Northwest Sportsman Mag - March 2023

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Volume 15 • Issue 6

PUBLISHER

James R. Baker

EDITOR

Andy “Always on top of the stories that matter!!” Walgamott

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Dave Anderson, Jason Brooks, Scott Haugen, Jeff Holmes, MD Johnson, Randy King, Gary Lundquist, Buzz Ramsey, Tom Schnell, Dave Workman, Mark Yuasa

EDITORIAL FIELD SUPPORT

Jason Brooks

GENERAL MANAGER

John Rusnak

SALES MANAGER

Paul Yarnold

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Colleeen Chittick, Safira Sanders, Mike Smith

DESIGNER

Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Kelly Baker

OFFICE MANAGER/COPY EDITOR

Katie Aumann

INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGER

Lois Sanborn

WEBMASTER/DIGITAL STRATEGIST

Jon Hines

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@nwsportsmanmag.com

CORRESPONDENCE

Email letters, articles/queries, photos, etc., to awalgamott@media-inc.com, or to the mailing address below.

ON THE COVER

Craig Mostul holds a nice hatchery spring Chinook caught on the Lower Columbia in March 2021. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and get daily updates at nwsportsmanmag.com.

NEW FISHERY BEGINS TO EMERGE FROM THE DEEP

Sablefish may not be the next albacore, but these very tasty bottom dwellers sure can add to a halibut haul. Get your electric reels, 1,500-plus feet of braid and superheavy jigs ready as Gary Lundquist shares the secrets of this emerging offshore fishery!

ALSO INSIDE

47 BRIGHTER SPRINGER PROSPECTS

With an improved overall Columbia return, here’s how guides will be working the lower river, Willamette and gorge tribs.

52 THE EVOLUTION OF A SPRING CHINOOK FIEND

Meet Chris Donley, a state fish manager who’s had an allconsuming, three-state springer addiction for over four decades.

79 R AINBOWS CHASE WINTER BLUES AWAY

March openers across Central and Eastern Washington can provide good fishing action for catchable and holdover trout. Mark Yuasa previews some of the best lakes to hit this month.

89 BUILD A KOKANEE QUIVER

Tom Schnell started his kokanee fishing career using spinning rods. He’s come a long way since then, but if you’re just getting into this burgeoning Northwest fishery, Schnell sat down with Jared Johnson of Velocity Rods and Jay Kendrick of Santiam Fishing Rods to talk about what to look for in quality koke sticks.

105 2023 BOTTOMFISH PROSPECTS

Northwest managers are forecasting a good rockfish and lingcod season, with available yelloweye impacts increased in Oregon but a few restrictions to be aware of in Washington. ODFW’s Lynn Mattes and WDFW’s Heather Hall have the details.

135 SPRING TURKEY FORECAST

The start of gobbler season is just around the corner, so what can hunters in the Beaver and Evergreen States expect come April’s youth and general season openers? Turkey managers Mikal Cline and Sarah Garrison pull out their crystal balls.

(COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

VISIT MOSES LAKE

Your Home Base For Adventure

For a list of hotel/motels, restaurants, and other attractions, visit www.tourmoseslake.com.

65

BUZZ RAMSEY

Tracking Spring Chinook Tides

Just as at Buoy 10 with fall kings, you’ll want to pay attention to incoming and outgoing tides as you target springers up to Bonneville Dam and Willamette Falls. Buzz breaks down the ways of the water and what to run during different tides.

COLUMNS

73 NORTHWEST PURSUITS March To The Beat Of Cowlitz Steelhead, Springers

March is prime time to hit the Cowlitz for its late-returning steelhead, and after a few down seasons, an improved return of spring Chinook is also expected, making for interesting prospects on the Southwest Washington river this season. Jason gears us up for the action.

143 GUN DOG Kona’s Big Fetch, Or, How To Train A Burrito Retriever

Call it DogDash – what turned out to be a very slow day in the duck blind was at least not a hungry one for Scott. He had one of his four-legged hunting partners go get lunch and – what’s more – not snarf it down before completing the delivery! Scott shares the fun retrieves his gun dogs really enjoy.

149 ON TARGET More New Guns, Gear For 2023

Dave W. continues his look at new products that came out of the 2023 SHOT Show, including over/unders from Benelli and Franchi, semiauto handguns from Stoeger and Taurus, ammo from Fiocchi, Remington, Winchester and Federal and glass from Steiner and German Precision Optics.

155 BECOMING A HUNTER Practice Makes Permanent: Time To Get In Some Offseason Shooting

With ammunition more widely available again, some serious trigger time should be on the calendar for budding big game hunters. Whether at a shooting range or in the mountains with steel plates or gallon milk jugs, Dave A. helps dial in your accuracy.

161 CHEF IN THE WILD Dungeons & Dragons & Deer

It might not have had 20 sides, but Chef Randy did roll the dice last fall in hopes of putting his youngest son Jordan into a buck … and then had to roll again after his ego took some hit damage. But it was the lad’s lucky day – and it will be your taste buds’ too when you try our kitchen wizard’s venison loin with mango skewers.

(BUZZ RAMSEY)

THE BIG PIC Happy As A (Retired) Clam Man

DEPARTMENTS

(DAN AYRES)

26’ KODIAK

THE EDITOR’S NOTE

Amidwinter week was brutal for Northwest fish and fisheries, but not without its silver linings. In the space of just a few days last month federal overseers announced one of Washington’s most famed steelhead stocks may warrant an Endangered Species Act listing; fishery managers forecasted an all-time-low return of Columbia-Snake summer-runs; and word emerged that there will be no sturgeon retention below Bonneville Dam in 2023. Let’s get the bad news out of the way before the good.

FIRST, THE NATIONAL Marine Fisheries Service is now performing a 12-month deep dive into Olympic Peninsula steelhead, what might be the Northwest’s single strongest stock, but not without its issues. NMFS’s review was prompted by a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy and The Conservation Angler – the “shot across the bow” foreshadowed in a January 2021 article in these pages urging steelie advocates of all stripes to work together to head it off. Now it’s in the hands of the feds, who will pore over run status and trends. NMFS says the population appears to be declining, and that past and future harvests, hatcheries and climate change all “may be posing threats to the continued existence of OP steelhead.”

Guide Bob Kratzer told me he was “saddened” it had come to this for the state’s crown jewel fisheries, but hoped tightened sportfishing restrictions since 2017 and recent stability and even gains on the Quillayute and Hoh systems might help stave off a listing. Indeed, it’s possible NMFS will find it’s not warranted, but if one is, it’s easy to see where this is all headed: further restrictions, if Puget Sound’s listing is an indication, and more petitions. Meanwhile, NMFS is also taking a look at Oregon Coast Chinook to see if those salmon warrant a listing.

As for A- and B-run steelhead, which return to rivers like the Clearwater, Grande Ronde, Salmon and others, only 63,400 fish are forecast this summer. That prediction does come with “considerable uncertainty,” given that 2022’s run was 23 percent higher than expected, 2021’s 31 percent below, but if it comes to pass, it would be the fewest inland summer steelhead since counting began at Bonneville in 1938. Expect the now-usual fishery restrictions throughout their migration corridor and timing. In terms of causes, Oregon managers say having to navigate past eight dams going both up- and downstream means the fish “consistently have lower life-cycle survival rates than mid-Columbia steelhead which only have to pass three or four dams.” Freshwater habitat issues, predation and warm ocean conditions are also significant.

Predation by sea lions, especially Stellers, on the Lower Columbia is believed to be among the causes for poor sturgeon recruitment that has effectively shrunk the keeper quota for the estuary and waters above the Wauna powerlines to a point where it’s now “too small to set meaningful fisheries.” Climate change, hydropower operations, sturgeon forage availability and a “lagging effect” from past harvest are also blamed. Catch and release remains open.

BUT

IT’S SPRING,

and in spring, hope blooms anew. I was buoyed by the forecast of another strong ocean abundance of Oregon Coast/Columbia River coho this summer and am eagerly looking forward to continuing to dial in the fisheries below the Clackamas, at the mouth of Tualatin and Beaver Creek in my kayak. Meanwhile, there are springers to be had on the Columbia and Willamette and Jeff Holmes and Buzz Ramsey have all the details in this issue!

Yes, these are tough times for Northwest stocks, but they’re not without opportunities to get out there and maintain connections to the waters and fish to help save them. See you there. –Andy

Walgamott

Happy As A (Retired) Clam Man

Longtime Washington Coast shellfish biologist and manager Dan Ayres looks back at a 43-year career working on one of the state’s best-managed and most popular harvest opportunities.

By MD Johnson

To be honest, I don’t know a whole lot of folks who spent four decades wearing the same “job hat.” Mom and Pop did, if I’m not mistaken, some 72 years collectively in the LaBrae High School (Trumbull County, Ohio) system. Farmers? I do know a lot of farmers born into the profession and going at it strong until the man in black holding the scythe comes for them after … 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, a lifetime.

But I don’t care what you’re doing, four decades or more is a hell of a long time to be doing the same thing, day in and day out. It’s tough, I would imagine, to stay positive. To keep things fresh. To go in every morning with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and not beat the first person you see severely with your “World’s Best Dad” coffee cup.

Which is to say, I’ve had the pleasure of talking with Dan Ayres, the newly retired coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife who was there when I moved to the Evergreen State back in 1993. Ayres, though I don’t want to give away too much before we get into this, started his stint with the agency back in 1980, the same time (!) I was a junior in high school. But

sadly, as the saying goes, all good things must come to a close, and such is the case with Ayres’ professional career as WDFW’s lead “razor clam guy.” But we’ll let him tell his own tale, eh?

Northwest Sportsman So, correct me if I’m wrong, Dan – 42 years?

Dan Ayres You know, all last year I was saying 42 years, but now that we’ve turned the clock to 2023, it’s 43 years. I started (with the agency) early in the spring in 1980. I hadn’t corrected my math.

NWS Let’s see, 1980, I was still two years away from graduating high school, not to make you feel, well, old. How old are you, Dan?

DA I’m 67.

NWS Is retirement a bittersweet thing for you, Dan? I would imagine after more than 40 years, you’ll miss a lot of things.

DA Absolutely, and you took the words right out of my mouth. I really loved what I did, and I still do. The hardest part of this is that (I have) the best staff of biologists and technicians I’ve ever had over 43 years, and that makes it hard. But at the

After four-plus decades working on coastal fisheries, including razor clams, crabs and bottomfish for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Dan

Ayres retired at the end of January. (DAN AYRES)

same time, it gives me confidence going forward knowing they can carry the ball and I’m not having to worry about [laughs] all our hard work going down the drain. They’re going to keep the ball rolling, and I’m excited about that. That’s the sweet part, along with walking out the door and getting to do what I want to do every morning.

The bitter part, though, is leaving what has been such a big part of my life for so long.

NWS You’re a Washington native out of the Aberdeen area, yes, sir?

DA Yes, and that’s where the story really starts. I grew up in a typical Aberdeen family where you dug razor clams. My dad was a blue collar worker, and there were times he’d be on strike or things would be a little lean … well, razor clams were a sport fishery, but it was something

we lived on. When it was time to go clam digging at 5 o’clock in the morning, you got up whether you wanted to or not!

If you’d have told me back in ’74 when I graduated that this was going to be my path, I wouldn’t have believed you. One, I didn’t even know there was a “razor clam biologist” or how it worked, but I couldn’t have written a better story.

NWS Did you come out of the gate as WDFW’s shellfish guy, or what was your first gig with the agency?

DA It was razor clams, as a technician, working right here in Montesano, and working for my predecessor, Doug Simons. Part of the reason they hired me, I believe, is I knew the fishery already, and if they told me to go to Mocrocks, I knew where it was, and if they told me to go to Long Beach, I knew where that was. They didn’t have to

Thanks to a “conservative management strategy,” Washington razor clam populations are bountiful. Here, John Leppell and Bob Searl show off limits from spring 2022, when the daily bag was temporarily bumped to 20, thanks to record numbers of the bivalves. The average season over the past two decades has yielded harvests of 3.8 million razor clams for 276,000 diggers, with a high mark of 8.35 million clams for 484,000 shellfishers in 2021-22. All that activity is a huge boost for coastal communities, averaging $25.5 million the last two decades and as much as $71 million in 202122. (COAST

train some kid who didn’t know the area or didn’t know how to dig a clam.

One of the things my dad always took pride in was saying that it wasn’t all that “fancy education” that got me my job, but it was all the [laughs] clam digging he taught me. And that really is true.

NWS When did you become the shellfish guy?

DA That took about 20 years. I worked in razor clams for just a few months, and then a job opened up in our groundfish section working with bottomfish. I did that for five years before moving into a biologist position tagging black rockfish on the coast. In ’89, I took a position as a “junior shellfish biologist.” I worked for Doug (Simons) until 1999, and it was then I was selected to be the coastal shellfish manager. So I got razor clams, Dungeness

PHOTO CONTEST)

WDFW uses what’s known as the “pumped area method” to estimate the number of razor clams buried snugly in coastal sands. Water is pumped into a ring, liquefying the sand and forcing the clams to rise to the surface, where they are tallied, a process repeated multiple times up and down the beach and across it. Surveys on Long Beach in 2020-21 found a record 24.8 million harvestablesize, or recruit, clams. (WDFW)

crab and pink shrimp all thrown on my plate at once.

NWS Rumor has it you met your wife, Gail, while she was a reporter for the Aberdeen Daily World doing a story on razor clams.

DA [Laughs] That’s actually true. She knew who I was and apparently had her eye on me. She’d bop me over the head if she knew I was telling you that.

[Author’s note: Sorry, Dan and Gail. Had to…]

I had been assigned a story and to work

with a reporter for The Daily World, who I’d pick up at 5 o’clock in the morning at the newspaper office. At the last minute, they changed reporters on me and said, “No, no, no … it’s not going to be (the original reporter), it’s going to be Gail.” The back story was that the original lady who was to do the article was married, knew I was single and knew Gail was interested, so she told Gail she should be doing this piece!

One thing led to another, and two beautiful daughters later and 26 years of marriage … well, razor clams have given me

much more than a job. They’ve given me my whole family. And I’m super grateful for that.

NWS Best part of your job, Dan?

DA I’ve enjoyed a lot of things about my job, but the thing I’ve enjoyed the most has been interacting with either happy clam diggers or crab fishermen. Nothing gives me more pleasure than a day when digging’s good and people are happy. It’s so much fun coming to vehicles with family after family – Grandma and Grandpa, little kids, everyone’s happy. To see the miles of cars and the thousands of people enjoying, certainly, the fruits of Mother Nature, but also the fruits of your labor that made that sustainable opportunity possible. There aren’t too many jobs where you get that instant gratification.

NWS Do you think, Dan, you’ve done a good job in the 24 years you’ve held the reins as the lead shellfish man for the WDFW?

DA [Thinks aloud] You know, I hope so. I think so. I think the proof lies in the fact (razor clam) populations are strong right now. But if those populations weaken, it’s not the fault of whomever follows in my footsteps. It’s because Mother Nature plays a big role there.

But I think by the fact that so many people are pleased with what we do (is proof). When you drive down the beach and people make a point of saying, “Thank you … you guys are doing a great job!” I’m going to hang on to those moments, and ignore the moments when people were upset because they couldn’t do or didn’t do, usually due to forces totally out of our control. I’m going to say the answer to that question is yes.

NWS What now for Dan Ayres?

DA [Laughs] Like everyone says, there’s a long list of things that need to be done here around the house. I like to travel, but Gail’s a bit younger than I am and she’s still working, so I can’t go off on some world tour. It just wouldn’t be any fun without her.

One of the things I really want to do, I’m kind of a “train freak.” I like to ride passenger trains. And just in the past couple days, I’ve been dreaming about Amtrak’s beautiful scenic ride to Chicago

from Seattle through the Cascades and the Rockies. Little simple things. I’m a big gardener, Gail’s the marketing person, and we do a farmer’s market here in Montesano during the summer months for some extra pocket change and to just have fun with it. We’re solid members of a church here in Montesano, and I do quite a bit of cooking there. We’ll spend time with our daughters.

NWS One last question, Dan – you still gonna dig razor clams?

DA Oh, yeah! And I’m going to clam dig without having to look over my shoulder to see if that guy’s doing it right or if anybody’s looking illegal – “Do I need to call (law) enforcement about anything?” I’m just going to go down with the dog, and dig some clams.

THANK YOU, DAN Ayres, for 42 – nah, 43 – incredible years spent serving the people of Washington and taking care of one of the state’s – wait, one of the planet’s – most valuable natural resources, the Pacific razor clam. I think I speak for everyone who’s met you and enjoyed the fruits of your labors when I say you’ll be sorely missed, and you’re leaving some awfully big shoes to fill. Enjoy your retirement, sir. Travel internationally. Cook a church meal. Ride the Empire Builder to the Windy City and back. Dig with the dog. Laugh with your daughters. Have fun with Gail. We’ll be just fine, but it won’t be the same without you here. NS

What’s next for this man who’s been around razor clams from a young age? Well, more clamming for starters! But also travel, gardening, working at a local farmer’s market and spending time with his family. (DAN AYRES)

An Odd Sea Saga

By Andy Walgamott

One of the best parts about jumping in a fishing boat is the stories. Fish with Buzz Ramsey and he might regale you with tales of doing burnoffs in his El Camino back in the day on Portland’s new I-205, or going to North Dakota and catching a Chinook. On a jig. While ice fishing.

Stories help pass the time between bites, add levity and make for a funner day on the water. And while there is no competition for best fishing guide story, Jeff Keightley has a strong early contender for 2023’s top saga. It’s one that involves: a client who wanted to catch a mermaid out at the edge of the world; a 2-plus-foot lingcod; the famed Goonies movie house; a stolen 44-foot pleasure cruiser; a dramatic U.S. Coast Guard rescue off the mouth of the Columbia; and a big manhunt for a fugitive – his client.

“The next time somebody asks me, ‘What’s your strangest story?’ I got a better story now,” says the operator of Astoria Fishing Charters and Guide Service (astoriafishing.com).

IT BEGAN JANUARY 31 when Keightley received texts inquiring about a charter trip from someone passing himself off as Philip Livingston but who turned out to be Jericho Wolf Labonte, a 35-year-old British Columbia man who was wanted on a province-wide warrant related to “criminal harassment, mischief and fail to comply x 3,” per Victoria police. Maybe in need of a disguise, Labonte asked several times if Keightley had a scarf he could wear on the trip, plus one of those gold-cord captain’s hats, the kind milliondollar skippers sail askew on their noggins.

