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Sportsman Northwest
Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource
Volume 10 • ISSUE 10 PUBLISHER James R. Baker
Your Complete Hunting, Boating, Fishing and Repair Destination Since 1948 1948. Fi hi dR i D i i Si
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Dick Openshaw EDITOR Andy “Whatever Your Middle Name Is” Walgamott LEAD WRITER Andy Schneider THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Jason Brooks, Dennis Dauble, Jeff Holmes, Doug Huddle, Keith Jensen, MD Johnson, Randy King, Buzz Ramsey, Don Talbot, Mark Veary, Randy Wells, Terry Wiest, Dave Workman, Mike Wright EDITORIAL FIELD SUPPORT Jason Brooks GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins
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ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Steve Joseph, Garn Kennedy, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold PRODUCTION MANAGER Sonjia Kells DESIGNERS Michelle Hatcher, Sam Rockwell, Liz Weickum PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Kelly Baker OFFICE MANAGER/ACCOUNTING Audra Higgins COPY EDITOR/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Sauro
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SMOKERCRAFT OSPREY
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@nwsportsmanmag.com CORRESPONDENCE Email letters, articles/queries, photos, etc., to awalgamott@media-inc.com, or to the address below. ON THE COVER Hangin’ loose on the high seas, BFFs Corey Guild and Dave Anderson show off a really nice albacore caught last year off the Northwest Coast. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST) DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and get daily updates at nwsportsmanmag.com.
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MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP WASHINGTON OFFICE P.O. Box 24365 • Seattle, WA 98124-0365 14240 Interurban Ave. S., Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 OREGON OFFICE 8116 SW Durham Rd • Tigard, OR 97224 (206) 382-9220 • (800) 332-1736 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com; mediaindexpublishing.com
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Northwest Sportsman 9
CONTENTS
125
VOLUME 10 • ISSUE 10
FEATURES
CHANNEL DISCOVERY
There are catfish to be had in Southwest Washington and beyond, and our whiskerfish whisperer MD Johnson (right) details how to catch ’em!
47
TRY IT, YOU’LL LIKE KYUQUOT Vancouver Island’s northern Kyuquot – ky-YOO-kit – Sound offers fast access to fishy continental shelf salmon and bottomfish waters.
57
CAN YOU HOLD ON FOR 8 SECONDS?!? Our Dennis Dauble took the bull by the horns – or at least the live-baitrigged albacore rod by the foam – and reports on the phenomenon that’s ready to explode this summer!
67
12.5 TIPS FOR THE 125 LINE With good prospects ahead, our tuna hound Andy Schneider has how to succeed out where the longitude lines meet warm waters.
91
PUGET SOUND CRABBING 101 July marks the kickoff of Dungeness and red rock crabbing in much of Puget Sound, and our Jason Brooks sets you up for success this season.
103 STEELHEADING THE COLUMBIA How do you fish one of the world’s largest rivers for summer-run steelies? You start by going smaller, says our Columbia expert, who also details how to read the waters of the big crick. 115 WHITHER WANDER COLUMBIA BASIN WALLEYE? Local guide Keith Jensen knows all about the seasonal movements of these tasty fish and shares how and where to catch them at Banks Lake and Potholes Reservoir. 135 MONTANA GETAWAY LAKE Pack your fishing gear and head east – it’s prime time on the Big Sky’s Georgetown Lake, home to great fishing for three species of rainbows, as well as nice-sized brookies. (JULIA JOHNSON)
SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Go to nwsportsmanmag.com for details. NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Periodical Postage Paid at Seattle, WA and at additional mail offices. (USPS 025-251) POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northwest Sportsman, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues), 2-year subscription are $39.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Index Publishing Group offices at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2015 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.
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Northwest Sportsman 11
CONTENTS 99
72 WESTSIDER
BUZZ RAMSEY With nearly a million fall kings expected at Buoy 10, it makes sense to start prepping early, and that includes stringing your rods with a different kind of line, Buzz hints.
111 BASIN BEACON Whether you’re taking part in the big Wenatchee salmon derby or looking for tips for summer Chinook between Rock Island and Wells Dams, Don has you covered!
With coho closed off much of the Washington Coast, Terry has how to avoid silvers and cash in on kings.
121 THE KAYAK GUYS The bony Bonneville Pool may be hard for other bassers to completely exploit, but not the guys in the plastic boats! Mark has a fishing tutorial for Columbia Gorge waters. 145 NORTH SOUND Lace up your boots, grab your ultralight rod and head for the high country of Whatcom County! Doug hikes us to where the brook trout are plentiful around Mt. Baker.
(TODD’S EXTREME FISHING)
COLUMNS 79
SOUTH COAST Off-limits off Washington, but not Oregon – Randy has tips and tricks for landing your limit of Beaver State coho.
83
SOUTH SOUND The Skokomish River closure is a blow to many anglers, but Jason details how to go for your four-king limit in southern Hood Canal, plus other Puget Sound Chinook options.
153 CHEF IN THE WILD Randy heads south by, er, souther – from his Boise base, he fishes the Owyhees for redbands and serves a Caribbean-inspired trout, grits and rum sauce repast! 155 ON TARGET Ready for when SHTF? Dave reviews a book by a prepper who is, plus details new firearms from Ruger and S&W.
We Have What You Need For Your Next Hunting, Fishing Or Camping Adventure!
ARCHERY: Mathews, Bowtech, Hoyt Bows GUNS: Sig, Kimber, Ruger, Remington, Smith & Wesson, Weatherby, Glock, Fierce Firearms FISHING: Lamiglas, Daiwa, Okuma, Shimano, Berkley, Yakima Bait GEAR: Vortex Optics, Swarovski Optics, Stika clothing
1825 N. 1st St. - Hwy 395 • Hermiston, OR 97838 • 541-289-6817 12 Northwest Sportsman
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22 THE BIG PIC: GRANDE RONDE RANCH NOW A WILDLIFE AREA Asotin County’s 4-O is a gem in WDFW’s lands portfolio.
(JUSTIN HAUG, WDFW)
DEPARTMENTS 19
THE EDITOR’S NOTE Keep buying land for habitat, recreation
21
CORRESPONDENCE Reader reactions to recent news
31
READER PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD Saltwater catches, late turkeys, walleye and more!
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PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Daiwa, Browning monthly prizes
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THE DISHONOR ROLL Alleged Bullwinkle shooter charged; Rewards for poached bighorn, illegal fish releases; Jackass of the Month
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DERBY WATCH Recent results and upcoming events
45
OUTDOOR CALENDAR
45
BIG FISH Record Northwest game fish caught this month
133 RIG OF THE MONTH Channel catfish set-up 166 BACK PAGE Peeing in a boat 14 Northwest Sportsman
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LOCATED IN HELLS CANYON OF THE SNAKE RIVER RM195.4 Call for Pricing • 4 acres of private property with beautiful cabin 1 mile north of Doug Bar with air strip • 3 bedrooms / 1 bath • 1480 Sq/ft ‡ ,QGRRU VKRZHU DQG à XVLQJ WRLOHW • Main great room with loft • Fully Furnished • Full kitchen with new appliances • Built in AC and Heaters • Set up with Satellite TV and WiFi
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+ Outdoor news and hot topics covering fishing, hunting, conservation, shooting sports & more! + Guide and outfitter tips + Celebrity and personality interviews + Outdoor destinations you have got to visit! + New product reviews + Find out about poachers, YOUR HOST politicians and more who are walking the “Trail of Shame” JOHN KRUSE Go to americaoutdoorsradio.com or nwsportsmanmag.com/radio for show dates and times. Podcasts available at nwsportsmanmag.com/radio
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THEEDITOR’SNOTE
Buying well-managed farms and ranch lands for wildlife habitat, species recovery and public recreation is a wise move by farsighted government agencies and private sector organizations. This is the view from Washington’s new 4-O Wildlife Area, overlooking the Grande Ronde River. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
E
arlier this year, the Capitol Press asked if the state of Washington needs more land. The answer to that question is simple: Yes. The ag-world organ based in Salem was taking issue with the million acres that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife owns, and tens of thousands more acres it plans on or would like to purchase in the coming two years. Fair enough that farmers, ranchers and county governments are concerned about the impacts of that, because they are real and have ramifications. WDFW is cognizant and careful of that. The state legislature could also fully fund the payment in lieu of taxes, or PILT, program too. I have yet to see an economic analysis that says wildlife- and wildland-based recreation is a bad thing. Working with willing sellers, WDFW looks for opportunities to protect critter habitat, mitigate for lost recreational grounds, increase and enhance fishing and hunting options, and meet critical conservation needs. The fact is, aglands just happen to be where the state can get the best bang for its buck. Thank you for that long-term stewardship, ranchers and farmers. This issue we celebrate the thoughtful management that Asotin County rancher Mike Odom used on his spread, now Washington’s newest wildlife area. The Capitol Press revealed the true motive behind its questioning of how much is enough when it claimed “there’s a growing dissatisfaction with the size of public holdings.” In fact, the vast majority of Westerners and Americans have no problems whatsoever with that. And moreover, we oppose the Malheur Malcontents, the Beehive State bunco artists, et al, and their plans to transfer national forests, BLM lands, etc. As long as I’m advocating for fish, wildlife and sporting opportunities, I’ll be asking WDFW to keep doing what it’s doing, buying land where it makes sense and with local buy-in. Washington’s population is doing nothing but growing, and for my sons’ sake as well as their kids, the question of how we provide habitat for game and other species, as well as ground for future sportsmen and residents to recreate on means today’s enough is not enough. –Andy Walgamott
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CORRESPONDENCE
and Follow the Law It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3...
YAKIMA SPRINGER SEASON A BUST This was not the best year for Yakima spring Chinook anglers. Forty-five miles on the lower river were opened in late April, but through early June not a single adult hatchery king had been caught, according to state creel checkers (fishermen, however, went crazy on smallmouth bass, harvesting an estimated 21,000). Then, when the more productive Union Gap-to-Roza Dam stretch was opened last month, it came a little late for some. “Now that they’re all in Cle Elum,” lamented Gregory Lubeck on our Facebook page. More than two-thirds of the run had passed over the dam by then.
1. The ONE place not to be is in the path of whales. Don’t position your vessel in the path of oncoming whales within 400 yards of a whale.
2.
SOCKEYE SASSIER THAN FORECAST Despite a down forecast, this year’s red salmon count at Bonneville Dam got off to a great start, topping 10,000 faster than even the recent record years. At press time, the Columbia above Pasco wasn’t open for sockeye, but with good early signs, just maybe – cross your fingers! Sean Burns, Mike Smith and David N Jaclyn Child all hoped so. At any rate, it was a good sign after last year’s run poaching by the sun.
Stay at least TWO hundred yards away from any killer whale (200 yards = the distance of two football fields or about 200 meters).
3. Remember these THREE ways to Be Whale Wise: follow the guidelines for viewing all wildlife, check for local protected areas and restrictions, and always be safe.
COLUMBIA SPRINGER REOPENER Salmon managers were able to reopen the Lower Columbia for spring Chinook in late May and in June leading up to the summer king fishery, allowing many to get back out for the tasty fish. While Snake anglers also got a couple extra days, not everyone was pleased to hear Portland and Vancouver rods got more time on the water and they didn’t. “I’m very tired of below Bonneville getting the vast majority of opportunities at springers,” commented Brandon Clifford. “Not sure what or who I detest more, the regulators or the sea lions? Either way things have to change.” Added Larry Moller, “Is that supposed to make those of us five hours away feel better that our fisheries are gone this year?”
Some Washington anglers were just relieved that state and tribal fishery managers were able to come to an agreement on the economically important Puget Sound salmon fishery, but there was a lot of disgruntlement about the final deal, especially among bank fishermen. We’ll just let reaction on our Facebook page do the talking.
Visit www.bewhalewise.org to learn more, download the laws, regulations, and guidelines, and to report violations. Report Violations: Enforcement 1-800-853-1964 or online at www.bewhalewise.org
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Stunning Ranch Now A Wildlife Area Asotin County’s 4-O a gem in WDFW’s lands portfolio; will continue to be grazed, farmed while open to hunting, fishing, critter watching.
