BAG YOUR BULL!! Rifle Previews: North Coast Western WA Yakima, Blues 2nd Rocky Mtn.
How To Cook ELK ‘OFF CUTS’
]]]M MORE HUNT COVERAGE! Kayak Waterfowling Salmon Breaks Whitetails
BIRD
HUNTING
PROSPECTS Ducks • Pheasant Snow Geese • Quail Chukar • Huns
ALSO INSIDE
Tillamook Fall Chinook Lewiston Steelhead Westside Salmon
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Sportsman Northwest
Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource
Volume 9 • ISSUE 1 PUBLISHER James R. Baker ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Dick Openshaw
ALUMAWELD TALON
EDITOR Andy Walgamott LEAD WRITERS Jeff Holmes, Andy Schneider THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Randall Bonner, Jason Brooks, Frank Davido, Doug Huddle, Randy King, Buzz Ramsey, Troy Rodakowski, Don Talbot, Mark Veary, Terry Wiest, Dave Workman, Mike Wright EDITORIAL FIELD SUPPORT Jeff Holmes GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak
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CORRESPONDENCE Email letters, articles/queries, photos, etc., to awalgamott@media-inc.com, or to the address below. ON THE COVER Jeff Paxton of Spokane with a spike elk taken during Washington’s 2010 rifle season. (BUZZ RAMSEY)
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CONTENTS
VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 2
81 WATERFOWL, UPLAND BIRD PROSPECTS Wingshooting prospects look just ducky this season, thanks to high mallard counts, a record snow goose flight and improved quail and pheasant numbers, including in the Palouse where Mojo the Weimaraner retrieved this ringneck in January 2013. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
FEATURES 27
FISHING’S ZEN HELPS VETS How local and national veterans groups connect angling and the outdoors with recovery and supporting still others.
123 ABC’S OF LEWISTON STEELHEADING Lewis and Clark Valley waters provide good fishing for A- and B-runs in November, and here’s how to catch ’em.
37
SILVER LINING Urban street and parking lot runoff is toxic to adult coho, but federal and university researchers have found a simple soil mixture that neutralizes the effects.
132 A FISHY MONTH Jason Brooks details the plentitude of coho, chum, Chinook and even steelhead opportunities to be had in Western Washington this month.
51
BULL MARKET: RIFLE ELK PREVIEW November finds good prospects on Oregon’s North Coast and Southwest Washington, while northern Blues and Yakima hunters should find more spikes.
140 TACKLING TILLAMOOK TRIBS Hit the Nestucca, Wilson, Trask or Kilchis for fall kings? Try ’em all! Andy Schneider has the wheres and hows for each.
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TOP 10 HUNTING COUNTIES What are the Evergreen and Beaver States’ best counties for big game, upland birds and waterfowl?
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THE SALMON’S WHITETAILS The breaks of this famed Idaho river scream mule deer, but there are big numbers of flagtails as well, Jeff Holmes finds.
151 THIS WINCHESTER’S LOADED This Lewiston-area reservoir hosts a wide variety of species and it fishes well in fall, Mike Wright reports. 161 WICKED TUNA’S DAVE MARCIANO Well, maybe the googans aren’t so bad after all – part one of our interview with the star of the National Geographic series and skipper of the Hard Merchandise.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Go to nwsportsmanmag.com for details. NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Periodical Postage Paid at Seattle, WA and at additional mail offices. (USPS 025-251) POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northwest Sportsman, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues), 2-year subscription are $39.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Index Publishing Group offices at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2015 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.
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CONTENTS
COLUMNS 67
77
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CHEF IN THE WILD Randy details how to make more with the “off cuts” from your elk. ON TARGET This month’s meant for hunting with muzzleloaders, says our resident frontstuffer Dave. NORTH SOUND A blizzard of snows is expected to descend on the Skagit Delta this fall and winter, Doug forecasts.
DEPARTMENTS 107 BUZZ RAMSEY Here’s a throwback Thursday read: Buzz takes us back to his early years of steelheading. 113 WESTSIDER Terry reveals where to find early winter-runs before the hordes descend on West End rivers.
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THE EDITOR’S NOTE
19
CORRESPONDENCE
20
THE BIG PIC Changing Of The Guard In The Blind
32
READER PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD
39
PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Monthly Daiwa, Browning prizewinners
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THE DISHONOR ROLL Cable TV Hunt Show Host Fined; Oregon Wildlife Prosecutor of The Year; Jackass Of The Month
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DERBY WATCH Everett, Edmonds Coho Derbies Results; New San Juan Islands Derby Launched; Snake Clearwater Derby Preview; More Results; Upcoming Events
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OUTDOOR CALENDAR; Record Northwest Game Fish Caught This Month
119 BASIN BEACON Don’s discovered a nifty trick for rigging a Corky and yarn.
89 THE KAYAK GUYS Hearkening back to the origin of kayaks, Mark talks with locals who hunt ducks out of the stealthy craft.
(CRAIG MUELLER)
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149 RIG OF THE MONTH Clear-water bobber-and-eggs rig
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THEEDITOR’SNOTE his month, Oregon wildlife overseers have an opportunity to take an important step in the story of wolf recovery in the Northwest: Move the species one step closer to full delisting. Earlier this year, the state’s wolves reached the benchmark to begin considering that process, and so in October the Fish and Wildlife Commission heard a biological review that found it’s very unlikely the state’s packs will poop out anytime soon and that they’re expected to continue to grow, whether delisted across Oregon or not. And if dispersal maps included in that report and newspaper headlines since OR7 hit the winding road are any indication, there are no real barriers to wolves spreading either, meaning that genetic interchange between packs isn’t anticipated to be a problem. It’s a no-brainer that they’ll do just as well as they did over in Idaho, Montana and elsewhere. Yes, the wolf zealots will probably stomp their feet and threaten to go back to court, if for no other reason than spite and that it’s part of their national game plan to drag delisting out as long as possible – thereby all but ensuring enmity towards their favorite species becomes hard-wired in yet another state. As for our side, while the idea of more wolves gives hunters – many among us will be afield this month chasing elk – and ranchers pause, right now it’s the only way to get to where we want and need to be: more management options, whether that be to limit impacts on big game herds, livestock depredations or, eventually, offer wolf tags. It’s the same deal in Washington, where higher wolf numbers have been baked into the state’s recovery plan. If the numbers game is what our cousins in the Northern Rockies had to play to get to where they are today, we can too, while also supporting and holding our states’ to their words. There were positive signs on that latter front from the chairman of Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission. “We are not making our decision based on emotion, we are making it on facts,” said Michael Finley. “We have to follow the law and policy.” The right choice is for the citizen panel to move forward with the delisting process when it meets in Salem on Nov. 9. It’s what the facts, law and policy demand. –Andy Walgamott
T
Oregon wolf tracks in mud. (ODFW) nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
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CORRESPONDENCE LWCF = LOOK WHO CONGRESS ******? Federal lawmakers’ failure to reauthorize the bipartisan-supported and hugely important Land and Water Conservation Fund – it’s only brought $637 million to Washington for recreation, habitat and parks over the past 50 years – drew scathing responses from readers on Facebook. Responding to a blog we ran in which the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association said it was “appalled” at Congress’s inaction, Brad Dailey said, “More proof the system is broke. We need real leadership in Congress!!!” while Daniel Vigil got to the heart of who was really responsible: “Scum bags want to auction off all our public land too.”
WOLF ANXIETIES In a blog noting that the canid struck and killed on I-90 in east King County last spring was indeed a wolf and that it had sustained a recent gunshot wound to a rear leg, a comment by Conservation Northwest spokesman Chase Gunnell intimating that “a majority of hunters” are anxious to meet statewide recovery goals was sharply disagreed with. “What majority of hunters have they been talking with? Every hunter I’ve heard or read discussing this thinks they are a bad idea,” said Tony on our blog, while on Facebook Michael Hill wondered, “Majority of hunters? I have yet to meet a hunter that agrees with anything other than the eradication of the illegally planted wolves in this state.” Wolves have not been planted in Washington, but at the moment, we are locked into meeting certain population benchmarks, which Gunnell addressed in a follow-up email: “Meeting the state recovery goals laid out in Washington’s Wolf Plan gives WDFW much greater latitude in wolf management, including expanded use of lethal removal when necessary to halt ongoing depredations. And it opens the door for a regulated wolf hunting season, if approved by the Department and Commission. Something the majority of hunters I talk to, including many of my own hunting partners, urgently want.”
MOST LIKED PIC WE HUNG UP ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE DURING THIS ISSUE’S PRODUCTION CYCLE
The image of a big ol’ California sea lion sitting on the gunwale of some poor angler’s Hewescraft at Astoria’s East Mooring Basin in September may not have been liked liked, per se, but it sure got a big response, including 95 thumbs up, two dozen comments and 37 shares. It spoke to the continued angst that overwhelming numbers of the pinnipeds are causing for anglers and port managers this year, but also to the odd ocean conditions that pushed marine species all over the map, including humpback whales well into the mouth of the Columbia River last month to feed on baitfish. (BUZZ RAMSEY) nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
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Changing Of The
By Frank Davido
3
:58 a.m. Thump … thump. The alarm won’t go off for 2 more minutes. Thump … thump. I open my eyes and struggle to focus in the dim light thrown off by the clock on the nightstand. Yesina’s nose is no more than an inch from my face at the edge of the bed, her wagging tail softly hitting the dresser. She is holding her breath and trying to be quiet, but the expression in her bright little eyes asks her question: Are we going today? I have been trying to take her and Molly hunting every other day on the Deschutes River. Yesina came to live with us as an eight-week old puppy in August. My wife and I decided that we should get her and let Molly help teach her how to hunt ducks. Molly has probably been my best retriever, but over the last year, we have seen her age starting to take a toll, so rather than have me be without a dog during a future duck season, we decided to become a two-Lab family.
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Guard
Molly and her master train the next generation of Deschutes duck dog.
At left, Frank Davido waits with Molly for ducks to come into the Deschutes on one of the Lab’s last hunts. At right, the author’s grandson Finn Davido and Frank’s new waterfowl dog Yesina. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
ON THE DAY WE went to get Yesina, Molly sat in the back corner of the car and looked out the rear window for an hour and a half. All the way home. There, Molly just looked at us. We could see that she couldn’t understand how we could do this to her. And for a couple of weeks Molly wanted nothing to do with Yesina. But slowly the persistence of a puppy won out. Eventually they started playing tug-of-war with toys, chewing on opposite ends of sticks at the same time and teaming up to tear apart toys for their hidden squeakers. Molly had finally accepted Yesina. Once Molly would let Yesina run with her, I took them to the country and loaded my .22 with CB caps to begin getting Yesina used to the sounds of a gun. She
was startled by the first few shots, but since Molly became excited and started thoroughly searching the heaviest cover, soon Yesina’s tail was wagging in a blur and she was helping Molly look for whatever it was that Molly was looking for. On the first trip up the Deschutes River in October to build my blind, I happened to jump and shoot one duck. Yesina saw it fall in the water and float, then she saw Molly swim out to get it, but when I tried to get Yesina to play with it, she didn’t like the smell and didn’t want to be close to it. That evening I took the wing tips from the duck and played with her on the family room floor until she finally started chewing on the feathers. A cold snap before Christmas dropped the water temperature of the river and the
dogs had to start wearing their neoprene coats. Yesina thought I was holding her down and she didn’t realize that she could even stand up when I first put a coat on her. She liked wading in the river to set and pick up decoys, as long as the water wasn’t too deep, but she wasn’t too sure about swimming. She was a splash master in deeper water. Rather than reach out with her front legs to swim, she tried to climb up on the surface of the water. I figured I would need to spend some time in the summer teaching her how to swim. Two of my previous dogs had needed to have remedial swim lessons too. On the first few hunts, Yesina was content to dig holes in the sand and chew on the sticks in the blind, but soon she started seeing ducks as they came to the
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MIXED BAG decoys. She would see them fall and then watch Molly swim out to retrieve them. When we got home, Yesina enjoyed playing fetch with them on the lawn. I could see her understanding of duck hunting grow with each trip up the river, and by mid-January she started swimming out to try to get a duck of her own, but Molly was still faster in the water. Yesina’s competitive nature and determination, however, made her forget about climbing on top of the water – she was now stretching her front legs as far as they would reach and pulling as hard as she could to get to a duck before Molly got it.
TODAY WILL PROBABLY BE Molly’s last duck hunt. The season is coming to a close, and I doubt that she will live to see another. Molly is 13, she is deaf, she has arthritis in all of her joints from spine to toes, she has cataracts that have severely clouded her vision, and she has a tennis ball-sized tumor next to her heart. I have rationalized
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It was with a heavy heart that the author retired his longtime companion Molly from duck hunting, but he now has an able retriever in Yesina, thanks to Molly’s help in training her. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST) that hunting every other day is the humane thing for her, so she gets a Rimadyl for her arthritis and a day of rest. The repetitive
schedule has built her strength. You might think leaving her home would be a better option, but she is a Lab
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MIXED BAG and hunting is her life. She would know that Yesina and I had gone without her and she would be heart broken. The number of birds along the Deschutes has dropped dramatically and those that remain are less than cooperative. We are only able to get a couple of birds today for Molly to dream about over the coming months. It is probably good that the season is ending, however, because Yesina’s exuberance has caught up to Molly’s experience and the old girl needs to think that she is still the top duck dog. Lately, Yesina has been able to retrieve the ducks that Molly doesn’t see fall or the second duck of a double, and so she has had a taste of success. While I change out of my waders and camouflage and pack up the decoys and equipment, the two dogs play keep-away with a large stick – a Lab is a puppy forever. Before we start home, I have my hunting partner take a picture of me with my two
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girls beside the river on what I think will be our last hunt all together. On the 2-mile hike back to the pickup, I recall all of the great hunts I have had with Molly. We got her after Katy died and so teaching her to hunt was completely different than teaching Yesina. While I reminisce, the two of them search every foot of river bank from the blind to the truck for a wounded duck to retrieve or an old piece of fish skin to eat. Yesina and I will have the time now to perfect our hand signals for blind retrieves. She is already getting good at right-fetch and back-fetch, but the third direction always seems to be confusing, and I have rushed my other dogs into it before they were ready. Anyone can train a Lab to hunt: Just break it into individual steps and make it a game. Given an opportunity, they will almost teach themselves. But when you do teach them, you need to realize that you have a responsibility to take them
Come on, ducks! Her grey muzzle gives Molly away as an old Lab, and one that lived how a duck dog should, in the field, patiently awaiting the flocks and the shot, and retrieving birds for her master. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
hunting every chance that you get for the next 10 years or so. Yesina is Lab number seven for me. Molly and I have taught her to hunt, and now at age 70 I am going to have to ride my old bicycle some extra miles for the next few years to be in good enough shape to be able to give her the lifetime of hunting that she deserves. NS
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MIXED BAG
Fishing’s ‘Zen’ Helps Vets, Others
Coached by guide Mike Arnold, a retired Portland cop, U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Todd Fuerst fights his first Chinook ever. (TODD FUERST)
Local, national veterans groups connect angling, the outdoors with recovery, supporting still others. By Randall Bonner
I
n August, I got a call from an old friend from Atlanta who I hadn’t seen in over a decade. He was traveling around the Northwest with a few friends, doing some sightseeing and killing time before a lease began on his new apartment in Brooklyn. Prior to his travels here, Staff Sergeant Todd Fuerst had been in Afghanistan and Qatar serving our country. While I had prepared to move to the Northwest from the South, he’d started a family and entered boot camp, so knowing that he was now so close by, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a friendly reunion. “I’m in town. Show me around. What is there to do around here?”
When I got that call, the Buoy 10 salmon fishery was in full swing. I scrambled to find a guide who had open seats on such short notice. I wanted to make a good memory and welcome the airman back home in style. We got several recommendations for Mike Arnold of Absolute Angling. After confirming spots on the boat, I picked Todd up in downtown Portland and we headed for Astoria. “You can pound pavement anywhere and be a tourist; let’s hit the water and do something special,” I told him. He’d never been an avid angler, but he was on board for the experience. After we got to Hammond, Todd and I set up camp at the launch, then explored Fort Stevens. At one point, we climbed
into a concrete gunner’s bunker and Todd ran his hands across the opening overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River. Deep in thought, he grinned back at me and said, “Well, this all looks strangely familiar.” We continued out towards the shoreline and opened a couple cold beverages as the sun went down. “It’s good to have you back on American soil,” I told him. The conversation that followed really put a lot of things into perspective. The one thing he said that stood out the most was, “I think the hardest part about coming back is listening to civilians complain when they have no idea just how good they have it here.”
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Chad Brown heads up Soul River in Portland, a veterans support group that works with troubled youth. (COREY ARNOLD)
with the Forest Grove Police Department. He put Todd on his first salmon within an hour of our lines being in the water. The fish’s first couple runs took out nearly 200 feet of Todd’s line. Mike was patient and Todd was attentive to his instructions on keeping the line tight so the barbless hooks wouldn’t break free. After a long fight, Todd got the fish in Mike’s net and brought it on board for a few pictures. It was a fairly large hatchery tule. Being that early in the morning, Mike suggested we put the Chinook back and search for more. We managed to boat a nice keeper after losing a few hookups, but Todd was thrilled simply by the experience, and I was grateful to have shared it with him. That evening, he and I met with fellow Northwest Sportsman writer Jeff Holmes and guide Ivan Khorseev of Semper Fi Sportfishing. Todd had to leave the following the day, but Jeff and I fished from Ivan’s boat and put some fish in the box. Jeff released a wild steelhead he hooked rolling a cut-plug herring, a rare feat on the Lower Columbia fishery. Ivan, a Marine corporal, was stationed in Hawaii, Japan and did two tours in Iraq. Having fished all over the world, he started taking it more seriously in the Czech Republic. After seeing photos of salmon and steelhead from the U.S. and Canada, he decided the greatest job in the world would be to fish for a living. So when he got out of the military, fishing slowly took the place of employment he had to fall back on in case he failed at guiding. That day, like many others for Semper Fi 28 Northwest Sportsman
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Sportfishing, proved to be successful, and Ivan has watched his business grow and support his family.
I’M NOT A VETERAN, but as a surviving family member of a veteran suicide, I understand the necessity of programs that support our troops upon their return home, as they resume everyday American life. The epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder is a constant struggle for returning veterans many years after their service ends. A veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes, and nearly 70 percent of them are over the age of 50. Studies point out that veterans may be less likely to seek help from a mental health professional, and while research shows that “ecotherapy” benefits mental health and wellbeing, a key factor to the approach of introducing veterans to outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing as a form of therapy is that it can prove to be effective simply because it’s more likely to be utilized. The zen of fishing is a therapeutic distraction that can benefit all of us, but there are several organizations that focus on placing active duty and returning veterans in the outdoors. PERHAPS ONE OF THE most unique, multifaceted and outdoor-themed veteran support groups is Portland’s Soul River, which was spawned from Navy veteran combat stevedore Chad Brown’s personal experiences with struggling to save himself. The well-traveled Texas native served his
military duty in Desert Storm/Desert Shield, Somalia, Cuba, Antarctica, Iceland and Egypt. A river gave Brown an “awakening in his soul” while contemplating taking his own life. “Just being in Mother Nature’s theater, surrounded by the beauty, spirituality and complexities, we find nature’s secrets of the cycle of life and death in something as simple as the mayfly,” says Brown. Coming from a troubled childhood, a broken home and life in the streets with gang affiliations, he credits his mother for never giving up on him and guiding him through his obstacles in life. Being saved by his experience on the river, he says that like any veteran, the heart to lead and protect never left him, and inspired him to share his experience with others. Brown has combined the demographics of veterans and troubled youth to build a symbiotic relationship that creates a community of what he describes as “iron sharpening iron.” He says the focus is not so much teaching people how to fish, but promoting an appreciation for the outdoors by providing the opportunity to be an ambassador and steward of the river, and connecting this community to give each other some living purpose. Soul River aims to connect those demographics by nurturing its participants into becoming future volunteers, creating a mutually beneficial and self-sustained community. As its community continues to grow, Brown is seeking veterans who want to serve as volunteers with youth on expeditions as well as civilians with backgrounds in biology, human development and youth engagement with the outdoors. In addition to volunteers, Soul River needs resources like private land/river access to hold expeditions with youth and veteran participants. Soul River holds public events like the annual Celebration of Wild Steelhead, where youth can learn casting techniques and how to tie flies. For those who are unable to make a donation or volunteer their time to the Soul River nonprofit, Brown has created his own clothing line that features his unique designs, and he runs a shop out of the Kenton neighborhood that sells this line, as well as fly fishing gear, which
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MIXED BAG he sets aside a portion of the proceeds to fund his projects.
I want to do everything I can to give back, even though I’m still in recovery myself.”
NATIONALLY, PROJECT HEALING WATERS
A BUDDING ORGANIZATION CLOSER to home has began to expand its network of veterans and civilian support to provide outdoor experiences for those who have served. In 2014, The Fallen Outdoors, based in Lacey, organized 1,600 outings with veterans. Their Facebook group serves an audience of veterans seeking outdoor experiences while acting as a base for veteran and civilian volunteers alike to actively provide those opportunities. Founder Eric Bakken served eight years in the Army. While in Afghanistan, he and two others hatched a plan to create an organization upon their return to connect veterans with their love of the outdoors. After Specialist Eric Finniginam paid the ultimate sacrifice during a mortar attack, the loss inspired Bakken and Staff Sergeant Johnny Bates to follow through in his honor, creating the organization
Fly Fishing is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities, including education and outings. This nonprofit is incorporated in the state of Maryland, receives no government funding and is dependent on tax-deductible, charitable donations and the help of volunteers to meet the educational, equipment, transportation and related needs of its participants. In one testimonial from their 2014 annual report, Capt. Kimberly Smith, USMC, wrote: “Sometimes I find myself speechless when people ask me what Project Healing Waters has done for me because words are untouchable to what this program has given my life and others. PHWFF saved my life, and I’m completely serious about that. That’s why
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which operates in 37 states with 250 military volunteers and serves a support system of 1600 veterans each year. TFO is run exclusively by veterans with the help of guides, landowners and everyday outdoorsmen and -women who just want to say “thank you.” “Most guys join (the military) and leave what’s important to them at home, or lose touch with their hobbies because they get to a new place in a new state, and it’s hard for them to learn the elements of fishing and hunting in their new surroundings,” notes Bakken, who is originally from Minnesota. He intends for TFO to provide knowledge and the proper gear as well as the opportunity for outdoor experiences in each state. Above all, the network built by the organization aims to provide the camaraderie familiar to veterans who have served. NS Editor’s note: For more, see soulriverrunsdeep .com and projecthealingwaters.org, and find The Fallen Outdoors on Facebook.