“In the first few minutes it was the weirdest customer I’ve had in 14 years,” says Keightley. He and girlfriend Julianna

Edmiston, who is a registered deckhand, have a lot of gear for outfitting customers to fish or crab at the Columbia mouth, but they do not have any of those fancy hats.

The next issues were 1) Labonte wanting to push back their launch time the next morning, scheduled for 7:30 to work a high tide window at the Columbia’s South Jetty, and 2) how he was going to get to the dock in the first place. By bus, Keightley says Labonte told him. “I said, ‘Bus? What do you mean?’ ‘The Astoria bus to Warrenton and then walk to Hammond.’”

In the end, Keightley and Julie picked Labonte up February 1 at a local library. Keightley’s initial impression was that his client was a “hippie kid … harmless. But early alarms went off.” Labonte had booked two seats at $250 a pop for just himself. As they prepared to push off, Keightley says a buddy warned him something seemed off about Labonte and that he might be a cop. “There was something off about him,” says Keightley, “but he wasn’t a cop.”

THE WIND AND currents along the South Jetty were at odds, making fishing difficult. Meanwhile, Labonte spotted a bunch of big boats off the mouth of the Columbia and inquired what they were doing. It was pick day for commercial crabbers and the seas for pulling pots were relatively flat. Labonte wanted to know how far out the boats were, says Keightley, who figured they were from 2 to 5 miles offshore. And that brought the conversation back to Labonte wanting to go waaaaaaaaaay out in Keightley’s custombuilt, near-30-foot-long guide sled.

“I don’t know how many times the 3,000-feet-of-water thing came up,” Keightley says. It’s apparently at that depth that the mermaids Labonte sought swim.

“‘Have you ever seen a rogue wave?’”

Labonte asked as they jigged, according to Keightley. “‘How about a 50-foot wave, and if so, what would you do?’” That question makes Keightley wonder if Labonte wasn’t already “scoping out how to get out there.”

Despite the frustratingly and unusually slow bottomfishing that day, Keightley and Julie eventually put Labonte into a decent lingcod, but that just led to the next oddity.

“‘I don’t have the strength for that,’” Labonte said of the battle to bring up the toothsome fish, says Keightley. Eventually the ling was brought aboard and, given the poor action and rough inshore conditions that had Labonte throwing up but happy with his one fish, they called it a day, the guide says.

So why did Labonte want to go out there in the first place? It was to memorialize an

In an image snapped by Astoria Fishing Charters and Guide Service deckhand Julianna Edmiston, Jericho Labonte holds the nice-sized lingcod that he would leave on the porch of the Goonies house in Astoria later that same day early last month. (META)

The ‘shockingly, horrifyingly interesting story’ of an Astoria charter client who wanted to catch a mermaid but hooked a ling, left it at the Goonies house, then rolled a stolen boat.

experience with his mother who had passed away, Keightley says he was told.

Keightley says he usually cuts up his clients’ fish and packs it for them at his house, but back at the dock Labonte said a buddy was meeting him at the Astoria Safeway. “That’s straight downhill from the Goonies house,” Keightley notes.

The house’s surveillance video that day

shows Labonte walking up the driveway carrying a black plastic bag and flopping the lingcod onto the porch.

“It was a very nice lingcod, 27, 28 inches,” Keightley notes. “It’s a shame it died to get laid at the Goonies house.”

In a video Labonte shot at the house and posted to Facebook, he states one of Sloth’s famous lines from the movie, “Hey, you guys,” and mentions the “truffle shuffle,” that bellyshaking wiggle that Chunk has to do before Mouth lets him in the house. After Labonte calls the fish “the best $500 I’ve ever spent,” his camera pans to the left and – perhaps noticed by surveillance or someone inside –he adds, “Thank you, British Columbia.”

In his next post, Labonte wrote, “Still want to catch a mermaid.” (While there are suggestions Labonte suffers mental health issues, in a January 25 photo post showing the Coast Guard cutter inside Astoria’s maritime museum riding a wave, the man on the lam offers a prosaic, “Next stop. Fiji!”)

IT WASN’T THE last Keightly would hear of his client that day. Perhaps because he was

unable to reclaim the lingcod at the Goonies house, Labonte texted Keightley to convince him to go back out. “‘I’ll take the cod, but what I really wanted was a salmon,’” Labonte told him. The Columbia estuary is open for hatchery Chinook, but catch data shows midwinter biters are as rare as unicorns.

Labonte insisted Keightley owed him for more than one fish and he wanted to try his luck crabbing so he could make crab Rangoon in honor of his mom. But Keightley says he told him he doesn’t crab after commercial gear goes in and he suggested Labonte try Google or call on other nearby bays – anything but take him back out.

“I had signs he was peculiar. I’ve never had an experience like this,” says Keightley. “Listen, there’s no sense to be made. There’s nothing sensible about this at all.”

The only sensible thing is now the guide has a new weirdest-ever story to tell clients, topping his old one about a drunken sturgeon angler who jumped overboard during a derby, he told The New York Times

THAT MIGHT HAVE been the end of it, but

Labonte on the swimstep of the 44-foot Sandpiper moments before the boat was flipped by a 20-foot wave, launching him into the surf. He was rescued by U.S. Coast Guard student swimmer John “Branch” Walton. (USCG)

well before first light on February 3, Labonte commandeered the Sandpiper, a renovated pleasure cruiser purchased by a local doctor and his wife as their Covid safe space. Somehow in the dark and strong winds he managed to pilot the 44-foot boat out of the West Mooring Basin onto the Columbia and then headed to sea, something even a waterman like Keightley wouldn’t want to try in those conditions. But perhaps Labonte had bigger things to try and catch.

“Listen, he was thinking he’d get a mermaid at the edge of the flat earth,” Keightley says.

The Sandpiper, probably beat up from navigating out of the marina, was spotted by an inbound commercial crabber who tried to hail the craft but was ignored, Keightley says he heard.

Somewhere off the Columbia, Labonte sent a vague mayday. Fortunately for him, the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Motor Lifeboat School was holding a training session nearby, and also triangulating on the signal were a Coast Guard motorboat

and helicopter out of Ilwaco. Videos show 20-foot seas, the Sandpiper abeam to the waves, USCG student swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class John “Branch” Walton, with his snorkel and flippers, making for the boat, Labonte putting on a lifejacket and getting onto the swimstep, and Walton diving as a big foaming wave approaches, hits the boat and rolls it completely over, launching Labonte into a merciless spin cycle.

“I kind of got thrown around a little bit by the wave,” Walton told news media. “When I came up I noticed the boat was pretty much in shambles.”

Labonte nearly lost his lifejacket, it was reported, but he was soon plucked from the sea. Suffering mild hypothermia, he was taken to a local hospital. A photo shows him being carried from the chopper. Keightley says he and Julie zoomed in – “Same shoes, same pants, same jacket, same dude.” That led to a realization that the ling he’d heard had been left at the Goonies house was the one hooked off his boat, The Times reported.

Keightley says he called the Coast Guard to say he’d taken Labonte fishing two days

before and it was very likely the Sandpiper had been stolen. But in the end Labonte was able to walk out of the hospital and make it 17 miles to a shelter in Seaside, where he was found that night following a brief manhunt involving multiple agencies. He was arrested for “theft in the first degree, endangering another person, criminal mischief in the second degree and unauthorized use of a vehicle,” per the Daily Astorian. He is being held at the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma for illegal entry into the country.

Keightley has immense praise for not only Walton, who graduated the swim course that day, but all Coast Guard rescue swimmers. He says when they walk into bars in Astoria, the mood changes noticeably. “They are brimming with piss and vinegar, as self-confident as can be,” he says.

It’s highly unlikely that Walton was the mermaid Labonte was seeking out there on the waters of the continental shelf as they slope toward 3,000 feet, but in the end …

“It is a shockingly, horrifyingly interesting story,” says Keightley. NS

Like father, like daughter! Brandon Jewett says that pheasant hunting with his dad was his favorite thing to do when he was his daughter Jo’s age. “We’ve been out several times but have never got one of the wily late-season birds to hold for us,” he reports. “That changed on a cold day in December. Drifter, our yellow Lab, got super birdy in a small patch of cover along the creek behind my parents’ house. Jo got to see this ringneck flush right off Drifter’s nose and I was able to scratch him down. She beat Drifter to the downed bird, which he was not happy about. He jumped up and grabbed a mouth full of tail feathers and ripped them out. Jo was pissed. She got over it, though. I think her toothfairy-favored smile says it all.” (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

For your shot at winning great fishing and hunting products from Coast, send your full-resolution, original images with all the pertinent details – who’s in the pic; 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, 941 Powell Ave SW,

120,

WA 98057. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for use in our print and Internet publications.

Crystal Pennell smiles over a Green River chum salmon she caught on a nice bright day last fall outside Seattle.

(COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

A skiff of snow and a long-tailed rooster made for a great outing on the southern Palouse for Brad Mosier and his trusty pup Higgins. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

Dennis Schwartz (left) and crew enjoyed a very good sturgeon retention opener on the Bonneville Pool at the start of the year. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

Lexi Han was quite the workhorse on Curlew Lake that January day, pulling a sled full of ice fishing gear onto the hardwater so that her grandparents could comfortably and effectively target yellow perch at the Northcentral Washington destination fishery. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

Suite

Renton,

The feathers were flying in the ferns after writer MD Johnson’s grandson Tristan brought down a pair of feathered friends this past season. (MD JOHNSON)

MONTHLY WINNER

Hunter Higginbotham brought the heat to the Rogue, landing several nice Chinook at the Southern Oregon river’s mouth last season

(COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

That’s an A-plus fish for Avery Aumick! The 10-year-old’s northern pike was landed in North Idaho in spring 2022. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

Keely Hopkins of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and Matt Little of Ducks Unlimited have been hard at work advocating for Evergreen State sportsmen in the newly formed Washington Fish and Wildlife Conservation Partnership, but they took a little time off to enjoy a day of duck hunting at McNary National Wildlife Refuge this past season. It was Keely’s first duck hunt and the duo finished up with a nice mixed bag –mallards, wigeon, canvasback and redhead.

(COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

No doubt Darrel Smith catches a few winter steelhead, but even he said it had been awhile since a beefy beast of a buck like this one had bit for him. He was fishing the Sol Duc with guide Mike Zavadlov and using a WFO worm on a jig during a fun little windstorm.

(COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

NRA

CLASSES OFFERED

GUN SAFETY SEMINAR NRA seminar introduces new gun owners to gun safety fundamentals

RUN YOUR GUN One on one firearms coaching with Christopher

RANGE SAFETY OFFICER NRA Range Safety Officer (RSO) Certification

NRA EDDIE EAGLE GUNSAFE® PROGRAM

NEW GUN OWNER The NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting course

PREPARE TO CONCEAL NRA Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) Certification

FIREARMS IN THE HOME NRA Personal Protection In the Home Certification

FIREARMS OUTSIDE THE HOME NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home Certification

LONG GUN NRA Basic Rifle for basic and skill based learning with a long gun

BASIC SHOTGUN Basic shotgun for basic and skill-based learning with a shotgun

Another K-9 Joins Oregon Poacher Patrol

Scout, a year-and-a-half-old black Lab, was introduced in midwinter as the second conservation K-9 that will be helping to protect Oregon’s fish and wildlife. Joining fellow four-legged trooper Buck, who has been on the job for several years now, Scout is another element in the state’s enhanced efforts to combat poaching that came out of the 2019 legislative session and has also included hiring more officers to patrol the woods and waters.

“Having additional paws just adds to that reinforcement,” said Yvonne Shaw, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Stop Poaching Campaign coordinator.

But first Scout was headed to Indiana for specialized training focusing on article searches, wildlife detection and human tracking, though he’d already impressed his handler.

“Super-fast learner and very calm – we’ve been at a couple events now – and loves people. (I’m) super excited for this position and grateful for everything we have,” said Trooper Shae Ross.

Per the Statesman Journal, Ross and Scout will be based out of Bend, while Buck and his handler, Senior Trooper Josh Wolcott, work out of OSP’s Springfield office.

“It’s a pretty good asset to the state of Oregon in general and also a great asset to our conservation programs. Of course our main focus is that,” said Wolcott.

He detailed a recent case Buck assisted with that illustrates the onion-like layers of crime some wildlife cases entail. Wolcott said a witness heard a gunshot and saw some deer run off, one of which died on their land. Troopers responding to the scene took statements from the witness and then went to the adjacent property from which shot was fired and spoke to the owners.

“We got permission to deploy Buck on that property and with Buck’s deployment and evidence gathered on the scene and the statements, we were able to apply for a search warrant … It was granted and out of that case we seized 32 firearms from a felon. That’s just one avenue that starts from a wildlife case,” he said.

Under Oregon law, felons can’t possess firearms, and those convicted of illegally having one face a sentence of up to five years in prison.

Wolcott was quick to credit a key partner for helping fund the program.

“A lot of our dollars for our canine program are through donations through the Oregon Wildlife Foundation. They partner with the citizens of Oregon and beyond, and so we want to give a shoutout to them,” he said.

Go get ’em, Scout!

By Andy Walgamott

JACKASS OF THE MONTH

Two Oregon duck hunters probably wish they had made better decisions this past season. One let fly well after shooting hours were up but in his haste to leave the scene he left his shotgun on the ground next to a fish and wildlife trooper’s truck in the parking lot, while another claimed he’d shot at some birds down by the river but was betrayed by his backtrail along the highway.

Both tales come from the December 2022 monthly newsletter of the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division. In the first case, a trooper was patrolling along the Mid-Columbia when 20 minutes after shooting light someone nearby fired at some ducks. While the trooper searched for them, the hunter made it back to his own rig but “left in such a hurry that he left his shotgun in the parking lot.” That eventually led to a call to OSP’s Pendleton office to see if by chance the trooper had picked up the gun. At a subsequent meeting, the hunter told the trooper he thought he had still been OK to shoot that late in the day, but also that he didn’t know when hours were up, nor that details on legal light are included in the hunting regulations. He was cited for that, as well as warned that he needed to have a state waterfowl validation to hunt ducks.

As for the second case, a hunter being checked along Highway 27 as it parallels the Crooked River in Central Oregon south of Prineville told a trooper he had gone down to the river to take a crack at some quackers. After a license, shotgun and ammo check turned up nothing of note, the trooper sent him on his way. But turning to the tracks in the snow, the trooper followed the hunter’s trail to a pair of shells in the middle of the road that matched those the waterfowler had been using. Catching up to the man soon afterward, the trooper cited him for hunting on or across the highway, which drew an admission that the hunter had indeed taken his shots from the road.

Oregon fish and wildlife K-9s Scout (left) and Buck greet each other during Scout’s introducion to the public at Department of Fish and Wildife headquarters in Salem. (ODFW)

CALENDAR 2023 BOAT AND SPORTSMEN’S SHOW

MARCH

2-5 The Idaho Sportsman Show, Expo Idaho, Boise; idahosportsmanshow.com

3-5 BC Sportsmen’s Show, Tradex, Abbotsford; bcsportsmenshow.ca

9-12 Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show, Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, Redmond; otshows.com

10-11 Northwest Fly Tyer & Fly Fishing Expo, Linn County Fairgrounds, Albany; nwexpo.com

16-19 Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show, Spokane Fair and Expo Center, Spokane; bighornshow.com

MAY

18-20 Anacortes Boat & Yacht Show, Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes; anacortesboatandyachtshow.com

CALENDAR OUTDOOR

MARCH

1 Metolius Arm of Lake Billy Chinook opens for fishing; ODFW Intro to Hunting Seminar ($, registration), Sportsman’s Warehouse, Portland – info: myodfw .com/workshops-and-events; Numerous Eastern Washington lakes open for fishing; Blackmouth opener on Washington Marine Area 5

10 Last day of Oregon Northwest Permit and South Coast late goose and High Desert and Blue Mountains Zone white and white-fronted goose seasons

11 Bottomfish, lingcod, rockfish and cabezon seasons open on Washington Marine Areas 1-3 and Area 4 west of Bonilla-Tatoosh line

15 Last day of bobcat, fox, raccoon and rabbit seasons in Washington

16 ODFW Intro to Hunting Seminar ($, registration), Sportsman’s Warehouse, Portland – info: see above

20 Washington sea duck, Southwest Canada goose, snow goose and brant harvest reports due

31 Last day 2022-23 Washington fishing and hunting licenses valid; Last day to purchase Washington multiseason hunting tag application; Last scheduled day to fish for steelhead on remaining open Washington coastal systems

APRIL

1 New Washington fishing and hunting licenses required; Opening day of controlled or general spring bear hunts in all Oregon and select Idaho units; ODFW Youth Turkey Hunting Clinic ($, registration), White River Wildlife Area – info: see above

1-7 Washington youth turkey hunting week

6 Tentative Marine Areas 5-10 halibut opener (Thursday-Monday fishing through May 22) – info: wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/halibut

8-9 Oregon youth turkey hunting weekend

8-14 Idaho youth turkey hunting week

15

General spring turkey season opener in Idaho, Oregon and Washington; Opening day of spring black bear hunts in more Idaho units

22 Fishing or bait opener on select Oregon waters; Opening day of lowland lakes fishing season in Washington; Start of Washington 2023 Trout Derby

24 First day to apply for Washington special hunting permits

MAY

1 2023 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-reward Program fishery begins on Columbia and Snake Rivers – info: pikeminnow.org; Areas 5-11, 13 lingcod opener

ducks,

mountain biking

Brighter Springer Prospects

With

By Jeff Holmes

Several years ago on the front end of an abysmal, late-returning spring Chinook run with severely constrained opportunities throughout the Columbia River basin, I woke up at a friend’s house in the Columbia Gorge after a fun evening of whiskey sampling, meat eating and fish stories. I felt like death, but was determined to make it the 50 miles downriver to Vancouver’s Marine Park to fish at first light with one of the best and most interesting salmon fishermen in the Northwest, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Chris Donley.

I stumbled out to my truck in a cold rain so hard that even a gravel driveway felt like mud under my feet, and I headed downriver on Washington’s Highway 14, passing Drano Lake and the Wind River, where fish had not yet shown up. I dodged and also hit small boulders dislodged by the heavy rains, which would later lead to a flat tire for me in the Marine Park parking lot and a broken boat trailer for Donley, who was somewhere ahead of me on Highway 14 that morning. Increasingly mindful of the dangers of these mini landslides, I hustled in the dark to meet Donley and his fishing

an improved overall Columbia return, here’s how guides will be working the lower river, Willamette and gorge tribs.