By Andy Walgamott
I
turned my back to the Grande Ronde and began walking up the gravel road to who knew where. It was March 1999 and after a solid week of steelheading on the river in extreme Southeast Washington, it was time to take a day off to do some exploring. The Cougar Creek Road climbed steeply through layers of basalt millions of years old, while the namesake stream gurgled alongside it. Trees huddled in the gully but the slopes above were open, waiting for spring to truly green up. After awhile I passed a barn, then the road switchbacked above a small basin. At a Y, I chose the path that looked more like the county road and continued past ponderosas and Douglas firs, but came to an abrupt halt where
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the road paralleled a big field that looked like it had been plowed. That surprised me. For a week I’d been looking up at the walls of the Ronde and imagining nothing of any sort happened up on top of the bench outside of deer, elk and cattle chewing their cud and wind whispering in the conifers. It was quiet there that day. Besides the unexpected field, nothing gave away the fact that less than half a century before, where I stood was once one of Washington’s remotest communities, Mountain View. Hidden nearby in the trees and behind no trespassing notices were the remains of an old school, a teacher’s quarters, sawmill and a post office. Up on a bluff was a cemetery where the oldest gravestone was marked 1902 and the most recent had been laid 20 years before, for a ranchhand killed
MIXED BAG
PICTURES An old hay barn looks over much of the 4-O Wildlife Area, Washington’s newest and named after an Asotin County cattle ranch at the site of the pioneer community of Mountain View above the Grande Ronde River. (JUSTIN HAUG, WDFW)
in a truck accident. Clueless, I headed back down the road to the river and fished steelhead for another week.
IT WOULD BE 17 years and two months before I found myself rolling back up Cougar Creek Road, but this time with a much better idea about the lay of the land. Since late 2011 I’ve been writing about the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s multi-phase purchase of the 4-O Ranch from Milton “Mike” Odom for a wildlife area. Last November the agency secured the final piece of the stunning 10,502-acre property, and this past spring WDFW invited me to the dedication. Held in late May, it highlighted this “truly … unique landscape” at its most verdant.
Gathered on the site of what once upon a time was the Charlie McNeil Ranch – Charlie’s wife Gladys gave Mountain View its name and was the post master – were dozens of county, state, federal and tribal officials to give remarks about the spread, its management and the value to wildlife, recreation and the public. During the ceremony, held hard by McNeil Spring on a green pasture near two old barns and a field awaiting seed, and in front of numerous local residents in cowboy hats, several state staffers were recognized for their work that had made the deal possible. WDFW regional manager Steve Pozzanghera credited “master dirt kicker” Brian Trickel, who developed the long-standing relationship with Odom, the grant-writing skills of local wildlife biologist Paul Wik, who was reported to have spent the equivalent of a year over
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MIXED BAG Though it’s seen better days, the old Mountain View post office sits at the heart of the wildlife area. Other relics of settlement include the remains of the old school, a teacher’s quarters, sawmill and a cemetery. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
The 4-O provides year-round habitat to elk, including this band of seven, spotted on a tour of the property at the wildlife area dedication in late May. Nearby were a pair of bucks. Big game hunting will be by permit only, but other species can be pursued during general seasons. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
The other 38 percent for the $19 million deal came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The federal agency’s Eastern Washington supervisor Russ MacCrae said it had been “a pretty easy decision for us” to provide the funding, thanks to Endangered Species Act-listed bull trout, steelhead and Chinook swimming in the Grande Ronde and Wenatchee Creek, the latter of which flows through the heart of the 4-O from a roadless section of the Umatilla National Forest. “Not only can this help protect and prevent future listings, but it’s important for recovery of these species,” MacCrae said. Asotin County Commissioner Brian Shinn said the wildlife area would also bring more hunters, anglers and other outdoor users to Asotin County, and they’d leave some of their money behind. “We are excited about the future of all this,” Shinn said. One of those who, no doubt, will be making a return trip is state Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Kim Thorburn of Spokane. The birder didn’t break a sweat counting 40 species before noon, then added two more as everyone gnoshed on a wonderful sack lunch put together by nearby Boggan’s Oasis. The first-termer on the citizen panel said the purchase “fits our mission perfectly.” “Just being outdoors in a place like this is refreshing to the spirit,” she said. In an unusual coincidence right around that moment, a pair of Air Force planes flew past high overhead while refueling. “Even if 7.4 million (Washingtonians) don’t visit, it’s still important,” Thorburn added. The day’s final speaker was Arthur Broncheau, Nez Perce Tribe Executive Committee member and tribal chaplain, who recalled that this once was part of the Nimi’ipuu lands. As with other fee title wildlife area purchases elsewhere in the state and within tribal ceded areas, Nez Perce members can now hunt here. Broncheau blessed the wildlife area with a prayer and gave thanks. “From one caretaker to the present caretakers, we appreciate it,” he said.
ENOUGH CAN’T BE said about how well the Odoms managed the Decades ago, a lot more cattle were run on the ranch, but I was told that the herd’s been pared down to 60 cow-calf pairs. State officials lauded rancher Mike Odom’s thoughtful approach to running the operation, observing that Odom had felt he was more of a caretaker than an owner. (ANDY WALGAMOTT) the last eight working on the project, and wildlife area manager Bob Dice, a “key link in the community.” Pozzanghera also acknowledged WDFW’s “B Team,” retired state real estate manager Dan Budd and the late Dave Brittell, who oversaw acquisition of 30 percent of the agency’s holdings during his service with the state. Also on hand was Kaleen Cottingham, director of the state Recreation and Conservation Office, which funded 62 percent of the buy through the Legislature-approved Capital Budget. “I always like to get out of the office and see what I’m having an impact on,” said Cottingham. 24 Northwest Sportsman
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4-O. “(Mike) didn’t consider himself an owner of the property, but a caretaker,” said Jim Unsworth, WDFW director. During a two-hour driving tour of the wildlife area we passed through broad pastures and sculpted fields interspersed by meadows, ponderosa parks and patches of thick cover. Drainages are shaded, and aerial images show no major scars or blemishes on the land. Mike Odom told me his father arrived here in 1954, two years after the old school closed as the 30 homestead families either moved away or sold off their lands. Some of their stories remain. Odom said the mail used to be brought to the post office – the leaning remains of which were about 20 yards from where we talked – by horseback down Hanson Ridge, and pointed out the foundations of a home that could be seen through the grass. His brief remarks during the dedication focused on how he’d felt privileged to grow up surrounded by nature and wildlife. On
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MIXED BAG the tour, we pulled up onto a plateau with a beautiful view across Wenatchee Creek, but our eyes quickly refocused on a pair of bucks and then a herd of about a dozen elk, including two bulls in velvet. Others reported seeing a turkey, bighorn sheep, even a coyote that just sat and stared at them rather than bolt like most when they see people. Odom told me that the reason all the wildlife was around was because he’d restricted access. In part, the ranch was managed for big game hunting, and while small game, upland birds and predators are now open for general season pursuit, deer and elk hunters will need to draw one of the limited number of permits for the “Ten Forty” hunts.
LOCAL BUY-IN WAS a key part of the 4-O project’s success. During the dedication, Asotin County’s Brian Shinn noted that he and his fellow commissioners had supported the purchase from the get-
4-O RANCH WILDLIFE AREA Location: In southwestern Asotin County, along and above the Grande Ronde River between Grouse Flat, the Umatilla National Forest and Cottonwood Creek. Size: 16.4 square miles Price: $19,135,955. Purchase occurred in five phases over four years, with $12-plus million from state critical habitat grants and $6 million from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Section 6 grants for endangered and threatened species. Topography: Ranging in elevation from just under 1,400 feet to 4,600 feet, the property includes 18 stream miles (Grande Ronde and Cougar, Grouse, Medicine and Wenatchee Creeks), steep bluffs, benches, springs and rolling uplands swaddled in conifer forests, meadows and talus slopes. Critters: Elk, whitetail and mule deer, bighorns, cattle, turkeys, grouse, bear, cougar, coyotes, eagles, several types of hawks, woodpeckers and other birds, ESA-listed summer steelhead, fall Chinook and bull trout, plus redband rainbow, smallmouth and other species. (WDFW)
The Odoms arrived at Mountain View in 1954. As other ranches failed or their owners aged, the family gathered them into a 12,000-acre spread. Mike Odom (blue hat) will hold onto about 1,500 acres, where he has his sheds, tanks and calving pen and where the ranch dips into Oregon. He told me the sale of the rest “benefits the public at large, and for generations to come.” (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
go, though not everybody in the county was on board. Concerns here and elsewhere center around the effect state land buys have on local tax bases and the ability of neighboring operations to otherwise purchase or lease that property. Shinn credited WDFW for forming a local committee and listening to those worries, and he pointed out that as a condition of the sale, the wildlife area will continue to be farmed, grazed and logged, generating revenues while improving habitat. He also thanked the agency for coming up with a proposed fix for the PILT, or payment in lieu of taxes, program – which has been frozen for several years – but unfortunately wasn’t adopted by the legislature. He called on local Rep. Mary Dye, in attendance that day, for help on that front. Responding to local opposition, earlier this year WDFW withdrew 5,542- and 2,560-acre acquisitions in Lincoln and Walla Walla Counties that had been proposed for funding in the 2017-19 state budget. However, last month the Fish and Wildlife Commission moved forward on phase one of a new buy in public26 Northwest Sportsman
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Hunting: Open for all species, except deer and elk will continue to be by special permit only (1040). History: Former site of Mountain View community and part of Nez Perce homelands. Pioneers began arriving in the late 1800s, with the Mountain View post office and school operational up until 1952. Beginning in 1954, the Odom family consolidated several ranches, which became the O&H Ranch, and then later the 4-O. Get there: From Clarkston, take Highway 129 south to the base of Rattlesnake Grade and turn right up the Grande Ronde River Road. The wildlife area begins a half mile past the Cottonwood Creek steelhead acclimation pond and continues, with one mile-long exception, to nearly the Oregon border. Access is via Cougar Creek Road (Hanson Ridge Road from the top) on the Washington side and Grouse Creek Road in Oregon. Vehicular travel is restricted to county roads only, but two-tracks provide easy walking or mountain biking, and crosscountry hiking shouldn’t be a problem for most. Access pass: Wildlife viewers will need a Discover Pass; hunters and anglers can use the pass they receive with their WDFW licenses. –AW
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MIXED BAG land-light eastern Klickitat County. The Simcoe Mountain project will purchase nearly 19,000 acres of private timberlands for deer habitat and hunting, species recovery and continued logging. Talking with Mike Odom, I wondered aloud about the controversy over federal and now state lands that has erupted in recent years, but he didn’t bite, instead saying, “This benefits the public at large, and for generations to come.”
AT THE LAST place we stopped on our tour I could look directly down on the Cougar Creek put-in, more than 1,400 vertical feet below us and where I had begun my walk 17 years ago. Several of us whipped out our smartphones, selected camera and then went to panorama mode to try and capture an epic swath of countryside stretching from Hells Canyon to Mountain View’s neighbors on the Oregon side – Flora and Paradise – to the benches above Troy. “That’s a million-dollar view,” WDFW’s Bob Dice would tell Rich Landers of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “This property would have been ripe for selling off as second-home sites in the future … But now the future here is for wildlife.” At one time I would have scoffed. Surely it’s too remote, too difficult to access for someone to build here. But a couple years ago, while messing around in bird’s-eye view on Bing, I was shocked to see a new residence had been built on the banks of the lower
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Ronde, a mile above The Narrows. Complete with outbuildings, a young orchard or vineyard and what looks like a basketball court, it sits right above the hole where I caught my biggest smallmouth ever, on a fly on a late summer day back when I went to Wazzu. That fish spawned a novel that sits, unpublished, in a dresser drawer. Maybe I’m sentimental. Maybe I’m naïve. Maybe I would’ve built the place given a few million dollars stashed with my fleeces. But somehow it felt like a punch to the gut. I grant that it’s an owner’s prerogative what they do with their land, and I’m glad Mike Odom sold his gem of a ranch on the Grande Ronde to the state, for all of us to enjoy. NS WDFW’s Bob Dice (center) has a big job ahead of him. The manager of a farflung network of Southeast Washington wildlife areas details the landscape for local state Rep. Mary Dye, who has a ranch on the other side of the Blues from here. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
e h t e c n e i er p x E e m ! o e C c n e r e f f Di e n i l r e b Tim Standard Wood Burning Stove & Solar Panel, Durable Construction, Great Insulation, High Ground Clearance
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READER PHOTOS
Dodge Messee powered his way to a really nice broodstocker from Horseshoe Lake at Woodland. He caught it on PowerEggs, and also limited that day. (DAIWA PHOTO
CONTEST)
^
Jigging a squid out of Charleston, Tyler Dwight hooked this really nice lingcod this spring. (DAIWA
PHOTO CONTEST)
Dalles Pool ^The provided this sturgeon for Katie Craig in February.
(DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
For your shot at winning great fishing and hunting products from Browning and Daiwa, send your full-resolution, original images with all the pertinent details – who’s in the pic and their hometown; when and where they were; what they caught their fish on/weapon they used to bag the game; and any other details you’d like to reveal (the more, the merrier!) – to awalgamott@media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA, 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for use in our print and Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
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(BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
32 Northwest Sportsman
Selfie! After taking sons Sammy and Caleb out for a late gobbler hunt in Northeast Washington, Jeremy Race snapped this great family pic. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
JULY 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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His older siblings appeared in an issue earlier this year, and now it’s Kevin Kenyon’s turn. Here’s the 15-year-old Willamette Valley hunter and his first tom. Kevin had help from an uncle who had as many as 10 different gobblers calling back – in late May!
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READER PHOTOS
Tacoma Clowers bagged this Eastern Oregon spring bruin with a nearly 400yard shot! (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
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READER PHOTOS Holly Engley turned the tables on Moses Lake walleye this spring, catching a mess on crankbaits. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
Sharon Herborn sports a smile almost as big as her halibut, caught out of Newport in May. (DAIWA PHOTO
^
CONTEST)
Crikey! Check out Jill Mcantamney’s Icicle Creek springer! The Australian and avid Seahawks fan caught it in early June on eggs while plunking with local angler Tim Hedges (right). (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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PHOTO CONTEST
WINNERS!
This grandpa-grandson capture of Randy and Tanner Riley and Tanner’s first gobbler is our monthly Browning hunting photo contest winner. It was taken by Tanner’s dad Travis and scores the Okanogan County hunter a Browning hat!
A charter trip out of San Diego over Memorial Day Weekend paid off well for Santa Cruz, California’s Clara Ricabal. She won the jackpot award with this nice yellowtail, and her pic is this issue’s monthly Daiwa Photo Contest winner. It wins Ricabal a Daiwa hat, T-shirt and scissors for cutting braided line and puts her in the running for the grand prize of a Daiwa rod-and-reel combo, to be awarded soon!
Sportsman Northwest
Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource
For your shot at winning Daiwa and Browning products, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to awalgamott@ media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print or Internet publications.
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Washington trophy elk hunter was back in the news this spring, this time for allegedly killing a huge bull in a pasture near the town of Kittitas last December. Tod L. Reichert, 76, of Salkum was charged with unlawful hunting of big game in the second degree, a gross misdemeanor, reported the Yakima Herald. You may recognize Reichert’s name because over the years he’s paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for chances to pursue elk across the U.S. He not only reportedly ponied up $75,000 for 2016’s Eastern Washington auction bull tag but paid a whopping $85,000 to hunt one in Pennsylvania later this year. That makes the outcome of this case particularly interesting. While the charges could lead to the relative mosquito bite of a fine for Reichert, a cedar fence magnate, if found guilty, the maximum penalty is a two-year hunting license suspension, applicable in the 30-plus states of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Whether that comes to pass depends on the state’s case. The seamy details percolated online for several months – and were even removed as a topic from one
hunting forum because of legal threats – before they began to be firmed up in the Herald’s front-page article. According to outdoor reporter Scott Sandsberry, guided by locals Reichert is alleged to have used his 2015 South Central Washington raffle tag – good in Department of Fish and Wildlife game management units 300 through 500 where branched-antler bulls are open – in GMU 334, where only cow, calf and spike elk can legally be killed. Witnesses say the carcass of the bull – known variously as Bullwinkle, Ranger, Chief Joe and the Schnebly bull and all but docile – was then transported to an open GMU and field-dressed, Sandsberry wrote. Reichert’s initial court hearing in late May was postponed, and you might also remember his name from that venue. Nearly four years ago he pled guilty in U.S. District Court to misdemeanor charges of interfering with and giving false information to a Forest Service agent about the services an Oregon outfitter provided him during 2007 and 2008 hunts in Washington’s Blues. He was fined $5,000 and barred from hunting in national forests for two years.
JACKASS OF THE MONTH
T
here’s one more last cast, and then there’s no more last casts – ever. You can’t blame an angler for wanting to get in a few final flings, but when your fishing license has been revoked for life, that’s pretty much a no-no. James A. Wood learned that the hard way in the Lewis County hoosegow this spring. As the story goes, the 68-year-old Mossyrock resident was found fishing with an expired two-day fishing license at the dam on Riffe Lake in June 2015. According to The Chronicle of Centralia, at first a fish and wildlife officer wasn’t going to cite him, but then looked up Wood in the system and saw that his fishing privileges had been permanently rescinded. Reportedly, Wood explained that he was out fishing because he “didn’t have anything better to do.”In April, he pled guilty to violating the fishing rules, a felony, and was sentenced to 45 days in jail, according to The Chronicle. Mr. Wood, for your own good, find something better to do.
By Andy Walgamott
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regon bucket biologists, beware, there’s now a reward fund that aims to halt your freelance fish stockings. Three bass organizations have teamed up to create Turn In Illegal Introductions, which offers up to $3,000 for information on illicit releases that result in a conviction. According to Mark Freeman of the Medford Mail Tribune, “TI3” was created after spotted bass turned up in Lost Creek Lake, on the upper Rogue River. “Those fish don’t travel on their own,” Lonnie Johnson of Oregon BASS Nation told the longtime outdoor reporter. “We raised the money on our own to deal with these extremists.” Along with his group, The Bass Federation and Oregon Black Bass Action Committee pitched in as well. State officials are fighting back against bucket bios in other ways too. Hybrid tiger trout were stocked last month in Diamond Lake to combat any resurgence of tui chub after one turned up there last year. To report illegal introductions, you can call (800) 452-7888.
The reward for information on whomever illegally shot this bighorn ram along I-84 near milepost 118 jumped to $15,500 after the Oregon Hunters Association and many of its chapters pitched in to pinch the poacher. The wild sheep was found April 10, about a week after two other rams were killed a mile further up the interstate. “This particular poaching case has incensed hunters across the state, as this is an iconic species that was once extirpated from Oregon by settlers,” OHA’s Jim Akenson said. “Sportsmen helped bring bighorns back, and sportsmen shepherd this flock vigilantly.” Anyone with info can call state trooper Mark Jubitz (541-705-5330) or the poaching hotline (800-452-7888). (OSP)
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By Andy Walgamott
New Sockeye Derby At Baker Baker Lake Sockeye Shootout anglers hope to catch red salmon as large or larger than this one caught at the Whatcom County reservoir by Brandy McPhee in 2012. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
red salmon, $500 for second biggest and $250 for third. The derby is being put on by the North Sound Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association of Washington. Headquarters and weigh-in will be at the Swift Creek Campground. This year’s sockeye forecast calls for a record run, some 55,000 fish, and while many will be netted by downstream tribes or caught in the Skagit River by recreational anglers, around 19,000 are expected to be available in the lake. The shootout is open to CCA members and 300 tickets will be available. For more, go to CCAWashington.org/BakerLakeDerby or call Tony (360-354-0204) or Curt (360-224-9345).
OTC Kicks Off In Ilwaco This Month T
T
he inaugural Baker Lake Sockeye Shootout is coming to the North Cascades reservoir late this month. Set for July 29-31, the derby features a $1,000 prize for largest
2016 NORTHWEST SALMON DERBY SERIES July 8-10 July 27-31 Aug. 6 Aug. 12 Aug. 20
Bellingham Salmon Derby, San Juan Islands The Big One Salmon Derby, Lake Coeur d’Alene South King County PSA Salmon Derby, Marine Areas 10, 11, 13 Gig Harbor PSA Salmon Derby, Areas 11, 13 Columbia River Fall Salmon Derby, Lower Columbia
For more info, see northwestsalmonderbyseries.com
MORE UPCOMING EVENTS July 9 July 22-24 Aug. 5-7 Aug. 12-13 Aug. 19
4th Annual Puget Sound Speed-Crabbing Derby, Everett – info: speedcrabbing.com 2016 Summer Steelhead Challenge, Lower Columbia River – info: ccawashington.org/SteelheadChallenge 11th Annual Brewster Salmon Derby, Brewster Pool – info: brewstersalmonderby.com Washington Tuna Classic, Westport – info: washingtontunaclassic.com 17th Annual Buoy 10 Challenge, mouth of the Columbia River – info: nsiafishing.org/event/ buoy-10-challenge
he Northwest’s tuna tourney season kicks off late this month when the Oregon Tuna Classic arrives in Ilwaco. Set for July 29-30, anglers fishing the Deep Canyon Challenge will compete to weigh in the five largest albacore during the twoday event. Last year’s stormy classic saw Keith Navidi and crew bring in a quintet that weighed 152.19 pounds, including the tournament’s largest, a 36.38-pounder. They walked away with $18,500 in cash and prizes, but first had to pay for it with a 3½-hour sail through “dangerously rough seas,” though their Duckworth handled it well. Deadline to buy tickets for this year’s event is July 24 – fourmember teams are $450, with $100 per additional crewman up to six. You can buy them, as well as learn more information about the event, at oregontunaclassic.org. OTC’s Garibaldi tournament is set for Aug. 26-27.
RECENT RESULTS Westport Charterboat Association bottomfishing derby winners (charterwestport.com) May 15: Howard Moreland, 32.00-pound lingcod, Freedom, weekend winner prize of $500 May 20: Stephen Nolan, 22.40-pound lingcod, Hula Girl, weekday winner prize of $500 May 22: Abrianna Sutton, 22.90-pound lingcod, Hula Girl, weekend winner prize of $500 May 27: Jay Sell, 20.4-pound lingcod, Slammer, weekday winner prize of $500 May 29: Giovanni Zavarelli, 34.65-pound lingcod, Fury, weekend winner prize of $500 Note: With no coho season off Westport, organizers of the derby have created a $1,500 prize for the second largest Chinook, the season for which opens July 1 in Marine Area 2. nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
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$2,000 Top Prize Up For Grabs At Wenatchee Derby A
derby boasting a $2,000 first-place prize comes to the Upper Columbia this month. The 5th Annual Wenatchee Salmon Derby will be held Friday and Saturday, July 15-16. Open waters include the big river between Rock Island and Wells Dams, with weigh-ins at Beebe Bridge Park on the upper end and Wenatchee Riverfront Park (Orondo Street ramp) on the bottom end. Fishing runs from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the 15th and 4 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the 16th. In addition to $2,000 for big fish, $1,750 is up for grabs for the heaviest boat catch. Other prizes include $1,350 and $1,150 for second largest in each category, $1,000 and $1,000 for third in both, along with smaller amounts for fourth and fifth. Last year, 93 derby-goers brought in 286 fish, and we’re proud to say that our Basin Beacon columnist Don Talbot landed the
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Greg DeCamp biggest Chinook, a holds up 24-plus-pounder. He 2015’s Wenatchee shares tips and tactics Salmon Derby on page 111 this issue. winner, a Team Miller came in 24-pluswith the most salmon, pounder caught by his 112.51 pounds worth. partner Don The event is put Talbot below on by the NorthWells Dam. (DON TALBOT) central Washington chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association. “CCA is a nonprofit organization that works directly on enhancing our salmon and steelhead fisheries on the Columbia River and tributaries,” says Bobby Loomis of Mack’s Lures (mackslures.com). “We work very closely with the state, as well as the Colville Tribes.” After the fishing wraps up, the awards ceremony will be held at the Wenatchee Eagles Lodge starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday, with doors opening at 3. For more information and tickets ($60, but $30 if you’ve renewed your CCA membership in the last half year), go to wenatcheesalmonderby.com, or get your entry at Hooked On Toys in Wenatchee or Sportsman’s Warehouse in East Wenatchee.