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^
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It was controlled chaos when Devin Schildt took son Mark and his friend Andrew Soper out for their first shot at Puget Sound pinks, with a side of crabbing. “Three minutes after we put the lines out we double up, then double up again,” Devin reports. “Twas a good day.” (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
Dan Fisher prepares to release a beautiful wild steelhead hen caught on the Clackamas River last winter. He was fishing a Yakima Bait jig. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
^
September deer hunters may very well have seen more white stuff than October’s! Kasey Field nailed this really big Northeast Oregon muley while bowhunting in 6 to 9 inches of snow with buddy Jake Jenkins. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
^
Fall Chinook again provided stellar fishing for Columbia River salmon anglers from Buoy 10 to Vernita on the Hanford Reach. Calvin Schertenleib used the set-up Don Talbot described in our September issue –Scent Bombs, Super Baits, Pro Troll flashers – to get into “absolutely lights out fishing.” (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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READER PHOTOS
Jeff Wagner reminds us about fall’s toothiest bite – tiger musky! The Spokane-area angler, who is also on the board of the local chapter of Muskies, Inc., says this one was his biggest to date and he figures it went over 30 pounds and came close to the 50-inch mark. He fishes out of a motorized canoe and take pains to handle the fish as little as possible. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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^ ^
Travis Clowers bagged this nice spring bear in Eastern Oregon. It was one of three taken by family members this past season. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
Wyatt Pritchard caught his first Hoh River coho while fishing with Justin Tenzler and his dad, Wayne. He was using a black-and-purple jig. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST) “It was an awesome first hunt,” says Paris Holtzlander about bagging her Southwest Washington black bear this summer. She arrowed it from 30 yards with a crossbow. “My dad said it was the best and most fun hunt he’s ever been on.” (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
For your shot at winning great fishing and hunting products from Browning and Daiwa, send your full-resolution, original images with all the pertinent details – who’s in the pic and their hometown; when and where they were; what they caught their fish on/weapon they used to bag the game; and any other details you’d like to reveal (the more, the merrier!) – to awalgamott@media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA, 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for use in our print and Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 33
^
READER PHOTOS
Hailea Garcia landed this really nice Gnat Creek Chinook this past spring. (DAIWA PHOTO
^
CONTEST)
This 30-plus-pound lingcod helped make the tenth trip to Port Hardy particularly memorable for Don McGinnis and his wife. It was one of two twins caught on the Spokane anglers’ expedition to the fishery at the northern tip of Vancouver Island. “We’ve always done pretty well, (and) my wife has even caught a large octopus, which was kind of tricky to release.” (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
She’s a Real Woman of Southeast Fishing who fit right in on a trip to the Northwest! Atlanta’s Nicola Pinnock enjoyed a late-summer salmon trip out of Westport with Deep Sea Charters and her cousin Douhnn Gbehan, who is stationed at JBLM. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
34 Northwest Sportsman
NOVEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
A big smile of achievement for Maya Wiley, then 6, after she landed this rainbow trout all by herself! (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 35
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MIXED BAG
SILVER LINING
Soil mix neutralizes toxic effects of urban runoff on adult coho.
Runoff from city streets pours out of a Tukwila culvert into the Duwamish River during an October rain. Stormwater like this has been found to kill adult and juvenile coho within as little as a couple hours, but a mix of mulch, sand, compost and gravel can trap the toxins, making the water safe for silvers. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
By Andy Walgamott
T
wo days after federal and university researchers announced that they had discovered urban stormwater runoff indeed was responsible for killing adult coho in city creeks in mere hours, it absolutely poured on Pugetropolis. Heading in to work on this issue of the magazine that Saturday morning, I hydroplaned down I-5, windshield wipers swishing rain and road spray away as fast as they could. A fender-bender at I-90, perhaps caused by the build-up of oils, fluids, grease, brake dust and other automotive schmutz that makes roads extra slick in the first hours of a rainstorm, slowed my progress. When I reached the interstate bridge over the Duwamish, I slumped in dismay: Through fogging-up windows, I saw a frothy stream cascading out of a culvert into the river where fellow anglers like to fish for silvers. To get a closer look at the runoff, I took the next exit and drove down a road past three gas stations, a Days Inn and several truck yards. Above the outfall, water ponding on the street was coursing past bright leaves and down through a grate marked by a blueand-silver stamp that said NO DUMPING * DRAINS TO RIVER. Indeed it was, gallons worth every second, spraying out of an old culvert, crashing down some rocks and right into the Duwamish. Probably the river diluted it to some extent, but it was a heartbreaker. After our months-long drought, we needed the rain, but it came just as the bulk of this year’s Blob-starved coho were arriving. How many would die before spawning either in the wild or at the hatchery?
THERE WAS GOOD NEWS too in last month’s announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and Washington State University: Filtering city street and parking lot runoff through a super-simple soil mix completely protects adult salmon from stormwater’s toxic effects. “One hundred percent,” an impressed-sounding Will Stelle, NOAA’s regional administrator, told me after a press conference held on the grounds of the university’s Puyallup research center. “This result is saying, ‘You can fix it.’” The research follows on findings from January that juvenile coho are similarly protected by a column of mulch, sand, compost and gravel that traps 58 percent of toxic heavy metals and 94 percent of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, a byproduct of our vehicles’ internal combustion. Young and adult coho alike die in untreated runoff within hours to one day. Though what exactly in the runoff is so deadly is still a mystery, Jenn McIntyre, the WSU aquatic ecotoxicologist who has long searched for the reason behind why adult coho were dying after entering restored streams such as Seattle’s Longfellow Creek, said the soil fix had “remarkable potential” for urban fish populations. The research has changed other conceptions too. Jay Davis, a USFWS scientist, said that as building continues around Puget Sound, solutions like this can be used to “support salmon and salmon habitat.” But he noted that habitat isn’t just a physical thing, per se, like estuaries and spawning gravel and side channels and woody debris, but the water itself. “We hadn’t thought of the chemical habitat, if you will, or water quality,” he said. For a region that is so rainy, that is so paved, and which all but demands we drive our rigs or ride buses to get around because that’s what’s most efficient, it’s going to take a lot of work to get the (continued on page 170) word out about the problem and the fix.
nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 37
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PHOTO CONTEST
WINNERS!
Tracy Kim is this issue’s monthly Daiwa Photo Contest winner, thanks to this shot of a real nice Snake River walleye he landed. It wins Kim a Daiwa hat, T-shirt and scissors for cutting braided line, and puts him in the running for the grand prize of a Daiwa rod-and-reel combo!
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Austin Moser and his pic of a spike shot last season is our monthly Browning hunting photo contest winner! It scores him a Browning hat.
Sportsman Northwest
Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource
For your shot at winning Daiwa and Browning products, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to awalgamott@ media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print or Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 39
40 4 0 Nor Northwest NNo oorrthw orth tthhw h est estt Sp SSportsman ports orrttssma or ort mn
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MIXED BAG
Show Host Fined Matthew Alwine was fined over $11,000 for unlawfully possessing this trophy whitetail, a bull elk and failing to get landowner permission to hunt big game in Montana. (MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE AND PARKS)
A
Chewelah, Wash., man who hosted a cable hunting show called Trophy State of Mind was fined $11,180 after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a trophy whitetail and a bull elk, and five counts of failing to get landowner permission to hunt big game on their properties. Matthew Alwine was also hit with a $1,035 fine for illegally obtaining a 2014 Montana resident hunting license. The 28-year-old’s hunting violations occurred in Montana’s Crazy Mountains between 2010 and 2014 and were
JACKASS OF THE MONTH
C
anadian commercial crabbers were back at it in late summer, illegally dropping pots south of the international border after fishing out their side of Boundary and Semiahmoo Bays near Bellingham. WDFW and tribal officers seized nearly 700 pots in a two-day sweep. “We estimate there’s about 1,000 illegal pots out here, so we recover as many as we can,” WDFW’s Sgt. Russ Mullins, who led the operation, told The Northern Light of Blaine. The pots will be sold at auction, but it’s all but guaranteed that the Canuckleheads will be at it again next season. Any chance of bringing back the Mighty Mo to guard our Dungies?
included in some of his shows and other videos he made, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The agency said he had to forfeit parts of five elk and three deer. The case began with an anonymous tip, and it included help from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers. Montana game warden Drew Scott’s work tying the animals that Alwine and crew shot to ranchers’ and landowners’ property was praised. “Greed and ego are generally the driving forces behind those that commit multiple wildlife violations,” chief FWP investigator Chad Murphy said. “That was
By Andy Walgamott especially evident in this case with Alwine boasting about his kills within the same day on his social media sites.” The whitetail Alwine pled guilty to taking without permission was still displayed on his Facebook page at press time. Alwine’s Montana hunting, fishing and trapping privileges were revoked for four years. Two of his associates, Dalton Harum and Zach Samek, both of Eastern Washington, were also fined $170 and $185 for failure to get landowner permission and criminal trespassing, respectively.
KUDOS D
eschutes County Deputy District and Wildlife. Attorney Andrew “Drew” Moore And in Idaho, senior conservation was named 2014 Oregon Wildlife officer Andrew Sorenson was named Prosecutor of the Year for his “support, the Department of Fish and Game’s law hard work, dedication, efforts in enforcement division employee of the enforcing fish and wildlife laws and year for his work in the southeastern end commitment to the preservation of of the state protecting fish and wildlife, as Oregon’s natural resources through well as mentoring youths and teaching prosecution of those who violate the game wardening at a local university. fish and wildlife laws.” Moore’s name was put forth by area fish and wildlife troopers, who said he had “proven himself” and was a “valuable part of our team,” available day and night to talk about cases. The award, now eight years strong, is sponsored by the Oregon Sportsmen’s Coalition, along with OSP’s Fish and Wildlife Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Andrew “Drew” Moore (middle, Division and the right) poses with Senior Trooper Scott Vaughn, ODFW’s Chip Dale, Senior Department of Fish Trooper Travis Ring, Lt. Carl Rhodes and Sgt. Lowell Lea. (OSP)
nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 41
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11.31-, 7.48-pdrs. Win New San Juans Sound Coho Derbies Winter Salmon Derby
C
oho weights were again down at a pair of late summer Puget Sound derbies, but good numbers of the tasty salmon were hauled in anyway and tons of prizes were awarded. An 11.31-pounder caught in the south end of Admiralty Inlet won the 22nd Annual Everett Coho Derby while a 7.48 took first in the Edmonds Coho Derby two weeks before. Harald Schot hoists 2015’s winning They were landed by Harald Everett Coho Derby fish. It bit an Ace Schot of Mount Vernon and High Fly-purple haze hoochie behind a jelly crush-pattern flasher off the Glen Kincaid, respectively. west side of Possession Bar. (COURTESY “Feels a bit surreal, but HARALD SCHOT) great,” said Schot as he awaited the awarding of the grand prize, $10,000, which he said he was going to split with those on his buddy’s boat that day. Second place and $5,000 went to Nicholas Kelleher for his 10.82, while Kevin Simpson of Everett picked up third and $2,500 for a 10.32. Those were the only three coho in double digits; last year there were just 12. In some recent years, the average-sized salmon has been in the 8-plus-pound range. “This was an interesting derby in the fact that for the second year in a row, we didn’t weigh a fish over 12 pounds,” noted organizer Mark Spada. “In the previous 20 years, it always took a fish of midteens, or bigger to win our derby. For whatever reason, there’s definitely a trend towards smaller fish in all of the salmon species.” It is likely that poor feeding conditions due to The Blob in the Northeast Pacific led to the smaller coho this year. For his Edmonds winner, Kincaid took home $5,000. Participation at both events was good, with 1,966 adult and 220 kids tickets sold for Everett and nearly 1,000 for Edmonds. The Everett Coho Derby is put on by the Snohomish Sportsmen’s Club and Everett Steelhead & Salmon Club. Proceeds benefit local fish projects, including the release of 80,000-plus coho fry annually. The Sno-King Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers organizes the Edmonds Coho Derby.
With the departure of the Resurrection Salmon Derby from the San Juans proper to Anacortes, a new event, the first annual Friday Harbor Salmon Classic, has moved into the slot. It features $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 prizes for first, second and third largest kings. Entry tickets ($425 for each of the 100 team tickets available) are on sale at fridayharborsalmonclassic.com, Ace Hardware in Friday Harbor and at Lake Union Sea Ray in Bellingham. Organizers say free moorage and the awards banquet are included in the ticket price. The Resurrection had been held out of the eastern San Juan Island port for the past five years. It’s set for the same first weekend in December. Both events are part of the Northwest Salmon Derby Series.
Big Steelie Derby Set For Nov. 21-28 Will the finish at this month’s Snake Clearwater Steelhead Derby be as close as last November’s? Who’s to say, but whomever catches the biggest B-run will walk off with 15 Benjamins at the culmination of the Nov. 21-28 derby. Put on by the Lewis Clark Valley Chamber of Commerce, it features $750 for second, $500 for third, plus daily prizes for first, second and smallest fish, daily mystery weight prize, and youth prizes. There’s also a daily “Catch of a Lifetime,” a chance to win $22,250 to spend at derby sponsors should you be one of five anglers whose name is drawn that day and any steelhead you weigh in matches the random fish weight of the day. Open waters include the aforementioned rivers between the Oregon border and Lower Granite Dam and up to Dworshak Dam. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game expects an average run of about 70,000 hatchery steelhead this season. Around 18,000 Gem State-bound B-runs, two-thirds of which will be fin-clipped, are forecast to pass Bonneville. Last year, Darrel Atkinson of Clarkston took top honors with his 17.82-pounder, nudging Leo Wolf of Couer d’Alene and his 17.81 ever so gently out of first. The previous five years’ winning fish went 18.33, 20.07, 18.95, 19.1 and 17.81. For more, see steelheadderby.com and Jeff Holmes’ article this issue on steelheading in the LC Valley.
nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 43
UPCOMING & ONGOING EVENTS 71st Annual Tengu Salmon Derby, Elliott Bay, Sundays in late fall and early winter; info: Seacrest Boathouse, (206) 324-7600 Nov. 7-8 Bayside Marine Salmon Derby, Central Puget Sound; info: (425) 252-3088, baysidemarine.com Nov. 7-8 Sturgis Memorial Lake Couer d’Alene Anglers Members Derby, info: Roger Blackstone, (208) 755-4614 Nov. 21-28 Clearwater Snake Steelhead Derby, waters in the greater Lewis & Clark Valley area; info: steelheadderby.com Dec. 4-5 Friday Harbor Salmon Classic, San Juan Islands; info: fridayharborsalmonclassic.com Dec. 4-5 Resurrection Salmon Derby, San Juan Islands; info: resurrectionderby.com
MORE RECENT RESULTS 16th Annual Coos Basin Salmon Derby, Sept. 13-14, Coos Bay waters – 1st place: Chris Sprouse, 27.7-pound Chinook
44 Northwest Sportsman
NOVEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
Winners of the Oct. 3-4 La Push Last Chance Derby off the mouth of the Olympic Peninsula’s Quillayute River included (left to right) Tommy Wood, 34.7-pound Chinook; Burleigh Surbeck, 33.2-pound Chinook; Dave Johnson, 32.4-pound Chinook; Ken Schoonover, 9-pound coho; Bob DeFelice, 8.5-pound coho; Wilson Easton, 6.3-pound coho; and Douglas Muscott, 23.3-pound lingcod. (DISCOVER FORKS)
9th Annual Wasco Salmon and Steelhead Tournament, Sept. 26, mid-Columbia waters – 1st place: Martin Porreca, 20-pound Chinook Westport Charterboat Association Derbies, seasonlong, Westport – 1st places: Chinook: Mark Teitzel, 30 pounds, 8 ounces; coho: Daryn Swideski, 11 pounds, 12 ounces; halibut (tie): Dave Smith, Jeremy Spinler, 70 pounds
nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 45
FRIDAY HARBOR SALMON CLASSIC
1st annual
Friday Harbor Salmon Classic December 4-5th, 2015 ) VW\ NWZ XZWĂ…\ M^MV\ _Q\P ITT the proceeds going to salmon enhancing organizations.
More info and entry form available at:
fridayharborsalmonclassic.com
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WHERE
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PORT OF FRIDAY HARBOR
360-378-2688 www.portfridayharbor.org
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48 Northwest Sportsman
NOVEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
OUTDOOR
CALENDAR Sponsored by
OCTOBER Oct. 31
Opening of Eastern Washington rifle elk season
NOVEMBER Shotgun Training Skills Course ($, reservations), Albany Rifle and Pistol Club; info: odfwcalendar.com; Blackmouth fishing opens in Marine Areas 8-1, 8-2 and 9 Nov. 4 Opener for numerous Yakima permit antlerless elk hunts Nov. 6 Last day for Oregon Coast, Cascade general rifle buck seasons Nov. 7 Oregon second Rocky Mountain rifle bull elk opener; Western Washington rifle elk, Northeast late rifle whitetail openers; Women’s Pheasant Hunting Workshop ($, reservations), Central Point; info: odfwcalendar.com; Adult Winter Steelhead Fishing course ($, reservations), Troutdale; info: odfwcalendar.com Nov. 7-8 Western Oregon youth deer hunt Nov. 8 Last day of Eastern Washington rifle elk season Nov. 14 Oregon four-day first Coast rifle bull elk, late Southwest bow deer openers; Fall Turkey Hunting For Beginners course, Tualatin Cabela’s; info: odfwcalendar.com Nov. 15 Last day to hunt bear in Washington Nov. 19 Four-day Washington late rifle blacktail hunt opener in select units Nov. 20 Late bow whitetail, mule deer opener in select Eastern Washington units; Late turkey hunt opens in select Northeast, Southeast Washington units Nov. 21 Oregon seven-day second Coast rifle bull elk, late Northwest bow deer openers; Select North-central Washington units open for late archery mule deer hunting; Public Archery Instruction, EE Wilson Wildlife Area; info: odfwcalendar.com Nov. 25 More Washington units open for late archery whitetail, mule deer, blacktail hunting Nov. 30 Last day of Eastern Oregon bear, Western Washington pheasant (except select release sites) and quail hunting seasons Nov. 1
DECEMBER Dec. 1
Blackmouth fishing opens in Areas 6, 7
RECORD NORTHWEST GAME FISH CAUGHT THIS MONTH Date
11-6-07 11-8-14 11-11-66 11-11-01 11-11-02 11-14-71 11-23-73
Species
Pounds
Brown trout 27-5 Coho*^ 11.8 Coho 25-5.25 Coho 25.27 Rainbow trout 29.6 Mackinaw 57.5 Summer steelhead 30-2 Summer steelhead 35.06 11-30-83 Mtn. whitefish 5.13 C *Image; ^ anadromous
(IDFG)
Water
Angler
Ashton Res. (ID) Wes Case Clearwater R. (ID) Steve Micek Siltcoos L. (OR) Ed Martin Quinault R. (WA) Brad Wilson Rufus Woods L. (WA) Norm Butler Priest Lake (ID) Lyle McClure Clearwater R. (ID) Keith Powell Snake R. (WA) Gilbert Pierson Columbia R. (WA) Steven Becken
nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 49
50 Northwest Sportsman
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HUNTING
As ever, Northwest elk hunters will hope for heavy weather to push their quarry out of the heights. Odds of that are best in the Southern Cascades and Blue Mountains, though in November snow can strike almost everywhere wapiti range here. (TROY RODAKOWSKI)
Bull Hunt May Not Be Bad Good prospects on Oregon’s North Coast, more spikes expected in Washington’s Blues, Yakima herds. By Andy Walgamott
W
ashington and Oregon rifle hunters will find generally fair to good prospects for bull elk this month, but also more access restrictions, especially along the Lower Columbia and the Oregon Coast where Weyerhaeuser implemented new fee-permit programs on its lands. Though at press time long-range
forecasts didn’t offer a lot of hope for the Great Blizzards Of Aught 15 to send bulls scurrying for the lowlands, weather could still play a factor because some of this year’s seasons are basically a week later than 2014’s. Washington’s modern firearms seasons run Oct. 31-Nov. 8 in the 509 and Nov. 7-18 on the Westside. Oregon’s, however, are timed similar
to last year: general Rocky Mountain second season is Nov. 7-15 and first and second coast hunts run Nov. 14-17 and Nov. 21-27. Here’s more on this season’s prospects from the Oregon and Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife.