Guide Evan Lafky and a client hold a magnificent specimen of a spring Chinook, freshly arrived out of the saltwater. Fishing can be tough in the Lower Coumbia early in the season, but it can also be lights out with boat limits quickly attained. The key, according to Lafky, is patience and being ready and efficient when those bites occur. (EVAN LAFKY GUIDE SERVICE, 503-349-9173)

friends from the Spokane area, Jerry and Jen. We ran downriver in an abating early April rain as the sun rose. Hundreds of boats were already on the water with more to come, and we safely weaved through and ran past them downriver to Donley’s preferred starting point near Frenchman’s Bar on the Washington shoreline below Oregon’s Multnomah Channel.

Unlike this year’s robust prediction of 315,600 spring kings to the mouth of the Columbia and 198,600 of those bound for tributaries above Bonneville Dam, the run was very small that year. As we suspected, we saw way more sea lions than nets flying to scoop herring-chomping Chinook. But Jerry, Jen, and I knew that our odds of killing a spring king were higher in Donley’s custom Bloodsworth boat than in 99 percent of the boats around

us, including the guide boats.

As thousands of anglers trolling mostly cut-plug herring behind inline flashers grinded around us, we saw all manner of watercraft including big guide boats getting blanked. I knew our odds of landing a fish were long before I made the drive, but any opportunity to spend time fishing springers with Donley is worth it. His advice has for years been instrumental to my success landing spring Chinook in my own boat, and I knew that I’d at least learn more nuance about the lower river herring fishery.

Surprisingly but not surprisingly, my rod buckled toward the end of the day, resulting in a chrome 10-pound springer, the only one I’d catch that year due to low numbers, lack of effort by me, and an obsession with morel mushrooms, which were plentiful

that spring. Donley, on the other hand, despite reduced opportunity and few fish, would nearly fill up his freezer with Washington, Oregon and Idaho spring Chinook. With this year’s robust predictions, Donley should have no trouble filling the freezer, and intermediate-skilled springer anglers like me should do OK too.

“There are substantial opportunities everywhere in the basin for spring of 2023,” says Donley. “The lower river tributary forecasts all look reasonably abundant, providing opportunity well into June in some places. Specific bright spots are substantial increases in forecasts for the Willamette and Cowlitz Rivers. It’s very nice to see the Cowlitz forecast go up so that there won’t be any mainstem restrictions downstream of the mouth of the Cowlitz like in 2020 and 2021.”

Aptly named, spring Chinook enter freshwater at the beginning of spring in late March and continue running through April and May. It’s a beautiful time to visit the lower river or the Columbia Gorge to drink in the sights, sounds and smells of the Earth reborn with leaves, flowers, the rhythmic croaking frogs at night and, if you’re lucky, the sweet stink of a spring Chinook. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)

“Everywhere else in the Columbia River basin looks decent – not bumper forecasts, but enough fish to allow for consistent harvest opportunities. A low forecast for wild Snake River spring Chinook will constrain the entire mainstem fishery, which will result in fewer allowed wild fish encounters and ultimately fewer hatchery fish harvested in the Columbia and Snake. However, if you live in Idaho this means that more hatchery fish will return to the terminal areas,” he adds.

AS I SAT writing this article, my mind turned way downstream from my home in Tri-Cities to the lower river, where fishing in 2023 will not be constrained to a small zone like during my 2019 trip with Donley. From Bonneville to Tongue Point, plunkers, trollers and anchoring anglers by the thousands will pursue the Northwest’s most prized fish.

In fact, dreams of these purplebacked, lard-assed springers fresh out of the salt danced in my head as I wrote, and I distracted myself from

finishing my article by booking my Airbnb, a tiny home with moorage somewhere well downstream of Longview. For many mid-Columbia spring Chinook anglers like me, waiting for the fish to show up above Bonneville or to home waters below John Day, McNary, Ice Harbor and Little Goose Dams is painful and uncertain in terms of harvest opportunities. We know the fish will show and that there will be opportunities, but why wait and suffer, knowing that the fresh fish are being caught from Bonneville to Cathlamet? Prioritizing spring Chinook by traveling is the surest way to assure mainstem opportunities.

Whether you tow your own boat or jump in with fellow private boaters, fishing below the Longview Bridge is a terrific way to avoid the throngs of guides who target the waters above the bridge all the way to the Beacon Rock boat deadline. Downstream of Longview, only Oregon charter guides can fish clients, and this stretch of river turns on first, followed quickly by Portland-area fisheries. However, leaving the boat at home and jumping in with a guide is a better way to go for those seeking knowledge of the tide-driven fisheries of the lower river or for those simply looking for a chill, guided experience.

“I always refer to the early season on the Lower Columbia as a ‘trophy fishery,’ not necessarily in reference to size, but as a direct reflection of quality,” says Evan Lafky of Evan Lafky Guide Service (503-349-9173), an excellent and kind guide who is also an RN and whose boat is patrolled by a supercute blue heeler named Hazel. “They are arguably better table fare than any other salmon in the world.”

Lower river fish just entering freshwater often bear long-tailed sea lice and an iridescent purple hue on their backs unmatched in beauty by any Northwest fish.

“The start of springer season also marks the end of doldrums of winter and a transition into longer days,

Craig Mitchell is one of the very best of a large and sparsely regulated army of guides who patrol Drano Lake and the Wind River. A bear for detail, Mitchell consistently gets clients bit and puts fish on the deck. When the Lower Columbia closes in early April, guides and private anglers alike carefully watch the counts at Bonneville Dam to signal that Drano and the Wind are loading up with springers. (MITCHELLSPORTFISHING.COM)

THE EVOLUTION OF A SPRINGER FIEND

For Chris Donley, or “Donley” as most people call him, springer fishing has been an all-consuming addiction for over four decades. His passion for spring kings influenced his career path as a fisheries biologist and eventually led to not just killing kings but managing them for the state of Washington as well.

“I started fishing for spring Chinook when I was 6 years old,”says Donley.“I caught my first springer plunking on Sauvies Island in 1974. I spent my days digging holes in the sand, building moats to contain spawnedout smelt, and occasionally having my blissful sand-filled experience interrupted by a bell ringing on a buckling rod in the

distance. It was awesome.”

“It was a spring break tradition for my dad to take me there with some of his crusty old fishing partners. My favorite memory of fishing on Sauvies was that my job was to dig holes in the sand and bury the springer in a burlap sack. This had a dual purpose – hide your success from others so as to keep the crowding down, and to keep your fish cool. The end result was a sandy/slimy burlap sack that at the end of the day was thrown in the back of our International Scout for the ride home. I had to sit next to the stinking sack on the drive, and since I couldn’t help but stare at the fish in the sack, I would end my ride

back home a sandy, slimy mess, looking like the burlap sack. A secondary memory is that the Scout stunk like springers, the sweetest smell known to any salmon angler. We went to Sauvies for several years until spring Chinook numbers got low enough that the trip didn’t warrant the time it took to get there.”

“After we suspended that annual trip, we would occasionally fish other Lower Columbia fisheries, places like the Cowlitz, Drano Lake, Sandy River, Willamette or other terminal-area fisheries during the ’80s and early ’90s. There were fishing opportunities around on the mainstem, but as a whole, springers were hard to come by and took more time than my dad had. What I learned in my formative years was that springers were hard to come by, and you cherished every one you or your partners harvested. I still feel that way today.”

“TODAY I CATCH way more springers than I could have imagined possible from my experience as a kid for two reasons.

First, I try real hard and spent a lot of time and money to learn how to catch them. Second, multiple hatcheries came online in the mainstem Columbia and Snake Basins in the late ’80s and early ’90s that made these fish far more available by the mid-’90s. By the early 2000s, these programs were in full swing.”

“For me personally, the success of increasing the abundance of spring Chinook in the Columbia and Snake created a monster. I fished whenever and wherever I could when the season was open for them. By the early 2000s, I was following the fish from Cathlamet to Kooskia. In the early season you could (and can still) find me fishing as low in the river as allowed. When that early season ended, I’d move to the mainstem fishery above Bonneville, often fishing Drano and the Wind River. In early May I would move to fish the mainstem Snake and ultimately would end up fishing Idaho tributaries of the Snake until the run petered out or all the allowable catch was harvested. When all was said and done, I would have fished in three separate states on multiple bodies of water and put dozens of springers in my boat.”

“THE BEST PART of this whole bad habit –which I still

have – wasn’t the fish I caught,

Cora and Chris Donley pose with a boat limit of gorgeous springers bearing long-tailed sea lice, purple backs and blindingly chrome sides. These fish probably hadn’t been in freshwater for 48 hours before Donley, his daughter and crew of three others netted their boat limits. Far down in the lower river, the threat of sea lions stealing fish is very real and anglers do not wave nets in the air until seconds before they are ready to scoop a fish. Some captains don’t allow anglers to stand up while fighting fish because the sea lions are trained to haul tail at the slightest sign of a hookup. (CHRIS DONLEY)

FISHING

but the relationships I developed with the people I encountered at all the different fisheries. I met some of my best longtime fishing partners as a result of being springer-crazed. Every year I look forward to setting up springer camp in different places, staying at good friends’ homes and fishing with the menagerie of springer ding dongs that I have accumulated as friends over the last 30 years of serious springer chasing.”

Donley’s obsession with following spring Chinook along their journey inland to spawn has yielded insights about the unique aspects of each fishery. A master with techniques, timing and understanding how the fish move and react to conditions, Donley’s 40-plus years of experience have revealed the unique characteristics of the popular Columbia River basin fisheries.

“I love fishing the mainstem Lower Columbia because it happens early, and the fish will never be brighter or better to eat than the ones you encounter in late March and early April,” says Donley. “Because there is a lot of water to fish on the lower river, you can find places to fish with smaller crowds and more elbow room than some terminal springer fisheries. It can be crowded, but not like Drano or the Wind. After a long winter, it’s satisfying to have a fresh piece of salmon to eat.”

“Being from Spokane, going west in April to substantially warmer weather is always a great way to start spring. I love listening to the frogs at night and the smell of leafing-out cottonwoods. These are sounds and smells that are still weeks away in my part of Eastern Washington.”

“WHEN THE FISHERIES get rolling as the fish move upriver into the mid-Columbia and Snake, harvesting can get really good, but it doesn’t last long because the allowable catch gets harvested quickly. But when the fish are there it’s often more like springer catching than fishing. These days I really like and take advantage of the shore fishing opportunities on the Snake River. The best spots are competitive – stay away if crowds aren’t your thing – but it’s really fun to catch big fish with plunking gear.”

“Along with the mainstem Columbia and Snake Rivers, I really enjoy the Wind River and Drano because they are consistent and tradition. The water never blows out, there are fish present every day, and many years you get a two-fish

Drano Lake will again this year have a two-fish limit, which will attract far more anglers without the experience to ever possibly limit their boats. Chris Donley is one of the anglers who will routinely limit his boat given the right conditions: a little chop on the water and anything but an east wind or a calm, glassy-water day. Left to right, Pete Nelson, Richard Donley and Chris Donley pose with a boat limit of Drano spring kings. (CHRIS DONLEY)

limit because they are terminal fisheries. In 2023, the Wind will probably be a one-fish limit, but Drano is likely to be two fish.”

“These are the most competitive fisheries I have ever participated in. It makes it fun because you better have your A game. Although when you don’t, it can be frustrating, and you need to learn to embrace the ‘suck’ when it comes to overcrowding. Have your game straight and you’ll get your turn. Some days it’s just too crowded to be overly successful at harvesting springers. Enjoy watching others have their time in the sun and keep grinding until it’s your turn.”

“Tributaries of the Snake in Idaho, like the Clearwater, offer some of the best catch rates of the year, and for fish that are still in great shape. If you have the right

timing and you land on them when they all arrive, it’s fantastic. However, since it’s springtime, the water conditions change routinely. Thunderstorms matter, and they can blow the rivers out for days. It’s a great feeling when it all lines up and the water is good and fish are plentiful.”

“I like this kind of fishing because it is totally different than anything else I do for springers: small rivers, high flows, backbouncing, back-trolling, bobbers and bait, and sometimes side-drifting. The Idaho tributaries can be crowded, but not Dranocrowded, and early and late in the season you can find lots of water to yourself. The weather is warm by late spring, there is lots of daylight, the camping is awesome, and Idaho rivers are especially beautiful in springtime.” –JH

FISHING

warmer weather, and more fishing opportunities,” says Lafky. “Springer fishing can also be frustratingly challenging. There are fewer fish coming back over a longer period of time in comparison to our fall runs of salmon. The weather can be cold and wet, and the river conditions are sometimes high, cold and muddy.”

At the time of this writing in midFebruary, the Columbia’s water temps were at the five-year average, and the water clarity was 50 percent better than it usually is at that time.

“Despite all the challenges and hurdles that springer fishing brings, these fish are also notoriously good

biters. They are very willing to eat a well-presented bait or lure, and once you get some of that figured out, you can experience lights out fishing,” says Lafky.

Fishing with he or another experienced and highly rated guide is a great way to reduce the learning curve. If you can find a seat from late March through the end of the early fishing period in early April, grab it.

“A well-cooked filet of freshly caught spring Chinook on the dinner table goes a long way to mitigate some of the more challenging springer days one might experience on the water,” says Lafky.

“THE OLD ADAGE ‘good luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity’ fits lower river springer fishing perfectly,” Lafky states. “You often fish for hours with minimal action, and then you might experience a flurry of opportunities in a short period of time. When the tide is right, or when that next pod of fish shows up, you want to be ready. The more time you spend with baits in the water – and the less time you spend tying or untangling gear – the more fish you will catch.”

“With this in mind, I pretie everything I possibly can during the winter. Droppers, bumpers and leaders are all tied in the offseason, with duo-snaps or clips for quick attachments. The more knots I tie in the winter and the less I tie on the boat in the heat of the moment, the more efficiently my boat fishes. Efficiency will directly result in more fish in your boat,” he preaches.

“This push for efficiency carries forward on the water,” Lafky continues. “I always preach to my clients at the beginning of the day to keep organized and controlled, even in the midst of chaos. Keeping your gear untangled and your bait protected and ready to redeploy when someone else is fighting a fish – or when we are running between spots – will increase your chances of hooking a fish. I always tell my clients that their best chance of hooking a fish is right after someone else has hooked a fish on the boat. Getting your gear back down in the water quickly and efficiently will undoubtedly increase your individual odds.”

With all the advances in salmon tackle and baits over the past decade, to this day nothing beats a plug-cut green-label herring on the front end of the season on the lower river. Other baits surely work, but the tradition and the aesthetic of trolling herring is both nostalgic and reminiscent of success because early spring Chinook chomp the heck out of a spinning bait, dyed or natural in color. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)

Finding fish when the bulk of the run has arrived, even for beginners, gets a whole lot easier, but that scenario is rare. Typically, earlyseason anglers fish on the front end of the run on the lower river, and understanding how and when to find fish is critical.

“One of the key aspects to fishing for spring Chinook in the Lower Columbia is understanding flows

FISHING

and tides,” says Lafky. “Tides impact the river clear to above the Portland area and can have a huge impact on how well and when the fish bite and what their preferred travel lanes will be. Similar to tidal influence, the water level of the river, and how much the dams are releasing, will dictate when and where you will see the best bites. As a rule, the more the flow (either because of tide or water level, or both), the closer to shore the fish will run. I’ve caught fish in 8 feet of water, and I have caught fish in 58 feet of water, sometimes on the same day. When the water is high or the outgoing tidal influence is very strong, you will see more people back-trolling or anchoring with plugs and bait. The lower the water or slower the tide, the more traditional downhill trolling will be successful.”

“My preferred method to fish for early-season springers is to troll with triangle flashers and herring,” says Lafky. “I will stick with this method as long as I can and will only go to anchoring or back-trolling if the conditions absolutely dictate a change, such as high, fast water. These fish tend to hug the bottom in the Lower Columbia and are often described as ‘swimming with their bellies in the sand.’ Because of this tendency, the vast majority of the time my baits will be as close to the bottom as I can get and often in water between 15 and 30 feet deep.”

“Keep in mind, though, that this is a general rule and there are at times exceptions. Don’t be afraid to fish very shallow when the water is fast and high. Conversely, in slack or incoming tides, don’t be afraid to fish with your gear slightly suspended –and don’t ignore the deeper areas of the river,” he tips.

Good fishing in the lower river usually starts way down low in the last two weeks of March and improves until the early season closes in the first week to week and a half of April as fish pile in from the salt

With well over 300,000 fish hitting the mouth of the Columbia and almost 200,000 of them bound for hatcheries and mountain rivers upstream of Bonneville, piles like this and much larger ones will be photographed this spring. Whether you catch them at Cathlamet or where these ones were caught, the Columbia Gorge, or even if you catch them hundreds of miles into Idaho, spring Chinook will invariably cut beautifully and will require careful attention on the grill to keep from catching aflame due to their high fat content. (MITCHELLSPORTFISHING.COM)

and anglers wait for a run update to reopen the lower river.

“After the Columbia closes in the lower river (which is essentially at the beginning of the peak of the return), I will bump into the Willamette River,” says Lafky. “At that point I become more open-minded about giving up the triangle flashers and bait, and will entertain the idea of 360 flashers. I typically wait for the water temperatures to rise into the mid-50s, but admittedly, other folks find success with 360s much sooner than that. Call me stubborn or old fashioned, but I stick with triangles until I absolutely have to change tactics, and feel like the approach has brought me plenty of success.”

JUST AS WITH Lafky, the rest of the guide army and private anglers alike turn their attention elsewhere and adapt their tactics as the Lower Columbia closes till May’s runsize update and as waters start to warm. Three-sixty flashers trailed by 3.5 and 3.0 coon shrimp spinners and various sizes of Super Baits are increasingly popular on the Willamette, as Lafky notes, and this approach is now standard gear at Drano and the Wind River.

Speaking of, springers don’t usually show up to the Wind or Drano in good numbers until the end of April these days, but when they do, it is usually sudden, fast and furious, and crowded. With the lower river closed it pushes anglers to nearby tribs – to

the Wind inside the buoy line and to the uber-crowded waters of Drano. Ten years ago at these two fisheries it was mostly inline flashers trailed by plug-cut herring or bigger prawn spinners, with a small minority of anglers still trailing Mag Warts and other plugs. Such is no longer the case, including for one of the best young guides on the Columbia, a man who has been fishing both fisheries since shortly after he could walk, Craig Mitchell of Mitchell’s Sportfishing (mitchellsportfishing.com).