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OUTDOOR
CALENDAR Sponsored by
JULY 1 Crabbing opens on Puget Sound Marine Areas 6, 8-1, 8-2, 9, 10 and 11 (Thurs.Mon.); Leftover big game tags go on sale in Oregon and start of youth “first time” hunt application period; Chinook opener on the Columbia above Priest Rapids Dam and in Areas 1-7 and Area 12 south of Ayock Point; Catch-and-release steelhead opener on much of Idaho’s Clearwater River 4 Free Family Fishing event at Mingus Park (Coos Bay) – info: odfwcalendar.com 7 Free clamming and crabbing seminar, Charleston – info: odfwcalendar.com 9 18th annual Merwin Special Kids Day fishing event at Merwin Fish Hatchery, Woodland, Wash., for children with disabilities – info: (800) 899-4421; Kids Fishing event at Jubilee Lake (near Tollgate) – info: odfwcalendar.com 10 Baker Lake sockeye opener 15 Crabbing opens in Area 7 South (bulk of San Juan Islands); Deadline to purchase Washington raffle hunt tickets 16 Area 9-10 hatchery Chinook opener; Free Family Fishing event at Lhuuke Illahee Fish Hatchery (Logsden) – info: odfwcalendar.com 23 Steelhead fly fishing seminar, Oxbow Regional Park (Gresham, registration, $) – info: odfwcalendar.com; Free clamming and crabbing seminar, Winchester Bay – info: odfwcalendar.com; Oregon bighorn sheep and mountain goat tagholders workshop and orientation at Columbia Gorge Community College, The Dalles – info: oregonfnaws.org 23-24 Family Introduction to Hunting Dog Training Workshop, Queener Ridge Pheasant Company (Scio, registration, $) – info: odfwcalendar.com AUGUST 1 Opening of salmon fishing at Buoy 10; Bear season begins across Oregon as well as numerous Washington units 2-6 International Federation of Fly Fishers’ 51st Annual International Fly Fishing Fair, Livingston, Mont. – info: fedflyfishers.org 6-7 Free Family Fishing event, Charleston Seafood Festival – info: odfwcalendar.com 20 Free clamming and crabbing seminar, Bandon – info: odfwcalendar.com
RECORD NW GAME FISH CAUGHT THIS MONTH
(IDFG)
(IDFG)
Date
Species
Pds. (-Oz.) Water
Angler
7-2-05 7-2-11 7-6-02 7-10-96 7-11-89 7-16-12 7-16-12 7-21-03 7-23-11 7-29-09
Vermillion rockfish Blue rockfish Largemouth bass Pumpkinseed China rockfish Grass carp White crappie Brown rockfish* Common carp** Rainbow
7.10 4.84 12-1.6 .6875 4.19 39.5 3-12.8 1.27 67.65 20-02
James Duffy Chris McMillin B. Adam Hastings Linda Mar Steven Ripley Saige Wilkerson Trenten Smith Richard Bethke Scott Frazier II/Brian Pokorney Michelle Larsen-Williams
Makah Bay (WA) Westport (WA) Ballenger Pd. (OR) L. Oswego (OR) Neah Bay (WA) Snake R. (ID) Crane Cr. Res. (ID) Agate Pass (WA) CJ Strike Res. (ID) Snake R. (ID)
* Speargun; ** Image nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
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FISHING
Try It, You’ll Like It Northern Vancouver Island’s Kyuquot Sound offers fast access to fishy continental shelf salmon, bottomfish waters. By Jeff Holmes
B
return this summer, and some of these fish will likely top 50 pounds. Many of those bruisers are headed for the Hanford Reach. Projected surefire Chinook fishing will also include excellent coho opportunity, plus halibut, lings and rockfish.
een jonesing for an Alaskan getaway but don’t quite have the cheddar in the bank to make it happen? Or maybe you don’t want to deal with flights, luggage and price gouging up in the Last Frontier but still want a world-class wild ocean fishing adventure for way cheaper? MOST FISHING DAYS I’ve experienced on the island have blown Visiting Alaska and other distant destinations can be epic, my best days in the States out of the water, especially the but so can much more affordable fishing right in our bottomfishing. My best days of ocean salmon fishing have backyards. Along with abundant inland fishing vacation destinations, any Northwest ocean port is a welcome place to be during summertime, from Brookings to Neah Bay. Almost all income levels can engage in good ocean angling for bottomfish and Chinook this summer, with some opportunity off Oregon for coho too. But if you’re looking for something a bit more exotic with a chance to buy at the “bottom of the market,” this is the year to fish Canada, and it’s not too late to make it happen. British Columbia operators are cutting costs to respond to a downturn in the Canadian economy. Coupled with a very favorable currency exchange rate, it’s crazy-cheap to go north. Nowhere is closer or better for salmon, halibut and lingcod than Vancouver Island, which you can drive to in a day. The waters off of the island’s five protected west coast sounds feature a lot that Washington and Oregon waters do not: halibut retention into September and a full-on coho season in 2016. What’s more, anglers in Canadian waters get to fish over our projected bumper runs of Chinook due back to the Columbia and other American river systems. Meanwhile, record hatchery Chinook returns are expected back to a few facilities on the central west coast of the island. Some 400,000 bonus kings will be especially easy to intercept off of Kyuquot – pronounced “ky-YOO-kit” – and Nootka Sounds and Esperanza Inlet. Add to this bounty all of the other Vancouver Island and Fraser River fish, and you have what Canadian Kyuquot Sound, on the northern half of Vancouver Island’s fishy west coast between Winter managers are calling a Chinook season for the Harbour and Nootka Sound, is a great jump-off point for intercepting plentiful Columbiaand Fraser-bound Chinook and local “springs,” plus coho, as well as bottomfish such as ages. Lots of 5-year-old “springs” (kings) will halibut, lingcod and numerous species of rockfish. (RUGGED POINT LODGE)
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also occurred on Vancouver Island as well, but our salmon fishing has given BC a run for its money in recent years. Still, with big numbers of fish in the water and the continental shelf funneling them, the fishing is noticeably otherworldly off the island’s west coast. I’ve been purposeful and fortunate to have fished with some excellent charter operators on
Situated on a small island in unspoiled Kyuquot Sound on the north end of Vancouver Island’s west coast, Rugged Point Lodge is remote yet easily accessible after a long day’s drive from anywhere in the Northwest. Like the many excellent lodges sprinkled throughout Barkley, Clayoquot, Nootka, Kyuquot and Quatsino Sounds, Kyuquot’s Rugged Point
Proximity to the continental shelf from the docks at Rugged Point Lodge, located on an island in Kyuquot Sound, makes for great fishing. The shelf is only 17 miles away, constraining fish travel and intensifying the bite. The best halibut fishing is a 6-mile run to fish in just 150 feet of water. (RUGGED POINT LODGE)
the island’s west coast, including Esperanza Inlet’s Rodgers Fishing Lodge (rodgersfishinglodge.com), Tofino’s Osprey Charters and B&B (tofinolodge.com), Port Hardy’s Starfish Charters (starfishcharters .com), Winter Harbour’s Qualicum Rivers Winter Harbour Fishing Lodge and Resort (qualicumrivers .com), and Reel Adventures Fishing (reeladventuresfishing.com) out of Ucluelet with my friend Kerry Reed. Now I can add Rugged Point Lodge (ruggedpointlodge.com to my list, where it now sits on top alongside Qualicum Rivers in Winter Harbour. Both lodges offer the best ocean fishing I’m likely to ever experience without boarding a plane. 48 Northwest Sportsman
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Lodge offers all-inclusive services and great food, but it stands out on its reviews and ridiculous proximity to some of the most reliable ocean salmon and halibut grounds in the Pacific. Prime ocean salmon fishing is scarcely 10 minutes from the dock, and the shelf is only 17 miles away, constraining fish travel and intensifying the bite. The best halibut fishing is a 6-mile run to fish in just 150 feet of water! These are unheard of numbers for both salmon and halibut anglers. Nowhere along the Canadian nor American coastline does the shelf come so close to land as in front of Kyuquot and Nootka Sounds. Downrigger and bucktail rods go off with mundane regularity
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FISHING during July and August. Halibut and lingcod fishing remains excellent as well, and sometimes limits of both species come on downrigger rods targeting Chinook. The ocean is good-to-amazing from June through August for Chinook and through September for coho salmon and for halibut and lingcod. In autumn, the lodge changes focus to chase coho in nearby rivers with flyrods and centerpin gear throughout late September and October, but most lodge guests visit in July and August to take advantage of the peak of salmon migration and big bonus hauls of white-fleshed fish. Owners Matt and Kristy Guiguet host guests from around the world at Rugged Point, including a loyal clientele of Canadian and American travelers seeking wilderness fishing in the types of stunning coastal backdrops of the island’s west coast. Lots of lodges will take your money, but I can tell you firsthand they’re not all created equal. The lodge and fishing operation at Rugged Point are first-class, as are the interactions with nature. Above the water line, guests find themselves fishing amongst conspicuous and spectacular predators: orcas, porpoises, sea otters, sea lions, seals, eagles, black bears, even cougars and wolves. Underwater, it’s a far more vicious world where everything gets eaten. Alongside anglers’ baits and lures, toothy lingcod and halibut engulf
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ORGANIC, LOCALLY SOURCED LODGE OWNERS For Matt and Kristy Guiguet, operating Rugged Point Lodge to the highest standard is their life’s passion, and Kyuquot Sound is home. Kristy was born and raised in Kyuquot, and her family has been in the area for over 90 years. She grew up commercial fishing on her parents’ salmon troller the Northern Bounty, which is still in Kyuquot and is one of the last commercial boats in the area. Kristy ran the local store and post office for a few years, until she met Matt, who was born and raised in Victoria, near the southern tip of Vancouver Island. He spent his summers fishing in Bamfield as a kid, mostly bucktailing for coho commercially on his grandfather’s 17-foot clinker. Matt started in the sportfishing industry with Oak Bay Marine Group in the 1990s, eventually buying his own charter boat and a steelhead guiding business. He worked in places such as Haida Gwaii, Tofino, Gold River, and more before starting Rugged Point Lodge with Kristy in his favorite place in Canada, Kyuquot, where he has guided for the last 14 years. –JH
other fish, abundant octopuses devour anything they can grab, and salmon slash through plentiful baitfish and squid schools. The reefs off of Kyuquot offer an incredible diversity of fish species and other marine life. I return to Vancouver Island every year for both reasons: wild nature
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Northwest Sportsman 51
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and giant hauls of fillets that make my family and friends happy all year. One can’t help witnessing the food chain in action – participating in it even – while fishing out of Kyuquot. Rugged Point Lodge itself is an oasis of comfort and elegance in an aptly rugged environment. Gourmet meals, comfortable accommodations, friendly and wellreviewed staff, and much more make the lodge a welcome relief after hours on the ocean reeling in large fish and getting sore arms. Low guide turnover is a great sign at most lodges and such is the case here. Great guides and delicious lunches await the 12 guests every morning as they climb aboard five meticulously maintained Grady Whites, complete with top-of-theline Okuma rods and reels and Scotty electrics. The end result for most anglers is a take home of four Chinook, four coho, two halibut, six lingcod and several yelloweye and other rockfish, depending on the marine area.