NORTH OREGON COAST If last November you found yourself saying “better luck next year” while pulling out of the Tillamook State Forest and Siuslaw National Forest, your time may have come. Opportunities in the Wilson and Trask
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Northwest Sportsman 51
HUNTING The bulk of the Northwest’s general season opportunities this month are on the wet side of the Cascades, including in the coastal mountains and hills of both states. Bobby Wilson bagged this bull near the mouth of the Columbia on Nov. 2 last year. (VIA KEVIN KLEIN)
Units may be the highlight for the entire coast. ODFW predicted “very good” bull elk hunting this season, thanks to high survival coming out of 2014. And though it’s a draw hunt (but one with a good number of available tags), Saddle Mountain hunters should also see more bulls than usual, because of the same conditions. Of the trio, Trask had 2014’s highest first-season success rate, 14 percent, and kill, 371 bulls. As ever, you’ll want to work closer to the coast in these units because that is where the highest elk concentrations are. There’s a lot of the aforementioned public forests, as well as BLM ground in Wilson and Trask, and large chunks of the Clatsop State Forest in Saddle Mountain. But Weyerhaeuser has now converted the former Longview Fibre lands in the area to fee-permit status. ODFW identifies these areas as starting points: Saddle Mountain: “Tillamook Head, Davis Point, the lower Klaskanine, Young’s (sic), 52 Northwest Sportsman
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Nehcanicum and Lewis and Clark Rivers, Ecola Creek, and upper Rock Creek;” Wilson: “lower Wilson River, God’s Valley, Cook Creek, upper North Fork Nehalem River, Standard Grade, Buck Mountain and Camp Olson;” Trask: “Cape Lookout, Cape Meares, Wilson River tributaries, lower Nestucca River and the Trask River, especially the South Fork.” On the northeastern and eastern sides of the Coast Range, ODFW reports elk numbers are below objective in the Scappoose Unit and hunting should be similar to 2014. But that may not be all bad: The unit enjoyed the highest first season success rate last November, when 16 percent of its hunters tagged a bull. The agency suggests looking to the Clatskanie River basin and areas such as the upper end of McKay Creek, Bunker Hill and Green Mountain in the North Coast Travel Management Area. The east end of the Trask is similarly below objective and its elk are pretty scattered, but using recent
aerial images to figure out which Stimson roads inside the TualatinTrask TMA to explore on foot or bicycle is one option, bios suggest. Back on the coast, south of the Salmon River, elk numbers are not what they are to the north in the Nestucca, Tillamook and Nehalem watersheds. Managers say bulls are below objectives in the western Stott Mountain and Alsea Units, and particularly low in the northern Siuslaw Unit. Alsea gave up the most last November, 167, good for around a 14 percent success rate. The Central Coast’s wapiti are generally scattered, but they know where the best groceries are: near and above the old farms and cattle operations tucked in the valleys and fringes of the Coast Range. In addition to Siuslaw NF lands south of Highway 34, ODFW identifies these locales as popular spots: Stott Mountain: “South Fork Siletz River, Fanno Ridge, Gravel Creek, Mill Creek, Elk Creek, Euchre Creek, and
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HUNTING the mainstem Siletz River;” Alsea: “Yachats River, Five Rivers, North Fork Siuslaw River, Big Rock Creek Road, Luckiamute River, Airlie, Burnt Woods, Grant Creek, Wolf Creek, Logsden, Pee Dee Creek, and Dunn Forest.” Remember that in the second season, Siuslaw, Trask and Wilson bulls must be spikes. To the south, bull ratios look good in the permit units Sixes, Powers and Tioga, and the state expects a “good season” in the latter, where just under 300 bulls were taken last November.
best – 22 percent – but outside of BLM land hunkered in its northern and southern drainages, there’s not a lot of public access. The most hunted are Heppner and Ukiah, and the state does term the latter as a “bright spot” for elk, thanks to a little something called predator management. In 2014’s second season, 10 percent of hunters bagged an elk there. Together, Heppner and Ukiah feature a mix of state and federal lands, as well as fair-sized TMA chunks. As it recovers from last year’s fire, the Schneider Wildlife Area might be worth a look-see, adds ODFW.
NORTHEAST OREGON
EASTERN WASHINGTON
Well to the northeast, ODFW’s general second Rocky Mountain elk seasons open up on the first Saturday of the month for general tag holders in 13 units across the northern tier of Central and Eastern Oregon. By success rate, Maupin was last year’s
With any luck, you’re reading this while heading for western Yakima County and opening weekend of rifle elk, but if that’s come and gone but your tag’s still live, consider returning for the second weekend. Here’s why: Last year, Washington’s
second largest herd was “fairly large” going into hunting seasons, harvest was only average, and winter 201415 was basically a no-show. That means that going into this season, “elk populations are expected to be above average,” according to state wildlife biologist Jeff Bernatowicz. And here’s the kicker: Opening day falls an entire week later than last year, as does the second and final Sunday, Nov. 8. That puts hunters afield when there’s a better chance that snows will push elk out of their South Cascades wilderness and backcountry holding grounds into more accessible parts of the Cowiche, Bumping, Little Naches and Bethel Game Management Units, the best in terms of success rates. Weather could also pay off for the numerous antlerless permit holders; their season begins Nov. 4, the day after the usual start of the migration. “Those folks with cow permits,
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HUNTING their odds should go up,” says WDFW’s Capt. Rich Mann in Yakima. Elsewhere on the Eastside, WDFW reported a good crop of Blue Mountain calves coming out of 2014, and that could make for a good number of spikes this season (if muzzleloaders didn’t get ’em first with their new October hunts). The Dayton and Lick Creek GMUs get much of hunters’ attention, but in terms of harvest, hunter density, success rates and public access, Mountain View is the local WDFW biologist’s top-rated unit. With the Grizzly Complex burning this summer just to its west, more elk may have distributed into the unit too. Just be ready for a packing party if you get one: It’s pretty much all downhill – and how – from the access points.
WESTERN WASHINGTON On the Westside, there’s a pretty big new opportunity in Southwest Washington: Formerly one of the
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most coveted bull permit units in the state, the Margaret is now mostly open for the general season. That land includes some of the Mt. St. Helens blast zone and Weyerhaeuser’s Longview-St. Helens Tree Farm ($160), though the eastern end has become the new Norway Pass special permit area. Overall, last spring’s surveys suggest that elk herds are stable to slightly increasing across the southern tier of Western Washington. WDFW is anticipating a productive season in Cowlitz, Lewis and Wahkiakum Counties, though perhaps not as successful a one as 2012 when the agency was actively trying to reduce the St. Helens herd. To the west in the Willapa Hills, the North River unit held 24 bulls per 100 cows coming out of last season, and the neighboring Minot had 18:100. But the Williams Creek and Bear River Units might be better bets, based on harvest, success and hunter density.
There are two nice big blocks of state land in the former, but mostly this land is owned by Rayonier and Weyerhaeuser which offer a variety of payment, er, access options for hunting elk here. If you’re not up for that, the Lewis River Unit annually sends a healthy number of Gifford Pinchot National Forest bulls to the butcher, and this year should be no exception, especially with the later season date and potential for weather. One final note: Hunters are asked to continue reporting limping elk in both Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon. Go to wdfw .wa.gov or dfw.state.or.us and search for hoof disease to find forms. And again, WDFW is requiring hunters to leave the hooves of infected elk in the field where the animal was shot. For more on the condition and the edibility of the meat, see Washington’s big game regs or either of the above websites. NS
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High Lander
HUNTING
Our TOP 10 Hunting Counties Oregon’s and Washington’s best for big game, waterfowl and upland birds. By Troy Rodakowski and Andy Walgamott
T
here are 75 counties in the 164,100 square miles of the Evergreen and Beaver States, and they range from lonesome swaths of the Sagebrush Sea to islands stippling the Salish Sea, but which are best for hunters? If ever there’s a season for rankings it would be fall, what with this month being the heart of the college football season, and so with hunting in full effect this month, we decided to try our hand at ranking the 10 best counties in both states for big game, waterfowl and upland birds. Troy Rodakowski, our Junction City-based correspondent, handled the Oregon side while I rated the Washington side. Here are our learned rankings, based on personal experience, harvest data, public access and more:
WASHINGTON
OREGON
BEST FOR BIRDS (tie)
BEST FOR DEER (tie)
County: Grant Location: The Alberta Mallard Funeral Home’s Columbia Basin franchise. Gaminess Quotient: Whisper “Potholes” to see waterfowlers’ eyes roll back in ecstasy over waves of greenheads and duck kabobs hot off the grill. Available Critters: If it flies, it dies here – and in droves. Perennially Washington’s top county for ducks, geese, doves and pheasant, it’s also among the best for quail, is all right for partridge, and we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the best-inthe-state snipe hunting (no, seriously!). Why It’s So Great: Take 2,800 miles of basalt, nuke it with dozens of Missoula Floods, add water in the form of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project and voilà – instant ponds, impenetrable thickets and feeding grounds galore! Having more pheasant release sites than any other county in the 509 doesn’t hurt either. The Only Drawback: As birdy as Grant County is, it
County: Harney, Malheur Location: A European-country-sized chunk of Southeast Oregon with more mule deer than people. Gaminess Quotient: The words Steens, Hart Mountain and Owyhee perk the ears of those who hunt for big mule deer. Available Critters: Some of Oregon’s biggest bucks reside in these counties’ wildlife units, and hunters lucky enough to draw one of the coveted permits stand an excellent chance of bagging the buck of a lifetime. Why It’s So Great: Habitat and genetics. The Steens Mountains, which includes 428,156 acres of public lands, offer diverse scenic and recreational experiences. Rich with nutrients for massive antler growth, these breathtaking highlands descend to the sageladen desert and grasslands where mule deer are meant to thrive. Massive bucks spend summers in the high country and migrate to the lower reaches of desert, grasslands and ranch
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HUNTING don’t got grouse. Well, except for those dancing ones you can’t shoot. Access: Amply endowed with state and federal wildlife areas, as well as sprawling BLM ground and private lands open through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s access programs. Top spots include Winchester and Frenchman Hills Wasteways, Gloyd Seeps, Potholes Reservoir, lower Crab Creek and the infamous Stratford Firing Line. Yahtzee! A midwinter thaw that sucks ducks back north from southern Columbia Basin waters. Pro Tip: Go ahead and rent a room in Moses Lake or cabin at Mar Don – sleeping in your rig to get the best blind spot can lead to frostbite, or worse, buddy warming, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Info: WDFW Ephrata (509-754-4624); The Duck Taxi (800-416-2736); Mardon Resort (509-346-2651); Grant County Tourism (509-921-5579); Ephrata.org County: Skagit Location: Just this side of Amsterdam’s red light district. Gaminess Quotient: Mount Vernon’s the home of the world-famous Greenhead Tulip®!* Available Critters: Huge flocks of mallards, pintails and
wigeons annually winter on the vast Skagit and Samish River Deltas, while blizzards of snow geese wing in from Russia with love. The county’s eastern forests also produce the second-best west-slope Cascades grouse harvest. Why It’s So Great: Herds of hard-working Dutch farmers and a whole lot of erosion over the eons have created some of the best waterfowl habitat on the West Coast. Protected saltwater bays provide night roosts very close to productive aglands. The Only Drawback: The looks you get from snow goose looky-loos … “Mommy, why are those birds dropping from the air?” Access: Several thousand acres scattered around the deltas are owned by WDFW. Boat ramps provide good access onto the waters of the bays – just know the tides. Yahtzee!: Rains that flood farm fields, providing standing water for quackers to better access forage. Pro Tip: Look into WDFW’s Private Lands Access Program – for this season, nearly three dozen farmers have enrolled their lands in the program. Info: WDFW Mill Creek (425-775-1311) *OK, so we made that flower up. 60 Northwest Sportsman
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properties to winter. In addition, there are trophy-class antelope, good numbers of upland birds and northern portions also hold good numbers of elk. Access: There are several state and federal wildlife areas, BLM and USFS lands, as well as private ranches open to the public. There are some access restrictions and permission requirements on refuges and private lands. Top spots include the aforementioned Steens Mountains, Juniper, Hart Mountain, Owyhee Mountains, Burns, Jordan Valley and the Malheur lowlands. Pro Tip: Motels are available in Burns, Frenchglen, Steens Mt. Resort, Vale, Ontario and other small towns in between. Also, there are numerous campgrounds for trailers and tent camping. However, for some of the best opportunities, packing into the high country or hiking away from roads and setting up spike camps will be your best bet. Info: ODFW Hines (541-573-6582); BLM Burns (541573-4400); Department of Forestry (541-947-3311) County: Jackson Location: Pages 1-20 of the Oregon hunting record book’s blacktail section. Gaminess quotient: If you want a trophy-class buck, head due south. Available Critters: Big bucks are not uncommon here, and some have been documented to migrate over 100 miles during the fall. Migration from higher elevations near 6,000 feet begins in September and lasts through November in the Rogue and Siskiyou National Forests. Why It’s So Great: Habitat near Medford is excellent and grows some of the biggest blacktails known to man and is famous for doing so. The land has an abundance of pine, madrona and oak savannah habitat in which deer thrive. Additionally, the national forests and large amount of BLM holdings throughout the region are easily accessible. In addition, there are good amounts of elk, turkey, bear and other upland birds for the taking. Recent fires have also enhanced habitat for game and these locations will be prime for several years to come. Access: With all the open public and private land, accessing good hunting is just a short drive or hike away from the nearest trailhead or campground. The SiskiyouRogue National Forest consists of 628,443 acres, much of which is located in Jackson County. Additionally, the
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HUNTING BEST MIXED BAG (tie) County: Yakima Location: At the intersection of Elky Avenue and Birdy Boulevard. Gaminess Quotient: The county’s name is a Native American word for “well-fed people.” Available Critters: Along with grouse and bears, elk haunt the highlands, while the Yakima Valley holds strong populations of doves, quail and pheasants and draws in migrating ducks and geese. Why It’s So Great: The South Cascades’ vast forests and large meadows provide pasturage for the state’s largest elk herd, and irrigated croplands in the valley fatten the feathered ones finely. The Only Drawback: An exotic louse has sucked the life out of the county’s deer hunting. Access: Much of the northwestern end of the county is national forest and state lands, and a Yakama Nation hunting permit or Yakima Training Center Outdoor Recreation Card open up thousands more acres of tribal and federal ground to pursue game. Yahtzee!: Midfall blizzards that stampede wapiti out of the mountains. Pro Tip: Fit right in around the campfire with longtime Yakima elk hunters by recalling how Uncle So-and-so was among the riflemen who had to be choppered out of the Nile, Bethel, etc., when the Great Snowstorm of November 1985 struck. Info: WDFW Yakima (509-575-2740); ynwildlife.org; lewis-mcchord.army.mil/yakima County: Pacific Location: The rumply, bumpy lands that Long Beach Peninsula kites fly off to to die. Gaminess Quotient: Wusses Lewis & Clark totally blew it when they quit Dismal Nitch for Astoria. Available Critters: Elk, bear and deer roam the timbered hills and grassy estuaries of this rain-lashed South Coast county, while Willapa Bay sucks in ducks and geese, and hosts the state’s only regularly scheduled brant season. Why It’s So Great: Active timber harvesting creates those successional landscapes that big game do so well in, and the logging road network provides good hunting access. As for Willapa Bay, it’s only the second largest West Coast estuary and provides key winter habitat 62 Northwest Sportsman
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1,760 acres of Denman Wildlife Area near Eagle Point offers some great hunting opportunities for waterfowl and upland enthusiasts. There are several choices of hotels in Medford and small neighboring towns and lots of campgrounds. Pro Tip: To find a trophy-class buck, a backpack hunt or setting up a spike camp is recommended. Also, make sure to always have a fall bear and cougar tag when you’re hunting here. Info: ODFW Central Point (541-426-3279); BLM Medford (541-618-220); Jackson County Parks (541-774-8183)
BEST FOR BIRDS County: Morrow Location: Where the Columbia meets the Blues. Gaminess Quotient: Very similar to Washington’s superbirdy Grant County, except with grouse! Top that! Available Critters: Birds of a feather flock together – pheasant, quail and chukar thrive on Conservation Reserve Program lands and the rolling grain fields, and if that’s not enough, the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge is crawling with waterfowl in fall and winter. Why It’s So Great: Habitat is excellent here. The land has been enhanced with CRP setasides, and it grows a multitude of cereal, grass and forage crops. The wooded heights in the Umatilla National Forest provide some of the best grouse hunting that Oregon has to offer, while lower down, this part of the Columbia Basin is famous for its waterfowling and the Umatilla NWR provides hunters with top quality hunts. There are also excellent opportunities for mule deer, whitetail and elk in the national forest. Access: With a multitude of BLM, USFS and private CRP ranches, this section of Oregon is a prime ticket for any upland hunter looking to score on a multitude of species. Hotels are available in Boardman, Heppner and Umatilla. There are also several campgrounds throughout the Umatilla National Forest and Morrow County Parks. Pro Tip: Some of the best hunting locations are found on the CRP acreage throughout the county. Calling landowners and asking for permission to hunt is your
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HUNTING for honkers, wigeon and other waterfowl. The Only Drawback: So much private timberland – Rayonier, Weyerhaueser, former Longview Fibre lands – is now fee-access or closed to lease hunters only. Access: Four large blocks of DNR land and the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge provide the bulk of free access, while Weyerhaueser and Rayonier permits will set you back $50 to $200. Yahtzee!: Inland ice-ups that flush birds out to coastal bays. Pro Tip: WDFW’s deputy chief and one of its captains live in and patrol this country in their spare time, so better be on your best behavior! Info: WDFW Montesano (360-249-4628)
BEST FOR BIG GAME County: Stevens Location: A-woooooooooay up in Northeast Washington. Gaminess Quotient: There’s a reason so many wolves moved in – and it ain’t just the taste of the Dashiels’ mutton and McIrvins’ beeves. Available Critters: Whitetail deer are the bread-andbutter crop, but elk, black bear and cougars are taken in fair numbers, and a few muleys turn up too. At the rate they’re multiplying it might not be long before Canis lupus makes this list as well. Why It’s So Great: The county presents the perfect mix of old farming operations in the valleys backed up against working timberlands. The end of the four-point minimum for whitetails in the Huckleberry and 49 Degrees North units will only help the harvest this month. The Only Drawback: Did we mention the wolves? Actually, so far state data isn’t showing a strong, clear signal – some deer units in the region are below prewolf-arrival harvest levels, while hunter success rates have gone up in others. Access: Good mapping will help locate the many scattered chunks of state forest, BLM and National Park Service lands in the lowlands, while Colville National Forest, Little Pend Oreille NWR and industrial timberlands provide hunting ground higher up. Yahtzee!: A mid-November snowfall makes for classic conditions to hunt rutty flagtails. Pro Tip: Might want to leave your mystical-howlingwolf-under-the-stars T-shirt at the county line. Info: WDFW Spokane (509-892-1001); Colville Chamber of Commerce (colville.com) NS
best bet. There can also be decent opportunities for quail and pheasant in and near the Umatilla NWR and its 23,555 acres. Info: ODFW Heppner (541-676-5230); BLM Prineville (541-416-6700); Morrow County Parks (541-989-8214) for reservations; Umatilla NWR (509-546-8500); Field n Marsh Outfitter & Kennels (541-490-1300)
BEST FOR ELK County: Wallowa Location: Clinging onto the northeast corner of Oregon at the edge of the Grande Ronde’s and Hells Canyons. Gaminess Quotient: Where Oregon elkaholics go to get their fix. Available Critters: Big bulls roam the high reaches of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Eagle Cap Wilderness and the Snake River Divide. Oftentimes, it takes several years to draw a desired permit. However, there are several archery and rifle permits up for grabs over the counter for hunters to take advantage of. Sled Springs, Imnaha, Pine Creek, Minam and Snake River are top choices. Why It’s So Great: Massive swaths of public land and the steep country of Hells Canyon provide sanctuary to not just large bull elk, but mule deer, whitetails, bighorn sheep and mountain goats. Access: Seemingly endless amounts of USFS and BLM land provide hunters with a plethora of options. In addition, there are several travel management areas throughout Wallowa County that restrict the use of motorized vehicles, but allow sportsmen on. Pro Tip: You do not have to get far off the road or away from a trailhead to find success here. However, backcountry trips on foot or by horse will produce the best results for trophy Rocky Mountain elk, deer, bear and cougar. There are also good numbers of turkey, grouse and mountain quail to be had. Hunters may also encounter wolves in these remote locations and should be aware that packs are expanding their territory here. Info: ODFW Enterprise (541-426-3279); BLM Vale (541473-3144); Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce (541-426-4622) NS
IMAGE CREDITS: OREGON: HARNEY, MALHEUR: TROY RODAKOWSKI; JACKSON: TROY RODAKOWSKI; MORROW: BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST; WALLOWA: TROY RODAKOWSKI; WASHINGTON: GRANT: BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST; SKAGIT: ANDY WALGAMOTT; YAKIMA: BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST; PACIFIC: BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST; STEVENS: BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST
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COLUMN
Making More Of The ‘Off Cuts’
Corning is a great way to get quality meat off less-than-ideal cuts, such as shanks, briskets and neck roasts – especially those of an old rutting bull. (STEPHEN BAKER, BLM)
I
t was a closed-off logging road that had Dad and my names on it. Located about a mile from camp, it was simply called FS316A, or IN THE WILD something like By Randy King that. All we really knew about the road was that it blocked motorized vehicle use and went into a 10-year-old clearcut. No vehicles means almost no hunters – it’s a direct correlation. Also, clearcuts in the high forests of Idaho are elk magnets. If we simply put a few miles on our boots, we’d be away from most hunters and into great elk habitat. So up the road we went that opening day, snaking our way bend after bend up the mountain in the dark. Soon it became light and we started walking slower and slower, rounding each bend with more care. Around one corner we caught a small herd of cows. No shot. At last we rounded a tight corner and heard a ruckus. Small twigs snapped
CHEF
and there was the snort of a large animal. We glassed into the clearcut and soon found a patch of brown with its head stuck in a mountain ash. It was vigorously raking the bush, making red berries fly in funny directions. Dad pulled up his binoculars – “Bull,” he declared quietly. I hesitated; I could not see horns yet. No horns, no shot. But soon a flash of brown antler came out of the brush and I caught sight of the elk’s head gear. It was a spike, perfect table fare. I shouldered my .270 and let lead fly. Down he went. Soon I found myself shoulder deep in elk, and after that, with a full freezer. Just the way I like to start my winters.