“These days at Drano and the Wind I’m going to be primarily fishing 360 flashers and prawn spinners,” says Mitchell. “Day in and day out this technique will outfish anything else. Leader length, type of 360 (Pro-Troll, Leo, Shortbus), and even blade size change for me depending on if I’m fishing the Wind or Drano and on how heavy the pressure and boat traffic is where I’m fishing. Generally,

at Drano I’ll run flashers that will spin or rotate effectively at slower speeds due to traffic jams, whereas at the Wind I can get by with more traditional setups.”

Generally speaking, shorter bumper lengths of 16 to 18 inches to flashers will allow a flasher to spin at lower speeds.

“The same goes for blade size and type, especially as the mainstem Columbia water blows out and makes the Wind mouth muddy,” says Mitchell. “I’m going to be running bigger blades and flashier colors at the Wind so the fish can see me versus Drano, where I’m going to be running smaller profiles due to clear water and extreme fishing pressure.”

When Mitchell says extreme, he means it. The Wind can be crowded too, but the fishery is much larger, the limit of one fish is less attractive to many, and there’s no “toilet bowl” fishery. Drano is home to this famed

ultracombat fishery plus 227 acres of additional combat fishery. It is undeniably the busiest and most competitive spring Chinook fishery in the Northwest. Mitchell is a master of fishing the small Columbia River backwater where the Little White Salmon River empties into the Gorge from the flanks of Mount Adams, and he has seem some crazy sights, as have I, including a boat angler jumping ashore and laying out a bankie who threw a lure intentionally in his boat.

Violence is a rarity, but “literally every single day is crazy,” says Mitchell. “Any given morning, say, 4:50 a.m., you have 200 boats on a small lake in a tight circle and a wide-open salmon bite. Mix that with some high winds, Wiggle Wart-flinging bankies, fiveboat pile-up tangles, and triples.”

Mitchell, among hundreds of his Drano-fishing friends, knows the madness is worth enduring at both Drano and the Wind and jumps back

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FISHING

and forth between the two fisheries daily, even fishing both in the same day depending on weather, water conditions and what’s currently fishing the best.

“As the season progresses into May and Columbia River runoff water milks up the Wind, I’ll usually gravitate more to Drano, where the water is cleaner and fish are continually stacking,” says Mitchell. “Also, on very windy days, the lake is far more protected.”

AS FISH START to stream past Bonneville in good numbers, lighting up the Wind River and Drano fisheries, mainstem mid-Columbia and Snake River anglers either drive down to the gorge to kick off their year, or they ready their gear for the excellent anchor fisheries once the fish show up below John Day, McNary and Ice Harbor Dams and for the excellent plunking below Little Goose Dam.

In the next issue I’ll focus on these mid-Columbia fisheries, interviewing local legend George Preszler of Preszler’s Guide Service (509-5217141). In the May issue I’ll look further upriver to Idaho’s Clearwater River, interviewing Reel Time Fishing’s Toby Wyatt (reeltimefishing.com). Preszler and Wyatt are among the Northwest’s most respected and established guides, and both will reveal techniques and approaches for being successful as spring Chinook move further upriver, where they will essentially hang out and live off of their ample fat reserves until their early-fall spawn. Preszler and Wyatt will also detail some stories about the madness of spring Chinook mornings, as Lafky does here.

“One particularly grindy day I was trolling next to a fellow guide and good friend of mine,” recalls Lafky. “The morning had started out slow; no semblance of a bite had materialized within the fleet. My buddy was

lamenting the slow morning and decided to open the cooler for a snack. He realized that within the grocery bag containing his lunch and food for the day he had accidentally included an entire bunch of bananas that was meant to be left at home.”

“Now for some fishermen, bananas are considered bad luck, my good friend included,” Lafky adds. “After several expletives and some excuses for the slow morning, he threw the whole bunch in the river. I’d love to report that the bite instantly picked up for him and the rest of the fleet, but that would be a lie. Several hours later, and exactly zero fish caught for the fleet later, I passed another good friend and guide buddy. I asked him if he had found any fish, and exasperated, he threw his hands up and emphatically said no. He explained that somehow he actually did worse than not catching any fish; he had in fact caught an entire bunch of bananas.” NS

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Tracking Spring Chinook Tides

With

300,000 spring

Chinook expected to enter the Columbia this year, now is the time to prepare your tackle, plan trips with family and friends, and possibly book a trip with a fishing guide. And while the sport season on the lower river will undoubtedly be restricted in some way due to wild stocks, anglers should expect better fishing this season as compared to the past several years.

According to biologists, 70,000 of those springers will be bound for the Willamette, which is 20,000 more than last year. Anglers fishing the Lower Columbia, Willamette and the Multnomah Slough are rightfully excited about this prospect.

And while the sport fishery below the Columbia’s I-5 bridge has been open since the start of the year (and typically opens above the bridge on March 1), the fishing should improve daily through month’s end and into April. You see, historically speaking, the Columbia’s upriver-bound run builds through March and doesn’t peak until the last three weeks of April.

As this issue was going to press, state managers were scheduled to set season dates and other restrictions, so check out wdfw.wa.gov and myodfw.com for updated details. Realize, too, that it pays to keep track of harvest rates, as emergency closures are possible. Managers are required to close fishing when our allowable impact on wild, Endangered Species Act-listed fish is reached. Understanding the above means your best chance at catching an upriver-bound out of the Lower Columbia is during the last few weeks of the season.

Bill Herzog shows off a hatchery spring Chinook he caught while trolling a herring in the Columbia River near Woodland with author Buzz Ramsey. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

BUZZ RAMSEY

MOST COLUMBIA SPRINGERS, hatchery

and wild, are produced in Idaho. This is not surprising, since 70 percent of the remaining salmon habitat in the Columbia Basin is located in the Gem State – think about the unspoiled, mostly pristine river habitats that run through the Frank Church

and other wilderness areas. But springers and other anadromous fish produced in these and other upriver habitats are in trouble mostly because of the mortality associated with having to navigate past eight hydropower dams.

One of the big reasons anglers target

spring Chinook, besides being fun to pursue and catch, is for their eating quality. Because they don’t spawn until fall, springers have a higher omega-3 oil content and richer flesh as compared to other Chinook stocks. It’s this heavy oil and fat content that helps them survive and develop sexually as they summer over in their parent stream.

If you haven’t chased springers on the Columbia or Willamette, you should realize that ocean tides have a huge influence on when and where the catching will be best. After all, although subtle, tides affect the Willamette up to the falls at Oregon City and the Columbia all the way to Bonneville Dam.

Spring Chinook respond to the change in river currents caused by tides and almost always bite best before and after a tide change, similar to the way they do in the Pacific Ocean or Puget Sound.

Since the best bite will likely occur before and after each high and low tide adjustment, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re on the water and fishing during these time periods. Tide booklets – available at local tackle stores – list the high and low tide fluctuations for each day of the year.

The “Tides” smartphone app provides accurate tide information for various places along the Lower Columbia, Willamette, Puget Sound and coastal locations. Notice the high tide time difference for the Astoria Port Docks (6:55 a.m.) as compared to upriver stations at St. Helens (11 a.m.) and Vancouver (12:30 p.m.). (TIDES)

Perhaps obvious is that current speed has a lot to do with where springers can be found. For example, when currents are running hard, salmon (not wanting to battle the heavy current) tend to go deep or move to current edges where currents are soft moving, which is where you should run your herring. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

When it comes to the Columbia and Willamette, most booklets list only the tide changes for Astoria. Obviously, it takes longer for the flooding tide to slow or stop the river’s current at Longview as compared to Tongue Point. Most paper booklets provide a correction table for different upstream locations, which will give you the amount of time to add or subtract from the low or high tide time listed for Tongue Point.

And while some anglers rely on paper tide booklets, there are smartphone apps that list the tide changes for various locations on the Columbia and Willamette. The one simply called “Tides” is the one that fishing guide Bob Rees of The Guide’s Forecast fame uses.

DEPENDING ON WHERE you will be fishing, a big flood tide can slow, stop or sometimes – given a really high one –reverse the river’s current, and that can

make a difference in which technique you choose, the area of the river you select, and when salmon will bite best. It’s in the lower slough and Columbia where tidal fluctuations can be the most dramatic.

Trolling is generally most productive when a flooding tide has slowed the river current or caused the river to stop altogether. Plunking/still-fishing is best when tides are outgoing, creating the current needed to work stationary lures.

If you have a boat and wish to troll, you should plan to be on the water at least an hour before low tide and fish through the flood and during the first part of the outgoing, or ebb, tide. By planning your trip this way, you will be taking advantage of two tide changes. Keep in mind that the best trolling bite of the day will likely occur during the first hour or so of the outgo; that’s a time when a downriver troll will likely produce best.

Once the initial hour or two of the

outgoing tide has passed, and especially if a big tide is causing the current to become fast-moving, you can either anchor up, backtroll or call it a day. If you intend to troll, there is no need to start at daylight in an area where the tide will be running out fast all morning because of a big tide swing. Knowing this, you may choose another area where the tide will be right for trolling, or simply start your trip later in the day when the tide is right for the troll.

All-day trolling might be possible when a small tide exchange only slows the river current a little and doesn’t result in the water running out too fast.

WHEN CURRENTS ARE slow-moving and there is little other boat competition, I troll like a drunken sailor because I know my trolling success will be enhanced if I maneuver my boat in a zigzag pattern. By trolling in an irregular pattern, your lures or bait will change direction, speed

A springer nears the net. Where the early season on the Lower Columbia could be short – a May runsize update will determine if enough of the ESA-listed fish have crossed Bonneville Dam for a reopener – there are fewer restrictions on the Willamette, where anglers can use a second rod with the two-rod validation starting as early as March 1. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

and action, which can trigger strikes from following salmon.

Be advised that a small boat is better for zigzag trolling than a big one, as long boats can’t make the sharp turns needed to maximize this change in lure or bait action. Also know that when fishing areas crowded with other boats, you might risk ridicule if you zigzag troll. After all, other anglers might think you’re playing chicken or bumper boats and take offense.

Zigzag trolling might increase your odds of success if you’re trolling a herring by itself or in combination with a Fish Flash but not if using a rotating flasher like a ProTroll. A Pro-Troll imparts a pulsating action to trailing lures or bait, similar to zigzag trolling, while going in a straight line.

DEPTH IS ONE of the most important factors to consider when trolling, and water depths vary a lot in the Willamette, its slough and in the Columbia. If the water depth is 25 feet or less, the basic rule is to work your outfit just off the bottom, because the salmon will likely be found there. If the water is deeper, and especially when tides are soft or flooding, Chinook can often suspend at mid-depths.

Most anglers find success in deep water (over 25 feet) by trolling their outfits 9 to 20 feet down. There are exceptions to this basic rule. For example, early in the morning or when the river is turbid, the fish might be found even closer to the surface, say, 6 to 8 feet down. If the river is clear and midday sun bright, they may go deeper or be found near or under a log raft where their lidless eyes are protected from the bright light.

Another exception to these water depth guidelines is when heavy boat pressure has pushed fish deeper into the water column. Or when fishing downstream from the falls at Oregon City, where salmon can hold in deep water before making their big move upstream.

While the best early-season fishing will likely be had in the Lower Columbia, Willamette Slough or Oregon City, success rates will increase in all areas open to fishing as the season progresses. NS

Jeff Flatt and Bob Spaur display a Columbia spring Chinook caught last April Fools Day on a Brad’s KillerFish plug while on anchor. An outgoing tide is required with this technique to give the lure action. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

Editor’s note: Buzz Ramsey is regarded as a sport fishing authority, outdoor writer and proficient lure and fishing rod designer.

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March To The Beat Of Cowlitz Steelhead, Springers

Mpredicted spring Chinook showing up. Though the Cowlitz is no secret and you will find most of the popular holes and runs filled with boats and anglers on just about every day of the week, the river is long and there is plenty of room for everyone.

NW PURSUITS

By Jason Brooks

arching along to the beat of winter steelhead and spring Chinook, the Cowlitz River will provide an opportunity for both species this month. The traditional steelhead fishery peak is from mid-February through March and into April. The latter two months will also see the first of the nearly 9,000

STARTING IN THE lower river, anglers here will have the best chance at doubling up on a springer and a winter-run steelhead. This is also big water and trolling and back-trolling is what most anglers will opt to do. Pulling

plugs that work for both species means a 3.0 or 3.5 Mag Lip in hot orange, metallic pink or watermelon colors and wrapped with a sand shrimp tail. Those who prefer bait over plugs will run a Jet Diver with a pink or orange Spin-N-Glo and a gob of cured eggs along with the tail of a sand shrimp.

Be sure to track the tides and know that each high will bring in an influx of fish. Work seams and known travel lanes such as tight to the bank where the water hangs up and slows down. The confluence of the Toutle is

March is prime time to hit the Cowlitz for its late-returning steelhead, and after a few down seasons, an improved return of spring Chinook is also expected, making for interesting prospects on the Southwest Washington river. (JASON

BROOKS)

also a popular spot, but currents here can tangle gear. Fish will often rest out of the muddy and silt-filled Toutle in the emeraldgreen waters of the Cowlitz.

From where I-5 crosses over the Cowlitz all the way up to Barrier Dam is where most anglers will head. At the former is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife access and boat launch within sight of the interstate. It’s a popular jet sled spot for those who like to fish bait divers and pull plugs. The long stretch that flows under the bridge can produce both steelhead and springers and is often the main target area for those chasing tasty Chinook. Cruise upriver around a few bends and you start into drift fishing water.

Boondogging, bobber dogging and drift fishing all employ the same idea, which is to drift bait and an attractor such as yarn, Lil’ Corky, Cha Cha pill floats or Spin-N-Glos. Again, the most popular baits are cured eggs and sand shrimp, but don’t overlook prawns or even add a chunk of sardine or anchovy if you are trying to entice Chinook.

Mission Bar is another WDFW access point and where drift boaters often take out after floating down from Blue Creek. This stretch of the Cowlitz is arguably the most popular on the entire river. Those with a jet sled and good skills can cruise upriver and often hit holes such as the “Wall” or the few bends before those coming from upriver make their way to these holding waters.

BLUE CREEK IS famous, and for good reason. Winter steelheaders often “glow ball” here, meaning they make their way down the bank with headlamps to light their way. Those same headlamps are then used to refresh their luminescent drift bobber, often a glow-in-the-dark Lil’ Corky or Beau Mac Cheater. A gob of eggs or a sand shrimp tail is secured on the hook and rhythmic casting begins.

Drift fishing occurs below the trout hatchery intake and disabled angler access ramp. Be sure to stay out of this access area, as it is reserved for those who can’t hike or wade along the riverbank.

Guide sleds and personal watercraft

Guide Nic Norbeck hoists a springer-size winter-run caught on the Cowlitz last March. Along with pulling plugs or running bait divers, boondogging, bobber dogging and side-drifting are common methods for catching fish here. (ELITEGUIDESERVICE.COM)

often line up at the launch and then head straight across from the Blue Creek launch to the rock wall. Boaters drift along until the current picks up at the tailout, where they start their jet motors, move out to the deeper water and make their way back up to the top and do it all over again. If crowds aren’t your thing, it is best to head to other parts of the river.

Several years ago while fishing with a former guide friend, we did the typical round-and-round circus here, then went downstream to the Wall and a few other runs only to head back to the launch. But as we neared Blue Creek he thrust the jet at full speed and kept on cruising. We went past the launch and up to the next set of rapids where the water was being forced into the middle, creating a seam. This accounted for the last fish of the day, as well as a mental note: Don’t get stuck fishing the same spots as everyone else. When we hooked that fish, there were no other boats around.

BARRIER DAM IS extremely popular for spring Chinook anglers. This bank-only fishing area is where the salmon hatchery is located. Chinook will stack up and once the hatchery obtains enough broodstock,

they will close the gates and let the fish build up for anglers. Because of this, snagging has become problematic and is seriously frowned upon. The fishing area is visible from the shoreline parking area, which means anglers who fall to temptation are often met with a game warden and a hefty fine, along with losing their fish and gear. Be respectful of the fish and the anglers.

Most anglers here fish eggs under a float – this is a great place to perfect your technique, not only the method but also egg cures. You will likely see one of my friends at this location; he will be catching fish frequently. Chris is one of the best anglers I know, but more importantly he understands egg curing. Bringing an array of cured eggs, he will fish each of them until the fish start to bite. Once he figures out which cure the fish want, it is only a matter of time before he starts landing fish after fish.

Each run of fish has its own taste for eggs. Chatting with Shane Magnuson of Zillah Cures and Northwest Bait and Scent, he reminded me that the further salmon get from the ocean, the more they crave salts and nitrates. This means a “hot” cure might work well, but he stressed that Zillah

is strong and to only use just enough to cure the egg; often a few shakes is all it takes. Of course, additives such as Monster Bite and Slam-O-Powder from Pro-Cure are just some of the tricks to getting the right cured egg for Barrier Dam springers.

One last note on spring kings. Due to a huge broodstock shortfall, the 2020 smolt release of Cowlitz-origin fish was not adipose fin-clipped. Some of those fish will begin to return in 2023 as jacks, though the bulk will come back as adults next year. That means keeper kings will be scarcer in 2024, but not impossible to find, as clipped Kalama Chinook smolts were used to make up some of the shortfall.

FROM THE MOUTH of the Cowlitz all the way up to Barrier Dam, the river will have fish to catch. Early this month it will be primarily winter steelhead, but by the end of the month and into April, anglers will have the chance to double up with a spring Chinook or a winter-run steelhead. It is one of the few places left in the Pacific Northwest where you can count on going fishing and having a good chance at catching each of the species in the same day. Don’t let the month march on by and miss this fishery. NS

Between Blue Creek and Barrier Dam, it might seem like you’re fishing with half of Western Washington, but that’s because these bank fisheries are pretty productive for drift fishing or float fishing with eggs. (JASON BROOKS)

Rainbows Chase Winter Blues Away

March lake openers across Central and Eastern Washington can provide good fishing action for catchables and holdovers.

By Mark Yuasa

Are you feeling a serious case of the winter blues? More than two dozen lakes across Eastern Washington open March 1, although unpredictable winter-like conditions could limit trout fishing options and success.

“Early spring is a great time to get out fishing at some of our Eastside lakes,” says Steve Caromile, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s statewide Inland Fish Program manager. “The March 1 opener is happening right when the weather is starting to improve. We’re all jumping at the chance to get outside to find some outdoor activities and these spring fisheries are a good way to start the year.”

DEPENDING ON THE severity of latewinter weather, some lakes east of the Cascades may still be iced over. Ice conditions aren’t monitored by WDFW, so before heading out the door it’s wise to stay off the ice if you don’t know it is safe.