TO GET TO Vancouver Island’s many amazing west coast fisheries, all paths lead through the town of Nanaimo on the Inside Passage. As such, I always take a ferry from Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay straight to Nanaimo, no matter which sound I plan to fish. I grab some groceries and beverages and head for the coast. Vancouver Island is a 300-mile-long, 52-milewide strip of mountains and critters with a western coastline teeming with marine life. Of the wide span of outdoor activities throughout the Northwest I look forward to every year, the island tops that list, and I look forward to a return to Kyuquot later this season to chase the last of the huge August kings with Matt. Whether you fish with Rugged Point or another operator, I highly recommend a last-minute trip to the west coast of Vancouver Island in 2016. It’ll likely never be this cheap again. NS 52 Northwest Sportsman
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Northwest Sportsman 53
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JULY 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com
FISHING
From limited know-how and catches at the start of this millennium, Washington, Oregon and Vancouver Island’s albacore fishery has come on strong, producing exciting summer options for anglers willing to head well out to sea in charter and express boats. Deckhand Jason of the Hula Girl shows off one of the tuna caught during author Dennis Dauble’s trip. (DENNIS DAUBLE)
CAN YOU HOLD ON FOR 8 SECONDS? Albacore fishing returns to the Northwest, and live bait gets the rodeo going. By Dennis Dauble
T
here’s a wild opening scene in the 1948 John Hustondirected cinema classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre where a gang of Mexican bandits on horseback attempts to rob a fast-moving passenger train. Bullets fly between the marauders and a handful of passengers trying to hold them off. After the gang is defeated and they gallop off to their hideout in the hills, Humphrey Bogart’s character brags. “How many did you get? I got me three of them. Credit me with three!” My first charter boat trip for albacore out of Westport, Washington included similar bravado. There was no wasted night at a No-Tell Motel where your brain screams for sleep when the alarm goes off at 2 a.m. With five pairs of berths on the 50-foot Hula Girl, ten of us eager anglers boarded in late evening with sleeping bags and provisions
for the next day of fishing. There were challenges to a good night’s sleep, such as aberrant vocalizations, random bunkmates who sat on your head and the irregular drone of the below-deck head. However, for the most part we snoozed to the tympanic hum of twin-screw John Deeres while the Hula Girl cruised down the Washington coast at a steady 16 knots. Skies were still pitch black when we staggered up from below decks to watch Capt. Steve Westrick demonstrate how to cast a live anchovy using a medium-heavy Ugly Stick outfitted with a Penn 340GT. There was no rest for the weary, however. In the middle of his instructions, a tuna chomped the anchovy on the end of his line. The skipper wasted no time, yelling, “Get out the bait rods!” and we responded like buck privates on day one of boot camp to free-spool anchovies into the predawn void. As the bite began to cool, we had our own first chance
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FISHING Albacore, also known as the “white meat” or “long fin” tuna, and “Chicken of the Sea,” are the highest grade of tuna on the market. They are great canned, smoked and grilled, but are not considered the best for sashimi due to lack of firmness when raw. More than a decade ago, I witnessed 100-pound yellowfin tuna stacked and frozen in the cold storage area of a major Northwest fish-processing plant. When I asked the tour guide “What’s with that?” I was told large tuna were to be mixed in with small tuna to reduce mercury levels of canned product below Food and Drug Administration guidelines. Thankfully, recent studies show The sun rises over the Northwest Coast as a boat heads for the albacore grounds. July, August and that albacore caught from the September mark the best time of year to catch tuna, but proximity of the right sea temperatures dictate North Pacific contain safe levels of where the best fishing may be at any given time. (DENNIS DAUBLE) mercury and can be eaten without fear of adverse health effects. Scientists aren’t worried about radiation from Fukushima to brag like Bogart. in the fish flesh either. “I got two out of that school.” “That big one is mine.” “I hooked one every time I put out a bait.” WHAT TO EXPECT In other words, if you had it, you showed it. It was The recreational catch off the Northwest coast varies by a day when the number of fish brought to the gaff was year, but the trendline has been upwards since 2000, with a measure of your manhood. I know my chest swelled 2012 seeing a record Oregon private and charter haul of with every successful hook-up. Conversely, if you want to 63,167 fish. The following year was poor off the Beaver know what lonely is, be the only guy on the boat without an albacore on the end of your line.
ABOUT THE FISH Albacore are built for speed. They reportedly swim up to 60 miles per hour, aided by remarkable physiological and circulatory adaptations that allow them to elevate their body heat several degrees above ambient water temperature. The powerful propeller-type action of their high, thin caudal fin, along with large pectoral fins that extend to provide lift, drives their powerful body forward efficiently and at great speeds. Other streamlined adaptations for fast swimming include a narrow caudal peduncle, “adipose eyelids” and accessory fins that depress into grooves. Distribution of the North Pacific’s albacore stock extends from Mexico north to the Gulf of Alaska and west to Japan. Juvenile fish, which comprise the bulk of the recreational catch, conduct annual migrations that bring them to our coast each summer. Tagging studies show that albacore have a preference for sea-surface temperatures between 50 and 66 Fahrenheit, and it should be no surprise that highest catch rates are linked to nutrient-rich upwelling fronts that contain abundant forage fish. 58 Northwest Sportsman
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After a hot bite, the happy author holds up a pair of 15-pound albacore caught on live bait out of Westport. (DENNIS DAUBLE)
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FISHING State, but strong for Washington, with a combined catch of 54,379 – a mark that was immediately topped in 2014, the last year data is available, when 67,862 tuna came back in ďŹ shholds. Most albacore caught off the Evergreen State come from the waters out of Westport (45,723 in 2014), where ďŹ shing with live bait is the norm. Ilwaco anglers get in on the action too, and in 2014 they brought back 21,753. Charters also operate out of Neah Bay and La Push, though with more limited success. Costs range from $375 to $450 per person for a one-day (12-hour hour) trip to around $600 for an overnight or two-day trip. Eleven Oregon ports have seen some level of tuna ďŹ shing in recent years, and the most reliable in terms of catch are Newport and Charleston (10,607 and 17,998 in 2014), followed by Garibaldi, Depoe Bay and Astoria. A day trip costs less in Oregon (e.g., $250-$325 per angler) due to shorter running time (and lower fuel cost) to warm currents that attract albacore. Be sure to inquire about the method and gear before you book a trip. Some charters troll jigs off hand lines or use an assigned rod exclusively. While you may end up with plenty of white meat, the thrill comes with ďŹ shing live anchovies or tossing swimbaits at a school of biters. The best time to catch albacore tuna is from late July
through early September when warm currents can be found within 20 to 40 miles of shore. Also, weather is generally calmest later in the season. You should sign up early to save a spot, especially for services that cater to small number of anglers. Some charters require a full deposit. Bring snacks, drinks, rain gear, waterproof boots and expect to experience carnage on the deck. Have extra cash on hand if you want your catch ďŹ lleted on the run back to the dock. When processed, you will end up with four reddish “loins,â€? or two portions of meat from each ďŹ let. The typical recreational catch is 3- to 5-year-old ďŹ sh that range from 12 to 25 pounds. There is a 25-ďŹ sh limit for albacore in Oregon. Washington has neither a daily nor possession limit. According to WDFW creel surveys, charter ďŹ shers have averaged eight to 10 ďŹ sh per angler over the past several years.
‘EIGHT SECONDS’ Capt. Westrick did not team up with a spotter plane to locate schools of feeding tuna for us. A course was charted towards attractive, warm surface waters until we saw excited baitďŹ sh, porpoises or dive-bombing birds. Absent such clues, we trolled skirted jigs behind the boat until a ďŹ sh struck, after which the Hula Girl’s engine shut off, spurring us to our bait rods. Little
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JULY 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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FISHING encouragement was required. The live bait technique is not complicated. You lob-cast a live anchovy into the feeding melee and free-spool line from your Penn 340 in hopes that a hungry albacore grabs your bait. When an albacore struck and line peeled off our reel, the skipper instructed us to be patient. “Let the fish run for at least eight seconds before you lock the bail down,” Westrick said. But like one eager angler said when the captain turned his back, “Yeah! One, two, three, eight!” In other words, you can’t wait. Following the initial take, there are two main stages to the fight. Action begins with a long searing, out-of-control run when your fish streaks for the open sea. It’s all you can do to hold on and hope the drag is set correctly. Once the albacore slows, the slugfest begins. During this stage, they swim in a wide arc with head pointed down and don’t give an inch without taking it back on the next swing of the arc. Your only recourse is to hold on to the deck rail and pump and reel, pump and reel, pump and reel. Just when you think your arms will fall off, there will be a flash of silver and blue – your signal to yell “Color!” – and a deckhand will come running with a long-handled gaff. There was no rest for the weary on my trip to Westport. Twice we had eight fish on at once, a situation that led
Most tuna come aboard with an assist from a gaff, but when it comes to Northwest sportsmen, where there is a will, there is a way – Mark Vucelik waits expectantly for a good net job on his fish 40 miles offshore of Depoe Bay. (KYLE LARSEN)
to crossed lines and lost fish. Fighting an albacore can be tiring, for sure, but it’s a good tired. The scream of a drag or the sight of bloody tuna flopping at your feet makes you quickly go for another bait. One exception to the rule was the two geriatric anglers who remained content to let the rest of us do the catching while they rested in the main cabin. Only on congenial charter boats does old age have benefits that extend beyond Medicare, senior discounts and rest home living. Like most fishing scenarios, presentation is everything. Once, while examining my line for weak spots, Westrick
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FISHING noticed that my anchovy was hooked deep in the top of its head. “Who baited you?” he barked in the general direction of a deckhand. “I did,” I replied, rather sheepishly.
Best bring plenty of coolers and ice to keep your catch cold before processing back on land. (DENNIS DAUBLE)
I eventually got it right. The correct way to tether a live anchovy is to hook it behind the upper collar of the opercle or gill cover, barely into their head tissue. This
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detail is important. Anchovies hooked correctly will swim freely into the strike zone. Anchovies hooked too deep will bleed out and swim at the surface. Having active live bait is critical in order to get a tuna’s attention. Lethargic anchovies do not result in hook-sets. By early afternoon we’d filled two 300-gallon fish boxes and every other storage container that could be iced down with albacore. The total catch, 174 fish for eight relentless and two passive fishermen, was split ten ways after gifting 24 fish to the captain and crew. No matter how you count it, that’s a lot of tuna noodle casserole. Besides bringing more tuna back than we could eat, there were other highlights to the trip: sunrise over the ocean, seabirds and dolphins; sunfish and blue sharks; and shared theories on why bananas produce bad karma. There was also memorable nightlife by the wharf. Who could forget the local karaoke lineup and other Star Search hopefuls who entertained at the former Cowboy Bob’s Bar and Grill until it was time for us to shove off? As for my total, credit me with 19 albacore. How many will you get? NS Editor’s note: Dennis Dauble is author of the award-winning Fishes of the Columbia Basin and The Barbless Hook. Both books are available at DennisDauble.com, KeokeeBooks.com and Amazon.com.
nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
Northwest Sportsman 65
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FISHING
12.5 Tips For The 125 Line
With good albacore prospects ahead, here’s how to succeed out where the longitude lines meet warm waters.
By Andy Schneider
A
lbacore fishing’s unofficial opener is the July 4th weekend and there aren’t many doubts that this year’s is going to be productive. Sixty-one-degree water was reported at Stonewall Banks out of Yaquina Bay in early June. It doesn’t take long for our nearshore waters to connect with the surge of warm ocean currents working their way up the coast from the equator. Once these two pools meet, it creates an expressway for tuna that leads right to the Northwest, where the fish will binge on the abundant groceries our waters provide. El Niño, La Niña – no matter what the meteorologists predict, we more than likely will not see any influence from them this year. There’s no denying Oregon and Washington anglers have been seized by a lust for these plentiful, hardfighting pelagic fish. Traveling 30 miles from port no longer seems like the daunting achievement of seamanship and steady nerves that it did at the start of this millennium. Instead, it’s become a weekly fishing adventure, at least for those with dedicated savings accounts setting aside money for fuel and ice. While traveling to the 125 Line and beyond still has inherent risks, reliable outboard technologies and safety equipment keep anglers returning home safely – and happily exhausted from the pursuit of these challenging fish. Here are 12.5 tips to make your trip the best it can be.
With 61-degree water just 20 miles out of Yaquina Bay in early June, it’s go-time for Northwest tuna hounds like Capt. Dave Anderson, here with a 2015 Westport haul. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
1
Got The Scoop?
As with many Northwest fishing pursuits, matching the hatch of what the target fish are feeding on is going to yield the best results. Sometimes that is more difficult to do than others, but when it comes to albacore, it’s just a matter of picking the right port. Live anchovies are only found in a couple harbors here, but the number is rising as more marinas see the revenue that can be made from a scoop of live bait. Garibaldi joined one of the few ports last year that had live anchovies for purchase, and as of early June,
Garibaldi Marina had net pens in place and was awaiting its first boatload of live bait.
2
Frozen Ain’t So Bad
While live bait is often the most productive for albacore, dead bait can be equally as good when tuna are aggressive. IQF, or individually quick frozen, anchovies are the premier frozen bait. If a high-quality livewell isn’t something you’re ready to make an investment in, they’re your next best bet as well. IQF ’chovies along with swimbaits and iron jigs are a tough combo to beat.
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Northwest Sportsman 67
FISHING
3
No doubt about it, live bait’s the hottest way to fish for tuna these days, but it’s not widely available yet, nor does everyone have a livewell onboard, like this boat does. An alternative is IQF anchovy, as well as trolling clones, cedar plugs and feathers.