ELK IS OFTEN CONSIDERED the premier game meat in the Northwest. (Sure, some would argue moose is, but the limited availability of tags makes the meat very rare.) In the past I have likened elk to a giant whitetail deer. Dark red and lean, the meat is not overly pungent (rutting bulls aside) and is a culinary delight. But with
an elk, or any game animal I suppose, the best way to show true respect is full and proper utilization. Backstraps and shoulder meat are the easy cuts on the animal. They make the steaks, grind and roasts we all love. But beyond those “primals” are a plethora of “off cuts” that a hunter gets when he harvests an elk, deer, moose or whatnot. The ones listed below are just a sampling of the cool and unique cuts on game animals. All I ask is that you are willing to try! Brisket: After removing the front quarters from a big game animal, there is a bunch of meat left on its breast, per se. On an elk the brisket will be quite large, about the size of a pizza box and several inches thick, on both sides of the animal’s chest. To remove the brisket simply cut down from the top of the breast bone, on either side. Then peel the meat away from the ribs. This can yield several pounds of meat that is often simply left on the carcass. This cut is not tender, but has great flavor. Think about grinding it or making corned meat.
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COLUMN Ribs: I know a guy who swears his Kentucky-style ribs are the best in the West, but he never takes them off a deer. I simply do not understand that. The ribs can be removed quite easily with a simple bone saw or even disarticulated from the spine with a knife. Being thicker than that of a deer, the rib meat off an elk is especially good. Optionally, if a hunter is not looking to haul out bone, removing the rib meat is a good idea. Simply slide the knife down along the rib bones; this will give you ribbons of marbled goodness that are perfect for a stew or a grinder. Organs: Heart, liver and kidneys are often referred to as the “5th” quarter (see last issue’s column for more). These need to be eaten or frozen quickly, as hanging organ meats only rots them. Liver and
onions is a classic for a reason – it can be really, really good. Try adding a little balsamic vinegar to the onions on your grandma’s recipe. Yum. Tongue: Just be brave and give it a try! It was one of the most prized cuts off elk in the days of the market hunters – for good reason. Elk tongue is delicious; it has marbling and is very tender when cooked correctly. To remove the tongue, slice the cheeks of the elk to the back of the jaw (a “Dublin smile”), then brace the jaw open. Cut the tongue free at the back of the throat. The tongue will be quite large, good enough for a meal. Don’t just let it go to waste. Shanks: Often cut off the bone and sent into the grinder, shanks are an underutilized delicacy. With an elk it is best to cut the shanks into 3-inch disks. This effectively creates elk osso buco, an
Italian delicacy. With deer I usually just leave them whole; they look and taste just like a lamb shank. The best cooking method for shank meat is to braise (cooking for a long time almost covered in liquid) it in wine and herbs. Neck: All too often the neck meat is left on the animal. With an elk this can be 10 pounds worth. Slide a knife into the meat at the base of the skull and cut down into the vertebrae. Then follow the spine, pulling meat free of the neck along the way. The neck meat is great for grinding or for corning. Indeed, corning game meat is a great way to get a quality product off a less-thanideal cut. Shanks, briskets and neck roasts (especially off an old rutting bull) are great corned. Combine corned meat with the classic Irish trinity – cabbage, carrots and potatoes – and a rib-sticking meal is born. NS
CORNED ELK & CABBAGE STEW Corning meat usually uses a brine method. A brine is simply a wet marinade for the meat, one that usually includes a variety of spices, salt and sugar. The spice combination can vary from cook to cook, family to family – especially for those who have a tradition of making it by hand. But for this chef, I use a simple pickling spice off the store shelf – I prefer the McCormick brand. The trick to getting great-looking – i.e., pink – corned meat is Insta Cure #1, otherwise known as pink salt. Arguments can be made for and against pink salt – it is your call; I use it. 2 quarts water, hot ½ cup kosher salt 1 tablespoon Insta Cure #1 (Prague powder or Speed Cure) 3 tablespoon pickling spice 3 pounds elk neck roast (or other red meat you wish to corn) ½ head green cabbage 2 pounds red potatoes, cut in half 1 pound baby carrots Salt (maybe) Pepper 68 Northwest Sportsman
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In a high-sided Tupperware or other food-safe storage vessel add the hot water. Stir in the salt, cure and the pickling spice. Stir until all the salt is absorbed. Add the neck roast. Refrigerate for one day per inch of thickness of the meat. For example – a 4-inch-thick section of neck meat will need four days in the brine; a 1-inch section will only need one day. The time spent in the brine allows the meat to better absorb the flavors. When the meat is cured, drain off one quart of the brine water. Keep as much of the spice blend as possible. Add back one quart of fresh water to the container. Transfer all to a crock pot, set on low and cook for six to eight hours (I put my meat in the crock before work), or basically until a fork stuck into it can turn very easily. This will make your house smell awesome, by the way. When the roast is cooked, taste the liquid it is cooking in. It should be salty, but not overly so. If it is too salty, simply add water until it has the salt level you prefer. Strain off the cooking liquid, making sure to reserve it. Discard the spices. Add the cabbage, potatoes and carrots
Corned elk and cabbage stew. (RANDY KING) to a large soup pot. Add just enough of the cooking liquid to cover the vegetables, then top with the corned meat. Simmer all together until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Shred the meat with a fork and serve hot. If needed, season with salt and pepper. For more big game, game bird and fish recipes, see chefrandyking.com.
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HUNTING
The Salmon’s
Whitetails Hunting flagtails on the breaks of the famed river.
By Jeff Holmes
I
daho Fish and Game employs tactical management strategies throughout the Gem State’s whitetail deer habitats, yet hunting remains excellent – perhaps the best in the West – thanks to relatively low pressure distributed over a huge landmass of state, federal and private ground. From the giant bucks around Bonners Ferry to the whoppers of Latah County and all points around and in between, there are whitetails literally everywhere, even deep in roadless backcountry and at high elevations. The dense forests of North Idaho mask the abundance of whitetails roaming the landscape, and IDFG managers say most bucks die of old age. It’s not too late to buy as many as two buck tags in some units, with the second at a steep discount. Washington also has excellent whitetail hunting – so does Oregon – but Idaho trumps the rest of the Inland Northwest.
I’VE OFTEN SAT IN the densely forested deer woods of Washington and Idaho and wondered what it would be like to have complete visibility – or at least more than 30 yards. This past November in the open breaks of the Salmon River near Grangeville, I witnessed a spectacle of Idaho whitetails that blows all of my previous buck and doe watching out of the water. I watched mule deer bucks and does locked down with each other, breeding regularly,
and I watched at least 30 whitetail bucks exhibit every definable rutting activity: fighting, sparring, rubbing, scraping, chasing and breeding. I watched bucks shred brush and each other and saw two that were 150 inches, one much larger. With the help of accomplished open-country hunter and human mountain goat Kurt Killgore, I almost killed that big one and passed on moving shots at the spooked buck from 300 to 400 yards. Not all Idaho whitetails bounce around Palouse farmlands and The grandeur of the Panhandle forests. Some are found along the breaks of rivers Salmon River landscape is near Lewiston, rough country more associated with mule deer. Les Killgore bagged this nice Salmon breaks buck last November not lost on Killgore, nor while hunting with author Jeff Holmes. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST) is how lucky he is to live God knows who. With two or more where he does. Whitebird, Idaho, bars and very minimal services, sits at the base of Highway 95’s probably more rafters and jet boat Whitebird Grade, which descends tourists visit Whitebird than any from Grangeville, deep to the other use group, many bound for floor of the Salmon River Canyon. the area’s premier outfitter, Killgore Whitebird Creek cuts through the Adventures (killgoreadventures. tight draw that holds the tiny town com). The Killgores – Kurt, Heather and drains into the Salmon River and Les – operate the Salmon River’s less than a mile down the canyon. and Hells Canyon’s biggest and best Fewer than 100 residents officially jet boat tours, as well as fishing trips live in Whitebird, but the count and whitetail hunts. is undeniably higher. For many Whitetails are a small part of decades the little community has had what they do, and they almost take a reputation for attracting interesting for granted how special the hunting characters who don’t always appear opportunities are. Great optics – on census rolls, people who aren’t Swarovski spotting scopes and looking for trouble. Any night that binoculars – are a key to the Killgores’ the bars are open in Whitebird is a ability to quickly locate bucks from night worthy of having a few beers great distances and to move into in hopes of epic conversations with
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HUNTING a shooting position. Imagine your favorite and most productive treed deer habitat laid bare of 99 percent of its trees. What if you could see what the trees hide? That’s what it’s like to hunt the Salmon River breaks near Whitebird. The Killgores’ open Salmon River properties allow unobstructed viewing of deer and rutting behavior – the likes of which I’d never imagined. What I saw on my last hunt there was like the deer equivalent of attending a pornographic film festival.
ON DAY ONE OF a two-day hunt during an arctic blast and snow squall, Kurt Killgore and I glassed a deep, open canyon and a steep, north-facing slope interspersed with hawthorn, buckbrush and wild roses. Using better optics than I’d ever used, we scanned the canyon and spotted deer – everywhere. Killgore spotted several nice bucks, including a very large five- or six-point buck almost 1,000 yards way across a broad canyon. We drove a couple miles around the canyon and got into position high above the buck and dropped in on him. We snuck down a very steep slope with the buck below us and spotted a smaller rival staring at a doe that saw us and busted. The two bucks sprung after her and never saw us. I contemplated a long moving shot at the large buck, but held up, partly in awe. Killgore and I both conservatively estimated this
was a 150- to 165-class whitetail – really tall, wide and heavy-racked. I watched him out to 500 yards in my scope on the other side of the canyon, climbing quickly.
Imagine your favorite and most productive treed deer habitat laid bare. What if you could see what the trees hide? That’s what it’s like to hunt the Salmon’s breaks. We tried to glass his new location but struggled for hours to locate him until a snowstorm obscured visibility and sent us to closer-quarters habitat on an adjoining property. During our time trying to relocate that huge buck, we observed eight other branch-antlered bucks. We watched two four-points spar angrily in close proximity to a doe-fawn group and watched a small five-point shred a bush and make a scrape. Scrapes were evident through our binoculars and spotting scope everywhere around the many clusters of does we glassed. As the snow fell hard toward the end of day two, we watched two more bucks fight near does at close range, but on property to which we did not have access. We saw several more nice bucks, including two nice mule deer mounting does, and made a long stalk on a five-point by walking behind Killgore’s cows for cover. They allowed us to get close to the buck, barely 25 yards before it busted and launched down a nearvertical hillside with his doe. On day two, I hunted with Kurt’s
The Killgores’ base near Whitebird sits just above the Salmon River and is backed by a mix of private and public land and forested mountains. (JEFF HOLMES)
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dad, Les, because Kurt was jet boating and steelheading the upper reaches of Hells Canyon with clients. He’s a recognized whitewater expert with some of the biggest jet boats out
there, and he’s an expert on both the Snake River in Hells Canyon and the Salmon in Idaho. Les is somewhat less of a daredevil but is an amazing person to glass with. He’s very skilled at locating deer and getting on them. Off and on for five hours, Les and I watched a heavy four-point locked down with a doe. They were under 100 yards from being in a legal unit and finally threatened to wander downhill. This buck was only going where this doe was going to be. Finally another, far larger buck showed up, jumped a fence, intimidated the rival without a fight, and immediately mounted the estrous doe, twice. The enraged four-point watched and stomped his front hooves.
I FILLED MY IDAHO tags for 2014 with young 5x4 and 4x4 bucks, but what’s most memorable is the sheer tonnage of rut behavior I got to watch firsthand. My hunt would end when my second modest 5x4 slid nearly 40 yards down a steep frozen slope after falling stone dead from 330 yards. As I lay prone, one of the Killgores’ purebred Texas longhorns – a bull named Chief – approached to inside of 5 yards. I saw this out of the corner of my eye and leapt up in terror and tried to take cover behind a power pole. This scared 2,500-pound Chief; he reared in the air with his giant horns and ran back 40 feet. Meanwhile, Les, the longhorn whisperer, walked Chief a ways away so I could get prone and refocus my aim. This was by far my longest shot on a whitetail – I usually shoot blackpowder – but this was a short shot by the Killgores’ standards.
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HUNTING Kurt’s mom, Heather, holds the family record for a nearly 1,100-yard shot on a six-point bull elk, the rack of which hangs in the family barn, among many other giant elk, mule deer and whitetail racks. Family members are accomplished long-range shooters with specialized gear and thousands of rounds of ammo shot on a course on their property that stretches to a full mile in length. Picnic benches dot their properties, presenting rests at specified distances. They use only Nightforce scopes and specialized rifles. Hunting became so easy for them, they stopped for the last 10 years, guiding instead. Last year was the first in many that any of the Killgores hunted, with Les connecting on a bruiser buck right after my second hunt. The nearly 30 bucks I saw on this hunt were all rutted out of their minds in mid-November, but bucks had begun going loony in late October. Some were
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locked down with does, others were chasing, others were seeking. I watched does fight does, and bucks mount does, but maybe the coolest thing I saw was a bird. Les and I watched a golden eagle on a steep cow trail across a canyon. It stood on the trail, watching the steep slope below it. Meanwhile a small three-point whitetail advanced upon it, coming to within 50 yards before the eagle noticed. A nearly half-hour standoff ensued, and finally the deer got too close and the eagle got threatening and intimidated the buck off of its trail, glowering with its wings partly spread. The buck walked uphill 100 yards, almost vertical, before continuing on the sidehill.
NORTH OF SALMON RIVER
Country, roughly, IDFG manages for whitetails, and earlier this year reported the herds were doing “excellent.” Despite a widespread bluetongue outbreak in early fall, the agency didn’t believe
it would hurt the overall population or affect hunting seasons. In the state’s southern half, home to some of the West’s biggest mule deer, IDFG manages against whitetails and for their larger-eared cousins. In the gray area between north and south, a unique hunting scenario exists near Whitebird and in other big canyonlands. The steep ravines and sheer hillsides of the Salmon River Breaks and Hells Canyon have long been famous for mule deer, and big huge ones still roam the hills around Riggins and Whitebird. Today, however, one must draw mule deer tags, whereas whitetail tags may be purchased over the counter, and hunters may purchase a second discounted tag. There are public lands opportunities in the surrounding national forest and public lands, but undeniably the best access is private. As whitetail hunts go, the Killgores offer one of the best deals in the West in a rugged and unforgettable landscape. NS
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Fowl Weather, So Keep Your Powder Dry! J eremiah Johnson, the Robert Redford film, is partly to blame, as is The Big Sky, an old Kirk Douglas buckskin yarn in which muzzleloaders played a central role. I own two muzzleloaders, both caplocks, and as far as I am concerned, that’s the kind of primitive weapon people had in mind when ON TARGET By Dave Workman they set up seasons for front stuffers all those years ago. The inlines have overtaken my Thompson/Center Hawken Custom and Lyman Trade rifles in .50 and .54 caliber, respectively. Today’s modern muzzleloader is engineered to handle up to 150 grains of black powder, Pyrodex or other black powder substitute. They are rifled to use sabots or lead conicals, and they can deliver a wallop at those long ranges. There is much more to muzzleloader hunting than just knowing how to measure a powder charge and ram a bullet home. My personal load is a conical with 85 grains of FFg (2F), though I once hunted during an early elk season using a patched round ball in my .54 caliber that shot straight enough off a sandbag to hit a bowling pin at 75 yards. I learned early on that the projectile must be firmly seated Yeah, the movies might have helped spur Dave Workman’s interest in muzzleloaders, but it could pay off this year, what with the big expansion in hunting opportunities in Washington. The author’s advice for prospective primitive weapons hunters is to practice, practice and then practice some more.(DAVE WORKMAN)
over the powder charge. You don’t want to leave an air gap between the bullet and powder, but you also mustn’t try to pound the bullet tight. Discharging a muzzleloader with a poorly seated bullet might result in blowing the barrel. Whatever else a muzzleloader is, it’s a gun that requires cleaning after shooting. Fouling that builds up in the bore must be removed or your gun will (notice I didn’t say “might”) corrode. My muzzleloaders get a bath of hot, soapy water, followed by a boiling rinse of plain water. Then comes several wipes with dry patches, and while the bore is still hot, a patch impregnated with T/C Natural Lube 1000-Plus to cure out the bore. Be a woodsman. Despite the reach of today’s inline guns, you still need to use your wits and be game-savvy. You need to get closer, understand the trajectory of your rifle, be able to reload quickly if a second shot is required, and keep your powder dry. Be still, be quiet, and as I noted last month, don’t stink up the countryside with cigarette or cigar smoke, gasoline fumes or other unnatural scents. Late deer and elk muzzleloader seasons in Washington kick off primarily in late November. You can find the season dates on page 21 of the regulations pamphlet for deer and page 52 for elk. Check page 40 of the Oregon regs for controlled black powder deer hunts and page 66 for controlled elk hunts. Be a marksman. Lots of guys – and I’m one of them – use premeasured powder charges and bullets in tubular speed loaders. Pyrodex Pellets reduce the hassle because they’re available in premeasured weights. My best advice is to practice, and practice some more. Find your maximum effective range (everybody has one) and have a range finder with you in the woods. Know the limits of your gun, load and eyesight, and don’t press your luck. You might also want to know that Federal Premium has expanded its B.O.R. Lock MZ system with the addition of a lead bullet. It joins the Trophy Copper muzzleloader bullet.
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COLUMN
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It’s a nonsabot design that, according to Federal, actually scrubs fouling from the breech and ensures consistent bullet seating. It’s got a polymer cup on the base that pushes forward into raised bands along the bullet’s shank during ignition, resulting in full contact with the rifling. Frankly, I like a soft lead bullet, and have even used conicals in my old-style caplocks with good accuracy.
FROM HERE OUT, WATERFOWLERS will be looking to the north to see if and when the weather pushes down the big northern birds. Local ducks and geese are likely getting wise, whether winging around Puget Sound, the Willamette With an appreciation Valley or Columbia Basin, Tri-Cities, for the good results conical bullets have given him out of his retro caplocks, Umatilla, or wherever your secret Workman has his eyes on Federal honey hole might be. Premium’s expanded B.O.R. Lock MZ Question: Does anybody line. (FEDERAL) really need a 3½-inch 12-gauge magnum to bust these bigger late-season birds, or is that just a way to get a little extra range? That’s a subjective question sure to ignite arguments around hunting camps, in goose pits and duck blinds, and at gun shop counters all over the landscape. Of course, the 3½-inchers pack a larger payload, and the tradeoff is a healthier recoil, even in a semiauto. Having fired both pump and self-loading shotguns with the longer magnums, I strongly suggest putting on the best modern recoil pad you can find. Most guys I know who are really serious waterfowl hunters stick with 3-inch magnums late in the season and there are jump shooters who are quite satisfied with 2¾-inch shells. What works for you is what works. Nobody argues with birds in the bag. Winchester, Federal and Remington all produce quality nontoxic waterfowl loads with several choices. One can find the selections at each company’s website (winchester.com, federalpremium.com, remington.com). This year, Remington has four new Nitro Steel entries, including a 10-gauge, 3½-inch shell in No. 2, BB or BBB; 12-gauge, 3½-inch No. 2 or BB; and a 20-gauge, 3-inch No. 4. With the damp season upon us, waterfowlers and other wingshooters might want to check out Birchwood Casey’s new Renewalube gun oil. Formulated to displace moisture and prevent corrosion, this stuff will come in handy for anybody spending long days in the field, whether chasing ringnecks or greenheads. This oil comes in a 2-ounce pump spray and 11-ounce aerosol. There’s also Renewalube Firearm Grease, a product that works down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit and reduces friction better than 78 Northwest Sportsman
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®
traditional greases, according to Birchwood Casey. It comes in a half-ounce squeeze tube. On the subject of shotguns, Winchester Repeating Arms has a new model of the SPX Ultimate Defender and Marine Defender pump shotguns, both chambered for 12-gauge, 3-inch magnums. Both feature black synthetic stocks and matte black finishes on the aluminum alloy receivers. They wear 18-inch barrels with hard chrome chambers and bores. Check things out at winchesterguns.com.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, late buck season rolls around in Washington later this month. The season for whitetails in several northeast units runs Nov. 7-19, and for Westside blacktail in several units, Nov. 19-22. I hunted that season a couple of times – when schedules allowed – and on one occasion I clobbered a nice little 4-point in an old clearcut east of Colville. My rifle on that trek was a .257 Roberts, but you’ll find lots of folks working this hunt with all kinds of calibers ranging up to the .450 Marlin, and Winchester offers a Model 94 in that caliber, dubbed their Short Rifle. It’s a handsome brush-country rifle with a wallop. It’s an Angle Eject model with a dovetailed front sight and traditional elevation rear, a deeply blued finish, walnut stock with satin finish, blue steel forearm cap and top tang safety. The accompanying image does not show it, but the .450-caliber Short Rifle is reportedly fitted with a premium Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad, and that’s one I endorse. I’ve got Decelerators on a couple of rifles, and they really suck up the recoil. There are other products on the market too. I doubt there’s a whitetail buck on the planet that can walk away from a solid hit with a .450 Marlin, and ditto a blacktail. Now, pray to the snow gods for a little white stuff to get deer moving, and maybe for a good wind to knock down the leaves and improve one’s ability to scan the timber. Good hunting, and good luck! NS In the thick, brushy country that blacktails and whitetails inhabit, a shorter-barreled rifle could come in handy, and Winchester’s Model 94 Short Rifle in the .450 Marlin packs a wallop that no buck will get up from anytime soon, says the author. (WINCHESTER)
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Northwest Sportsman 79
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HUNTING
Bird Prospects Look Ducky
Mallards make up the bulk of the harvest in the Northwest as well as Willie O’Regan’s collection, but there are wigeon, pintails, spoonbills and shovelers (inset) to be had too. O’Regan and his dog Buck should get in plenty of shooting in this season, thanks to a good Canadian crop. (WILLIE O’REGAN; STEVE SINCLAIR)
NOT ONLY DO MALLARD NUMBERS REMAIN HIGH, BUT A RECORD SNOW GOOSE FLIGHT IS COMING AND UPLAND BIRDS ARE GENERALLY UP TOO. By Andy Walgamott
N
orthwest wingshooters will have a bit of a mixed bag to load into their shooting vests this season. Hunting began two months ago with grouse and dove, but November marks the start of the real waterfowl hunt as northern migrators arrive, and its snows produce the classic conditions
for chasing pheasant, quail and partridge across our region. The good news is that generally, it appears that upland bird hunting should be better overall than 2014, and while duck production was down in southern Alberta, it was up elsewhere in western Canada and Alaska and held steady or remained above the long-term average locally. Earlier this year, wildlife biologists
in the three states offered their learned opinions on how this season may shake out. Here are some of the highlights.