The initial best bets will likely be Martha and Upper Caliche Lakes right off I-90 near George in Grant County. Both can be excellent choices on opening day and anglers should expect good fishing in 2023.

A March migration to an old family fave paid off for Jo Jewett. She was fishing the Central Washington lake with her dad, Brandon, and using rainbow- and purplecolored PowerBait. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

With their boat launches, parking and shore access, Quincy and Burke Lakes tend to attract the most attention when these Grant County, Washington, waters open March 1, but state fisheries biologist Michael Schmuck notes that he stocks several nearby smaller and less well known lakes that grow footlong-plus rainbows. “There is a good chance for anglers to have them all to themselves, and many are down in small canyons that afford good protection from the spring winds,” he tips. (WDFW)

“Martha and Upper Caliche Lakes received 500 ‘catchable’ 10- to 12inch rainbow trout in the fall of

2022 and should be in the 13- to 14-inch range by opening day,” says Michael Schmuck, a WDFW

regional fish program manager. “It is not uncommon for Upper Caliche to still be frozen on March 1; however, there’s almost always plenty of open water on Martha Lake on the opener.”

The north section of Martha is usually ice-free with plenty of shoreline space, and that’s likely where most of the trout will be concentrated.

Not far to the north and also in Grant County, Quincy and Burke Lakes should both fish well this spring and both have improved boat launches, but shore anglers have plenty of elbow room to spread out and enjoy these lakes. Most fish will be in the 10- to 12-inch range, with some carryover trout in the 13-to 15inch range. Try casting spinners and small spoons from the shoreline.

While many Columbia Basin lakes are thawing from the warmer weather in February, some might not be fishable for the time being. The access area at the west end of

Burke Lake is thawing out slowly, and Quincy Lake may not be fishable on the opener. Both lakes are wellstocked and should provide limits of 12-inch rainbows when the ice melts.

Of note, the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce Trout Derby (quincyvalley.org) is March 25-26 at Quincy and Burke. Cost is $35 per person over age 18 and free for youth ages 17 and under.

Lake Lenore in Grant County is also open on March 1 with a one-fish daily limit and an 18-inch minimum size.

Other lakes, ponds and waters in Grant County that open March 1 include Cascade, Dry Falls, Lenice, Merry, North Potholes Reserve, Nunnally, Stratford/Brook and the Winchester Wasteway.

Also note that within the Quincy Lakes Unit of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area there are many walk-in lakes that open the same date. These lakes can provide not only good

fishing, but also solitude.

Hike-in Dusty Lake is a selectivegear lake that has excellent rainbow trout fishing, as well as holds brown and tiger trout. Just southeast of Dusty and closer to parking areas is a collection of small lakes that hold rainbows. Cliff, Crystal, Cup and Spring Lakes are small enough that they can all be fished in a morning. All these lakes receive spring fingerling rainbows and produce good catches of fish in the 12- to 14-inch range, with some up to 20 inches.

THE GREATER SPOKANE region has several March 1 openers, including Liberty Lake, that can be excellent fishing around the opener for browns and rainbows averaging 12 to 16 inches. Statewide rules apply at Liberty Lake.

There are other March 1 opener lakes managed under selective-gear rules and fishing can be pretty good at them, but the action doesn’t generally

pick up until the weather warms up.

Those lakes include Amber (rainbows averaging 12 to 19 inches with a few nice cutthroat as well) in Spokane County; Coffeepot (rainbows averaging 14 to 20 inches) in Lincoln County; and Medical Lake (rainbows averaging 14 to 19 inches and some brown trout added into the mix) in Spokane County. All three waters are managed with an 18-inch minimum size and a daily limit of one.

Downs Lake is also a March 1 opener, but it is your typical mixedspecies fishery that can be fair fishing but not spectacular most of the time. As with many other locations, anglers run the risk of lakes being ice-covered but unsafe to walk on during the early part of the season.

In Northeast Washington, Deer Lake in Stevens County opens on March 1.

“Around the opener, anglers can find lake trout cruising the shallows

Lexi Han smiles in the midst of a tussle with a Tucannon Lakes trout. The chain of waters in one of Washington’s oldest wildlife areas is a local fave and opens this month. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

at Deer Lake, so trolling near shore or throwing crankbaits can be productive,” tips Bill Baker, a WDFW regional biologist. “We surveyed it last fall and caught a fair number

of lake trout, some up to around 15 pounds. I also marked a bunch on the fish finder.”

Deer is also stocked with rainbow and brook trout, and there’s always a

HELPFUL INFO, RESOURCES

For specific weekly fish stocking numbers, go to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website (wdfw.wa.gov/fish/plants/weekly). You can find information on lowland lake locations by going to wdfw .wa.gov/fishing/locations/lowland-lakes and basic trout fishing techniques on WDFW’s YouTube webpage (youtube.com/@thewdfw). More trout fishing tips can also be found on the WDFW ’s Medium blog (wdfw.medium.com).

Mark your calendar for the highly anticipated 2023 statewide general lowland lakes trout opener on Saturday, April 22.

And the annual WDFW Trout Derby will be held from April 22 through October 31. In past years, prizes handed out for the derby totaled about $37,000. WDFW expects around 800 tagged trout will go into select lakes for 2023. All the trout in the derby have a white tag attached to their fin. If you catch one, be sure to keep the tag to claim your prize. The derby, held for the past eight years, has seen close to 55 to 60 percent of the tags turned in for prizes. To help boost your odds of catching a tagged trout, WDFW has a list of all the lakes in real-time where prizes are left to be claimed. Be sure to share your derby success on social media using the hashtag #watroutderby. The WDFW Trout Derby webpage (wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/contests/trout-derby) should be updated soon with 2023 info. –MY

decent chance it will be iced over on the opener. Over the last few years, Baker says that’s occurred about 50 percent of the time, and usually the ice thickness isn’t safe to walk on this late in the season. Once the ice starts to recede from the shoreline, anglers should start fishing, as lake trout will be actively feeding.

And finally, all seven man-made lakes off the Tucannon River in Columbia County – Beaver, Big Four, Blue, Deer, Rainbow, Spring and Watson – have open water and are stocked with rainbows weighing up to 1.5 pounds each. And don’t forget, Fishhook Pond in Walla Walla County and Pampa Pond in Whitman County also open March 1 for rainbow trout fishing. NS

Editor’s note: Mark Yuasa is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife communications manager and longtime local fishing and outdoor writer.

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Building A Kokanee Quiver

What to look for when choosing rods to fish for landlocked sockeye.

By Tom Schnell

What is the best rod out there for targeting kokanee? That is like asking what the best deer-hunting rifle is. There are so many variables, options and even personal preferences that go into choosing what rod may work best for you. In the end, there is no real right and wrong answer; however, let’s delve into some of the characteristics to look at when choosing a rod for kokanee fishing.

In my early years of fishing for kokanee, we used lighter-weight salmon rods spooled with lead core line and heavy lake trolls. We caught a lot of fish back then. Still, it seemed more like being a commercial troller just pulling in the fish, since I could never really feel them fight. Rubber snubbers were a necessity and we were meat anglers. We targeted the fish for their table quality and did not really take the time to enjoy the fight they put up.

One can still use this method; however, with the advent of dodgers and lighter tackle, a whole new industry and way of fishing was born. As we switched over to the “newer” lighter tackle, so did our rods. We started out with what we had, which were some medium-lightweight Ugly Stik spinning rods. They worked for jigging, so we thought we would use them for trolling for kokanee. And they worked. We caught a lot of kokanee on them.

Then we started experimenting with various rods designed specifically for trolling. At first my lovely wife

A good kokanee downrigger rod will have a parabolic action throughout it, allowing the rod to load up. These types of rods are ideal for trolling deep and are not designed for heavier lead used in dropper rod applications. (TOM SCHNELL)

FISHING

questioned why we were spending money on more rods when the ones we were using were working just fine. That was many years ago and, suffice it to say, she is now a complete and utter rod snob. I am not complaining, just stating a fact. We have tried many brands, sizes, makes and models and have found our favorite few.

It seems like every year another rod manufacturer comes out with a new

rod designed for kokanee. There is now a plethora of rod manufacturers out there, all competing for their share of the kokanee rod market. Daiwa, Eagle Claw, Edge Rods, Lamiglas, NW Rods, Okuma, Paulina Peak Tackle, Santiam Rods, Tica, Velocity Rods –the list can go on and on.

I WAS FORTUNATE enough to get two industry experts who design and

manufacture kokanee rods to sit down and discuss with me what makes an ideal kokanee rod.

Jared Johnson is one of the cofounders and owners of Velocity Rods (fishvelocity.com). He has been designing kokanee rods since the late 1990s and has a lot of experience with kokanee rods in particular. Tom Schnell Jared, what makes an ideal kokanee rod?

Jared Johnson There are many factors that go into what you are wanting to look for in a kokanee rod. One is length. We manufacture rods from 7 foot all the way up to our Samurai rod, which is 8 foot 3 inches. Our bread-and-butter rod is our 7-foot 6-inch Ninja rod, an all-around workhorse. It is the most purchased imported kokanee rod in the market right now.

We import our rods, off of our designed blanks, from overseas. Most of the rods sold out in the market are from 7 foot 6 inches to 8 feet. The 7-foot 6-inch to 8-foot size of rods provide the best of both worlds: strength and flexibility. The shorter the rod, the more strength it tends to have, while a longer rod tends to have more flexibility.

Ideally you want a rod that has a good parabolic action to it, meaning there is an even load along the entire length of the blank. In other words, it is evenly balanced when loading up. For kokanee rods, the 7-foot 6-inch to 8-foot rods provide this type of action.

If you are fishing multiple rods off of your boat, you may also want different sizes. I typically fish the longer rods off the side, while putting the shorter ones off the back. This provides a wider spread in the gear and helps lessen your tackle from getting tangled up.

Pay attention to the rod’s listed action. Most of our rods are rated ultralight and have a line rating of 4-10, with a lure rating of up to 1 ounce.

A good all-around downrigger and dropper rod is one like this Santiam SFC-762ULK red rod, or the Velocity Ninja rod. Both are designed for downriggers and author Tom Schnell has used both as dropper rods with weights up to 3 ounces. Any heavier and you should go with a rod designed as a dropper rod such as the Santiam SFC762C or the Velocity Samaria rod. (TOM SCHNELL)

Jared Johnson

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One thing to look for in a rod, too, is the number of eyelets. Usually, the more the better. Eyelets help with the seamless transition from the reel to the eye, allowing the rod to perform to its capability. The tighter the eyelets are together, the better the rod will react by providing a more uniform bend. Our 7-foot rod has 10 eyelets and the eye tip, while our 7-foot 6-inch Ninja rod has 11 eyelets and the eye tip.

Early on we used ceramic eyelets due to the strength of ceramic eyes, but found that too many of them were being broken or they were popping out, so we have transitioned to stainless steel eyelets. The stainless steel holds up very well and you don’t have to worry about breaking out the ceramic inserts.

Handle construction is important too. We use ATK shrink wrap on ours. We put it over hardened condensed foam. This provides three things:

durability of the handle from the wear and tear of it being taken in and out of rod holders; stickier to the hand, especially when it is wet or you have fish slime all over it; and it provides for more comfortable fit in the hand.

The last thing to look for is what the rod blank is made of. There is glass, graphite and composite, which is typically a blend of glass and graphite. The upside to glass is its strength and durability, while graphite tends to be a little lighter and a lot more sensitive. Combining the two gives you a stronger rod from the glass with one that is more sensitive from the graphite. If you have inexperienced anglers on the boat, or small kids where they are not as gentle on rods as maybe a more experienced angler would be, glass is the way to go.

Graphite rods are more fragile and can get damaged very easily. You don’t

want to hook into a big fish only to have your rod break due to some damage, like it being leaned on or having something accidently dropped on it. Our Ninja rod is so popular because it is a composite rod that is super-sensitive and yet it can handle the rigors of being in the boat all the time.

One little side note I get asked a lot is why do we sell different-colored rods.

Schnell and his wife Rhonna started off fishing for kokanee with what they had when they had on hand: spinning rods (inset). They have upgraded over the years to rods that are better suited for the type of fishing they do. The point is, use what you have if it gets you out on the water. (TOM SCHNELL)

FISHING

This is primarily for people who fish multiple rods off their boat being able to identify quickly what rod has a fish on it. Instead of yelling “fish on” and everyone trying to figure out what rod it is, you can just yell “red rod” or “blue rod” and everyone can quickly identify what rod you are talking about.

My final word of advice is, buy the very best rod you can afford. If all you can afford is the inexpensive yellow Eagle Claw rod at Bi-Mart, then buy it. If you can afford the high-end Edge Rod, go for it. We all have different purchasing abilities and that should not stop us from getting out fishing. We at Velocity Rods try and make the best-quality rod for a fair price. I think of our rods as the blue collar rods that are hardworking and yet affordable. At the end of the day, buy what you can afford that allows you to get out on the water fishing, because that is what it is all about.

MY OTHER EXPERT is Jay Kendrick, founder and owner of Santiam Fishing Rods. He started Santiam Fishing Rods (santiamfishingproducts.com) in 2008 and currently makes 11 different kokanee rods.

TS Jay, what makes an ideal kokanee rod?

Jay Kendrick Kokanee anglers are one of the most challenging groups to design for because of all the different options out there. Some want one piece, others two, then throw in the length of the rod, action and blank material and suddenly people are wanting a variety of rods. Most of it comes down to personal preference.

We have really tried to bring the various components out there together in designing our kokanee rods. We put our rods in the hands of many kokanee anglers to get hands-on experience and suggestions. We then use their feedback to help design and manufacture our rods to be some of the best out there

in the market. Especially for kokanee, it is critical to have a powerful enough rod to handle some of the larger fish like up at Wallowa Lake, but one with a sensitive tip to see when smaller fish are hitting too.

We have settled for a 7-foot 6-inch blank for most of our trolling rods, as it seems to be the most desired all-around length, especially for downriggers. Most feel it is easier to net a fish and manage the rod overall with lengths

in this range versus rods in longer lengths. This length with the right blank also provides a pretty uniform bend to the rod, which is important when using them in downriggers. The one exception is our long-lining rod, which is 8 foot 6 inches.

Our two bestsellers are our twopiece downrigger SFC-762ULK red rod and our two-piece downrigger/ dropper SFC-762C composite rod. Both are very versatile rods in that

A good kokanee rod will have enough backbone to handle larger fish yet a soft tip to detect the often subtle bite of a kokanee. Here, Rhonna battles a 4-pound bull trout that decided to hit her kokanee lure. (TOM SCHNELL)

Jay Kendrick

FISHING

and Schnell: “Get the best rod that fits into your budget and get out there and go fishing.” (TOM SCHNELL)

weight and cost of the rod, so there is a balance. We use aluminum oxide guides with ceramic eyelet inserts. We have found that the ceramic inserts prevent the eyelets from having damage done to them, especially from braided line. Braid in particular can start wearing out eyelets, so the ceramic helps prevent this.

We apply rubber X-flock material over our lightweight EVA foam to keep the handle from getting torn up with rodholder use. Putting the rods into and taking them out of the rodholders can really be damaging over time to some other materials used in the industry. They not only tend to be more durable, they also are less slippery when wet.

they can be used in downriggers and can also be used as dropper rods. The SFC-762ULK red rod is a more sensitive rod, so it performs really well in the downrigger but cannot handle as much weight as what we designed the downrigger/dropper rod for.

For our jigging rods we go with a 6-foot rod. That length gives the perfect balance of strength and sensitivity, as it does not need to load up like a downrigger rod, so we opted to go shorter. With a jigging rod you want more backbone in the lower two-thirds of the rod to give it the power you need to jig so you are not working yourself to death. You do want a soft tip, though, to give the jig some action. Too soft of a rod and you are working too hard at jigging; too stiff of a rod and you are not getting the jigging action you need. Most jigs used for kokanee are between ½ to 1 ounce, so a soft tip is desirable.

Most of our blanks are made out of either fiberglass or a composite of fiberglass and carbon fiber, with many of our rods handcrafted here locally. The fiberglass tends to be heavier but sturdier, while the composite allows for a smaller-diameter blank, which results in a lighter rod. Fiberglass

really loads up through the blank, giving it an almost parabolic bend. The composite tends to load up more on the top half of the rod, which makes it ideal for a dropper rod. Only the long-lining rod is made out of complete carbon fiber material.

We offer anywhere from a solid one-piece up to a four-piece rod. The most popular are the two-piece rods, with the one-piece coming in at a close second. There is minimal performance difference between our one- and two-piece rods; it is more of a preference item. People who store their rods in their boats like the one-piece (rods), while others who transport their rods outside of their boats often prefer the two- or fourpiece rods for traveling.

When it comes to guides, the biggest thing is to match the number of guides to the bend of the rod. The only exception to this is a rod designed with spiral guides. You want enough guides on the rod to keep the line off of the blank. A rod with more bend to it, like a downrigger rod that really needs to load up, will be built with more guides as recommended by our blank manufacturers. At the same time, too many guides add to the overall

My last piece of advice is to buy something to fit your budget. There are so many good rod brands in a variety of price ranges, so find something that fits within your means so you can get out there fishing.

AFTER TALKING WITH Jared Johnson and Jay Kendrick, I walked away with a whole new appreciation for what they put into the designing and building of kokanee rods. But what I really took away from our conversations was that when asked what piece of advice they would leave me with, they said to get the best rod that fits into your budget and get out there and go fishing. At the end of the day, that is what it is all about: getting out on the water and enjoying this great fishery. Sage advice from two people who are industry experts when it comes to designing and manufacturing kokanee rods.

Tight lines and fish on! NS

Editor’s notes: This is part two in a series on catching kokanee from author Tom Schnell. In February he covered fishery basics and in a coming article will focus on dodgers. Schnell is an avid outdoorsman who lives with his wife Rhonna in Central Oregon. He is the secretary of the Kokanee Power of Oregon board and a past local Ducks Unlimited and Oregon Hunters Association president.

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2023 Bottomfish Prospects

Northwest managers expect another good season, with available yelloweye impacts increased in Oregon but a few seasonal rockfish restrictions to be aware of in Washington.

By MD Johnson

Used to be about this time of year, I’d start to get all giggly about turkey season. Vest emptied out. Calls played with. Shotgun on the range. Driving around with binoculars glued to my face. Knocking on doors. More doors. And more doors. And then it would at long last arrive, the Day of Days. Opening day. Yes, sir. Giggly, I was.

