing a lot of really nice-sized fish in the teens,” she said.
Corkies, shrimp and eggs are popular rigs for bank fishermen she said, while boaters free-drift the same things.
TJ Nelson, Lake Stevens resident, guide and avid angler, hooked eight or nine fish there and landed four — one a chrome 15-pound hen — on a trip early this week, and said the new hatchery outlet setup has done a favor for anglers.
“That whole Blue Creek situation was cramped and crowded, and difficult to fish,” he said. “The new outlet enters the river maybe 100 yards below the boat ramp, and there’s a lot more room on that big flat for bank fishermen and boaters both.”
He said that while the Cowlitz had dropped to a fishable level, there was only about 16 or 18 inches of visibility when he was there.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife employee Chris Wagemann in Kelso said the first really substantial push of Kalama River winter steelhead — 105 fish — were moved Monday from the Kalama Hatchery back down to the lower river boat ramp on Monday.
High water pushed winter steelhead quickly up through the Skagit system, said Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington, and 10 or 12 fish — all fresh winter-runs — were taken in the Cascade over the weekend. “That tends to be a finesse fishery, especially when it drops down low and clear,” Ferber said. “At high water, you can bounce bait and Corky, but as it clears most fishermen go to float and jig rigs.”
The Dec. 1 midnight circus on the North Fork Stillaguamish at Fortson produced some steelhead, according to Ferber, but almost all were leftover summer-runs.
“That’s a little disappointing,” he said. “Last year, there were several fresh winter fish caught, along with the summers.”
Jim Strege at Triangle Beverage in Snohomish said the Reiter Ponds area on the upper Skykomish was red hot for a couple of days after the high water, but has slowed. He said plunkers on the Snohomish were picking up a few fish this week, on Douglas and the other bars, soaking shrimp or eggs with a Spin N Glo.
BLACKMOUTH: Marine Area 10 is the place to be right now for winter blackmouth, according to All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein of Everett, with both Jefferson Head and the Kingston area putting out “very decent” fishing, in his words. He’s been working Kingston, because it’s closer, and taking feeder chinook from just legal to 10 pounds or so, trolling the shoreline from the ferry dock northerly toward Apple Cove Point. He follows the ledge in that area, fishing right on bottom in 120 to 150 feet of water, with 5-inch Tomic plugs in the number 603 mother of pearl/red face color pattern. The best time to be on the water varies, he said, but is usually on the outgoing tide, either the first two hours after high slack, or the last two hours before low slack.
In local Marine Area 8-2, Krein said Elger Bay put out pretty good fishing over the weekend, particularly on Sunday. The trolling path there, he said, is from the boat ramp south, around Lowell point, and into the bay proper, then back. The top spot is generally right off the point, and the outgoing tide is normally prime time.
Krein said Columbia Beach had been a producer prior to last week’s storm, and will probably again be worth a try by this weekend.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife checks Saturday and Sunday weren’t bad, up and down Saratoga Passage. At the Camano Island ramp on Saturday, six anglers were checked with three blackmouth, and at the Oak Harbor Marina it was nine anglers with six fish. At the Port of Everett ramp on Saturday, 16 fishermen had seven blackmouth, and on Sunday, 15 had seven.
SMELT: Christmas vacation has traditionally been the time to bundle up the kids, fill Thermoses with hot chocolate, grab rods, reels and a bucket and head out for a little family smelt jigging. Cornet Bay has been perhaps the best choice so far this winter, even though the influx of fresh water from last week’s storm disrupted the fishery temporarily. Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports expects it to pick up again, possibly by this weekend. Neither Oak Harbor Marina, nor the La Conner Marina have produced any smelt to speak of so far this season, he said.
The most popular jigs are the number 4 or 5, white, Gamakatsu — a seven-hook string with a half-ounce cannonball on the end.
“We sell a few colored jigs, with a bit of red or green on the hooks, but those mostly go to people looking for bait herring,” Ferber said.
Chum, available at most tackle shops, is becoming more and more popular with smelt jiggers.
GUIDE TRIP?: Thinking of letting someone else do the driving this winter? A charter or guide trip is a great way to learn a specific fishery, to entertain out-of-town guests, or to treat yourself to a Christmas gift. Prices vary from place to place, and from one species to another, but here are a couple to give you some idea of what you’re looking at:
n Charters for winter blackmouth locally, out of Everett or Edmonds, are generally of two types. Smaller boats which troll for their fish, and which usually limit themselves to no more than about four anglers at a time, charge somewhere in the range of $160 to $180 per person per day. Larger, Westport-style boats which drift-fish with bait, charge $85 to $100 per person. The Charter Boat Association of Puget Sound has a Web site, www.capscharters.com, which lists all members’ phone numbers and Web sites, with full information.
n A drift boat trip for winter steelhead on the Olympic Peninsula will run $300 to $350 for two people, according to Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks, 360-374-6330. Gooding will be glad to provide guide names and phone numbers.
WATERFOWL: Rone Brewer, president of the Northwest Chapter, Washington Waterfowl Association, said duck hunting has been good on Skagit Bay during the recent cold snap, and that the farmed island segment of the Skagit Wildlife Area has also had some good days. Another opportunity, he said, is the Bickford Marsh walk-in on the Cherry valley/Stillwater/Crescent Lake public access area. It’s a long walk, he said, but a nice area with several blinds. His e-mail address is nwducks@snohomish.net.
HUNTING: The state Fish and Wildlife Commission, meeting last week in Port Angeles, added two new spring bear hunts on managed timberland in Whatcom, Snohomish and Skagit counties; provided multi-season hunting permits as incentives to recruit and retain hunter education instructors; and reduced turkey permit raffles from two to one while expanding eastside deer raffles from one to two.
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