GREENHEADS AND HONKERS This year’s surveys found some good news and not-as-good news in Canada and Alaska. Mallard counts in northern British Columbia, central nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
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HUNTING Sound farmers into its Private Lands Access Program (nearly 60 in western parts of Skagit and Whatcom Counties alone). With luck, some of those snows might continue on to Oregon’s Summer Lake Wildlife Area A rooster glides over part of Camas National Wildlife Refuge in Southeast and be available Idaho. Though not as populous as they once were, pheasants in some areas to hunters there, of the Northwest are showing positive signs this year. (LANCE ROBERTS, USFWS) though ODFW was warning and northern Alberta and Southern waterfowlers that numerous other Saskatchewan were up, but those lakes in the region were dry or very done in the Last Frontier and low. On the other side of the Cascades, southern Alberta were down. Grand ODFW opened up Beaver Slough on scheme, though, the total number the Coquille Valley Wildlife Area for of greenheads is well up over 2014 the first time, and though the period in these key breeding grounds that to sign up has now past, youths will funnel birds into the tri-state area. be able to hunt waterfowl at the In terms of local production, Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge this Washington’s Grant County saw season for the first time. mallard counts that matched longOther changes to be aware of term averages, while wigeon and include increases to the daily limit for gadwall were up nicely. The Oregon white geese in Oregon’s Northwest Department of Fish and Wildlife Permit Zone (from four to six) and reported statewide duck numbers off canvasback across the region (from by 11 percent from 2014, but still 6 one to two), and a reduction in the percent over the long haul. minimum number of brant needed to Those residents ducks will be hold a Skagit County hunt in January pretty cagey by now, but by mid(as few as 3,000 instead of 6,000). to late November, the peak of the There are also a host of tweaks to northern migration will swoop into goose hunting in Northwest Oregon the Columbia Basin. ODFW forecasts and Southwest Washington that a fair season, while overall, the should make for a simpler season and Washington Department of Fish and increased harvest while protecting Wildlife suggests a good hunt, though dusky geese. maybe not as good as last year. RINGNECKS On the goose front, WDFW Idaho, Washington and Oregon biologists expect “record numbers upland bird managers all report that of juvenile” snow geese to wing into some areas saw increased production Skagit and Snohomish Counties from of wild pheasant, although overall their Russian hatching grounds, and numbers remain far below historical that could really improve the harvest highs and the harvest will again be after last year’s bum season that saw augmented with pen-raised birds only half the kill of the previous one. released at select state wildlife areas. To help hunters get at those birds, ODFW specifically noted Malheur as well as ducks, WDFW has again and Union Counties as positives, been busy signing dozens of North 82 Northwest Sportsman
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but between those two, it’s the latter where you’ll find best access to those roosters; try Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area. As a sidenote, the agency says that the few pheasants in Western Oregon appear to have pulled off a decent crop this year. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game reported that observations in the Clearwater Region were way up over 2015, the last decade and all but six years out of the last quarter century. Good-sized broods were also reported in Idaho’s Upper Snake region. In Washington’s top pheasant county, Grant, wild flocks were expected to be up slightly over last year, thanks to kind spring weather and an easy winter. Crowing counts in Whitman County were up, but biologists noted that that was primarily thanks to good production in the St. John area. Routes driven near Hay, in the southwestern Palouse, were near that level too, but were down elsewhere in the county, as they were far to the west, on Yakama Nation lands. A local wildlife biologist worried that the high demand for corn for ethanol will hurt their habitat needs. In Washington’s other pheasant hot spot, biologists expected a better season in Walla Walla County than the past few. As great as it is to bag a wily ol’ wild rooster, most Northwest bird hunters will have best success at release sites. The three states again will let thousands of pheasants loose through fall; see wdfw.wa.gov, dfw .state.or.us and fishandgame.idaho .gov for details. Last year, Oregon reported a statewide pheasant harvest of 12,965 birds, which is just slightly more than the 11,174 taken in Washington’s Grant and Adams Counties, in the middle Columbia Basin. One last note: ODFW downplayed the claim of a group going by the name “ALF” that it had let loose 100 pheasants meant for a hunt last month at EE Wilson Wildlife Area;
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HUNTING spokesman Rick Hargrave said it was more like 15.
TOPKNOTS There’s better news overall on the California quail front. Oregon reports improved numbers nearly across the state, Washington’s best county saw its second best brood count since 1993, and Idaho hunters can look forward to “good to excellent” production around Boise. Specifically, IDFG points to the Treasure Valley and the west-central portion of its Southwest Region, though it warns hunters to skip hunting inside of this summer’s massive Soda Fire. Not too far to the east, the agency got out its Sharpie to bold Magic Valley prospects, which are bolstered by a “bumper” crop. Best hunting should be west of Twin Falls along the Snake. Central Washington hosts the Evergreen State’s best quail hunting, and production was especially good in Yakima County. There, Yakama tribal biologists counted just under four a mile, a figure that’s topped only by 2012’s 4.54. More anecdotal reports from state biologists in Chelan and Okanogan Counties suggest promise, and hunting opportunities in Grant County are expected to be “abundant” thanks to good hatching and growing weather. Highlighting Oregon’s ops might be Malheur County, where counts were up by over a quarter from last year and 40 percent above the average for the decade, and Summer Lake Wildlife Area, where production was good. Tallies in Baker and Grant Counties were also up. In Western Oregon, valley and mountain quail numbers are stable or up, thanks to the weather, and ODFW notes that many broods were spotted on the EE Wilson Wildlife Area near Eugene, so that could be a good option.
REDLEGS AND GRAYS Chukar have among the fewest devotees of any upland bird species 84 Northwest Sportsman
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in the Beaver State, and incongruently, they support one of the largest harvests – 23,230 last year, second only to ruffed grice. Though ODFW cautions that numbers remain below long-term averages (2005 yielded a ridiculous 221,418), the agency is optimistic about this season, saying “hunters should see a noticeable increase in the number of chukars they encounter this year over last.” Bright spots include Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney Morrow and Wheeler Counties. Malheur County surveys were off, and part of that is being blamed on invasive weeds that limit the birds’ ability to pull off broods. Across the state line, IDFG believes the breaks of the Bruneau and East Fork Owyhee Rivers should produce, and says that overall, you should expect to find larger broods in your usual Southwest Idaho spots outside of the Soda Fire area this season. Populations California quail hunting prospects may be the highlight for are also trending upwards Northwest upland bird chasers this season, thanks to strong production everywhere from the Yakama Nation lands to Oregon’s in the Clearwater Malheur County to Idaho’s Magic Valley and back to Chelan region, which includes County, where contributor Jason Brooks and his boys bagged this trio. (JASON BROOKS) northern Hells Canyon. Similar to quail, Central flatter ground, Hungarian partridge Washington is chukar country, though hunting could also rebound in areas they inhabit the steeper portions of burned by the Carlton fire. Lincoln it. Populations and harvests have County also reported larger broods, as been declining, especially in Yakima were observed in Idaho’s Clearwater County, but last season saw an uptick and Southwest Regions too. The least in Chelan and Douglas Counties, and pursued of Oregon’s upland birds, that could continue this year, thanks gray partridge numbers should be up, to weather conditions. Harvest could ODFW reports. Best bets are aglands also increase over 2014 in areas of and forest fringes of the northeast Okanogan County hit by the Carlton corner counties. Complex. Another option is the And finally, seasons for quail, Snake River breaks of Whitman and chukar and Huns now run through Asotin Counties, though public access Jan. 31 across Eastern Oregon. The isn’t as good as in the other areas. old early closures in Umatilla and Similar to their cousins from the Morrow Counties were dropped. NS Karakorams but inhabiting much
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COLUMN
Kayaks: Not Just For Fishing
Shotguns pointed safely skyward, kayak-borne waterfowlers ease through a wooded channel. The craft allow hunters to access areas that others can’t, either because of the size and draft of their boats or flooding that bars hiking in with decoys. (CRAIG MUELLER)
A
combination of gentrification, per se, and innovation has kept one Portlandarea waterfowler in the game. KAYAK GUYS By Mark Veary “When I was 18, local farms started disappearing,” reminisces Steve VanDyke. He’s a retired science teacher who grew up hunting ducks on the many family farms near his childhood home in Hillsboro. “Fifteen years later, (the remaining farms) started leasing their land to hunters ... As land started to get socked in tight with hunting leases, all of the people not involved in hunting clubs were forced into areas like Sauvie Island,” laments VanDyke. “It used to be that you just had to ask,” he recalls.
With the loss of private hunting lands and the area’s swelling population, it seems that Northwest duck hunters are faced with a quandary: pay up to four figures for private access rights, or join the growing number of hunters contending for prime vantages within the limited public access flyways.
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT But what if I told you that there are whole tracts of public hunting land that rarely get utilized? Waterways that are inaccessible by foot or by powerboat. Seasonal ponds isolated by low berms. And miles of tidal sheet water that don’t get more than a longing glance from passing powerboaters. “That’s why I went to kayaks,” says VanDyke. “We hunt now in places that we don’t see other hunters or, at most, they’re
few and far between.” Lifelong Washington duck hunter Chris Henderson echoes the sentiment. “There are some significant advantages that kayaks can offer to the freelance hunter. First is just the ability to get a boat into a small body of water that other boats cannot access easily,” he says. But he’s quick to clarify. “The kayak is the tool, not the point. The point is getting the ducks. So sometimes you just use the kayak as the best option for getting you to the spot. Other times staying in the boat to hunt is the best option.” Henderson, who paddled a Marshrat sneak boat for years, continues, “Kayaks paddle much easier than your typical marsh sneak boat (Marshrat, or Aquapod), increasing your ability to access areas where current or distance are an issue.” Let’s push further into the marsh ...
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COLUMN WHERE TO BEGIN As with any regulated outdoor endeavor, it’s important to learn as much as you can on the areas you want to target. Washington kayak hunter Dick Wark puts it this way: “You’ve just kind of got to sniff it out to figure out what’s huntable. If you’re a public land hunter, there’s lots of access, but you have to do your homework to find productive areas.” That homework generally starts with spending time on Google Earth, looking for ponds and marshes that draw in waterfowl, yet present access issues for hike-in hunters or those with boats of a substantial draft. According to Wark, if you’re really serious about finding your own slice of heaven, “You’ve got to get in the books and check out the plat maps and talk with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to find out what’s huntable.”
JUMP-SHOOTING Another option not available to powerboaters but is to paddle/pedal-
(Top left) To make their kayaks hard for ducks and geese to see, hunters use native material like grasses, sticks and foliage, or camouflage netting or “blankets” to cover up their craft and blend in with their surroundings. (RICHARD WARK) (Top right) Hunters using their kayaks as shooting platforms will find the arc of their range fairly narrow, at least compared to blinds, as taking a shot at too sharp of an angle could result in an unexpected swim. (RICHARD WARK) (Bottom) Waterfowlers await the next incoming flight. Kayaks with enough room allow hunters to bring a number of decoys and blind material. (CRAIG MUELLER)
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The sneaky craft can be used to put hunters into the gamut of Northwest duck species, including teal, wood ducks and more. (RICHARD WARK)
craft-borne hunters in the Northwest is jump-shooting ducks that get spooked by your approach. “As you’re creeping around the corners of little byways, often 20 or 30 ducks will take off, leaving you with a perfect shot,” says VanDyke. Oregon and Washington hunting regulations explicitly prohibit shooting from a powerboat while it’s in motion,
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but do not limit shooting from humanpowered craft. This rule offers the welcome opportunity to augment a day of scouting terrain with the potential for picking up a few wigeons, pintails or teal.
THE REQUISITE NOTES ON SAFETY From a seated position in a kayak, a shooter’s range is limited to approximately 45 degrees to their weak side and 10
degrees to their strong side. That is to say, a right-handed shooter has about 10 degrees of shooting window to their right and 45 degrees to their left. Any attempt to exceed these angles will likely end in a swim, especially since the shooter’s legs can’t be swung over a rail for stability due to being hemmed in by a blind. When transiting on a kayak, your shotgun will be laying roughly horizontal,
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COLUMN so pay special attention to where your companions are and know where your gun is pointed at all times. And since duck hunting is a late fall/ winter sport, you’ll want to dress for wind, rain and freezing temperatures. Most Oregon kayak hunters wear their drysuits under a layer of Gore-Tex camo. By contrast, many Washington hunters prefer standard camouflage neoprene waders with a wading belt, under their Gore-Tex, claiming it provides superior warmth. Whichever you choose, be sure to wear your PFD while on the water.
TO LEARN MORE ... The full breadth of innovations being perfected by local kayak hunters is more than a single column can do justice to. I’ll have more in the January issue, but in the meanwhile, to learn techniques and approaches now, hit VanDyke’s clinics at Next Adventure’s Scappoose Bay Kayak Shop, just south of St. Helens. NS
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A young kayak hunter poses with a Canada goose. (LEE LANDRUM)
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Best of BC Lodges, Charters and Guides, Destination B.C. HISTORY OF SPORTFISHING AND LODGES IN COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA PART 2 Once sportfishing began to take hold in British Columbia, the main salmon fisheries were in and around Vancouver and Victoria. Later on, Campbell River became the first remote destination. It first gained notoriety in 1896 when Sir Richard Musgrave wrote of his expeditions there in a British fishing magazine, The Field. It’s a classic story: In a dugout canoe and guided by the local aboriginal people, Musgrave and his partner caught upwards of 20 trophy Chinook during their inaugural one-week trip. The biggest was a 70-pounder, which at the time was thought to have been the largest salmon ever caught on a rod and reel. The next year, Musgrave returned to Campbell River with a larger group and fished for almost two weeks, finding similar success and a 67½-pounder. The subsequent succession of anglers led to more stories and articles about the area’s incredible sportfishing. So began Campbell River’s reputation as the “salmon fishing capital of the world.” In 1924, a few trophy Chinook enthusiasts decided to organize a club to standardize the sport of BC salmon fishing. They formed a set of bylaws based on those of the Tuna Club of Catalina and founded the Tyee Club. A “tyee” is a salmon weighing over 30 pounds and caught within the parameters of the rules set by the club. The angler who caught the largest salmon each season was awarded the Championship Button and named “Tyee Man.” A bronze button was awarded for 30- to 40-pounders, silver for 40- to 50-pounders, gold for 50- to 60-pounders, and a diamond button for a salmon over 60 pounds. The Tyee Club officially became a society in 1927, and the legacy of pursuing tyees continues through today in many of BC’s coastal fishing lodges. Stay tuned for more next issue!
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COLUMN
Blizzard Of Snows Forecast On Skagit Delta
A veritable blizzard of snow geese is expected to descend out of Siberia’s Wrangel Island to the Skagit Flats and elsewhere in the North Sound, thanks to a massive crop of juveniles that hatched this year. (BRENT M., FLICKR, CREATIVE COMMONS)
NORTH SOUND
W
hether w e ’ l l see a transition to a By Doug Huddle frigid offseason or more wet balminess in November is the subject of much water-cooler conjecture amongst outdoors enthusiasts right now. But perhaps a surer bet in the North Sound is that anglers will find fewer keeper winter steelhead, as well as opportunities for them, while waterfowl hunters are certainly going to see a lot more white snow geese of winter fame. Excellent late-season deer options are abundant for hunters willing to introduce themselves, to local farmers, and “long johns” crabbing is on in Area 7 North’s lucrative Strait of Georgia waters.
SNOW GEESE GALORE For the first time since 2011, a reliable preseason report out of Russia has reached Washington waterfowl managers indicating that Wrangel Islandnesting snow geese were extraordinarily successful. A modern-era record census by Russian Academy of Science biologists of
240,000 birds was tallied before migration began in late August and early September. This composite colony of white geese that breeds off Siberia’s northeastern coast includes several discrete populations, including one we know here as the FraserSkagit snow goose group. Don Kraege, the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s waterfowl program manager, said that heretofore, Wrangel’s migrating population headed for North America has numbered around 155,000 birds. He adds that overall gosling survival from hatch was estimated by his Russian counterparts at 90 percent, presumably due to mild weather conditions during the nesting and early stages of rearing, when both the adults and hatchlings can’t fly. Summer snow and sleet-producing storms on Wrangel some years can decimate the incubating adult females, not to mention their vulnerable down-insulated offspring. The even better news was that this year’s departing flights of snow geese consisted of between 35 and 40 percent juveniles. In recent years, the overwintering population in Northwest Washington
and southwestern British Columbia has hovered around 70,000 geese. Given the relative jump in overall numbers this year, Washington could see a significant boost in white geese here. As of early last month, an estimated 10,000 snow geese had already been seen on Fir Island southwest of Mount Vernon, according to Kraege, and the preliminary adult-to-juvenile ratio is reported to be 3:1. The percentage of youngsters in the population is of vital interest to hunters here because the inexperienced grayplumed first-timers are easier to decoy than their older, wily white-feathered parents. Snow goose-oriented sites in Skagit and northwest Snohomish Counties are expected to be included in WDFW’s array of quality waterfowl hunt areas set up on leased private farm land. Look under the Hunting tab for Hunting Access at wdfw.wa.gov.
SHORT LIST FOR STEELHEAD As the dispute over hatchery fish grinds on, North Sound winter steelheading options are past slim verging on none. Hinderment, hesitation and delay continue
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COLUMN
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MORE NORTH SOUND NOVEMBER OPTIONS
Pheasants won’t be released at the Bow Hill site – where WDFW’s Sgt. Rich Phillips was checking licenses a couple Novembers back – but birds will be let loose through the end of the month at another Skagit County location, three each in Whatcom and Snohomish Counties and five on Whidbey Island. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
to erode the viability of the state’s program here as season approaches. At this issue’s press time, WDFW and local tribes were starting talks on how to conduct steelheaddirected fisheries in December and January. The Skagit and Samish Rivers’ situation is cut and dried compared to that of the Nooksack. With the out-of-court settlement of the 2014 Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit that ended the Skagit’s early-timed hatchery winter-run steelhead production in the near-term (out perhaps as far as 12 years), there is no broodstock escapement requirement for the state’s facility at Marblemount. Its clipped fish can be fully allocated to harvest, though there are now just one brood year’s worth of surviving adults due back from the last federally allowed release of smolts in 2014. This socalled two-salt contingent (fish that stayed an extra year in the marine environment) is forecast to be 353 returning adults strong. Anglingwise, these numbers are likely to all but disappear in the 92-mile-long expanse of the Skagit below the hatchery. However, speculation is that selected reaches of the Skagit will stay open for personal-use anglers until the end of January. Similarly, the Rockport-to-Cascade River Road reach of the Skagit, as well as the first or so mile of the Cascade River will keep their appointed dates with closure in mid-February. For the Samish, in the absence of 100 Northwest Sportsman
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In case you’ve been looking and can’t find the signs, the Bow Hill Designated Pheasant Release Site is defunct. With the Samish West 90 site only good for the youth and senior hunts, there are now no formal department-run pheasant hunting grounds in Skagit County. However, western Whatcom County has three large sites (Lake Terrell, Intalco-Alcoa and British Petroleum) centering on department-owned lands formerly known as the Lake Terrell Wildlife Area west of Ferndale. Extra birds also have been apportioned to these haunts. The Leque Island site west of Stanwood also is operating, as are two areas of Ebey Island east of Everett and south of the U.S. Highway 2 trestle in the Snohomish River delta. Bow and blackpowder deer tag holders who were unsuccessful in their early stints, should start making inquiries now with farmers for December hunts on private land in western Whatcom County. Blacktails are as plentiful as ever along forested creek bottoms and in wood lots. Often hunters can be choosy in these venues and not have to shoot the first four-legged quarry that comes by. Permission for entry is an absolute must and that can take time to negotiate. Winter crabbing started out quite good in the waters from Sandy Point to Point Roberts, and early fall’s big sweep of boundary waters out of Blaine for illegal Canadian pots (see Dishonor Roll) will boost keeper Dungeness numbers. And finally, if you have a taste for smelt, the seven- to 10-day “hooligan” run in the lower Nooksack beginning around Nov. 20 is a possibility for generating a Thanksgiving side dish or Christmas dinner hors d’oeuvres. –DH hatchery steelhead smolt releases for close to 10 years, the late fall gamefish opportunity is all but a mop-up operation for cultured fish that might have had fouled olfactory senses and strayed into the confines of the small stream north of Burlington. Anglers are much more apt to hook up with some of the Samish’s native sea-run cutts and some early-returning nonclipped steelhead than their hatchery cousins this month, both above and below Interstate 5. Situational awareness is key on the Samish in November. You may fish with bait and kill a couple of otherwise legal trout anywhere up to I-5. The reach from the freeway up to WDFW’s trap weir above Old Highway 99 is closed. But you can switch to a selective-gear/tactics mindset and continue your quest to oust hatchery steelhead from the Samish between the trap rack and Hickson Bridge (second span on Prairie Road). When December rolls around, the lower Samish (between Bayview-Edison Road bridge and I-5) remains open through New Year’s Eve with a catch-and-release mandate for every finfish, save the non grata hatchery-bred steelies. Selective gear use is also required. Anglers probably stand a better chance of tiring their arms on adipose-fin-clipped coho, but they must be released since
the Samish closes for salmon four days after Thanksgiving.