Since moving back to Washington in 2015, I haven’t so much as touched a turkey call. Now, that’s not entirely true because last April I went back to my native northeastern Ohio and sat next to my 82-year-old pop, Mick, and watched him tag a fine Buckeye State gobbler. Made my season, and I never touched a shotgun. But here in Washington? Haven’t been out in the spring. Not once. Not a gobble.

Why, you ask? Did I develop a serious dislike for everything turkey? I did not; however, what I did discover was that I could go to the mouth of the Columbia starting on the second Saturday in March and fish for greateating black rockfish (sea bass) and lingcod without losing all my gear within the first 3.27 minutes. Last year the fishing lasted all summer long, well into silver season. And you know what? It was fun. Enjoyable. Educational. Frustrating at times, but it was a challenge expected and, lest I brag, met head on and well-received. Think about turkeys come mid-April? You know, not really. It was, in a

Black sea bass power bottomfish angling off the Northwest Coast, but there are other species of rockfish to be caught in Oregon’s and Washington’s well-managed fisheries. Jarod Higginbotham released this nice yelloweye last season off the Beaver State, but there should be enough available in 2023 to lift depth restrictions. (JAROD HIGGINBOTHAM)

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word, strange. And refreshing.

So that’s my plan again this spring. Rockfish, lingcod, with a side of surf perch up and down the Long Beach Peninsula. I’m expecting another good season; however, I’m not a bottomfish biologist. Don’t have that crystal ball. What I do have, though, is access to a pair of very knowledgeable individuals who, while perhaps not having an all-knowing orb atop their desks, do without question know what’s going on in the undersea bottomfish world off the Washington and Oregon Coasts.

AS A REINTRODUCTION – you met both of these fisheries managers in 2022 – the

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Heather Hall currently serves as the agency’s intergovernmental ocean policy manager.

“Our group works primarily on federally managed fisheries off the coast,” Hall explains. “We also have international management responsibilities with the Halibut Commission and the International Pacific Halibut Commission, so we’re managing halibut in the Puget Sound as well. We’re also working on commercial groundfish (bottomfish), and I’m one of the agency’s representatives on the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. And I also work closely with the coastal

Dungeness crab fishery.”

No denying; Hall wears a lot of different and often very involved hats.

So does Oregon’s Lynn Mattes.

“Actually, my job and responsibilities changed a week ago,” she noted when we spoke in early February. “I’m now (the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s) marine fisheries management section leader, a step up (from my former position). I oversee all the projects that deal with all marine and finfish fisheries, except for salmon. We also have Dungeness crab under my section now, as well.”

So what do these two professionals have to say about the 2023 bottomfish season? Best way to find out is simply to turn the conversation over to them, eh?

Northwest Sportsman If you were to summarize the 2022 bottomfish season off your coast, what would that sound like?

Lynn Mattes The 2022 bottomfish season off the Oregon Coast was a very “interesting” season, even with really high marine fuel prices. Even with that – even with a pretty good salmon season – we had the highest effort for recreational bottomfish on record in Oregon. Every month, with the exception of May, had higher effort than we were projecting, and it continued through September and into early October.

A lot of people were able to get out and fish … and that’s a good thing, but because of that we were getting close to our quotas on a couple (bottomfish) species. We had to implement some reductions right after Labor Day, e.g. dropping our (daily) bag limit from five fish to four, and we had to prohibit retention of copper and China rockfish.

Heather Hall It was good. I will say that 2022 was when we started to see sportfishing in Washington, particularly off the coast, return to more prepandemic (conditions). We had the ports of Neah Bay and La

Time to stock up on bigger leadhead jigs, plastic twin-tail grubs, swimbaits and more in preparation for what is expected to be a pretty good bottomfish season. (JULIE JOHNSON)

Push both closed for an extended time beyond what Westport and Ilwaco were closed. The tribes were doing that to be protective of the health of their communities. And those are popular areas for recreational sportfishing for bottomfish and halibut. So, 2022

was really exciting in that those ports reopened to the public.

All of our catch (reports) looked really good. Weather-wise, it was one storm after another in the spring, but things picked up after that and (the fishery) got hit pretty hard in May

continuing through June. It was an exciting year in terms of getting all the ports open.

NWS There were some regulatory changes pertaining to bottomfish in 2022. Anything of special note to be implemented in 2023?

LM At the beginning of the year, the clock resets, so to speak, as we get new federal allocations for things. So, we’re starting the year with a five-fish bag limit. We did get a bump up in our federal copper rockfish allocation. Last year, we had a onefish sublimit on China and copper rockfish, but with that bump up in copper, there’s no longer a sublimit for those species.

We’ve also gotten a bump up in the number of yelloweye (rockfish) we’ve allowed to impact, and with that, we think we have enough yelloweye impacts to not have a seasonal depth restriction this year. So anglers will be able to fish all depths year-round. We’ll be watching yelloweye very closely this year.

Author’s note: What Mattes said next, I, an angler who grew up on a steady diet of crappie, walleye, channel cats and bluegills, and just recently a “side dish,” per se, of shore-based salmon and rockfish/ lingcod, found very interesting.

LM Additionally, and off the Oregon Coast, we have the long leader gear fishery, which is a fishery to target midwater rockfish like yellowtail and widow rockfish. The bag limit for that fishery has been 10, but we’re working with (federal authorities) and our state process now, and we may likely be able to bump that up to 15 fish. And again, the hope is by increasing the bag limit to entice anglers to go further offshore for those really healthy plentiful stocks, and to maybe take some pressure off our black rockfish, along with the China and coppers.

Author’s note: As I was unfamiliar with the phrase “long leader fishery,” Mattes explained to me that this is a specific gear type that requires a minimum of 30

No doubt the vast majority of rockfish and lings are caught off of sport and charter boats, but anglers like Adrian and Rose McClellan do well off of the jetties and rocks that line the coast. Safety should be your number one consideration on these manmade and natural rock structures subject to big waves and tides. (JULIE JOHNSON)

FISHING

feet between the weight and the lowest hook or fly, along with a noncompressible float positioned above the hooks. This way, she states, the hooks/lures/flies are at least 30 feet off the bottom, and away from where the yelloweye live and more in the water column where yellowtail, widow and canary rockfish – the more pelagic rockfish – are.

“It’s designed to target these more plentiful stocks,” Mattes adds, “while helping anglers avoid the yelloweye.”

Long leader gear, she continues, was developed in cooperation by an ODFW fish sampler, researchers, recreational anglers and a charter captain who thought, “‘Hey, we have these underutilized offshore mid-water stocks. How can we get access to those, while still keeping our impacts to yelloweye small?’ And this is what was developed. It took a long time, but we have it in place now.” It was, Mattes summarizes, a way to provide more opportunity where ODFW could.

HH Starting in 2023, there will be a “no retention” requirement for vermillion, copper and quillback rockfish (in Washington waters). Anglers will not be able to retain those species in the months of May, June and July. That’s really the most significant (regulatory) change from what’s been in place. No other changes to closed areas or anything like that; it’s a simple “no retention” of those three species.

NWS In your mind and generally speaking, is the angling community satisfied with the coast bottomfish fishery, be this Oregon or Washington?

LM I think the anglers who understand the limitations we (ODFW) have due to federal allocations understand we’re doing our best to provide as much opportunity as we can. Providing a number of opportunities and options. There are some tradeoffs. We have a little lower bag limit in Oregon because we’re open year-round; Washington has a little higher bag limit, but they have several months when they’re closed. In talking with our anglers, that’s (a

year-round season) something our anglers have requested.

HH The anglers I’m speaking with now fully recognize there are some complicated regulations, but we’re doing our best to balance the need to protect some species while at the same time providing opportunity for other species that have more healthy populations. And we know that makes it a little more complicated with the rules and such … but where we can relax the rules, we want to do that. And where we need to be more careful, we want to do that. Generally speaking, though, (we want) people to know if they’re struggling with the rules, they can call us. We’ve had great feedback from our Washington sport angling community, and particularly along the coast.

NWS Crystal ball time. Predictions for the 2023 bottomfish season?

LM Prior to 2014, we were averaging about 80,000 bottomfish angler trips

per year. Since 2015, we’ve been averaging a little over 100,000, or about a 20 percent increase. And that’s stayed with us. Since Covid, a lot of people have shifted to outdoor activities. Boat sales went up. Recreational vehicle sales went up. A lot more people have turned to the outdoors. So, I know that’s played a role in (the increase). I think we’ll continue to see a little bit of that.

A lot of it depends on our salmon seasons. Chinook are up in the air; it’s uncertain now, but it looks like we’ll have similar, perhaps slightly lower coho numbers this year, and those coho numbers can pull people to the coast. If salmon fishing is really good or really bad, people turn to bottomfish. Tuna – or how close the albacore tuna get to the coast in July, August and September – impacts the bottomfish fishery.

I suspect it will be fairly close to last year; we’ll just have to see what the weather does, and with fuel prices in

An Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife diagram shows how a “long leader fishery” rig works to keep lures well off the bottom where yelloweye lurk and in the faces of more plentiful and less-constraining pelagic rockfish stocks. ODFW describes the noncompressible float as made of “rigid plastic or cork – not Styrofoam” and buoyant enough “to support all hooking gear and line above the leader.” For more on lure length restrictions and how to build the leader, see myodfw.com/articles/offshore-longleader-gear. (ODFW)

Newport at about half of what they were last year, that could have an impact, too.

HH I hope it’s another really good return to the prepandemic era, where folks are able to get out and sport fish. We have the restrictions on vermillion, copper and quillback, but other than that, we’re looking at some pretty healthy resources. And, of course, hoping for some good weather. So, yes, my prediction is for good opportunities for bottomfishing in 2023.

NWS Final question – dog person or cat person?

LM Hamster person. You’ve heard of the “Crazy Cat Lady” in the neighborhood? I’m the Eccentric Hamster Lady.

HH Oh … my … goodness! Don’t make me choose! I am definitely a “both.” If I had to categorize myself as a human, I’m a cat … but I love my friendly dog. NS

Author MD Johnson and his brotherin-law Gordie Walling clean rockfish and lingcod after a successful bottomfish outing. (JULIE JOHNSON)

New Fishery Begins To Emerge From The Deep

By Gary Lundquist

Mention catching a limit of blackcod to most folks in the Northwest and they would assume you were talking about black sea bass, aka black rockfish. Mention catching a sablefish and most folks would think you were angling for something exotic from South America or the Mediterranean or maybe even the Amazon.

But blackcod and sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) are actually one and the same, though the species has many other names, including beshow, coalfish, skil, snowfish, Alaska cod, gindara and – my favorite – butterfish.

I HAD MY first taste of blackcod back in the early 1990s. Keith, a Native American acquaintance of mine, lived on the Grays River not far from Ilwaco. All through the ’90s my late brother Erik and I hunted archery elk in the southern part of the Willapa Hills Game Management Unit on gated, closed-to-motorizedvehicles timberland. We hunted the clearcuts and timbered ridges across the road from Keith’s house. We met Keith on our first trip, after smelling smoldering alder all day on the hill above his house as we chased elk.

Keith bought whole fish of all varieties from commercial fishermen and Native Americans based out of Ilwaco. He would fillet, can, smoke and freeze and sell it out of his home on the Grays. All of his fish was topshelf, as he only bought it fresh, and he took very good care of it. We, of

Tasty sablefish can add to halibut, lingcod hauls for those who venture well offshore and pack their electric reels, 1,500-plus feet of braid and superheavy jigs.

While it carries multiple names, two things can be said for sure about sablefish: It’s a rarely pursued deepwater denizen that tastes delicious. Ron Harrington holds a nice one caught off the Washington Coast. (GARY LUNDQUIST)

course, would often buy fish from him.

“Hey,” Keith said the first time we met him, “have you ever had smoked blackcod?”

Erik and I both wondered why in the world anyone would smoke a black rockfish. We acknowledged that we hadn’t, so Keith quickly produced some freshly smoked blackcod and Erik and I knew right away it wasn’t rockfish.

Wow! Being of Scandinavian Northlander descent, there isn’t much from the salt I won’t eat, and that fish was like King Oscar Kipper Snacks on steroids!

Blackcod has a high fat content, giving it a rich but fairly mild buttery flavor, thus the name butterfish. It also gives the meat a soft, velvety texture. The flesh has large, white flakes and

is an excellent source – as you can imagine – of omega-3 fatty acids.

Much like rockfish, blackcod live a long time, with some reaching over 90 years of age. That said, most of those caught by commercial, tribal and sports fishermen are less than 20 years old. Sablefish growth varies depending on where they live and what they eat. The larger fish come out of Alaska, where lengths of up to 45 inches and weights of up to 55 pounds have been recorded.

In an episode last year, outdoor writer and TV show host Steve Rinella and friend Janis Putelis caught a couple blackcod off of the Queen Charlotte Islands, also known as Haida Gwaii, in 1,500 feet of water. Even if the fish were on the smaller side, Rinella was proud as heck after

catching his first-ever blackcod. “Next to the obvious stuff like having kids and whatnot, um, getting married, writing my first magazine article, this is the happiest I’ve ever been!”

I will give this to Rinella: He does have a taste for top-quality fish flesh!

WE QUIT HUNTING the Willapa Hills archery elk season in the early 2000s after some rule changes and I didn’t think much about blackcod again until about 2009. While walking the docks at La Push one midsummer evening after a successful day catching coho at the Rock Pile, I met a crusty old gray-bearded commercial fisherman whose target was blackcod. He had an old, 1940s-era wooden doubleended salmon troller converted to a long liner, maybe 40 feet at best. The

Given their preference for hanging out at great depths, sablefish – also known as blackcod – are typically caught while anglers pursue other species such as halibut, lingcod and canary rockfish. (GARY LUNDQUIST)

two were built for each other and both had the look of several battle-worn seasons spent on the salt. He said he had just returned after several days fishing and had done fairly well on blackcod. He told me that they fished off the continental shelf in 600 feet of water and deeper. Bingo! That’s why we had never caught any as kids. They live in water too deep for the average sportsman.

He also told me that blackcod was extremely high in fish oil and it was the main ingredient in WD40. I googled that and couldn’t find anything to back up the claim. Still, I was intrigued by the conversation with the old sou’wester, but I had no gear that would even come close to reaching these fish, let alone a boat worthy of the trek.

I fished halibut out of Westport for the first time several years ago after an invite from my coworker Brad, whose friend Randy lives in Westport and had an empty spot on his private boat. Needless to say, we had no trouble getting our halibut and several nice lingcod as well, although Brad

had several issues trying to gaff my obviously larger lingcod! He doesn’t like being bested, but that’s another story. That day we fished in 600-plus feet of water and while we didn’t catch any blackcod, the next year we did land a couple. That, of course, got the gears turning in my fish-head brain.

OVER THE LAST five or six years I’ve fished halibut out of Westport primarily with my friends Ron Harrington and Scott Moores on Ron’s boat, a very seaworthy 23-foot Parker pushed by a fresh 300-horsepower Yamaha. We fish several spots on the edge of the continental shelf close to the abyss, and though blackcod can be caught in any of these spots, we only found one to be fairly consistent for the species. That said, we have never limited on them.

A typical deepwater outing off Westport can mean a pretty long day, with 80 to 150 miles of travel. But with some ingenuity, it can yield a pretty hefty bag of a nice halibut in the 10to 50-pound range, two nice lingcod in the 15- to 40-pound range, some hefty canary rockfish and some very nice

blackcod in the 8- to 20-pound range. On our last trip out, Ron caught the nicest blackcod we have ever harvested. After Ron got home and had filleted and vacuum-packed his fish, he looked up Washington’s state record for the species just for giggles. It is right at 30 pounds even, caught by Jeff Rudolph out of Westport in 1994. If we had weighed it, I think Ron’s fish may have made the record book. Regardless, it made the Betty Crocker! Opportunity for blackcod occurs pretty much during the offshore, or deepwater, fishery, which is limited in openings. In Washington, you are allowed four halibut annually and the season normally is open on Thursdays and Sundays starting in May until the annual quota is met. During this fishery you can retain almost anything else you catch while staying within your daily limit, the exception being yelloweye rockfish. Outside of halibut there is also a deepwater lingcod season that runs for a few weeks in early June, and then again in September. Besides those, you can fish the depths for open species, including blackcod, but you

Terminal tackle is essentially the same as for halibut, a mix of lead-filled copper pipes outfitted with a treble and a teaser, or a very heavy jig. (GARY LUNDQUIST)

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MORE FACTS ABOUT SABLEFISH

Here are some facts about sablefish, or blackcod, drawn from a National Marine Fisheries Service fact sheet:

• There are two populations in the Pacific, with the northern stock inhabiting the waters off Alaska –where they are most common – and northern British Columbia, while the southern stock can be found off southern BC, Washington, Oregon and California. Both populations overlap off the southwest side of Vancouver Island and Washington’s North Coast.

• Adult sablefish “live on mud bottoms in waters deeper than 650 feet,” while “juveniles live throughout the water column in nearshore waters.”

• Female sablefish can grow to more than 3 feet long, reproducing at 6½ years old and 2-plus feet in length. Males can reproduce at 5 years old and 1.9 feet long.

• The fish “spawn in deeper water along the continental slope from January to April in Alaska waters, and from January to March between California and British Columbia. Eggs develop in deep water for about two weeks until they hatch, then rise to the surface,” where they are moved by the current. “Juveniles have been found to migrate more than 2,000 miles in six or seven years,” and fish can “live to be more than 90 years old.”

• Fifty-two million pounds of sablefish were landed commercially in 2021, a haul valued at $112 million; they’re “the highest valued finfish per pound in Alaska and West Coast commercial fisheries because of their rich oil content.”

• As for the sport fishery, NMFS states they’re “occasionally caught in Alaska recreational fisheries during their summer migrations onto the continental shelf,” but the feds may have to update their fact sheet if the fishery off the Northwest Coast expands. –NWS

Among the headlines author Gary Lundquist proposed for his feature was “Look what we pulled out of our ’But Hole.” He says fishing is done on the edge of the continental shelf but it’s tough to find a consistent spot.

(GARY LUNDQUIST)

cannot retain lings or hali.

Blackcod are included in Washington’s daily bottomfish limit. Theoretically, you could retain two if you could catch them and didn’t want to retain your two lingcod, as lingcod are included in the bottomfish limit. Halibut are not included in the bottomfish limit, but they must be logged on your Washington catch record card and, again, the annual limit is four.

In Oregon, blackcod fall under the general marine bag limit, which has fluctuated from four to six fish in recent years and seasons.