Check The Charts
Before venturing offshore, let alone packing the boat, subscribe or utilize a sea-surface temperature, or SST, chart. While some of these subscriptions can be expensive, they can save you time and money in the long run. The charts will help you pinpoint where to start by identifying temperature and chlorophyll breaks, where albacore are sure to be.
4
(DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
On-scene Response
When everything lines up and you arrive on the tuna grounds, you can troll standard clones or plugs looking for schooling albacore. Or you can keep motoring around while looking for feeding or “puddling” fish – tuna cruising below the surface, making small splashes here and there as they slurp baitfish, sometimes even laying on their sides.
5
Keep ’Em Around I
Once you’ve located a school, keep a steady flow of either dead or stunned baitfish going overboard. When the school begins to stick around the boat, start adding something sharper to the mix.
6
How To Hook Live Bait
The easiest and most secure way to attach a live anchovy to a small, size 1 or 2 live bait hook is through its collar and up through the back. While bridling a live bait is one of the most popular ways to fish it in the rest of the pelagic waters, it’s difficult to do with fragile anchovies.
7
How To Hook A Dead ’Chovy
As for hooking dead anchovies, rigging them through the center of the head, pinning their mouth shut, seems to add some movement to the bait and keeps them secured for casting. But when the fish are boiling around the boat, you don’t have to pay a lot of attention to how you’re hooking your bait – except to make sure it goes overboard before the school moves on!
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8
The Right Rod For The Job
There’s no right or wrong rod for live or dead bait fishing. Both casting and spinning rods have their advantages and disadvantages. A 7-foot medium-heavy rod rated 15-30 pounds and for ½- to 2-ounce lures seems to be a good match for bait fishing. A spinning rod will allow you to make longer casts and provide your bait more freedom of movement, but pay attention when crew members are fighting a fish to ensure they aren’t reeling and not making progress, which can result in twisted line that may be impossible to use after only a couple fish. While a casting rod doesn’t produce line twist, it is difficult to use with little or no weight, and live bait may have a hard time feeding line off the spool.
9
Steady, Steady, Steaaaaady … Now!
Whether you are using a casting or spinning rod, after an albacore inhales your bait and takes off, allow the reel to free-spool for a short count before engaging it and fighting the fish.
10
Keep ’Em Around II
11
Weighty Matters
Many anglers hook multiple tuna and then leave them “hanging” in rod holders around the boat as they continue to feed the school and hook as many fish as possible. Surprisingly, leaving a hooked fish unattended doesn’t result in many tangles and can help keep the school of fish feeding around the boat. Eventually these fish do need to be brought in, but if done right, you can meet your fish goal in just one stop.
Long, greasy swells with little or no wind may be the dream of most albie anglers, but that reality is rare on our waters. More than likely you will have some sort of wind wave and drift because of it. Rigging your live or dead bait with an inline weight may be needed to get your bait down to depth before drifting off the school. Slide a ½to 4-ounce egg sinker down your 50- to 65-pound braided mainline before tying it to a size 10 barrel swivel. From your barrel swivel use 36 to 48 inches of 20- to 30-pound
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Northwest Sportsman 69
FISHING fluorocarbon leader to a size 1 or 2 ringed live bait hook.
12
Find Them Again
When albacore schools become elusive and there is a decent drift, setting up multiple baits with different weights can be an easy way to find fish again. Deploy heavier leads with bait out the back of the boat, lighter weights towards the front. Stagger your baits so that you are covering waters from 20 to 100 feet deep. Put your rods in holders and sit back and relax, just as if you were waiting for a bite on anchor back on the river. Pay attention to your fish finder as you drift and see if you can locate schools moving under the boat. Chum sparingly, as you don’t want to attract the attention of sharks. You want as many anchovies as possible left for when you find Charlie and his pals again.
Author Andy Schneider says there’s no wrong rod for tuna, as baitcasters and spinning rods both have their advantages and disadvantages. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)
12.5
It’s A Long Season
While July’s the unofficial start of albacore season, there’s no reason to head offshore in questionable conditions. These fish will be around through deer season, and no matter what sort of dark magic you think Mother Nature is
conjuring up to time rough oceans with your days off, there will eventually be multiple days for you to fish this season. Just keep the boat fueled, gear rigged and ready and the crew on standby for what should be another outstanding season out on the 125 Line by anyone’s standards. NS
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COLUMN
How To Not Catch Coho (But Lots Of Chinook) Chinook like this hatchery king held by John Keizer of Salt Patrol are the only target for salmon anglers fishing much of the Washington Coast this summer. Coho can’t be retained in Marine Areas 2, 3 and 4, Westport, La Push and Neah Bay, though quota is available in Area 1, Ilwaco. (SALTPATROL.COM)
T
his summer is going to be different off the Washington Coast for salmon fishing, that’s for sure. In the past most anglers have always targeted kings first, and then either tried to round out their limit with a coho or fallen back on the more aggressively WIESTSIDER biting and generally more abundant stock By Terry Wiest for both of their fish. While almost all boats you’ll see fishing off the coast are set up with downriggers, it’s common to also see a surface rod or two to keep the action going with the coho while waiting for the ’riggers to trip with a fatty from below. For the most part it was usually a mixed bag of both species once you hit the docks at the end of the day. But this year, just as most of us were starting to look forward to the 2016 salmon season, we were hit with a reality check from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:
OLYMPIA–Poor forecasts for returning coho salmon are prompting state and tribal fishery managers to consider closing all salmon fisheries in Washington’s ocean waters this year as part of a federal season-setting process for the west coast ... After some serious panic on the part of most anglers, we finally got the news that there would be an ocean sport salmon season
off the Washington coast, but for Chinook only. Whew! While many anglers will fish like “normal,” it may not be the most beneficial to the future of our resources, mainly the coho. Catch and release occurs all the time for salmon, and for many it’s a given that more fish are released during a trip than retained. Even with the best release practices (not removing the fish from the water, using a hook release device, etc.) there’s always going to be those that don’t survive. While the mortality rate may seem low, somewhere around 10 to 15 percent, consider that the forecasted coho run is going to be around 90 percent lower than last year. Too many fish becoming shark food after being released could have a huge impact on the run if the low predictions come true. Thinking ahead a little bit, I decided to ask some of my fishing buddies – all captains who for the most part make Westport their home during the ocean salmon season – to see what advice they might have for remaining successful on Chinook while staying away from coho. Here’s what they had to say:
CAPT. JOHN KEIZER, SALT PATROL, saltpatrol.com “As far as what we use in the ocean, it’s going to be pretty much the same drill as always when we were just trying to target kings,
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Northwest Sportsman 73
COLUMN the only difference being now that if we run into coho, we’re going to move,” says longtime salmon angler John Keizer. He suggests only fishing with downriggers to put your presentation down deep, and getting your ’rigger ball down quickly to avoid the 0- to 60-foot depths where the bulk of the coho hang out. What about terminal tackle? “I’d suggest switching to larger profile baits or spoons,” Keizer says. “I’ll be fishing the larger Silver Horde J-style plugs or their larger commercialstyle spoons, 6 inches or more.” “Plan on moving more than normal,” he adds. “If you’re in a school of coho, pick up your gear and run a mile or so and get out of them. Avoid trolling the edges of rips that are Run away! Run away!! If you’re catching coho this typical coho water.” summer off most of the Washington coast, you’re That said, Keizer doing something wrong (words we never thought we’d write). Because of low forecasted returns of says it’s almost the state’s stocks, anglers are being urged to fish certain you’ll deep with downriggers, use larger lures and move encounter coho to a new spot if hooking coho. (KEVIN LANIER)
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sooner or later. “When you do hook one up, reel it in quickly and use a release stick to perform an in-water release. Above all, do not net or handle the fish,” he says.
CAPT. MARK COLEMAN, ALL RIVERS & SALTWATER CHARTERS, allriversguideservice.com “Our team will be tuned up to tune out coho encounters during the summer’s ocean Chinook season,” says skipper Mark Coleman. “We know that the fewer coho we catch, the longer and more prosperous the Chinook season will be.” And how will his team try and avoid the coho encounters? “In general, this will mean fishing deep with downriggers (200 to 300-plus feet of wire) and using large offerings like 5- to 7-plusinch plugs and spoons,” says Coleman. “We’ll pull the brake all the way open on the ’riggers and really send the gear down as fast as possible. Spending any time with gear in the top 80 feet of water will increase your coho encounters 10-fold. Diver trolling will also increase coho action, especially offshore, whereas diver trolling ‘on the beach,’ in less than 40 feet of water, will yield Chinook most of the time. And absolutely no flat-lining or surface rods.” Another measure Coleman suggests is to quit fishing once you retain your Chinook limit. “High-grading and/or play-fishing on coho will make for a short season,” he says. A very important element Coleman wanted to stress is how to
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COLUMN report those encounters with coho. “Be honest about your creel report with the fish checkers. The Department of Fish and Wildlife is expecting a certain amount of coho encounters, and not reporting accurately can shut down a fishery in a hurry.” In other words, if anglers lie and say no coho were released, then they assume none are out there and the run is even worse than predicted. This will shut the season down. Like Coleman states, they do expect a certain number of coho encounters and this has all been calculated into the season quota.
CAPT. TODD GIRTZ, TODD’S EXTREME FISHING, toddsextremefishing.com Todd Girtz makes it simple and gets to the point. “I will be fishing deep on the ’riggers, in the 300- to 400-foot range, to try to reduce the number of coho encounters,” he says. “If I’m seeing coho in the deeper areas, then I will switch to large plugs, 6 inches or bigger, to keep the coho away.”
CAPT. KEVIN LANIER, KC SPORTFISHING, kcsportfishing.com “I have found even trying to avoid coho that you will occasional hook one any way,” says charter skipper Kevin Lanier. “But if you hook more than one, consider moving.” “Over the last two years we have caught almost all of our coho in 60 to 100 feet of water off the North Beach and between the windmills and Willapa Bay. We’ll be avoiding those depths and
areas, for sure.” “Another thing to avoid is using 4- to 6-ounce banana weights with bait or small spoons while trolling. You’re just inviting the coho in with those tactics,” he adds. If mooching and you pick up coho, move, Lanier says. In fact, he says you “have to move” because you’ll just keep picking up more. Just like the others Lanier plans on fishing deeper water and going deeper on the downriggers. “Since we will be off the water by late August, hopefully coho will not be an issue,” he says. Lanier also agrees with Coleman on reporting catches. “WDFW has set aside enough coho impacts to allow us to catch our entire Chinook quota,” he says. “Be honest with the fish checkers because we need accurate data on coho.”
SO, 2016 LOOKS to be a different fishery than we’ve seen in quite some time along the Washington Coast. Let’s hope the predictions are wrong and we get an abundance of coho. But if the forecasts hold, it will be important to follow these captains’ advice to try and get as many back to the spawning grounds and hatcheries as possible. Above all be safe, have fun and catch some fish. NS Editor’s note: Terry J. Wiest is the author of Steelhead University: Your Guide to Salmon & Steelhead Success and Float-Fishing for Salmon & Steelhead, and is the owner of Steelhead University, SteelheadU.com.