HOW WE’RE GONNA SAVE NOOKSACK STEELHEADING As far as the Nooksack’s steelheading, at least at the outset of the return window for Kendall Creek-origin fish, that’s much more iffy. Ironically, that’s because there’s still a chance of saving that hatchery’s winter-run breeding program. NOAA Fisheries was on the verge of issuing a null impact finding for it in May of this year, but at the last moment withdrew the letter of findings. Federal officials opted to go through a lengthier and perhaps more thorough environmental impact statement process that stands a better chance of fending off legal challenges. It’s hoped that the awaited federal approval will come by early spring 2016. Though the fishery’s future is growing evermore tenuous, WDFW officials remain committed to resurrecting and perpetuating the Kendall Creek hatchery steelhead program. That means broodstock or “spawnable” marked adult steelhead will be needed at the North Fork Nooksack hatchery. The 2015 Nooksack run is expected to be slim, forecast at just 115 of the two-salt adults, survivors of the 2014 release. Another 30 of the clipped, delayedreturning steelhead are expected to be
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coming back to Whatcom Creek (from the Maritime Heritage Center program). The margin for error here has been hedged in that the state’s hatchery program kept back and is rearing to maturation for potential broodstock smolts from the aborted 2014 and 2015 releases. In addition, many of last winter’s adult spawners were kept and are being reconditioned in captivity to broaden the potential hatcheryorigin egg bank. WDFW’s fish culture program has considerable experience raising rainbow and cutthroat trout as broodstock for resident trout stocking and is doing several captive salmon spawner efforts, as well. But in the general recollection, this is the first attempt to raise potential broodstock to full term in the confines of a WDFW fish hatchery. With this in mind, Nooksack anglers should be prepared for emergency closures of both the Nooksack and Whatcom Creek around Thanksgiving at the outset of the winter steelhead return window. Fish hatchery staff would like to see all 165,000 of the needed steelhead eggs “swim” into the Kendall Creek facility, but on a return of just 115 adults that will be tight. They are prepared to splice out with mature adults, especially males, from their captive breeder group. After a successful steelhead egg-take, WDFW fish program managers will proceed to raise to release size those juveniles that if all goes as planned will be let go in the spring of 2017. There also is on station at Kendall Creek another lot of some 165,000 hatchery steelhead presmolts from the 2014-15 return that are to be released in the spring of 2016, hopefully under federal authority. If that comes to pass and the tribes support this effort, the Kendall program stands an excellent chance of being saved.
NEXT ISSUE: Late lowlands archery and muzzleloader deer options, and waterfowling, including more snow geese and quality hunt options. NS Editor’s note: Doug Huddle lives in Bellingham, is retired from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and has written about hunting and fishing in the Northwest for more than 32 years. 102 Northwest Sportsman
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COLUMN
On Steelheading Then And These Days
Once Buzz Ramsey got over his apprehension of running rivers in a drift boat, it wasn’t long before he discovered how powerful of a fish-catching tool they could be. His friend John Tcher landed this 12-pound, 32-inch winter steelhead on the Kalama above the Pipeline Hole in 1969. (BUZZ RAMSEY)
M
y first experience in a drift boat happened on the Kalama River in Southwest Washington well over 40 years ago. I remember the trip like it was yesterday, not because of all the fish we caught but because we didn’t capsize during our 3-mile outing. Those were the days when drift boats were scarce and made of wood. When Foster Sporting Goods in Portland was where you shopped for Okie Drifters, Scotch line and pencil
BUZZ RAMSEY
weight. And where the serious angler would settle for nothing less than a 5000/6000 Abu Garcia Ambassadeur baitcast reel. I’d heard so many stories about how difficult it was to navigate a river in a drift boat that I prepared for the trip as though we would sink, taking along a minimum amount of gear, mostly old worn-out stuff that I wouldn’t mind losing, and emptying my billfold of all but the bare essentials. After shoving off from shore, I pointed the bow where we wanted to go and pushed on the oars. The only problem with this strategy was that we hit every rock we were trying to miss. After bouncing off several and crashing through one overhanging tree,
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COLUMN I realized why my brother John wasn’t fishing. I guess he decided it was safer to hang on, especially with the legendary “canyon” rapids coming up. Since whenever I rowed we hit things, I decided to take a more conservative approach and attempt to keep the boat straight and in the middle of the river. It was about then that we dropped over the lip and into that nasty rapid. After coming through what looked like the worst part OK, we barely missed a massive rock at the bottom of the chute and had to lean hard the opposite way. The boat tipped when the angry water grabbed my right oar and tried to capsize us. John wore a big smile as we entered the calm water just downstream from the biggest rapids on the lower Kalama. I was smiling too; after all, we had made it through the worst without a scratch. Remembering back then, the rest of the float went pretty well. I learned to point the stern of the boat where we wanted to go and pull on the oars to avoid rocks and overhanging trees. We even took time to fish some of the holes before reaching the take-out.
IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE we were drifting dozens of rivers in search of steelhead and salmon. Since the only fishing technique we knew was drift fishing we would anchor our boat and cast into the drifts and tail-outs. Later, we learned how to back-troll diving
plugs in the current behind our boat and slowly maneuver them downstream into the tail-outs where they would often produce savage strikes from big fish. We’d heard that fishing plugs through a drift made the fish not bite for others, but soon realized the reason was because they were in our fish box. We also learned when to fish where – the timing of different fish runs. For example, during the late winter and spring we chased spring Chinook on the Lower Columbia and Willamette Rivers. Later in the spring and early summer we drifted the tributaries for a mixed bag of Chinook and steelhead. Late summer we chased summer steelhead on the Deschutes. Early fall, we plunked the Columbia and its tributaries for salmon. During late fall we switched our focus to the coastal rivers.
EVEN THOUGH 40-PLUS YEARS have passed since my first drift boat trip down the Kalama, all of my early fishing adventures can be relived. All I need do hook up my boat and head to my favorite Northwest river, where boating and fishing opportunities are the same, similar or better than those that occurred so many years ago. Things have changed some, though. My drift boat is now an 18-foot, extra-wide-bottom Willie made of welded aluminum. Made from graphite, my fishing rods are lighter, stronger and more sensitive than ever before, and come in different length and taper designs for specific fishing methods. My drift sinkers often consist of a length of parachute cord filled with lead shot, which hangs up a lot less than pencil weight.
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COLUMN In addition, the fishing line I use has improved, and there are several different types of line to consider. For example, the new high-tech ones made from gelspun polyethylene, like Fireline or Nanofil, are very thin as compared to monofilament and have little or no stretch. This makes them ideal for drift fishing, where feeling what’s going on is important. Since fluorocarbon line is nearly invisible to the fish I now use it exclusively for leader. I suppose the biggest change, at least when it comes to chasing steelhead, are the number of fishing methods an angler can choose from. When I first got into this game it was just drift Perhaps after a stop on the way at Southeast Portland’s old Foster Sporting Goods for tackle, a young Buzz landed this winterfishing, back-trolling plugs with run, his first-ever tributary steelhead, in early December 1966. He was drift-fishing an Okie Drifter behind pencil lead on the an occasional casting of a spoon Sandy. (BUZZ RAMSEY) or spinner. The addition of fishing With late-run coho, fall Chinook and winter steelhead starting methods like side-drifting, float/jig fishing and bobber doggin’ to show on many rivers, now would be a good time to try these has been exciting and only helped anglers like you and me catch new methods and get in one of the region’s oldest fisheries. NS more fish.
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COLUMN
Über Early Steel D
ecember 1 traditionally marked the beginning of winter steelhead season for most Pugetropolis anglers. It was when the Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Green and others got their first real push of chrome. But over time, Puget Sound’s stocks began to dwindle, and this season’s returns will be WIESTSIDER By Terry Wiest markedly reduced, what with only the Sky seeing meaningful numbers due to the Wild Fish Conservancy’s 2014 lawsuit that effectively barred most of that year’s smolt release. Between that and the declining runs, many of us have headed to the coast for our first shot at winterruns. I love it over there, and even if I cut my teeth in the sport on south King County’s Green, I consider the rivers around Forks my home waters anymore. And truth be known, by the time early December has rolled around, I’ve already been fishing them. The long Thanksgiving weekend not only provides me with leftovers to carry in my backpack, but I’m in search of chrome. While others are watching football and getting gear ready, my line is getting wet! For those looking for early fish without the crowds, you’ll find hatchery fish starting to trickle into West End rivers from mid- to late November. Maybe not in the numbers you’ll find in a couple of weeks, but there will be fish.
to Wilson’s is only 3.4 miles, so early on in the season you might consider going all the way down to Leyendecker. There’s virtually a hole around every corner, and you’ll want to cover as much water as you can until the fish start stacking up in December. Indeed, while past years’ catch cards show strong November catches in the Bogy, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s online creel stats, which begin Dec. 1, hint at that as well, the real action will be found next month here.
THE BOGACHIEL RIVER IS among my favorites, and I generally will fish it from the bank on these early trips. It brings me back to my youth spent walking the rivers and scouting for holes. Although a drift boat allows me to cover more water and generally brings me more opportunities, I still like getting back to the basics – drift fishing from shore. Throughout the river, and with any hatchery fish, concentrate on the tail-outs. Hatchery fish love to sit in the tail-outs. River access is easy at the state hatchery just west of Forks off Bogachiel Way, so I’ll start there and work my way down to the confluence of the Calawah. There’s some fantastic bank access here with really good structure and bottom to hold the fish. It’s very good drift-fishing water. From that point I’ll either work my way back up to the hatchery, or change gears and go over to the Calawah to float fish. On the Calawah the fish will hold throughout the short stretch from the confluence to the hatchery. You’ll see the huge boulders providing structure; float your presentation all around them, as this is where the fish will be. For those of you who have a boat and don’t want to hoof it, great, you should do well early too. This time of year you’ll want to hit the Hatchery Drift, There are two takeouts to consider: Wilson’s and Leyendecker Park. From the top of the hatchery drift
Wanna get your hands on some fresh chrome this month? Head to the West End, young steelheader. The Bogachiel system might be your best bet for landing early hatchery fish, but Cook Creek and the Salmon River to the south also offer November opportunities. (TERRY WIEST) “The Bogy is a December River. If you want numbers, that’s where you go,” notes Mike Zavadlov of Mike Z’s Guide Service (mikezsguideservice.com). The Hatchery Drift attracts fish, but it also attracts a crowd. You’ll not only deal with other boats, but the majority of bankies will be there too (including myself). It’s not a bad idea to drift through, but pulling plugs may not be an option, depending on other pressure. This would be fantastic plug water, so if you really
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the cut bank on the south side. Bankies usually fish the north side, drift fishing eggs or shrimp. If you have a boat and can have the south side to yourself, pull plugs! Awesome plug water. The Crescent Hole is another one to not miss, but the Ice Box is where it’s at, especially for those early fish that haven’t reached holding water off the hatchery. Imagine the perfect float-fishing hole. Go ahead, picture it in your mind. This is it! There are plenty more holes before the take-outs, and the important thing to remember with the really early fish is to run and gun. If you don’t find fish, keep moving. They’re not going to stack like they will in a few weeks. For those of you who plunk, here’s another tip: In high flows, the gravel bar on the north side of the river of the Goodman Mainline is one of the best on the coast. As waters recede fish will hold under the bridge on the south side and along the entire south bank to the tail-out. Boaters can also fish this stretch with bait divers and plugs, but it’s not really an option if the plunkers are there. While steelies do sneak into coastal streams in November, the best fishing really is in December when easy limits can be had. Consider this month a tuneup to the big show. (TERRY WIEST) want to try it, go über early – say, the second week of November! Just below the confluence of the Calawah is Tall Timbers. A great gravel bar, fish travel all along the north side of the river and
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OTHER EARLY WEST END steelhead options can be found to the south, halfway between Forks and Aberdeen. If you don’t mind paying a native guide for a day (generally $100, which is an access fee), Cook Creek will be loaded with fish even prior to Thanksgiving. Ultrasmall, at least compared to other winter-run waters in the region, fish light and have fun. The quarter-mile stretch of river from the mouth of the Salmon where it dumps into the Queets up to the bridge is a very popular stretch early. It’s also the only section of the Salmon that you’re able to fish without a native guide. I like to hit this super early to see if there’s any fish. It doesn’t take long to figure out if any are around if you run and gun it. If nothing is, continue up Highway 101 to Forks and hit the Bogy. Since all of the above rivers are on the smaller side, jigs under a float or light drift gear will work well. When the water is clear, drifting a single bead can also be outstanding. Bait too is always a good choice, but go small with your eggs or shrimp. Even a piece of prawn or part of a nightcrawler will work in these smaller streams. There should be a lot of pocket water, which is good, and that’s where the fish will be. Beat the crowds and create your own reports this month by going early and enjoying the solitude before December’s craziness commences. NS
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COLUMN
A Better Corky-yarn Rig
So confident is fishing guide Don Talbot in his Corky-yarn set-up that all the tackle he says he’ll set off with to chase post-opener North-central Washington steelhead is a loaded leader dispenser and a components box. (DON TALBOT)
I
started playing with Corky drift rigs over 20 years ago on the Wenatchee and Methow Rivers. In the past five years I have figured out how to put yarn in the Corky to act like a bobber stopper and give the rig more flare. I like yarn for the simple fact that it gets stuck on the small teeth in the steelhead’s BASIN BEACON By Don Talbot mouth. I use to tie the yarn on my egg loop until I learned how to use a loop of mono to pull the yarn into the Corky. This method has made my rig look better and fishier at the same time. Let’s get started with my favorite ingredients to make these rigs come to life: * Gamakatsu No. 4 barbless octopus hooks; * 8-pound P-Line 100 percent fluorocarbon leader; * The Bug Shop Glo Bugs Bling yarn in flame, pink black and roe colors; * Size 14 Corkies in peach, flame red, black sparkle and pink; * Mack’s Lure Pip’s Leader Dispenser for holding all the rigs perfectly without tangling.
ONCE YOU HAVE THE above ingredients it is time to snell the hooks. If you do not know how to snell a hook, look it up on YouTube, a great source for learning the correct method of tying up all kinds of hooks. You can also look up bumper tie and egg loop tie if you would rather have a loop in the hook for eggs in a river that allows bait. The Methow and Wenatchee don’t, so I just snell the hooks without an egg loop. Basically a snell is tied the opposite way an egg loop is, from the back of the hook towards the eye, and over the top of a straw or something that the tag end can be inserted back into so that it ends up underneath the loops. I tie the leader about 44 inches long for the simple fact that if I tie it longer, it will not pull out of my leader dispenser very easily. I drift fish 36- to 42-inch leaders. Pulling yarn into a Corky is a pretty clever trick. I learned this method by accident a few years ago when I was getting tired of tying yarn into my egg loop. I will slide the smallest Corky that Yakima Bait makes up my octopus hook and thread an independent loop to catch the yarn, as shown in the picture on the next page. I will place the right amount of yarn in the loop so that it jams tight into the drift bobber. If the yarn goes in too nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 119
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Components for this setup include small size 4 barbless Gamakatsu octopus hooks, 8-pound P-Line fluorocarbon leader and glo yarn from The Bug Shop. (DON TALBOT)
easy, it will fall out. I will pull the yarn all the way to the other end of the Corky and pull the independent loop of line out of the yarn when I am done. I will use a drop of Super Glue Gel on the snelled hook and pull the Corky with the yarn jammed in it all the way to the top of the snell. The picture at bottom right shows a cute little Corky bug on the hook. The steelhead love this Corky yarn bug. Just don’t let the yarn go past the hook shank. Steelhead will short bite you all day long if you do. You can follow the same steps to jam a chunk of yarn into a Corky for anywhere on your line. The yarn jams so tight that it acts like a bobber stopper. Fly fishermen are using this method for strike indicators as well. Just make an independent loop closest to the hook with 8-pound-test line and place a fatter chunk of yarn in it so that the yarn jams hard into the Corky. After you are done tying, say, a dozen rigs, it’s time to make some slinky set-ups. If you don’t have the parachute cord and lead BBs to fill the cord to make your parachute weights, buy some Danielson slinky weights in a variety of sizes. I will cut down the 1-ounce weights to make three or four smaller ones. You can save money cutting up the longer weights and burning the ends and reclosing with a pair of piers. I run my mainline through the eye of a cheap No. 10 crane swivel, which also holds my slinky weight. Between that and a small, roller-bearing barrel swivel connecting my mainline to my leader, I include a black 5mm bead.
THE TALBOT CORKY-YARN RIG is simple, as is my North-central Washington steelheading vest. I like to take just my Pip’s Box and a small components container when I drift fish. I don’t need a tackle box, period. Enjoy all your new creations with jamming yarn into a Corky. It really makes my rig fish a whole lot better! If you have any additional questions about this subject, contact me at Don Talbot’s Fishing (509-679 8641; donsfishingguideservice.com). NS Editor’s note: While the Methow and Okanogan Rivers opened Oct. 15 and the Similkameen River opens Nov. 1, WDFW had not announced a season for the Wenatchee as of press time last month. 120 Northwest Sportsman
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To nest the yarn and Corky on the shaft of an octopus hook, author Don Talbot runs an independent loop of line through the drift bobber, places his yarn in the bow and pulls it into the Corky. He then dabs a bit of glue over the snells and pulls the colorful combo up to the eye of the hook. (DON TALBOT)
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FISHING
A’S, B’S BITE WELL IN NOVEMBER LEWIS AND CLARK VALLEY WATERS PROVIDE GOOD STEELHEADING THIS MONTH.
Another run of A- and B-run steelhead is settling into the cozy confines of Hells Canyon country, and November provides some of the best fishing before winter’s lethargy strikes. (BRIAN LULL) nwsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2015
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FISHING By Jeff Holmes
N
ovember marks one of the finest months of steelheading in Lewis and Clark Valley and at nearby fishing destinations like the Snake River at Heller Bar, the Grande Ronde River from Troy to the mouth, and the entire Clearwater from the confluence to Orofino. It’s by far my favorite time to fish the special places in Hells Canyon Country, and this season we’re looking at another good run. The advantages to chasing November steel are many, not the least of which is opportunities at some of the season’s largest fish. Of course the Clearwater B-runs show up in valley waters throughout fall and winter as they make their slow way through the dam forebays from John Day to Lower Granite, but the Salmon River’s B-runs are also moving
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through the system, as are the earlyreturning, Oregon-bound Grande Ronde fish which are substantially larger than the Cottonwood Creek stock that shows in big numbers throughout winter and spring as they head for the Washington hatchery collection facility on the Ronde. For traveling anglers on a fishing trip, basing a trip out of the LC Valley is easy. If you want to bring your boat, you can fish right in town from lots of launch sites. By mid-October, more than 100,000 steelhead had crossed Lower Granite, with tens of thousands more Snake River-bound fish in transit, still hung up in the Columbia’s cool-water refuges or milling around randomly throughout the system. As water temperatures drop leading into November, even more fish will pile into the Inland Northwest’s undisputed steelhead capitol, and the fishing will likely be excellent at times throughout the month in Lewiston and Clarkston. Steelhead remain
aggressive in November before winter’s chill subdues their desire to chase and attack. But before they move into deep holes and gentle glides for winter’s lethargy, steelhead remain present in large numbers scattered throughout depths and holding-water types. Water temperatures usually fade from low 50s to low 40s by the month’s end, which is a fine range for steelheading. Whether fishing the slow-moving impounded water in downtown Lewiston, Clarkston or Asotin, or the moving water of the Clearwater, Grande Ronde, and Snake above Asotin, fish are scattered throughout the system and still eager to bite lures and a wide variety of baits.
TROLLING LURES SUCH AS Hot Lips, Mag Lips and a variety of other steelhead plugs is often very effective in the impounded water around Lewiston and Clarkston – both the lower few miles of the Clearwater and the Snake from Lower Granite to Asotin – and plugging is a great bet for newbies,
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FISHING prospectors, plug junkies, and folks for whom fishing is secondary to hanging out in a boat and waiting for a rod to go off. Metallic purples, pinks, reds, greens, oranges and many more will draw strikes. Pay attention to other’s trolling patterns, respecting their space but simultaneously looking for nets. One easy-to-follow strategy is to use your electronics to find good breaklines and bottom features and gently zigzag across them, not being shy about contacting bottom. Getting hung up and retrieving lures is part of successful plug trolling in many cases. Plugs are easy and effective, but lots more fish are taken on bait in all of the rivers, whether float fishing, side-drifting, and back-trolling. In town, the primary mode of bait presentation is under a slip float, mostly shrimp, and because these fish see a lot of shrimp, showing them primo home-cured shrimp or top-shelf dry-cured stuff like Nate’s
Here’s a little trick for your shrimp, a popular bait for Lewis and Clark Valley steelhead: Give that coonstripe a little shave to clean up the dangly bits. Why? If it works for guide Toby Wyatt, it works for us. (BRIAN LULL)
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FISHING Bait’s Killer Koonies is wise. Nate and other curing gurus get freshoff-the-boat coonstripe shrimp and cure them immediately. Baited and unbaited jigs account for plenty of fish in November too. Most bankies vary their depth from 6 to 15 feet, depending on the area being fished, and boat anglers float fish these depths and much deeper. Steelhead in impounded water definitely orient to structure, both underwater features and man-made structure like bridge pilings.