Blackcod can be caught out of all ports on the Washington Coast – Ilwaco, Westport, La Push and Neah Bay – but be advised that all marine areas will have different depth restrictions, so always check the fishing regulations as

well as updated rules available on the WDFW website (wdfw.wa.gov).

I’D LIKE TO say that I target blackcod and that halibut are my incidental bycatch, but in all honesty, blackcod for us in the recreational fishery seem a bit difficult to target. We do have some intel on our best historical locations, but that changes from season to season. Fishing three falls ago, when hali was closed until September due to Covid, we did very well on blackcod in secret spot No. 2. There was only one other boat on that spot that day and we knew them. You might say “fishing was wide open.”

We use electric reels rigged with about 1,500 to 2,500 feet of 80-pound braid and a short stiff rod. If you break off in 900 feet, you’ll want a backup plan. We use mainly homemade

pipe jigs made of ¾-inch-by-12-inch copper pipe filled with lead by yours truly, rigged with a size 12 treble hook attached at the middle of a stainless cotter pin and swivel. Generally, one of us will run a 36-ounce Norwegian jig. We’ll throw a bit of some type of bait on the hook for scent. Tuna belly strips work well, as do squid and octopus, but anything works.

Ron ties up some two-hook rigs with halibut cord and runs a B2 squid or large hoochie-worm combo about 3 feet above the jig. Catching two fish at a time is not uncommon with this setup. Ron has a pretty good Garmin plotter for PIN-pointing our historical hot spots, but I simply buy the Navionics Boating app for my phone at $15 a year. On one trip out

of Westport the plotter quit and the phone app saved the trip.

IN A 2019 assessment, the National Marine Fisheries Service stated that West Coast populations of blackcod are not overfished and not subject to overfishing, based on 2018 catch data. Perhaps the fact that they live in waters from 600 to 5,000 feet deep has something to do with it. Still, I hope NMFS’s population estimate is accurate, because as with most huntergatherer activities, when technology advances and gatherers increase, opportunity decreases.

Blackcod is my favorite fish flesh by far, followed by lingcod, then halibut. My lovely wife of three and a half decades, Bonnie, makes it several ways: fish and chips; pan-seared with lemon pepper or blackened; barbecued; broiled with miso; miso-marinated; pansimmered; and, of course, smoked. The possibilities are endless. NS

Despite their nickname, sablefish are in fact not a cod at all. They fall in the family Scorpaeniformes and their nearest relative is the skilfish, another deepwater species that lives over rocky bottoms, whereas sablefish prefer a muddy ocean floor. (NMFS)

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Spring Turkey Preview

By MD Johnson

If Mister Editor’s story sequencing in March goes as it has for many an issue, you, Dear Reader, will have read a handful of angling stories prior to getting into anything hunting-related. I say this because if this is indeed the case, you will have (hopefully) read, start to finish, my edge-of-your-seat 2023 bottomfish preview – the one where I begin by saying, basically, that I’ve given up turkeys for bottomfish in the spring. Well, that’s not entirely true. As I mentioned in the bottomfish piece, I

did go back to my native Ohio in 2022 and spent a couple fine mornings in the turkey woods with my dad, now 83. I’ll go back again this April and watch another couple sunrises with the Old Man while, Lord will’n, peering over his shoulder as he drops the hammer on a big fat Buckeye longbeard.

Oh, I’m still giggly about turkeys. Have been since 1990 when I watched Pop kill his first, and, with any luck, will be until I can’t hack the challenge of serving as a life support system for a shotgun and loaded turkey vest all spring. Again, as I said, I don’t get out all that often anymore, but that’s

not to say I don’t thoroughly enjoy living vicariously through those who do spend morning after morning in the turkey woods. Or, for that matter, through the upland game bird biologists with whom I have the pleasure of speaking with each spring prior to the various turkey openers.

Case in point here. Busy folks, they be; however, I was fortunate enough to catch up with Sarah Garrison, small game/upland bird/furbearer specialist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with Mikal Cline, upland game bird coordinator with the Oregon Department of Fish and

Here’s an early look at what gobbler hunters should expect in Washington and Oregon this season.

Northwest gobbler gunners should find good numbers of birds across the region during the spring 2023 season. Logan Braaten bagged this tom early one morning last year while hunting with his dad Eric and a decoy. (COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

Wildlife, to get their take on what turkey hunters can expect once season rolls around come mid-April. Encouraging news, it is, whether you’re planning to spend your mornings in the Evergreen State or across the river in the Beaver State, or both.

WASHINGTON

As she did last year, Garrison came out of the blocks with good news for Evergreen State turkey hunters.

“Washington’s turkey population,” she says, “continues to do very well. Harvest increased 57 percent in the 2021 spring season from the previous year. Hunter success dropped slightly to 48 percent, but remains above the

average from the last 10 years.”

As for a subspecies by subspecies breakdown on how each is faring – Washington is currently home to three of the country’s four varieties of Meleagris gallopavo: easterns, Merriam’s and Rio Grandes – Garrison states that Eastside birds “are doing very well, with both populations being selfsustaining.” Meanwhile, the eastern subspecies, found in small pockets west of the Cascades “where suitable habitat is limited, continues to sustain in low numbers.” The biologist adds that Rio Grandes in Southeast Washington “likely stabilized (numerically) about five years ago, while the Merriam’s are stable and continuing to increase

in some areas.”

In years past, the populations of both Merriam’s and Rio Grandes increased in some locales to the point of being problematic; that is, well, too much of a good thing for some agriculturalists, farmers and vineyard owners. Twenty turkeys is one thing; 520 birds milling about one’s barnyard before roosting in one’s hayloft is another. Five hundred turkeys produce a lot of, er, organic waste material, which, unfortunately, doesn’t do the hay or the $300,000 John Deere combine underneath them much good.

“The WDFW,” says Garrison, “still receives complaints from developed areas across Central and Eastern Washington, especially in the winter when snow makes access to natural food sources more difficult.”

(Turkey populations on some islands in the San Juans, including Orcas, can also cause issues, though public hunting access is very limited.)

It’s no secret now that since 2020, otherwise known as The Year of Covid, there’s been an uptick – often a huge uptick – in the number of folks getting outside and enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer. Angling. Waterfowl hunting. Camping. Recreational vehicle use. Hell, bird watching and day hiking all have grown in popularity, thanks to that little global bug and the human desire to get outside and do, well, something. Turkey hunting? Not immune.

“From 2012 through 2019,” says Garrison, “the number of spring turkey remained relatively stable, with a slight (6 percent) increase in participation during the 2019 season.”

While general season opens April 15 in all three states, each offers an early season for youth hunters. Washington’s runs April 1-7, Idaho’s is April 8-14 and Oregon’s is the weekend of April 8-9.

Garrison says that while participation dropped some 16 percent during Washington’s Covid-shortened 2020 spring season, hunter numbers rose an incredible 63 percent during 2021.

“Harvest,” she continues, “has followed a similar, though muted, trajectory as expected, with that overall increasing trend from 2012 through 2021.”

Washington state turkey hunters

(COAST PHOTO CONTEST)

can expect no regulatory changes for the 2023 spring season, a nice change considering the hunting/ fishing pamphlets seem to get bigger and bigger each year. What hunters can expect, says Garrison, is that perennial “best bets” will continue to shine. This includes the northeastern part of Washington, with a spotlight on Pend Oreille, Stevens and Spokane Counties for Merriams, along with the southeast corner and Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Whitman and Walla Walla Counties for Rio Grandes.

“We’ll leave the easterns alone,” Garrison says, and I couldn’t agree more. Easterns here are a small, secretive, stable-but-not-expandingmuch-at-all population, essentially limited to pockets scattered from around Olympia – being vague –south to portions of Cowlitz County and – again, being vague – points in between. Traditional eastern haunts have been well-documented in print and online over the past 20 years, and those haven’t changed much, if at all. Want an eastern here? Be willing to

devote your time, boot leather and your season to finding one; then, it’s just a matter of convincing him you’re a good-looking Mama Turkey. Do so, though, and you’re well on your way to the Washington Turkey Slam – harvesting all three subspecies in a single season.

OREGON

Across the Big River, Garrison’s Beaver State counterpart is Mikal Cline, ODFW’s upland game bird coordinator.

“The hatch going into spring 2022 was of concern,” Cline begins somewhat ominously. “If you’ll remember, we had a switch in the weather in late April. We’d had a dry winter up till that point, and then the weather switched and it started getting wet and snowy and rainy, and the temperatures dropped right in the middle of incubation and (the) hatch. So, we had some concerns about upland bird recruitment in general. Turkeys tend to nest in higher elevations, where the snow was accumulating. I’m not sure (the concerns) were justified.”

To be fair, and at the time I spoke with Cline (February 9), she and assistant Kelly Walton were waiting for and eagerly anticipating the 2022 harvest data; however, that information wasn’t as yet in hand. Cline was happy to speak of the ’22 spring turkey season success anecdotally.

“I never heard that people were having a hard time finding birds,” Cline says. “We did hear, specific to the fall season, there were some pretty young poults, which meant that our hens were successful in renesting. That wasn’t range-wide, and it’s definitely good news. There are still plenty of birds out there on the landscape.”

As did Garrison, Cline spoke to the human variable in Oregon’s turkey hunting equation. Numbers up since the pandemic? Down? “Turkey hunting has been increasing in popularity in Oregon,” she says. “We had a large bump in both hunter numbers and hunter effort in 2020, and it does seem like we’ve been able to maintain that increase (since then). Two big reasons why people choose to go hunting or

Some of the best turkey numbers are found in the Columbia Gorge, on either side of the big river – this flock of toms was caught on a trail cam near the town of Wahkiacus – but Northeast and Southeast Washington and Northeast and Southwest Oregon have plenty of birds as well, plus decent to good public land access. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

not choose to go hunting, and that’s time and access. We’ve been working hard on the access side, especially closer to our urban areas. That’s been contributing a bit. People had time in 2020 to figure things out, whether they were new hunters, continuing hunters, or reactivated (hunters). And we have plenty of turkeys here in Oregon to sustain this increase.”

Again similar to Washington, Cline says that although it being a “little too early to comment,” the agency isn’t proposing any regulatory changes for the 2023 spring season. However, the fall hunt might prove a different scenario.

“We’re looking at some type of pilot season – some pilot project – to address crop depredation in the John Day Valley,” she says. “Something to get the (turkey population) to tolerable levels in the wintertime. We’re looking at different ideas; we just have to be certain we (ODFW)

have the authority to do them.”

Where Cline is especially optimistic is in the realm of opportunity – public access throughout Oregon to hunting ground that harbors good to even excellent populations of wild turkeys.

“Oregon has a lot of great options,” she states. “Unfortunately, the Willamette Valley is primarily private land, and there are some big flocks there, but finding access can be tricky.”

As a possible alternative, Cline suggests hunters research the agency’s Hunt By Reservation System (myodfw .com/HBR).

“It’s a lottery-style program,” she says, “and it’s been (to date) successful. People can put their name in the hat and hopefully draw a spot on some pretty nice properties that have a lot of turkeys.”

In terms of public access, the coordinator speaks highly of the southwest corner of the state, “where we really do have strong turkey

populations, especially in the Rogue District, with good Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management access adjacent to private lands.”

In the eastern half of the Beaver State, where Cline defines opportunity as being a “ton of public access,” the Blue Mountains continue to be a traditional producer of good hunts, many coming courtesy of ground owned and managed by USFS. Some of the more popular “jumping-off points,” she suggests, include John Day “in any direction,” La Grande and Prineville.

The White River area on the east side of Mt. Hood can be productive; however, “we don’t always recommend that,” Cline admits, “as it does get hunted pretty hard, and those birds didn’t have great production (in 2022). There’s a lot of hunter use out there. But if folks are willing to travel a little further east, they’ll have a better experience.” NS

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Kona’s Big Fetch, Or, How To Train A Burrito Retriever

figuring we’d have been done with a limit of birds by now. But despite what our scouting efforts had revealed, the birds weren’t showing up as we’d hoped.

“I can call my girlfriend and see if she’ll run some lunch out to us,” Austin offered.

him, and he was off.

GUN DOGGIN’ 101

By Scott Haugen

Iposted a number of pictures and a few video clips on my Instagram page of my pudelpointers, Echo and Kona, retrieving ducks this past season. But one video fetched a lot of questions, the most common being, “How’d ya get him to do that?”

What they were referring to was Kona retrieving a bag of burritos from over 500 yards away. Let me set the scene.

MY BUDDY AUSTIN Crowson and I were duck hunting. Two minutes into the midday hunt, a nice pintail came in, which Austin shot. Then we didn’t see a duck for nearly three hours. We both got hungry,

“That’d be great,” I replied, “and if she parks by my truck, I bet Kona will go get ‘em for us!”

A half hour later, our burrito delivery showed up. Austin and I were in a pit blind, and the first time I tried sending Kona back, he wouldn’t push past the sheetwater separating us from our lunch. So I got out, heeled Kona and walked 100 yards to the side so there was a direct line between us and the food – with no water in the way. Kona sat by my left side, as he always does when I cast him out. I released

Two hundred yards out, Kona stopped and looked back at me, as he always does on blind retrieves. I gave him the “back” signal and he sprinted back another 100 yards or so before again pausing, looking to me for direction.

LET ME BACK up even further. Before I sent Kona on the odd fetch request, I got him excited, like when we play in the backyard. He sensed I wasn’t being serious, and knew this was all in fun. His ears perked, his tail wagged, and he got a prance in his step that only comes out when he’s having fun.

Don’t get me wrong, Kona has fun hunting, but hunting is business. When he’s hunting, Kona is focused and will sit from daylight till dark looking for and

Kona delivers burritos to hand, following a 500-plus-yard pushback retrieve directed by author Scott Haugen during a midday duck hunt in Oregon’s Willamette Valley last month. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

retrieving ducks, no matter how cold, wet or hungry he gets. He doesn’t like being touched or petted when hunting. He’s 100-percent focused. So this request was out of the ordinary, and he knew it.

Also, when Austin’s sweetheart called to let him know she was close with lunch, he asked her to call to Kona once he headed her direction for the pickup. About 200 yards out, Kona’s pace slowed and his stature grew upright and alert. Even from 300 yards away I could read his body language, which said to me, “I’m still having fun, but not sure where I’m going or why, and this girl’s high voice sounds a lot like Mom!”

Then he kicked it into high gear and sprinted right up to her. They’d met before, and Kona loves her. I would not have sent him to a stranger.

By the time Kona reached the delivery point behind an old ranch house where my truck was parked, I was back in the blind. Once I saw Kona had the bag secure in his mouth, I gave him two beeps on his e-collar. This is the most important

communication tool I have with my dogs, as it allows me to get their attention and give them directions via hand signals at amazing distances.

As soon as Kona got the two beeps on his e-collar – which means “come to me!” – he did, fast. Kona sprinted the entire distance, not slowing down one time. Kona’s head was held high the whole time. So was his tail. His body language exuded pleasure. He loved doing something new, something fun.

BUILDING A POSITIVE relationship with your gun dog allows you to accomplish amazing things. When I’m done writing this story, for instance, I’ll print it out in my downstairs office, roll it up with a red pen inside, give it to one of the dogs and have them deliver it to my wife, Tiffany, to proofread. When she’s done marking it up, she’ll have one of the dogs bring it back to me.

We live 50 yards from my folks, in the country. When they call and have something for us, we’ll often send the dogs to get it. It might be a piece of mail, a bag

Nine-year-old Echo, a pudelpointer, delivers the story you’re reading now, which Haugen’s wife Tiffany proofread and had Echo return to the author for the final touches. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

of small oranges or a box of tissues. Echo and Kona both love retrieving anything new and unfamiliar. They even help with laundry delivery around the house, both upstairs and downstairs.

Such behavior shows how intelligent a good breed of gun dog can be, and that they thrive on change and the mental stimulation that comes with it. Now that hunting seasons are over, make it a point to have fun with your dog. Get them fetching and doing things they’ve never done. Make an obstacle course for them to run. Take them to new places so they can explore. Challenge them in ways you never have, and you’ll soon realize how smart our four-legged hunting companions really are, and how they thrive on mental challenges. You’ll also discover how much dogs just want to have fun with you. NS

Editor’s note: Scott Haugen is a full-time writer. See his puppy training videos and learn more about his many books at scotthaugen.com and follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

A key to a fun, trusting relationship with your gun dog is having fun with them and challenging their minds. Haugen enjoyed over 100 hunts with Kona and Echo this past season, starting with upland birds in September and ending with late-season waterfowl. (SCOTT

HAUGEN)

More New Guns, Gear For 2023

Treceiver and lock plate. The BEST coating offers superior corrosion and abrasion resistance, according to Benelli, and in the Northwest, that makes a lot of sense.

ON TARGET

By Dave Workman

he annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show is history, but you’ll be seeing new guns and gear from now on, and here are some of the highlights that should impress Northwest hunters and shooters.

BENELLI HAS SOME new offerings, including the new Model 828U over/ under shotgun in 12- and 20-gauge versions. This one is the 828U Steel, with a steel receiver (versus aluminum on earlier models), so it’s a bit heavier.

It features the proprietary Benelli Surface Treatment on the barrels,

In addition, the 828U Steel has a AAgrade satin walnut stock and forend, impulse-activated ejectors, a removable trigger group, 14¾-inch length of pull, and barrel lengths of 26, 28 and 30 inches in the 12-gauge model, and 26 and 28 inches in the 20-gauge version. Barrels come with Crio-treated chokes in C, IC, M, IM and F.

Benelli has added a Realtree Max-7 camo finish to the Super Black Eagle 3 semiauto shotgun family. There are both 12- and 20-gauge models available. The SBE3 features the ComfortTech 3 System and Crio-treated barrels and choke

tubes. Models are available with either 26- or 28-inch barrels.

There’s an updated M2 Field shotgun from Benelli, available in both 12- and 20-gauge. The new M2 Field features a new buttstock design with an extended AirTouch surface behind the grip to improve traction when your hands are wet. The stock boasts Benelli’s new MicroCell recoil pad.

Inside, the M2 has a “revised” bolt which delivers smooth operation, and the traditional round-style bolt release button has been replaced with a longer bar shape that is designed for easier manipulation when wearing gloves.

And for big game work, Benelli is now offering new caliber choices in the bolt-action Lupo rifle. New this year

New long guns for 2023 include the Benelli bolt-action Lupo in .308 Winchester and .3006 Springfield; Franchi Instinct over-and-under in 16- and 28-gauge; and lever-action Uberti Model 1866 Yellowboy Deluxe chambered for .45 Colt. (BENELLI; FRANCHI; UBERTI)

are guns in .308 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield. They feature 22-inch freefloating Crio-treated barrels with the BEST treatment for added protection.