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COLUMN
Tips For Oregon’s Ocean Salmon Season
I
t’s ocean salmon season in the Pacific Northwest, and with coho open on the Oregon Coast I thought it would be good to contact Rocky Thompson of Lunker Junkies TV for a few tips on catching silvers. Winchester Bay is Thompson’s favorite place to fish and he says that with the selective SOUTH COAST By Randy Wells fishery he’ll start trolling for coho the first week of July. He says the bite is often better during an incoming tide, but that’s not to say that you can’t catch them on an outgoing tide. “When you leave the harbor get your binoculars out and look for birds diving on bait and look for a current line,” says Thompson. “If you can find birds working bait on a current line, the bite is going to be hot, so prepare for bent rods and bloody fish boxes.” After crossing the bar he angles to the right, looking ahead with his binoculars for bird activity. Thompson says that for whatever reason, 95 percent of the salmon he has caught out of Winchester Bay have been to the northwest of the jetty. He also finds his coho in shallow water, so he’ll stagger his trolling depths between 5 and 30 feet deep. His go-to set-up is a Sling Blade from Shasta Tackle followed up with their Wiggle Hoochie. If he’s trolling bait, he uses a Big Al’s Fish Flash and a plug-cut herring injected with Pro-Cure Bloody Tuna water-soluble scent. On a wide-open bite he’ll run a 5-foot leader between the flasher and his bait or Wiggle Hoochie. But during a slow bite or on a calm day with bright light conditions, he says to extend your leader to 10 feet. If lengthening your leader does not entice a bite and you are trolling a weight with a B-N-R Tackle spreader bar instead of a downrigger, try dropping down from a 10-ounce weight to an 8-ouncer and extending your line further behind the boat while maintaining the same depth. I told Thompson that over the years of fishing out of Seward, Alaska, in summer, I’ve found that mooching can be deadly. Once I find a bait ball I stop trolling, switch my rods over to a 4-ounce sinker with a 40-pound mono leader and a Hoochie King Squid Skirt covered with Pro-Cure Herring Gel. I set my boat so the current will drift my baits through the bait ball, drop my hoochies down to 50 feet and “reel-stop-reel-stop” until I either hook up or reach the surface. More than a 1,000 times a coho has followed my squid right up to the surface and smacked it just under the boat. Mooching will cause a feeding freezing, and limits will soon follow.
I asked Thompson for his go-to colors and his response was the same as everyone else I ask from Alaska to Oregon: chartreuse and/or pink. In Winchester Bay itself, anglers also have good luck casting 1-ounce Rooster Tails from shore. For a fishing report, call Salmon Harbor Tackle (541-271-2010). I also spoke with Rob Gensorek at Basin Tackle (541-888-3811)
Though this year’s Northwest coho forecasts are overall down, there still are enough to provide a summer fishery off of the entire Oregon Coast, starting with a selective season in July and early August and nonselective in September. Both are driven by quotas. (RANDY WELLS)
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COLUMN Watch for bird activity on the ocean. When you spot some, run your rigs at a staggered set of depths until you hook up with a hard-fighting coho. (RANDY WELLS)
No downriggers? No problem! Author Randy Wells has become a proponent of using cannonballs for ocean salmon fishing. Assuming you have a linecounter reel, this table shows how deep trolling at different speeds with 200 feet of 40-pound mono and an 8- or 10-ounce weight will put your terminal presentation. (RANDY WELLS)
in Charleston, another great place to chase coho. Gensorek says that not only is there a good troll fishery on the ocean, there’s a phenomenal bank fishery for coho too. He says tossing a ¾- to 1-ounce spinner like the ones from Nautical Creations from the bank can be downright deadly and more fun than any one person should have. Point Adams in Charleston is the bank spot. It has a big sandy beach, plenty of room and access for everyone to get a limit. “In September, when you can keep both natives and hatchery fish, it’s absolutely great fishing,” Gensorek says.
THIS IS JULY, so that opportunity is a ways off, but in the meanwhile Chinook are open and I recommend launching out of Brookings and trolling deep. I like to get down between 90 and 150 feet while trolling a Yakima Bait size 10 Big Al’s Fish Flash with a 10foot leader followed up with a plug-cut herring injected with Pro-Cure water soluble herring scent, or a size 13 Toman Thumper Flex by Yakima Bait. Try trolling 80 Northwest Sportsman
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RV SPOTLIGHT out by the last buoy or “red can.” Contact Sean Clemens (541-6611377) to book a salmon fishing charter this summer out of Brookings. Because not everyone has downriggers, trolling with a BnR Tackle spreader bar and a 10- or 8-ounce weight will work great. During my time in Alaska every year my clients regularly hook coho and kings using this method, and once I get back to Brookings in October I use this same style for fall Chinook. The set-up is simple and a diagram is available on every Big Al’s Fish Flash package. I use the spreader bar with an 8- to 10-ounce weight, a Fish Flash with 5 feet of 50-pound mono, then a bead-chain swivel followed up with 5 feet of 30-pound mono ending with a plug-cut herring or a Bob Toman spinner. With this method it can be difficult to know your depth, so I created a chart (left) that calculates it depending on your speed, weight and line distance. Try this and the above rigging method this summer.
I RECOMMEND ALWAYS calling the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s ocean salmon fishing hotline (800-662-9825) before heading out, but as of press deadline, the selective coho season from Cape Falcon south to the California border is open through Aug. 7, or until the quota of 26,000 hatchery silvers has been harvested. By catch, July is typically the best month. In addition, there’s a nonselective fishery slated for September 3-30, or until 7,500 coho are landed. Last year, the Coos Bay catch area – which includes five South Coast ports between Port Orford and Florence – and the Newport-Depoe Bay catch area both produced over 1,600 apiece. Be sure to check out lunkerjunkies. com for TV episodes and how-to videos to learn more about what I have written here. NS Editor’s note: Randy Wells is a full-time fishing guide in Oregon and Alaska. His websites are oregonfishingadventure.com and fishsewardalaska.com. He can also be reached at (541) 500-7885.
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COLUMN
No Skoke Fishery, But 4-King Salt Bag F SOUTH SOUND By Jason Brooks
ishing for a solid run of hatchery Chinook with the beautiful Olympic Mountains in the background? Sounds great and the hook of Hood Canal really is a beautiful place to fish, but if you don’t have a boat,
you are out of luck. Next month, thousands of bankbound anglers would normally head to the Skokomish. Though the river has seen its share of controversy in recent years – news reporters lining up alongside anglers to highlight the stream and the Chinook that draw everyone here – it still provides a lot of fish
and a lot of local money for businesses in the area. This summer, however, the river banks will be void of sport anglers, and so will the gas stations, sporting goods stores, the famed Hunter Farms market – which sells the best ice cream ever, by the way – and all of the other local businesses that benefit from this fishery. Instead, anyone who wants to target the estimated 22,542 fin-clipped kings heading back to the state’s George Adams Hatchery this season will have to fish for them in the saltwater, and that means by boat. The Skokomish River is part of a boundary dispute between the state of Washington and the Skokomish Tribe. A treaty from 1877 shows the lower river as the boundary of the Skokomish Reservation. The interpretation of that line is where the disagreement comes in. The tribe says it’s the south side of the river, which a recent opinion from the federal Department of the Interior agreed with, while the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife believes it’s the north side. “(We) don’t agree with the claim, but until we fully evaluate it and legal action is explored, we’re going along with it,” WDFW Puget Sound fisheries manager Laurie Peterson told the Kitsap Sun. So, until the boundary issue can be resolved and agreed upon, WDFW
Due to a dispute over a reservation boundary on the lower Skokomish River, sport anglers like Ron Adams (above) will be restricted to fishing for George Adams Hatchery-bound Chinook in The Great Bend and elsewhere in Hood Canal this year. South of Ayock Point, however, the daily limit will be four kings, and one of the region’s few coho fisheries will also be available, plus two-rod fishing. (VERLE’S; INSET: NOAA) nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
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COLUMN has closed the lower Skokomish River to all recreational fishing. It should be noted that the river above the Bonneville Power Administration power lines remains open for catch-and-release fishing, but all of the hatchery-origin salmon turn up Purdy Creek (closed waters) several miles below it to make their way to the WDFW hatchery. If you need some good news, it’s this: This year’s Chinook limit has been doubled in Hood Canal south of Ayock Point. Starting July 1, anglers will be allowed to keep up to four ad-clipped kings longer than 20 inches a day. What’s more, this end of the canal offers one of Pugetropolis’s only coho fisheries too – hatchery silvers open July 1 south of Ayock – and with the endorsement, you can also run two poles.
SO, ABOUT CATCHING those salmon … Chinook first show up around the Hoodsport Hatchery in early July and will be in Hood
Troy Cyganowski of Union shows off the caliber of kings to be caught in the waters of The Great Bend. He hooked this duo two summers ago on a Coho Killer. (HOOD CANAL MARINA) Canal through late fall. One of your best options is to troll near the hatchery at Hoodsport, and then as July turns into August, head further south towards the mouth of the Skokomish. The peak of the river’s run is usually the second and third week of next month and all of these fish must first swim through the length of Hood Canal. The fishing counter at Verle’s (verles.com) in Shelton has all of the gear and information you will need. Ron Adams is the guy often found behind that counter and he knows where to go and how to catch Skoke-bound Chinook. Adams tells me that he prefers to fish a flasher followed with a green and white hoochie or a 3½- to 4-inch Coyote Spoon. Good places to try include: • In front of Bald Point, which is also known as Ayres Point and is located on the Kitsap Peninsula side of The Great Bend opposite the mouth of the Skokomish; • The waters near Lilliwaup or Dewato, which are opposite of each other about 5 miles north of where the canal makes its hook; • And in front of Alderbrook Resort, which is 2 miles east of Union and on the south side of the canal. WDFW Inland Fish Program manager Larry Phillips confirms those first two locations, and he also adds the waters just outside the 2,000-foot-arc of the no-boat zone at the Hoodsport Hatchery 86 Northwest Sportsman
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as a good spot. At all of these, make sure to fish shallow, in about “40 to 50 feet of water” Adams says – even as few as 30, tips Phillips. Phillips, who reports that the south end of the canal was his “go-to” spot back in the day before focusing more on the Columbia River, says that one key is to be on the water early. He says the bite is usually between 5 and 7 a.m. Just like any other saltwater fishery, baitfish are the key to
CENTRAL SOUND CHINOOK A GO-GO Area 10 is back in play this summer as the marine waters off Seattle reopen along with Area 9 for the Central Sound marked Chinook fishery. Season opens Saturday, July 16, and though there aren’t a whole lot of hatchery fish in the quota – 3,056 in Area 9 and 1,395 in Area 10 – that’s still double what the Muckleshoot and Puyallup Tribes were trying to force on the sport fleet during the protracted season negotiations. Area 10 was closed last summer. Some of the better spots typically are, from north to south, Midchannel Bank off Anacortes; Bush Point off Whidbey Island; Skunk Bay, Apple Cove Point and Jefferson Head along the Kitsap Peninsula; Point Wells, Meadow Point and West Point off northwest King County; and Bainbridge Island’s Yeomalt Point. As for how to fish those areas, we turn to our Puget Sound sportfishing advisor – or at least one of WDFW’s – Ryley Fee, who offers these five trolling tips: * Most importantly, fish the tides! One hour before and after tide change is the most productive time, no matter what time of day. * Fish on the bottom! Using your favorite Silver Horde hoochie, spoon or fly, find a good contour line between 80 and 150 feet of water and troll between 1.5 and 3 mph over ground. * Move around to find fish! Don’t be afraid to move 10 to 15 miles to find bait and fish during the day. One of the most common mistakes an angler can make is not being willing to move to find fish if their favorite spot doesn’t have any in it that day. * Fish different gear until they bite! Have an assortment of spoons, plugs, hoochies, flies and bait available, and fish it until you find out what they are biting on, then switch the other rods over to what is working. * Fish with the tide, not against it! This allows you to cover more water during the day and get your offering in front of more fish!
finding Chinook. Good electronics will help, but also keep an eye for birds on the surface and even herring coming to the top. Once you find the bait, drop your gear to run on the bottom edge of the bait ball. For example, if you find a bait ball that is from 25 to 35 feet down, drop your gear from 30 to 35 feet, as the Chinook often start below the herring and then come up through them. By being on the bottom edge of the bait ball, your gear will be right where it needs to be to intercept the feeding kings. A dodger with a cut-plug herring 36 to 48 inches behind it is a go-to set-up. Most of the dodgers I run in the salt are either 11inch green Hot Spots or the Mack’s Lure Double Ds with the green mylar tape. Sticking with green, a green label-sized herring brined in Pro-Cure’s Brine-n-Bite and cut with a tight spin and rigged with
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COLUMN two size 4 Gamakatsu barbless hooks tied on 25-pound Izorline clear Platinum with a mainline of 50- to 65-pound braid is a perfect combination for catching salty kings. One other option I started using several years ago is to replace the cutplug with a Brad’s Super Cut Plug stuffed with either herring or a piece of tuna belly (canned tuna fish also works well) and smearing the body cavity with Bloody Tuna Super Gel. The one thing I really like about this set-up is the fact that if it gets bit but doesn’t pull off of the downrigger clip, you can just leave it alone. With a herring, the bait is destroyed and you need to reel up, rebait and then set the gear back down, taking away from fishing time. The Brad’s is a hard plastic bait, so it’s still working on missed strikes. Phillips also enjoyed success on Skokomish kings running green Hot Spots with silver Coho Killer spoons about 15 to 25 feet deep on the downriggers. If you don’t have ’riggers, Adams says to jig Point Wilson Darts.