ON THE LOCAL TRIBUTARIES, back-trolling plugs is deadly effective on the Ronde and Clearwater during our eleventh month. I love to backtroll plugs from a drift boat in November, which is why I only made it six months without one before getting into another Clackacraft. I know lots of plug-fishing slayers who use almost exclusively Hot Shot 30s
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and 35s on both the Clearwater and Grande Ronde, but I’ve also done well on the latter while fishing Mag Lips and Wigglers, and all manner of plugs work. Still, I have always paid attention and try to replicate success by fishing mostly small Hot Shots in chrome green, green pirate or chrome blue. I’ll be doing a lot of that this November, as well as reengaging in fly fishing. In the low-water conditions anglers are likely to face on both the Ronde and Clearwater, fly fishing should continue to be excellent through November, as should hardware fishing. November is prime time to fish spoons like RVRFSHRs and BC Steels, as well as a range of spinners from RVRFSHR, Blue Fox, Bang Tail, and many more. Even in the low-40s water temps of late November, steelhead will chase a short distance and will react violently to anything entering their comfort zone. But they’ll also grab small deaddrifted jigs and, of course, bait.
As an added bonus to generally very good catching, the keeping is excellent in November. These fish won’t spawn until March at the earliest, some not until May. They are still firm and loaded with fat and make great barbecue fare.
EVEN BETTER THAN ABUNDANT and often eager-to-bite keepers is the majesty of this part of steelhead country. Sumac, alder, and willows erupt in flame. Bighorn rams tend ewes streamside on the Snake and Grande Ronde, and big mule deer and whitetail bucks seeking the last estrous does are conspicuous near all Hells Canyon Country steelhead venues. Wildlife and the grandeur of Inland Northwest autumn combine with relatively small crowds to make November such a cherry time to base a trip out of the Lewis and Clark Valley. The Grande Ronde is 55 minutes, Heller Bar even closer, and the entire lower Clearwater
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FISHING lot of places in both towns, and I strongly caution you to read reviews, or just book at the best located and most-dog friendly place I’ve found, The Quality Inn and Suites (qualityinnclarkston. com) on the Snake next to Costco, WalMart, Albertson’s, Bi-Mart, and lots more. There are tons of good places to stay and to eat, including Bojack’s, an authentic oldschool steakhouse that serves multiple courses. For tackle and gear, there’s Black Sheep, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Camp Cabin and Home in Lewiston. NS
from Orofino down is closer yet. Better yet, for folks looking to stick close to town, great fishing exists in and around town, with plenty of accessibility for prop boats of all kinds, jet boats and bankies. So while there are awesome lodges and local lodging available at popular fishing venues – such as famous Boggan’s Oasis (boggans.com) on the Grande Ronde – staying put in Clarkston or Lewiston also makes sense. Along with a wide variety of stores and services and plenty to see and do to keep families happy even if they aren’t anglers, the LC Valley is a super comfortable place to stay, with lots of good, reasonable rooms and close proximity to not only the Clearwater, Snake and Grande Ronde, but also prime to hunting areas in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. Lewiston is far bigger and very cool, but I elect to stay home in Washington on the other side of the river in Clarkston. I’ve stayed a
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There are plenty of productive places to bank fish for steelhead on the Snake system in the valley, including the rocks along Wawawai County Park above Lower Granite Dam, where Ashley Stanley nabbed this 17-pound B-run on a jig and shrimp under a bobber a few seasons back. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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A FISHY MONTH
Plenty of coho, chum, king, even steelhead ops in Western Washington in November.
Nice one in the net! November represents a good time to get out after the back half of Western Washingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s salmon runs. (JASON BROOKS) 132 Northwest Sportsman
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FISHING By Jason Brooks
S
lowly backing the boat down the edge of a seam I noticed the bobber go down. “Fish on!” Soon a big, ugly-toothed chum erupted out of the water and fought its way to the net, my jig stuck in its jaw. Once we untangled the teeth and unpinned the lure, the beast of a fish was pushed back into the seam from where it had come from. A few minutes beforehand and in a run just upriver, we had landed a small wild steelhead, a late summer fish. And a few casts later, a coho took the same jig tipped with a piece of prawn. We were fishing the Green River above Black Diamond on Veterans Day. A week earlier in November I had been on the Satsop, where we caught chums, coho and a king, all while twitching jigs. Indeed, November is the one month when you never know what species will take your hook and run. This is why it is one of my favorite times to fish. While it’s been a month and a half since the days of catching Pugetropolis pink salmon one after another, this month finds Everett, Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia anglers chasing the last of the fall kings (but just starting after winter blackmouth), at the midpoint of the coho run and battling plentiful chums in most area streams. Meanwhile on the coast, coho are still running strong, the late Chinook are some of the biggest of the season and chums are present in numerous rivers and will attack just about anything you throw at them. Bottom line, bank-bound anglers and drift boaters alike can hit virtually any river from Mt. Vernon to Ocean Shores and catch salmon. Even those who like to fish the saltwater beaches in the South Sound and Hood Canal have great ops this month. Here are few places to wet a line:
IN THE NORTH, IT’S hard to beat the Skykomish. Coho have been flooding
into the river since Labor Day, and though it is strictly a catch-and-release fishery for chums this year, this river does get enough that you will spend most of your day weeding through them to get to your coho limit. Look for public accesses near Sultan and in Monroe, which is also a popular place for those with jetboats. This section of the river has a night closure and antisnagging rule, but you are allowed to keep three coho and must release all Chinook and chums. Towards the end of the month, some early-timed hatchery steelies will be in the system, kicking off what will be Puget Sound’s only meaningful fishery for the clipped stock this winter.
KING COUNTY’S GREEN RIVER, also known as the Duwamish if you fish lower in the system, gets a healthy run of chums and coho, and you can target both if you want to. Plus there are a few straggling summer steelhead to make things interesting. Make sure you release all Chinook and wild steelhead. The Green has great bank access and is a fairly small river in its upper reaches, making for a prime place to float jigs. When fishing jigs, try using a dropper and trailing a HeviBead in one of their UV finishes. This will double your chances. Fly fishing streamers or beads on a 7-weight with a moderate sinking line is another popular way to fish and can be a handful with a feisty chum. One of the more popular walkin spots is Metzler Park, but don’t overlook the restoration area near Highway 18, or the upper reaches at Flaming Geyser State Park, where you will need a Discover Pass to park. IN THE SOUTH SOUND, the Puyallup River gets a really good “B” run of coho in October and they stay around until November. Plus, it has a lot of chums in the system, thanks to a Puyallup Tribal Hatchery at Diru Creek that feeds into Clarks Creek.
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FISHING This is a lower-river fishery, but the entire system has chums and the coho are heading towards Voight Creek, a tributary to the Carbon River. In Orting the Carbon is a great small-river fishery for late coho, but
Bend Campground (they have daily, monthly and yearly permits) or get a range pass from Joint Base Lewis McChord, where you can use several long gravel bars just upriver from the interstate bridge. There’s also a state access for handicap anglers
Creek to the West Fork take-out. If the water is high from rain, I run from the West Fork to the Highway 12 take-out. Bank anglers can find a few hike-in areas near Cook Creek, Decker Creek, the West Fork state access and the Highway 12 access. One spot that was popular years ago but for some reason has tapered off a bit is Schafer State Park. A few trees just below the park make it
In addition to late coho, this part of fall also offers chances for Western Washington anglers to battle hardfighting chum, big kings and even steelhead. (JASON BROOKS; KING: DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
near the end of 6th Ave. SE, off Old Pacific Highway. A bulkhead right at a deep hole, plunking is the best technique here and spots are taken up early in the day. make sure to release all chums up on that system. Continuing south along I-5 is the Nisqually River. It has limited bank access, unless you pay a fee to River 134 Northwest Sportsman
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HEADING TOWARDS THE COAST you come to the Satsop. This is my favorite river to fish in November. I typically float it in my drift boat from Decker
impossible to use this as a put-in, which is probably why it isn’t so popular anymore, but for bank anglers it can provide a great fishery with a bit of solitude. Again, make sure you have a Discover Pass. The Wynoochee gets a strong run of late coho, but its chums must be released. This river also has a good return of winter steelhead, and by the time Thanksgiving dinner is served, a few of the early fish will already have been caught. When we get November’s usual rains, it can pay to monitor the ’Nooch’s river levels. Controlled by
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a dam, if other rivers are blown out, it might still be in shape. On the flip side, if water is being released from the reservoir on a perfect fall day, you could find yourself with too much river. As always, if you float from Crossover Bridge (Wynoochee-Wishkah Road) to Black Creek, be aware of the low head dam between the launches. Row to the far left, get out and rope your boat over the dam. There are times
when you can float over it, but I do not recommend ever doing this. The Humptulips is a great river in October and again in December for late coho, but for some reason I have found that it tapers off a bit in November. But where the coho leave a void, the chums make up for it. You also have a chance at catching a very large and late Chinook, but after Nov. 15 you must release them. All wild coho must also be released and you
TOP NOVEMBER TECHNIQUES Floating bright-colored jigs tipped with a piece of prawn is one of the top techniques when fishing rivers this month. Not only is it very effective and can catch multiple species, it is easy to master. Simply use a floating braided line with an adjustable bobber to a swivel. I like to use a strong leader and prefer Izorline’s Platinum in 15-pound test. Tie 18 to 24 inches of it to a -ounce jig. My favorite for chums and coho are Mack’s Lure’s Rock Dancers, which have a bucktail jig that can take some serious abuse and fish all day. Tip the jig with a piece of raw prawn or cooked salad shrimp from the deli at your grocery store and cast it out. Make sure to adjust the depth so that your jig is just off of the bottom, as the fish will be holding in deep slots. In the salt, the set-up is similar, though some will float a small anchovy instead of the jig. But don’t forget hardware. Chums and coho are very aggressive fish. When the water is off color I like to throw size 6 Blue Fox spinners in chartreuse and silver or neon orange and silver. Spoon fishing is almost a lost art and it shouldn’t be. I started throwing them last fall and will dedicate a few trips this November to perfecting my technique, as these overaggressive fish are great to learn from. Dardevles have been around for 110 years, and talking with John Cleveland, marketing director for Eppinger Manufacturing, which makes the spoons, they’re his number one lure for fishing Alaska coho and chums. Their 5500 series in the traditional red and white, or their nickel back in chartreuse and green stripe will entice both species. –JB
A bright jig tipped with a chunk of prawn is one of the author’s favorite set-ups in November. (JASON BROOKS)
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can only use single-point barbless hooks, even on your plugs. Back on I-5, there’s the Cowlitz, though at press time it wasn’t clear if its late coho – which can produce a great November fishery – were just tardy or this year’s run was very small. If they do come in, the fishery can be good right after a fresh rain. Barrier Dam is very popular and can be crowded, while from the boundary markers there down to Lexington Bridge you can use two rods, if you have that endorsement. That’s a big benefit for those who like to back-troll plugs, especially if there are only two anglers in the boat, as you can run four rods and create the ol’ wall of death, all but forcing fish to bite.
OUT ON THE SALT, anglers often troll large flats, like the one out in front of the green can near the mouth of the Nisqually, or over in Boston Harbor. Virtually every creek in Hood Canal has some sort of chum run and the hatchery at Hoodsport is legendary. Bank-bound anglers often use float tubes or wade out at high tide and fish the flat in front of the hatchery. Mud Bay, just south of Olympia, is another popular bank spot in the saltwater, again at high tide. You can find your own special spot on just about any beach where a stream enters Puget Sound. Fly anglers often cast streamers in bright patterns or Clouser Minnows. (Tuck this one away for late winter: When all the fry from this year’s pink salmon return head for the salt, they make for great beach fishing for sea-run cutts). November is a month of catching. On the rivers, you almost don’t know what’s going to bite, they’re so full of late coho and Chinook, chums, along with a few straggling summer steelhead or early winter steelhead. And cold rains will only bring more upstream. Now’s the time to learn new techniques, perfect old ones, or just go out and enjoy the fishing. NS
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Tackling Tilla Run timing can vary from year to year, but November often represents some of the best ďŹ shing of the year for fall Chinook in the Wilson, Trask, Nestucca and Kilchis Rivers. Brenda Skinner presents a nice one from last year at this time. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)
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FISHING
mook’s Tribs November finds good fishing for fall Chinook for those using these three key techniques. By Andy Schneider
L
aunching the drift boat was more of a rodeo than usual. The craft pulled back harder than expected after a super-fast and slippery launch on frostcoated bunks. But the clumsy stumbling and groping at frosty branches was enough to counteract Newton’s First Law of Motion and the drift boat nosed back to shore. With the first touch of light not expected for another hour, the crew got busy cutting skeins of eggs into salmon-bite-sized pieces, attaching pieces of sardines to the bottom of plugs and tried threading bobbers with limp pieces of braided line. When the squeak of someone else’s drift boat trailer came down the dark, pothole-ridden road, the crew loaded into the boat without any prompting and the captain pushed hard on the sticks to secure some valuable river real estate. In fall, coastal rivers go through some amazing changes in a short period of time, transforming from off-brown, tanniccolored rivers surrounded by mostly dry, muddy or stony banks to emerald-green gems with colorful leaves suspended throughout. While anglers may curse leaves until a big freshet washes them out to sea, fall Chinook have already caught the scent and have started their long journeys to their spawning gravel. This season, how El Niño treats us North Coast anglers will depend on how much rain we get and how soon. Many times we will see a freshet in mid- to late October that will start to stir fish into moving upriver. But what tributary anglers are really looking for are back-to-back freshets in mid-November to clean out the leaves and make fishing a little more bearable. Once tributaries are cleaned out enough, the next biggest challenge is picking the right one. The Kilchis, Wilson,
Trask and Nestucca Rivers will all have fish moving towards spawning grounds from now till the end of the year.
THE NESTUCCA MAY HAVE started off a little quiet this year, but only because fellow anglers were trying their hardest to keep the good fishing quiet and out of the Internet limelight. Truth is, all of Tillamook County’s tributaries have been very productive this fall. With a vast watershed emptying into its own estuary, there is no reason to think that the early success on the Nestucca is going to slow any time soon either. As soon as there is enough water to float a drift boat, you can bet there will be anglers waiting to launch. The Nestucca has a tendency to rise quickly and drop slowly. While it may take a little longer to drop into optimal fishing conditions, once it does, the river should give anglers a long stretch of productive water height and color. The Nestucca offers three popular drifts for drift boaters: 1st Bridge to Farmers Creek; Farmers Creek to Three Rivers; and Three Rivers to Cloverdale. Flows between 1,500 and 1,200 cubic feet per second are optimal, but fishing can remain productive down to 800 cfs for anglers willing to try clear-water tactics. THE TRASK’S MOST FAMOUS for its productive tidewater fishery, but once the river starts flowing with fall rains, those fish will be pushing right through that stretch, and they may not slow until above the Highway 101 Bridge just southeast of Tillamook. The Trask turns on a little earlier than neighboring rivers and continues to produce chrome kings well into December. While it doesn’t drop and clear as quickly as nearby coastal streams such as the Wilson, it does hold its height and color as well as
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FISHING the Nestucca. The Trask only has a couple options for drift boaters: Cedar Creek to Loran’s Drift, and Loran’s Drift to Highway 101. But if you time the tides and your drift right, you can also float from Highway 101 to the 5th Street ramp – just plan on launching at high tide and being at the take-out at low, as over half of the drift will be through tidewater. The Trask starts fishing best just below 1,700 cfs and fishes well down to 1,000 cfs.
THE WILSON IS ONE of if not the most popular river in Tillamook County. And for good reason: excellent access for bank and boat anglers; lots of deep, boulder-strewn holes; a gentle and consistent gradient; and lots and lots of fish pushing upriver from fall’s first freshet well through January. The Wilson drops into shape two to three days after a heavy rain and maintains a steady drop, providing at
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least a week of quality fishing. Though it maintains a beautiful emeraldgreen color during optimal flows, the abundance of small tributaries can play havoc on the lower river’s turbidity at times. When fall rains oversaturate the surrounding private, state and federal forestlands, small mudslides are not uncommon in the Wilson’s feeder streams. With the Trask or Kilchis close by, be prepared to detour if you find the river muddy. The most popular fall Chinook drifts on the Wilson are from Siskeyville to Mills Bridge, and either Mills Bridge to Sollie Smith or Donaldson’s to Sollie Smith. The river’s ideal height is 1,200 cfs, though savvy anglers can usually find fishable waters up to 1,500 cfs and down to 600 cfs.
TILLAMOOK COUNTY’S SOLUTION TO high water is the Kilchis. It’s no secret that this smaller tributary can handle a lot of rain and still remain fishable.
As Oliver the Chinook hound gives him encouragement, the author back-bounces eggs through the sweet spot of a Tillamook County tributary. Other good techniques include roe under a bobber and back-trolling sardinewrapped deep-diving plugs. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)
If the river does blow out, it almost always drops into shape the quickest and provides excellent fishing. But being the “only show in town” does have some serious drawbacks. The Kilchis can become quite crowded and difficult to navigate
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FISHING when the aluminum hatch occurs. Either starting very early or later in the afternoon are good options to avoid the first-light-bite crowd. The Kilchis has two main drifts: from the county park campground to Highway 101 or from the Logger Bridge to 101. The river doesn’t have a river gauge, but paying attention to the Wilson’s will give you an idea on how it is behaving. Because they’re different watersheds, there isn’t an exact relation to water height, but as the Wilson is dropping through 2,000 cfs, the Kilchis should just be on the high side, but usually fishable.
AS FOR TRIBUTARY TACTICS, it doesn’t really matter where you are pursuing Chinook. From Alaska to Chile, these salmon respond well to three popular techniques: bobber and eggs, plug fishing and back-bouncing eggs. Bobber fishing is the most popular technique for any bank-bound angler
and is just as effective in tidewater as it is well upstream. It also evens the playing field between bankies and boaters, as it’s just as productive from either platform. Bobber fishing is best in deeper holding water that is moving a little slower than the main current. Though bobbers can be fished through fast water, they are not as good as when they’re fished on current seams, in back eddies and the bottom end of holes. Bobbers are the perfect catch-all set-up when it comes to water that is tough to read and not effectively fished with other techniques. To fish them, make sure to bring a small assortment of different-sized bobbers and weights. Bank anglers may need to use a larger, 2- to 3-ounce float to achieve good casts, while boat anglers more than likely will use smaller ones. No matter what you’re fishing off of, use smaller bobbers in smaller flows and larger bobbers with heavier flows. Rigging starts with 50- to 65-pound
braided mainline tied to a No. 8 snap swivel. On your mainline thread on a 1-ounce bobber, bobber-stop beads and secure a bobber stop 3 to 4 feet above your bobber. From the snap swivel tie 30 inches of 30-pound leader to a 4/0 hook. Attach a small 1-ounce cannonball lead to the snap on the swivel, bait up with eggs and cast away. Once most anglers become proficient with fishing off a boat, they quickly find the appeal of back-
Chinook come in chrome bright trio from last November attest t
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FISHING bouncing bait, and this technique becomes their favorite. Not many times do you get to experience the thrill of a Chinook biting and tasting your bait while you are actually holding the rod. Back-bouncing is most effective in fast, deep holes where salmon could be spread out from the top to the bottom. Instead of looking for current seams and slower water, target the main current and the deepest parts of the river. Salmon actively moving upriver will be found in these areas and respond to well-presented eggs. As you move downriver, you will need to adjust your weight. Ten ounces could be needed at the top of a hole in heavy current, while just 2 ounces will put you on bottom as the current softens towards the tail. With each “bounce” you want to move your bait downriver approximately 6 inches. If your bait is moving downriver too fast, add
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more weight. When you’ve moved your bait through the hole as far as seems reasonable, reel it up, rebait if needed and start again at the top. While eggs are most anglers’ main ingredient for bobber fishing and back-bouncing, adding a little extra can make a difference at times. Sand shrimp, herring, sardine, tuna belly or shrimp meat are popular and productive ways to tune in to what salmon are craving that particular day. And finally, there is just something addictive about watching your rod bounce, hesitate, wiggle-wiggle, hesitate again, then fold over as a Chinook grabs a plug as you backtroll downstream. Whether you’re in a drift boat or a sled, watching a plug rod can be mesmerizing. With each hesitation of the rod, your heart stalls for a second or two, hoping a fish has grabbed your baited plug. Fishing plugs becomes most productive once most of the leaves have been flushed into the estuary.
