A sk a dozen winter steelhead fishermen what their gut feeling is for the season just getting under way, and you would get a dozen different answers. Darrell Kron at Hook, Line and Sinker in Smokey Point (360-435-5052) prefers an upbeat stance.
“It already sounds better than it did last year at this time,” he said Wednesday about the North Fork Stillaguamish, which changed from fly fishing only to general gear at midnight, too late to get results in today’s edition. “We had pretty solid reports of some of the fly guys hooking fresh winter fish, which was more than we had last year at this point.”
Kron said most fishermen on the river at midnight were probably drifting glow Corkies, activated by photo flash units, with a little yarn and perhaps a small egg cluster.
Another good report comes from the Kalama, where from Nov. 10 through Nov. 28, some 43 hatchery winter steelhead were recycled to the lower river, twice the 10-year average for this period. State Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Chris Wagemann said the number of wild-stock fish passing through the Kalama Falls Hatchery is also above average.
On the Cowlitz, Mark Spada (see Pick of the Week, above) took two winter steelhead, lost two more, and reported seeing 20 or 30 fish taken, all by a surprisingly meager crowd for the Thanksgiving weekend on arguably the most popular steelhead stream in Western Washington.
Spada was fishing below Blue Creek, and said most boaters were “side drifting” with long leaders, small Corkies, and a small egg cluster. That technique is a version of what is called “boondogging” on the Skagit.
Jim Strege at Triangle Beverage in Snohomish (360-568-4276) said the steelhead season is just getting started on the Snohomish system. He weighed four fish early this week, all taken by plunkers on the Snohomish River bars. “I hope it’s a good one,” he said. “The chum run sure fizzled out.”
The chum run did indeed fizzle out, agreed Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sport Center in Lynnwood (425-743-9505).
“Except for the Wallace flats, on the Sky, there wasn’t a whole lot of chum action,” Chamberlain said. “There are still fish available there, but they’re getting pretty old by this time.”
He said that most area salmon runs weren’t all that great this year, and summer-run steelheading wasn’t strong either, so he has his doubts about the strength of this winter run.
“It looks awfully iffy to me,” he said, “but I hope I’m completely and spectacularly wrong.”
Chamberlain said squid jigging at the Edmonds pier has been OK but not great so far this winter, and that hardy trout fishermen trolling Lake Washington with Needlefish spoons on downriggers are hitting cutthroat to 4 or 5 pounds. Not a bunch, but nice fish. Most are concentrating along the east side of the lake, from Saint Edwards Park south, or along the south side of both cross-lake highway bridges, from the surface down to about 35 feet.
On the Skagit, anglers are finding a mix of coho and chums, a few still bright but most darkening. Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington said the Lyman-Rockport stretch is a good bet, and that the Cascade River is full of coho. Daylight is the best time to hit the Cascade, and Ferber said they’ll take drifted eggs.
Ferber also reported a couple of chrome winter steelhead, weighing 8 to 10 pounds, taken by beach fishermen at Fort Casey, on an incoming tide.
Steelhead class: Three Rivers Marine in Woodinville will host a comprehensive steelhead seminar Saturday, featuring regional experts Dave Vedder, Nick Amato, and Bill Herzog, along with local guides and tackle reps, talking winter fishing. Doors open at 9 a.m. and seminars start at 10 a.m., for a $10 fee. Three Rivers is located at 24300 Woodinville-Snohomish Road; call 425-415-1575.
Winter blackmouth: The season for feeder chinook locally continues to limp along, with a fair day or two and then several slow ones. State checks at the Everett ramp tallied just two blackmouth for 27 boats on Saturday, but five for 31 on Sunday.
Orca listing: Salmon anglers are beginning to wonder if the recent listing of Puget Sound orcas as an endangered species will have an impact on recreational fishing activity. Especially since these pods are known to prey heavily on salmon.
Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service at Sand Point in Seattle, said that while it’s too early for an orca recovery plan, he wouldn’t expect to see “an immediate or profound effect on Puget Sound recreational salmon fishing.”
“I can’t imagine the agency taking any draconian measures against either commercial or recreational fisheries,” Gorman said, “at least in the short term. You’re much more likely to see pollution issues addressed, or boat traffic, or threats to migration routs – those kinds of things. We’ll probably be looking at the ‘prey’ issue, but it’s too early to see any step after that.”
Lake Stevens trout plant: Lake Stevens residents Jim and Laurie Goerg, through their outdoor publication, The Reel News, have again arranged for a significant trout plant in the big lake as a “payback to the neighborhood.” The November plant, however, differed substantially from last year’s plant of 10,000 9- to 12-inch rainbow – fish that by the end of next year should exceed 2 pounds in weight.
The ‘bows in this year’s November plant of 500 fish are already trophy-size, going 3 to 4 pounds.
“They’re just beautiful fish,” said Doug Smith, with the Cooperative Trout Enhancement Program (CTEP), a non-profit division of Troutlodge, “and by next spring they’ll be real tackle busters.”
Laurie Goerg said the Lake Stevens trout fishery is a first class opportunity for kids and families, and that the couple will continue to arrange for the plantings, as long as they continue to receive contributions to help out.
To make a 2005 tax-deductible contribution, make checks payable to CTEP, and mail to Jim Goerg, 621 SR 9 N.E., #A-16, Lake Stevens, Wash., 98258.
Big Basin trout: It’s getting on to prime time for those big triploid rainbows in Rufus Woods reservoir, above Bridgeport on the Columbia, according to Brewster resident Rod Hammons. The fish are definitely on the bite, Hammons said, mentioning that a 16-pounder was landed a week ago. The shore fishery involves Power Bait on a long leader and slip sinker, Hammons said.
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