Benelli designers integrated the Progressive Comfort system into the walnut stock, and the trigger is adjustable from 2.2 to 4.4 pounds. Each rifle comes with stock spacers that allow adjustment to tailor the rifle to each user. They have a five-round detachable magazine and the

average weight is 7 pounds.

FRANCHI HAS ADDED the Instinct Sideplate O/U shotgun in 16- and 28-gauge, and they’re fitted with deeply blued 28-inch barrels topped with a red fiber-optic front bar sight. Both versions feature AA-grade walnut stocks with a Prince of Wales grip and Schnabel forend, gold-inlaid game scenes, auto ejectors, barrel selectors, auto safety and

HUNT STUFF TO DO

Washington rabbit season continues through March 15, but the end of this month is when your 2022-23 hunting license expires, so get a new one! There’s also still time to plug some coyotes, and putting down a predator or two may help save a fawn or calf, maybe save a nesting grouse, chukar or pheasant as the hatches come on later in the spring.

And speaking of big game, remember that applications for Evergreen State multiseason tags are available through March 31. Last fall’s leftover tag sales fiasco aside, the permits allow one to hunt with all three weapons choices during their respective seasons, rather than having to choose a single one, and with the multiseason elk tag you can hunt both sides of the Cascades for wapiti rather than just Eastside or Westside. Draw results begin in April, but you need to buy on or before March 31 to be eligible to claim a leftover tag if not drawn next month.

As for permits for special hunting opportunities, applications are on sale through May 24 and you may submit your choices beginning April 24, so you’ve got plenty of time to make your plans and then send in your paperwork.

For more details, check the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s website (wdfw.wa.gov). –DW

choke tubes in C, IC, M, IM and F. They come in a custom-fitted hard case.

Both guns are chambered for 2¾and 3-inch shells.

IF YOU’RE INTO cowboy action shooting, or just have a case of nostalgia, Uberti has expanded its lineup of lever-action rifles with the introduction of the Model 1866 Yellowboy Deluxe.

Chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge, the Yellowboy Deluxe is pure eye candy for the Old West aficionado. It’s got a 10-plus-one capacity, a 20-inch octagonal barrel cut with six lands and grooves on a 1:16-inch right-hand twist, and it weighs 8.2 pounds.

The stock is grade A walnut, and the brass receiver features engraving. The rifle has a closed-top design except for the ejection port, and an overall length of 36 inches.

FROM STOEGER, THIS year offers two new model variations in the STR-9SC subcompact pistol family. Chambered in 9mm, both versions are optics-ready. One comes with a pair of 10-round magazines and the other not only comes with the two magazines but also three interchangeable backstraps that allow the pistol to be fitted to the individual user’s hand.

These striker-fired handguns have 3.54-inch barrels, black synthetic frames and nitride-finished slides topped with three-dot sights, with the more deluxe version featuring tritium sights. Overall length is 6.54 inches, making either gun a good choice for concealed carry.

Another new handgun for 2023 comes from Taurus, the TX 22 Compact, chambered for .22 Long Rifle. According to Taurus literature, the pistol is set up for a mini red dot sight and has a suppressor-ready threaded barrel.

WHAT ARE GUNS without ammunition?

Rather boring, so it should be no surprise that ammo companies are also busy.

Winchester is timing things right with the introduction of its National Wild Turkey Federation 50th Anniversary commemorative shotgun shells, dubbed the Long Beard XR turkey loads. Available in 12-gauge, 3-inch shells with No. 5

New handgun offerings include the 9mm Stoeger STR-9SC and Taurus TX 22 Compact, chambered for .22 Long Rifle. (STOEGER; TAURUS)

copper-plated lead shot, they come in a box featuring Mossy Oak Bottomland camo. The shotshell utilizes Winchester’s patented Shot-Lok resin, which encapsulates and buffers the shot to prevent pellet deformation.

Winchester also has introduced the Big Bore handgun ammunition line for hunting and personal defense. Available in four calibers – 10 mm Automatic, .357 Magnum, .44 Rem Mag, and .45 Colt – these loads are topped with a newly designed concave hollowpoint projectile for consistent expansion and energy delivery.

Fiocchi has introduced the new 4.6x30mm Hyperformance cartridge, featuring a tipped hollowpoint bullet, as well as new shotgun shells, including a 3-inch 28-gauge shell with a 15/16-ounce payload of No. 4 shot that boasts a muzzle velocity of 1,350 feet per second. The 28-gauge shell features 9.75g/cc bismuth shot, so it’s good for waterfowl.

There’s a new cartridge on the landscape, available from two different companies. It’s the 360 Buckhammer, pushing a .358-caliber bullet capable

of delivering energy for brush country hunters comparable to the venerable .30-30 Winchester. This round is available from Federal and Remington, with either a 180- or 200-grain pill.

The 360 Buckhammer is a straightwall cartridge, and Henry Repeating Arms is introducing a lever-action rifle to go along with the round. According to Remington, the 3760 Buckhammer delivers 35 percent more energy than the .350 Legend, with a muzzle velocity ranging from 2,215 to 2,400 fps.

Speaking of Federal, the company has also introduced the new Gold Medal CenterStrike cartridge family, with loads available in .308 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor and .223 Remington.

Another Federal entry is the ELD-X family featuring a bullet capable of match accuracy with a punch for big game. This series is available in nine centerfire options from .243 Winchester to .300 Win. Magnum.

Remington has also introduced the new Remington Range ammunition line for handgunners. Two calibers are offered initially, in 9mm and .40 S&W, both

featuring Remington’s Kleanbore priming. Cartridges in both calibers feature FMJ projectiles for target shooting, and they come in boxes of 50 or bulk packs of 500, 600 or 1,000 rounds.

TURNING TO OPTICS, Steiner this year has introduced the new Predator 8 hunting scope. Built on a 30mm main tube, this 8X scope is available in three different 8x zoom ranges: 2-16x42, 3-24x50 and 4-32x56. The scope has a ¼-MOA ballistic turret. According to Steiner, the Predator 8 2-16x42mm and the 3-24x50mm riflescopes both come with the Steiner E3 second focal plane reticle, while the 4-32x56mm offers a high magnification and SCR (Special Competition Reticle) combination.

And finally, German Precision Optics has introduced the 15-45x60 Tactical spotting scope with an FFP reticle. It features a variable 15-45X eyepiece, a 60mm objective lens to gather any and all available light and a 60-foot field of view at maximum power. Most important, it is compact and weighs only 2.75 pounds. NS

Fiocchi, Remington, Winchester and Federal have all come out with new bullets and shotshells for big game and birds. (FIOCCHI; REMINGTON; WINCHESTER; FEDERAL)

Practice Makes Permanent: Time To Get In Some Offseason Shooting P

BECOMING A HUNTER

By Dave Anderson

reparing for rifle hunts during the offseason should always include practice at the range. You want to be 100 percent comfortable and confident with your rifle going into the hunting season. And now that the hoarding of ammunition has started to slow down, we are beginning to see steady supplies of bullets at local sporting goods stores. In my neck of the woods in North Idaho, Black Sheep and North 40 consistently have common rounds available. In talking with Tony Kawamoto of Sportco and Outdoor Emporium, he told me they have all the mainstream calibers in stock and ready to go. Since we have ammunition ready and available, now would be the time to start stocking up and plan trips to the range to get in some trigger time.

FOR ME, THE range is a great place to zero in a rifle. Ranges give you ample space, a bench/table to utilize your lead sled and plenty of time to work on getting your rifle dialed in. A lead sled will keep you from getting beat up by your large-magnum calibers during the zeroing-in process, but I always finish up using a set of sand bags to get my true zero.

As many of you know, I am 100 percent a Leupold guy through and through. For those of you who also use Leupold, once you get your zero set, you can send in your Custom Dial System for the top of your scope. This will give you a turret that can be used to set your range for elevation. This takes away all of the guesswork on where to hold when shooting out to longer ranges. After you get back your dial and get it installed, I recommend one more

Kristina Anderson gets in a little time behind the trigger. Practicing in the offseason at a shooting range provides the time, space and materials to really dial in your big game rifle and scope. (DAVE ANDERSON)

trip to the range to confirm your zero. After you are all set up, the range will continue to be a good place to get in trigger time and recheck your zero before you embark on a hunt.

IN MY OPINION, where you will truly improve your shooting abilities and have the opportunity at real-time scenarios is getting out in the mountains and setting up for longer shots in line with what you may encounter during the hunting season. Before venturing out to the mountains, always consult local regulations for any shooting restrictions that may be in place.

When shooting in the mountains, always be mindful of your backdrop and surroundings. Safety is your number one priority, so make sure your setup and location are safe. Once you find a good spot, set up your targets and get ready to shoot.

One of my favorite things to do is fill milk jugs full of water and set them out at different ranges and elevations. You can paint them orange to make them more

visible. The other fun part about using milk jugs is getting exercise by packing them down and up or up and down a mountain.

Steel plates are another fun target option. The sound of a bullet hitting a steel plate is music to my ears. It is always good to hear the “ting” after you shoot.

Once you get all set up and are ready to shoot, look for different ways to practice other than just sitting at a bench. Try practicing in any situation you may encounter on a hunt. Some of the positions and scenarios I like to practice shooting in include: prone, off shooting

Ammunition is more widely available again after a period of hoarding. (DAVE ANDERSON)

sticks, standing and/or using a tree/log as a rest. Use your imagination. If you have a bipod that you plan on using during the season, now is the time to get used to it.

Typically, practicing in the mountains will allow you to find a location where you can shoot longer distances, so now would also be the time to find out how far you are comfortable shooting. You have to know your limitations before going on a hunt. No one should take a shot during an actual hunt at distances they are not comfortable shooting or have no clue whether or not they can make an ethical shot on an animal. I know where I am comfortable at shooting in any situation and my goal is to end a life in the quickest way possible. For that reason alone, I prefer using 12-inch steel plates and milk jugs, as they offer a pretty realistic vital zone for deer and elk.

Getting in some trigger time can be fun for everyone. You can incorporate it into a camping trip or while you are scouting out new territory. In addition, this isn’t even limited to just a rifle; get out there with your muzzleloader or bow. Take a 3D target or block target out in the woods with you.

Practice steep uphill and downhill angled shots; shoot through trees and lanes like a real-life scenario shooting an elk. For me, doing so is crucial to my offseason preparation. I have only shot one elk with a perfectly level, flat shot. All other shots have been either uphill, downhill or through a window the size of a 5-gallon bucket.

IF YOU DO shoot in the woods/mountains, be kind and clean up your mess. “Leave no trace” is a good rule to live by when using public lands, no matter how you’re recreating on them. Treat it with respect so we can all enjoy public lands for years to come. As many of you know or have witnessed, there are a lot of people who treat our lands with no respect by leaving trash and debris behind. If this continues to happen, we will continue to see more land restrictions and closures. My point is, don’t leave shell casings, targets and trash behind. It doesn’t take long to pick them up. Pack it in/pack it out!

This is also a great time to get your family outdoors and involved in your hobbies and passion for the outdoors. Kids

are sponges and if you are taking them and showing them the right way to do things, there is a 90 percent chance that they are going to do the same. Depending on their age, have them bring along whatever they have to shoot with. That could be a toy gun like my boys carry around the mountains right now or they could have a chipmunk .22 or be into high-powered rifles. No matter what level they are at, get them out in the mountains and woods. I started at a young age and I am thoroughly grateful that my family made a point to teach me about gun safety and trigger time. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t be as passionate about practicing, gun safety and trigger time as I am today.

Practice makes perfect when it comes to shooting. Now is the time to prepare. Let’s try to get more people out shooting early, practicing taking ethical clean shots. Do not be that person who decides to blow the dust off their rifle to take a few shots on October 1 in preparation for a deer or elk season that’s two or three weeks away. Do not let that shot of a lifetime be a shot of disappointment. Practice, practice, practice! NS

Target shooting in the mountains with steel plates or gallon milk jugs painted orange and placed at different angles is how author Dave Anderson really dials in his skills. After all, all but one of his shots at elk have been uphill or downhill. Just be sure to always pick up your brass, used targets and other litter afterwards so as to leave the site cleaner than you found it. (DAVE ANDERSON)

Dungeons & Dragons & Deer

Jordan, Jamie and I walked up the hill in the dark.

phase was entertaining.

We kept hiking. The ground provided basically zero cover where we were. We had to be to those rocks by sunup. It was a roll of the dice, and I knew it.

looking right at us, about 300 yards away –and about 150 yards past Jordan’s effective range with the .243.

CHEF IN THE WILD

By Randy King

The crunching rocks and the frozen ground made being silent nearly impossible, but we tried our best. With my headlamp on, my son Jordan turned to me and asked, “Wouldn’t it be cool to be an elf and see in the dark?” I smiled, said “yes” and shrugged. These kids’ fantasy

But pounding dirt while hunting with a child never happens quite as expeditiously as one would hope. Eventually, the sun started its rise, the open sage-covered hills becoming visible to us. That is when we spotted our first set of bucks, a nice fourpoint and a few smaller ones. They were

As they disappeared up the draw, a crash from behind us indicated more deer – spooked, and headed to the next county. Soon I was looking at my phone for the outcropping that was supposed to be over the next ridge. We were past it. In the dark I had led us all right past our hunting destination. Basically, we were standing right where I had wanted Jordan to be

Maybe Jordan King’s wish to see in the dark like elves would have put he and his slightly lost dad in the right spot at daybreak, but it all worked out in the end last October. (RANDY KING)

ON ‘SWORD MEAT’

Idabble in nerd, at least a few times a month, in the form of Dungeons & Dragons games at my cousin’s house. I bring several of my boys at a time and we spend hours rolling dice and pretending we are elves. We have been playing since childhood in the 1990s at some form of fantasy nerd endeavor. D&D is awesome – critical thinking, role play, complex calculation and escapism all combine into something beyond just wizards and dwarfs. I’ve played the game so long it seasons (please excuse the pun) all my adventures. It makes a rabbit hunt into a quest, a deer season into a campaign, abandoned buildings into ruins and old mine shafts into dungeons. When I get better at a particular hunting skill, I even call it “leveling up.” The game is ubiquitous

in my thoughts and worldly interactions.

My cooking and nerd worlds seldom interact. Chefs don’t, usually, play D&D. So, when I learned something about cooking at a Dungeons & Dragons game, I was a bit taken aback.

At some point in the night, one of my boys referred to the killing of some fantasy creature as “sword meat” and I chuckled a little. Then my cousin offhandedly mentioned that that was what “shish kebab” means. My head turned sideways like I was a puppy trying to figure out why my snack had disappeared. How the hell did I not know that shish kebab translated into sword meat?!? I would have been using it this whole time; my life to this point has been a lie!

MEAT ON A stick has been around almost

as long as cooked food. When fire made it possible to cook meat and other items – quite possibly leading to the evolution of our species, since we could now digest protein more easily and thus able to expand our brain size – the idea of putting the meat on a stick to cook eventually came about.

No one culture can stake a claim to meat on a stick. But the idea of sword meat, or shish kebab, came about in the Middle East before even the Ottoman Empire. Some historians point to the Crusades as an origination point for the term. Hunks of meat grilled on swords – sounds epic.

Eventually, meat began to be accompanied by vegetables on the skewers. This added all sorts of deliciousness. At this point the skewer is basically, to quote Eater.com, a “linear meat salad.”

Venison Loin and Mango Skewers

3 pounds venison sirloin, or backstrap, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 red onion, cut into 1-inch squares

2 ripe but firm mangos, peeled, pitted and cut into 1-inch cubes (or frozen cubes)

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

¼ cup honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Zest from one lemon

Salt and pepper

Cilantro, garnish

For best results, make sure the meat being used is very well cleaned of sinew and silver skin. This will make the cooking and eating process 100 percent more enjoyable!

Thread venison, onion, peppers and mango onto long metal skewers or wooden skewers that have been soaked in water, alternating ingredients. Combine honey, soy sauce, zest and lemon juice in a small bowl; stir to combine. Season kebabs with salt and pepper. Brush on all sides with honey mixture. If possible, let marinate two to three hours.

Preheat a grill to medium-high. Grill the skewers while basting with the honey mix often; grill for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the venison reaches 135 degrees or your desired temperature.

Venison loin and mango skewers. (RANDY KING)

Mango Sauce

2 cups frozen mangos, diced small

1 8-ounce jar Major Grey’s chutney

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon Sriracha

½ tablespoon garlic, minced

Thaw the frozen mangos. In a mediumsized bowl, mix the chutney with the frozen mango chunks, ginger, sriracha and garlic. Let stand for a day if possible. Puree until smooth. Enjoy with grilled meats.

Sriracha Sauce

1 cup mayo

¼ cup Sriracha

1 tablespoon lime juice

Zest from half a lime

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Cover and refrigerate. Enjoy with grilled meats and fries. For more wild game recipes, see chefrandyking.com. –RK

shooting. The deer that had just busted out would have been here for us. But I got lost in the dark; I had failed the dice roll.

“It happens,” my cousin Jamie said. Her wry smile indicated she would never let me live this down. “You know,” she added, “these little bucks are not all that smart; they might just be right over there.”

So, we circled back and pounded our way up a ridgeline until we saw a few bedded bucks in the buckbrush half a mile off. All we could see were heads and antlers. But they were the same ones as before – perfect.

WELL, ALMOST PERFECT. Now they were on private property. We hunted on the other side of the fence and looked at them, wishing we could do something about the situation. It seemed like the morning was full of ups and downs – good rolls and bad.

A little downtrodden, we started walking down the ridge to the UTV. Jordan and I walked the brush, whispering and chatting, Jamie happily strolling behind us. Eventually,

Jordan started asking questions about our Dungeons and Dragons game with my other cousin Billy. “What do you think we will fight next?”“When do you think we will level up?” “When is the next session?”

I chuckled a little, and Jordan asked me why. I said, “I just don’t think about D&D while hunting.”

“What do you think about?” he said.

“Well, I think about the animals I’m after. What they might be up to; where they will be; what direction the wind is blowing – all sorts of stuff, but mostly about hunting,” I replied. “I am constantly scanning around looking too; you never know when you might spot …”

Then there it was – a buck looking at us in the sagebrush about 100 yards away. It was cinematic; I could not have timed it better. A perfect roll of the dice.

Jamie quickly placed her tripod out and Jordan had the gun shouldered in a moment. One shot, a perfect shot, and the deer was down. A critical success. NS

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