Pay close attention to your rod tip to ensure that your plug hasn’t fouled out, gotten snagged or is working too hard in fast water. KwikFish K14Xs and K15Xs and Mag Lip 4.0s, 4.5s and 5.0s are some of the most effective for tributary Chinook. These plugs can be run without a diver, but all should be fished with a sardine wrap. Adding an inline swivel 5 feet above the plugs will also assist in catching any leaves or debris and keep the plugs fishing longer. Fall Chinook bring us in from the vast Pacific and the unrelenting waters of Buoy 10 to smaller, more sheltered waters. Tributary fishing opens our ears to the gentle gurgling and rush of the river. It opens our eyes to the forest as it transitions from fall to winter, and it allows us to participate in the final chapter of a salmon’s return as it closes in on the spawning grounds to lay the groundwork for us to do it all over again. NS
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NOTES When tributaries start running low and clear, downsizing your rigging may be necessary to continue having success. Often times fall will bring freshets that barely raise river levels. While the showers will start pulling fresh fish into the upper stretches of tidewater, the flows may still be gin-clear, making fishing especially challenging. Downsizing to a ½- to 1-ounce bobber with matching cannonball lead will allow long casts, a quiet entry for your presentation and a bobber that will slide under the surface easily when salmon get finicky. Some of the biggest Chinook often fall victim to the smallest of baits. –Andy Schneider
Two 2mm beads
50- to 65-pound braided mainline
½- to 1-ounce bobber 30-inch, 30-poundtest leader
Size 2/0 bait hook No. 8 snap swivel
½- to 1-ounce cannonball (match to bobber size)
Small cluster of eggs Shortened, colored line used for illustration purposes
(ANDY SCHNEIDER)
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FISHING
LOAD UP AT WINCHESTER Lewiston-area reservoir hosts wide variety of species, fishes well in fall. By Mike Wright
W
hen one reads a story of Western outdoor adventure, it would not be considered at all unusual for the name Winchester to appear in the tale. After all, the Winchester rifle has been indelibly linked to the Old West, and even today it is still the preferred weapon of a large segment of Western outdoorsmen. However, this story concerns fishing, not hunting, and since Winchester has never produced fishing equipment, it might be logical to ask why the name even appears in this article. It is mentioned because in this case, Winchester is the name of one of the most popular and Rainbows might be the most-pursued species at Winchester Lake, thanks to tens of thousands stocked annually, productive lake fisheries in but its marquee fish may very well be tiger musky. Hybrids of over 40 inches have been caught here. (IDFG) North Idaho. sawmill in North Idaho. As was the custom of that era, IN 1885, THE STONE and Timber Act was passed by the company built a dam across the creek that was Congress, essentially opening up the Nez Perce adjacent to the new sawmill, creating a mill pond that Reservation for settlement. The high fertility of the they called Lapwai Lake and later became known as land drew a steadily increasing number of people Winchester Lake. onto the land at the base of the Craig Mountains. As Shortly after the pond formed, someone decided to more settlers moved into the area, a new town was plant trout in the impoundment. It was soon determined incorporated in 1899 and a town meeting was held that the same fertility that had drawn settlers to to determine a suitable name for the new settlement. the area also produced lush aquatic vegetation in After some unsatisfactory suggestions, it was decided Winchester Lake. A large number and a wide variety to conduct a survey of the rifles in town to determine of insects began to appear in its plant life. These insects the most popular manufacturer. Not surprisingly, it provided sufficient forage to sustain a large number of was found that almost every rifle was a Winchester. fish together with an excellent growth rate. So, with agreement of the residents, the new town had Today, midges, damsel- and dragonflies, a wide its name. variety of mayflies, water boatmen and leeches can In 1907, the Craig Mountain Lumber Company be found in Winchester’s waters. Chironomids, goldpurchased a number of tracts and in 1910 completed ribbed Hare’s Ears, Pheasant Tails, Prince Nymphs, construction of what, at the time, was the largest marabou damsels, Carey Specials and various leech
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FISHING
In addition to a ramp and lots of bank access, there are at least three fishing docks on Winchester Lake, which is surrounded by a state park. (MIKE WRIGHT)
A flyrodder plays a trout to his float tube. The lake also holds crappie, bluegill and channel catfish. (MIKE WRIGHT)
patterns are all effective. Although Winchester is not a particularly good dry fly lake, there are times when Griffith’s Gnats, Renegades and Parachute Adams can produce fish. Hoppers, ants and beetles also start appearing later in the season. There are a significant number of yellow jackets in the area, making Talicos an important pattern to have in your fly box. Although Winchester is an excellent fly fishing lake, the majority of fishing is traditionally done with bait from shore or lures trolled behind a boat.
VARIOUS FIRES, ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS and dwindling
152 Northwest Sportsman
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resources plagued the mill over the years, forcing the lumber company to sell the property in 1950. A series of different owners ran the operation until 1965, when Potlatch Forest Products took possession of the mill and lakeside property. Almost immediately, the lumber company and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game began negotiations for ownership of the land. In 1967, an agreement was reached and IDFG took possession of the lake and adjacent shores. By this time the area
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FISHING had become a very popular destination for ďŹ shermen and other recreationalists. In 1968, plans were made to develop Winchester State Park. IDFG retained ownership, but facilitation of the property was turned over to the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. When Fish and Game took ownership of the lake, they beefed up the ďŹ shery by stocking 80,000 cutthroat. In time it was determined that that stocking program was not as successful as they had hoped, so triploid rainbows were substituted. In the past, 36,500 of the eating machines were stocked at various times throughout the season. But in 2015, releases were beefed up, in a sense. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This year we have reduced the number stocked in Winchester to 23,400, but increased the size to 12 inches,â&#x20AC;? notes IDFG ďŹ sheries biologist Joe Dupont in nearby Lewiston. In addition, as many as 1,000 tasty channel catďŹ sh are stocked annually.
BUT THE MOST INTRIGUING addition has been the introduction of tiger muskies. These behemoths are a product of crossing a pike and a muskie. Since they are a hybrid like the triploid rainbows, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t waste
any time or energy in spawning. This, coupled with the genetics of their two esocid parents, means they can grow to very impressive sizes. An additional reason for this exceptional size is the fact that they are notoriously difďŹ cult to catch. In the muskiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; home waters back east, they are known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;the ďŹ sh of a thousand casts.â&#x20AC;? Dupont feels this characterization would deďŹ nitely be on the low side: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It may take considerably more than a thousand casts to catch one,â&#x20AC;? he says. If you do get one, you will be blessed with bragging rights for a lifetime. Although most tiger muskies are caught with bait or lures, landing one on a ďŹ&#x201A;y is not out of the question. A friend of mine who ďŹ shes Winchester on a regular basis witnessed an individual catching one on a four-weight ďŹ&#x201A;y rod. The ďŹ ght lasted the better part of an hour and the assistance of three other men was needed for the landing. They didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a scale with them, but the ďŹ sh was just over 45 inches. Fish exceeding 40 pounds are not uncommon in these waters. Since there are bullheads in Winchester, a Woolly Bugger or bunny leech might work, but heavier ďŹ shing equipment would be advisable. A tigerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teeth are reminiscent of a barracuda and can cut through
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FISHING monofilament very easily. People who fly fish for pike often use steel leader, although as wary as these muskies are, this may not be an effective option. Just be aware that a four-weight and light mono line may not be the best choice for fishing for these denizens of the deep. Apparently not satisfied with trout, catfish and tiger muskie, some bucket biologist decided spinyrays needed to be added to the ecology of the lake. The new additions have found Winchester to their liking and are now thriving throughout the lake. The bluegill in particular are growing to very respectable sizes. As for where to fish, the dam area to the southeast side is good for trout, particularly in the morning until 9 a.m. The waters off the stone abutment are good for ’bows, ’gills and maybe muskies. The west side between the walking bridge and the dock area is good mornings and evenings for trout, while from the bridge south is good for bluegill and crappie. Crappie, catfish, trout and tigers can also be found in the northwest inlet, while the southern shore is good for catfish and occasional rainbow.
WINCHESTER STATE PARK HAS excellent facilities, including
several fishing docks and a good ramp on the south side, and there’s a wide range of activities available in the area. There are 46 campsites and four yurts for those who would like a more upscale camping experience. Interpretive nature programs are offered throughout the summer and are held in a newly constructed amphitheater, and there are numerous trails in the park. A wolf education and research center opened in 1996, just a short distance from the park. In 2002, an annual fishing derby was established, and has evolved into an ice fishing derby as well. The lake is open year-round, and depending on the weather, fall would be a good time to fish it. The size of the trout should be better, especially considering IDFG’s new stocking policy, but even though it is a popular put-and-take lake, there is enough carryover to provide a sizable number of trout in the 16- to 18inch range, with some 20-inchers available. With school in session and vacations over, the 104acre lake will not be crowded this month. And with Lewiston – the heart of the Panhandle’s banana belt – only 38 miles away, the weather should be relatively mild, even in winter. But whatever time of year you set your sights on Winchester, it is highly likely the fishing will be booming. NS
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Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (All periodicals publications except requester publications) 1. Publication Title: Northwest Sportsman. 2. Publication Number: 025-251. 3. Filing Date: October 12, 2015. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly. 5. Number of issues published annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: 29.95. 7. Complete mailing address of known ofďŹ ce of publication: 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Contact Person: John Rusnak. Telephone: 206-382-9220. 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business ofďŹ ce of publisher: 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. 9. Full names and complete addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher: James Baker, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Editor: Andy Walgamott, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Managing editor: None. 10. Owner: James Baker, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities. If none, check box: none. 12. Tax status: Has not changed during preceding 12 months. 13. Publication title: Northtwest Sportsman. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: September 2015. 15. Extent and nature of circulation: a.Total number of copies: 35,000. b. Paid circulation (by mail and outside the mail). (1) Mailed ouside-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiserâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proof copies, and exchange copies): 8,259. (2) Mailed in-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiserâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proof copies, and exchange copies): 0. (3) Paid distribution outside the mails including sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other paid distribution outside USPS: 15,037. (4) Paid distribution by other classes of mail through the USPS (e.g. ďŹ rst-class mail): 0. c. Total paid distribution: 23,296. d. Free or nominal rate distribution (by mail and outside the mail). (1) Free or nominal rate outside-county copies included on PS Form 3541: 265. (2) Free or nominal rate in-county copies included on PS Form 3541: 0. (3) Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other classes through the USPS (e.g. ďŹ rst-class mail): 0. (4) Free or nominal rate distribution outside the mail (carriers or other means): 3,028. e. Total free or nominal rate distribution: 3,293. f. Total distribution: 26,589. g. Copies not distributed: 8,411. h. Total: 35,000. i. Percent paid: 87.6% 17. Publication of statement of ownership: If the publication is a general publication, publication of this statement is required. Will be printed in the November issue of this publication. 18. Signature and title of editor, publisher, business manager, or owner: John Rusnak, General Manager. Date: Oct. 12, 2015. I verify all the information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including ďŹ nes and imprisonment) and/or sanctions (including civil penalties).
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FISHING
THE GOOGANS AREN’T SO BAD
Wicked Tuna’s Dave Marciano on the show, fishing and more – part I of II. By Jeff Holmes
I
’m not one of those skulking creeps who goes out of their way to let you know I don’t have cable or that I never watch TV like that somehow makes me cool, but I do feel like my life gets better every time I get rid of cable and stop parking in front of the TeeVee. Still, one of my few regrets about not having cable – other than easier Seahawks access – is the loss of easy viewing for one of my guilty pleasures: National Geographic Channel’s Wicked Tuna. The popular series depicts a battle between several boats to be “top boat in the fleet” during the selective-harvest summer giant bluefin tuna season. It should be noted that there are many, many more tuna boats in Gloucester, Mass., than are featured on the show, but the drama of competition between boats is nonetheless addicting as they fish long hours in varying conditions in search of the largest and most prized tuna in the world. Gloucester captains regularly sell bluefin between $14 and $24 a pound at the dock. With the average keeper over 300 pounds dressed, the economic value is obvious and the competition is fierce for a limited number of fish in a crowded, competitive ocean. Eccentric personalities skipper the boats, and the internal drama and drama between crews is absolutely ridiculous in many cases, and starkly real in others. In all cases, however, the show’s producers have the final say in much of the depiction of events, and in all of the personalities involved. The show’s colorful captains and deckhands don’t come at all by coincidence. One of the the reality TV jocks over at National Geographic worked on the cheesy-but-enjoyable George Clooney movie, A Perfect Storm, which was also shot in Gloucester. He got the idea to do a potential reality TV show on the bluefin tuna fishery, and from there events were set in motion that led to a casting call where producers interviewed a lot of captains. They made selections based on some unknown criteria, but some are obvious. All of the captains have large personalities, unique stories, and a willingness to allow a cameraman on board for the super long hours with the pressure on. Over the years a number of boats and skippers have been featured, but the cast of anglers that leads the way today is the best, most entertaining lineup in the show’s history, led by my favorite and this most recent season’s top dawg, Dave Marciano and the Hard Merchandise.
Dave Marciano, captain of the Hard Merchandise and one of the stars of Wicked Tuna, poses with what it’s all about: giant bluefin tuna. (DAVE MARCIANO)
Marciano, his son Joe, and nephew Jason Muenzer reigned supreme by the season’s end, besting high-voiced Tyler and the Pinwheel, as well as the rest of the pack. Mercifully, Dave from Tuna.com did not win again this season.
WHEN I FIRST WATCHED the show, I didn’t care much for Marciano, a fact I jokingly revealed about halfway through a very fun hour-long interview with the lifetime Gloucester skipper this summer. Our conversation strayed from the show and into fishing etiquette, conservation
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Northwest Sportsman 161
FISHING and management, the other great fisheries of the world, including ours, and a lot more. Although Marciano contends repetitively that he only has a high school diploma, that sometimes means little. He’s sharp as a tack, funny, and passionate about managing sustainable fish stocks and in participating in management and science to sustain fisheries and rebuild others. Marciano was one of the many captains who were recommended and interviewed multiple times by producers during the vetting process, presumably looking for the most colorful and character-driven skippers they could find. Selected captains would have to endure the presence of a cameraman and a full suite of camera equipment in exchange for, at that point, uncertain financial compensation. Marciano is pleased with the way Wicked Tuna has grown, along with his compensation.
EXOTICS CAP WESTPORT SEASON No sooner had the Pacific off Westport surrendered a super blood moon staterecord-sized opah than it served up a second something strange: what was called a “legitimate yellowtail bite.” Kevin Lanier has been fishing out of the port on Washington’s South Coast for the past eight years and had never caught a single one, but on Oct. 6, four yellowtails came over the rail of his boat. He and his crew lost at least four more, and three other charter boats called into the hot spot landed a quartet between them too. “Like a guy on Bloody Decks said, ‘I leave you and you find a legitimate yellowtail bite.’ You never hear of a yellowtail bite (off Washington). You hear of one here, one there,” says Lanier, who operates KC Sportfishing (kcsportfishing.com). Yellowtail, which are a species of amberjack, and that opah are exotics from warmer seas brought closer to our shores by El Niño and The Blobasaur.
West Coast offshore fishing expert Steve Carson has been chronicling the oddball species surging north from Mexico for our California Sportsman magazine, and he actually wasn’t shocked to hear about the yellowtail bite. “No big surprise – a wahoo had never been caught in California waters until last year, and now there are guides who are running trips that target them,” says Carson. “Seems normal that yellowtail would be far north of their usual range too.” Other ocean oddities this year included humpback whales feeding inside the mouth of the Columbia around the AstoriaMegler Bridge, mola mola lolling around Juneau and Alaska’s Hitchenbrook Island, and albacore off Prince of Wales Island.
LANIER AND THE FLEET were actually looking for albacore that day. Tuna fishing had been slow the day before, so he and other skippers decided to try
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FISHING Although he clearly has strong opinions, he declined to rise for the bait when I goaded him into talking smack. His graciousness extended even to the object of scorn on the show. There has been quite an emphasis over the four seasons of Wicked Tuna about the role of â&#x20AC;&#x153;googanâ&#x20AC;? ďŹ shermen, so-called know-nothings whose boorish behavior intrudes on sensitive tuna ďŹ shing grounds. Because these ďŹ sh can run great distances when hooked, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s generally considered bad form to anchor anywhere remotely close to another blueďŹ n tuna ďŹ sheman. Googans will anchor close, drive through hooked ďŹ sh, and much more. This notion of googans quickly spread into the vernacular of ďŹ shermen everwhere via the show, including here in the Northwest. Every ďŹ shery has some googans: the guy trying to ďŹ&#x201A;atline plugs 80 feet behind his boat in the Drano Lake Toilet Bowl in early
something different. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mark suggested, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s go north,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? says Lanier about fellow albie-hound Mark Coleman of All Rivers and Saltwater Charters. While he says Dave McGowan and the Ms. Magoo ran straight out and found tuna, Lanier and his crew went 57 miles west-northwest, ending up what would be 11 miles north of the entrance to Grays Harbor, before turning around. There, he just happened to cross paths with a kelp patty â&#x20AC;&#x153;the size of a pickup,â&#x20AC;? and while trolling past it, got bit, though the fish came unbuttoned. Out went a swimbait towards the patty, the lure was bitten, and this time the fish stayed on to the rail. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I looked down, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Oh, my god, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a yellowtail!â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Lanier says. Perhaps in the excitement of the moment or maybe due to the way the fish fought â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Lanier describes a lot of salmonlike head-shakes, as well as rolling near the surface like a coho â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this one was lost right at the boat. But they kept at it and on the next pass
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Kevin Lanier and friend Carrie Cruz pose with two of the four yellowtail landed early last month off Lanierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charter boat. They ďŹ shed albacore tackle around a pickup-sized kelp patty they happened across more than 55 miles out of Westport. (KCSPORTFISHING.COM)
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FISHING May, the guy in the walleye boat who shows up to the May offshore halibut grounds, or the guy on the spring trout opener blaring music with a spinning reel on a baitcasting rod with the spinning reel upside down. It’s easy (and kind of fun) to make fun of the truly clueless googans at all of our fisheries, but Marciano’s answer to my question about googans surprised me a little and made me think. I now almost forgive the guy who snapped off a giant king I recently hooked. “Yes, we get frustrated at times in our fishery by googans, and it can be aggravating,” he says. “Certainly in this particular tuna fishery it can. But the reality is, half a dozen weekends a year the fish show up near shore, and we have a whole lot of people battling for them. So is it the end of the world? … Truth be told, if I’m that worried about those guys catching
got two in, and over the next hour landed an additional pair. “We got two on live bait, one on a swimbait and one on a metal jig,” Lanier says. In other words, the same tackle you would use for albacore. But should you happen to experience what might indeed have been a “once in a lifetime event” off the Northwest Coast, maybe upsize that topshot. Lanier reports 30-pound leaders were breaking off during tussles with likely yellowtails. Their largest went 17 pounds, 7 ounces on his certified scale, he says. After a call from Lanier, Coleman and his fleet of express boats got in on the action, landing four yellowtails of their own. “The yellowtails are around to some extent each summer and fall, but this year we’ve seen a little spike in catches, mostly due to the strong El Niño current,” says Coleman.“Offshore water temps have been in the low to mid-60s, which is the lower end of what yellowtails prefer. Yellowtails love to hang out near any floating debris,
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kelp patties, buoys, etc., and when the right water temp and floating structure align, we catch yellowtail. We’ve caught a couple bluefin tuna this season as well, and that is normal.” Carson says that while monitoring an in-the-know Northwest saltwater forum, he’s observed that the yellowtail catch has increased steadily over the past four years. “It may also be that folks are targeting yellowtail up there a little better than in the past,” he notes. Heck, maybe we’re even dialing in opah – Jim Watson’s pending Washington record went 36 pounds – or not. Coleman told Rich Landers of the Spokane SpokesmanReview that the North Idaho angler’s Hawaiian moonfish was the first “caught in six busy seasons and well over 10,000 albacore” aboard his boat. Indeed, to find rare visitors in a huge ocean like the Pacific is a pretty lucky thing. Lanier says he just happened to look over and there was the patty. “Don’t pass up a large kelp patty
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FISHING fish out from under me, it’s time for me to get out of the business.” Marciano’s entire life and livelihood have been tied to commercial fishing. To hear him mostly exonerate the role of googans and downplay their significance was kind refreshing. I’ve been a googan before, for sure, and I’ve seen and dealt with my fair share in a variety of fishing venues where I know what’s up. Sometimes, along with friends, I’ve overinvolved myself in worrying about what the idiot googans are doing instead of focusing on our own fishing and all the cool aspects of that. Other times I’ve reached out to and helped people. Listening to Marciano talk about googans was instructive, and it set him apart from the show and their sensationalized depiction of conflict. The rest of our interview followed in suit. I’ll have more in part two next issue. NS
Jim Watson (left) poses with Westport skipper Mark Coleman and the Couer d’Alene angler’s pending Washington record opah, which weighed 35 pounds, 11 ounces. (ALLRIVERSGUIDESERVICE.COM) if you’re way offshore. Throw a jig or swimbait in it,” he tips. Oh, and how does yellowtail taste? “Incredible!” Lanier says. “We sliced
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MIXED BAG (continued from page 37)
“We’re trying to educate people about the significance of the issue. Killing off 100 percent of your mothers and fathers that are about to spawn is not good,” said Stelle, who added, “Educating people about the At left is a large availability of a homeglass bottle holding grown fix is really vital gray stormwater runoff collected from urban streets; and will be the work of at right is that water run through a 2-inch mulch topping, 2-foot column of 60 percent sand and 40 the next decade.” percent compost, and 1-foot layer of gravel. Water in While a sign at the former kills coho within hours; that in the latter the press conference is entirely safe for them to swim in. (ANDY WALGAMOTT) suggested the loss of spawners was slightly lower than Stelle’s 100 percent – as much as 90 percent of females – his point was made: Over time, that sort of failure to reproduce will result in few if any returning adults. Last fall’s surveys of urban streams such as Thornton Creek, the basin in which my family and I live, were a “bust,” county biologists told me.
NO DOUBT, THE COST to put in a network of filtration systems that can handle heavy storm volumes is huge, but we do have the needed ingredients in abundance. Hundreds of rain gardens have already been installed here – including one outside the Walgamotts’ front door (Northwest Sportsman, April 2015) – and WSU is also working with porous pavement. During a demonstration on the extension university’s grounds, a garden hose was left running for five minutes on a parking stall with permeable asphalt and there was no visible runoff. Instead, it drained down through the material. A field below the parking lot that once flooded during rains no longer does because water now has somewhere to go, staffers said. Coho are not only important to recreational anglers and tribal fishermen, but forage for orcas, a regional icon in the way that Amazon and Boeing can never be and, importantly, an indicator species. “If you’ve got healthy coho in a creek, you probably have a healthy stream,” Davis said. “Your readers, they get this,” said Stelle. “Good fishers know what a healthy stream looks like.” The spew coming out of the culvert that Saturday morning didn’t look good, but it’s great to know we’ve found a simple, natural way to clean water in urban streams, like McAleer Creek, where my sons planted coho fry this spring. Now let’s do something big with it. NS
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