If you like to troll with downriggers, start just outside of the can, on the edge of the tide flat, and work north towards Dupont. The beaches just off Dupont are the cruising grounds of Chinook heading to the Nisqually. Unlike the Skokomish, the Nisqually will have a fishery this summer, though it will close Sept 1. If you hit the river, watch for potential restrictions at wdfw.wa.gov. After a warmer than normal spring, if summer continues to heat up, the river could possibly see “hoot owl” hours in effect, where fishing is limited to the early morning, like last year.
FINDING HOOD CANAL fish can be easy because the destinations are known, but also difficult, as the kings spread out until they get close to the terminal zones. Those returning to the Hoodsport Hatchery – it’s expected to get the bulk of the 20,000 marked kings returning to the middle canal – make for a pretty simple fishery, as long as you stay outside of the marked restricted zone clearly identified by the buoys. But Skokomish-bound fish are a bit more difficult. The Skoke empties into a very large mud flat, and with the canal’s huge tidal swings, you can become stranded really quickly if you don’t pay attention to water depths. The river splits into several channels at the mouth, giving the fish several options and spreading them out. Ideally, the best fishing is at low tide, as once the tide rises just enough for the fish to enter, they shoot into the river and are out of the salt. But the low tide means you run the risk of running aground on the tide flats. It’s best to treat this like a large lake and stay away from the flats and search for schools of kings or herring balls and work the bait. Don’t be tempted to run up one of the river channels on the tide flats either. You’ll be fishing in closed waters, as all channels to the mouth of the Skokomish are closed, even in the salt, per page 120 of WDFW’s 2016-17 fishing regulations. Use of boat ramps in this part of Hood Canal centers around the tides. There are small launches at Twanoh State Park and Potlatch, the latter now being operated by the Skokomish Tribe. There’s a sling in Hoodsport at Rest-A-While RV Park. Hood Canal Marina (hood-canal-marina.com) at Union has fuel and supplies.
It can be a tougher bite in deepest South Sound, but there are Chinook to be had – Norine Keizer and Jessica Trinidad show off a pair from south of the Narrows Bridges. (SALT PATROL) Another place to target kings is the fishery off of Chambers Bay. Troll with a simple 5- to 8-ounce banana weight to an inline flasher, such as a Big Al’s Fish Flash, with a long leader from 36 to 48 inches and a cutplug or Super Cut Plug. This system is very popular in Willapa Bay and the Columbia River but with a dropper weight. Speaking of Willapa, you’ll also find eelgrass at Chambers, as well as kelp, so make sure to check your gear often – when I fish here, I do so after every pass. This is a simple fishery where you are targeting Chinook that are stacking up to head under the railroad trestle and into the warmer waters of Chambers Creek to the hatchery. Because the facility is so close to Puget Sound, the fish tend to hang out in the salt until they are ready to spawn. When you time it right, you can catch a few kings, but it also means that once the fish move into the small bay, they’re gone. I usually don’t spend all day here; fish it on the low tide and the tidal exchange. Once the tide comes in, the fish move and so should you. Either head north to the area around Fox Island, the Narrows Bridges and Point Evans, or south to the Green Can by the Nisqually.
OTHER CHINOOK OPTIONS are available for South Sound salmon anglers this month. One fishery for boaters is the area known as the Green Can out in front of the Nisqually River delta. Much like the Skokomish River, the Nisqually empties into the salt over a big mud flat. The river entrance is marked with a green buoy marker, and this area is primarily a mooching area. A simple 5- to 8-ounce mooching weight tied to a mooching rig and a green label-sized herring is all you need. And yes, I have mooched the Brad’s Super Cut Plug with great success in the saltwater. 88 Northwest Sportsman
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THE SKOKE’S OFF-LIMITS this summer, but its Chinook aren’t. Jump in the boat or find a buddy with one and head out to the salt. Enjoy the views of the Olympics and let WDFW and tribe figure out where to go next on the river. Just maybe you will find yourself a new fishery and you won’t have to worry about finding a parking spot. Just make sure to stop by Hunter Farms on the way out for some ice cream. NS
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FISHING
Crabbing 101 Here are tips for catching your share of Puget Sound’s Dungeness and red rock bounty. By Jason Brooks
W
ith the heat of July, our family often eats dinner on the back deck, which is a good thing since the meal is often fresh crab caught earlier in the day. Steam from the large pot of boiling water on a crab cooker set on the cement patio wafts the scent of seafood fresh from Puget Sound. On the table are tongs, crab shell crackers, melted butter and a few plates for the leftover shells. Welcome to summer, when everyone gets to eat like kings as Dungeness season gets underway.
FINDING CRABBING GROUNDS on Puget Sound is pretty simple: Just look for other red and white buoys and you’ll have struck some sort of fishing spot. But if you’re trying to find your own spot, then deciding which type of crab you want to target makes the difference in where you drop your pots. There are two that we fish for here: Dungeness and red rocks. Dungeness prefer bottoms with kelp, eelgrass or sandy flats, especially on deep benches or shelves from 50 to 150 feet down. The depth really isn’t as important as the bottom structure, but it seems any of the shallow areas get picked over pretty quick. Also, if you have ever pulled a few crab pots by hand from waters any deeper than 100 feet, you soon realize how much work it really is. This is actually why I have found the deep benches around 150 feet to produce more Dungies, simply because they are still there and haven’t been picked up by
Stoked for crab season? This kiddo is! Most of Puget Sound and the San Juans, where this haul came up from the depths, opens in July for Dungeness and red rocks. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
other crabbers yet. Red rocks, or rock crabs, prefer – wait for it – rocky areas and can be found in fairly shallow water. They will be in 40 to 65 feet of water on
rocky bottoms. These tasty crabs are known for their large claws. Their legs are much smaller and have hardly any meat, but since you can keep any six you get over 5 inches
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FISHING
That second buoy’s not over this crab pot for extra floatation. Author Jason Brooks says that adding an extra buoy makes keeping an eye on your gear easier from a distance. (ANDY WALGAMOTT)
in width, we tend to come home with more rockies than Dungies. Some believe that the meat from red rocks is “sweeter” too, but that is personal preference. By and large, Dungeness are the preferred crab, thanks to their larger legs and succulent meat. Only males over 6¼ inches in width can be kept. This makes it very interesting when you have a pot full of undersized and/or female crabs with a keeper somewhere in the group. Oftentimes, I sit back and watch others on my boat try and reach into the pot to get the crabs out. After a pinch or two, I let out the secret and pop open the side of the trap and dump them all out onto the floor of the boat. Of course I don’t mention what I am about to do, and so when the crabs are suddenly crawling around the feet of my unsuspecting shipmates, it makes for a few entertaining minutes. Once the crab are sorted and the sublegals and females that need to go back to the depths are gently dropped overboard, the keepers are placed into a 5-gallon bucket filled with saltwater.
folding pot, 75 feet of rope, and a buoy can be bought together in a package at most outdoor sporting goods stores for under $50. A crab ring is another option and often used off of docks or piers. This is basically a net that lies flat and when pulled up it creates a basket.
BY THE WAY, you don’t absolutely need a boat to go out crabbing. There are many piers in Puget Sound that offer a place to drop the pot. For the location of one near you, go to wdfw .wa.gov/fishing/piers. Adventurous anglers are also allowed to hand fish for crabs. This means prowling beaches and flats looking for crabs and then using a net or your hands and grabbing them. On a hot summer day, this can be very entertaining with a set of snorkel gear. Most of our saltwater state parks’ beaches have crabs, and since they are public access you don’t have to worry about trespassing. Remember, though, that tidelands can be privately owned, so make sure that you stay on public beaches or have permission.
CATCHING CRABS COMES in many forms,
AS FOR RIGGING for standard crabbing,
and everyone has their favorite method. The most popular, of course, is with a crab pot. A fairly inexpensive
whether you use a ring or a pot, you must use either weighted line or a weight on the line. Most crab ropes
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are leaded and sink, so this is the best option. The reason for this is so that if your buoy comes off the rope and sinks to the bottom, there is no hazard of it being wrapped in a boat propeller. If you are fishing off of a pier, you can simply tie the rope to the dock, but if you are going to use a buoy, then it must be red and white and you have to put your name and address on it. Just last month I was talking with state fish and wildlife officer Carlo Pace, who told me how he had watched a boat of shrimp anglers pull two pots and bring them on board their boat. He contacted them and neither pot belonged to any of the five guys on the boat. They were caught red-handed stealing others’ prawns. This also happens with crabbing, so most people add other buoys to their red and white one. This makes keeping an eye on your set of gear much easier from a distance; if another boat approaches, you can see if they pull your gear. Plus, there is no way the person on the other boat can say how they were mistaken if you put a few other off-color buoys on your gear.
THE BAIT DEBATE is never-ending, but fresh chicken is among the top options. Some think that stinky or rotten baits are used for crabbing, but I have found that the fresher the bait, the better it crabs. Salmon heads are hard to beat if you have any in the freezer. When I go trout fishing in the spring, I keep the heads and entrails in a Ziploc bag and then keep it all frozen until I get to the crab grounds where I place it into my bait bags. Other baits include canned cat food, salmon bellies and entrails, or even fresh flounder we catch while our pots soak. Pro-Cure makes a Crab and Shrimp attractant that really adds scent. When applying this additive, I make sure to do so as the crab pot is held over the water just before I deploy it to try to keep any of it from getting inside my boat.
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FISHING now what? Cleaning them, of course. You are allowed to clean the crab dockside, as long as you keep the back shells to show how wide they were, and for Dungeness, you also need to keep the part of the shell that shows that it was a male. Some like to cook their crab whole, but we prefer to clean them first. This is fairly simple and can be done by cutting the crabs in half with a large kitchen knife or by pulling the back shell off and then breaking them in half. With a quick flick, the guts go flying out. We then wash them in fresh water and keep them on ice until we get home.
you can deploy the line much easier without tangles. When you come to the clamp, simply snap in your buoy set-up and toss overboard, but first make sure your pot has hit bottom and you don’t need more rope. I often use a “top shot” on my buoys, adding 15 feet of standard nylon rope with a loop on the end to grab hold of. This allows you to grab the buoy, pull in those 15 feet and then unsnap the clip and hook it to the hose reel. Have a buddy pull in the pot and another wind the rope on the reel. This system keeps any dangers of wrapping the rope around your leg, arm, or even a fishing rod from occurring, and also makes it much easier to keep the line from tangling.
AFTER THE FEAST is over, I like to clean
GET THE PROPANE burners and steel
the crab pots and respool the ropes. Using a set of stainless steel carabiner clamps, I wind the ropes onto garden hose reels. This keeps them organized and easy to store, plus
pots. Fill them with water and even a few spices if you like, cook up a bunch of Puget Sound and Hood Canal crab and have a feast on your back deck. Enjoy summer and all it offers! NS
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COLUMN
When you think about it, Buoy 10 really is a trolling fishery these days, so it makes sense to utilize a trolling line to get your presentations down to where fall Chinook are flooding into the mouth of the Columbia. Lead core – the colored line strung on author Buzz Ramsey’s rods here – can do the trick. (BUZZ RAMSEY)
Buoy 10 Prep: Try Lead Core Instead I BUZZ RAMSEY
f you’re longing to catching a few of the 960,000 fall Chinook expected to return to the Columbia River mouth starting next month, chances are you’ve already (or should have) reserved a place to stay in Astoria or Ilwaco and began to prepare your boat and tackle. For me, and perhaps you, there is
more to preparing for the Buoy 10 salmon season than stocking up on consumable items like flashers, spinners, bait, hooks, mooching leaders, sinkers, divers and fishing line. After all, August is just the beginning of a troll fishery that extends into October in tidal zones up and down the West Coast. Preparing for the fall season may mean having your boat motor tuned, checking to make sure your bilge pump works, prerigging rods and putting some real thought into what you might do
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COLUMN differently than last season to improve your fishing success this year.
Buzz will keep fishing mono and heavier cannonballs on some rods off his boat, but off the back end he’ll be running three rigged with lead core in hopes of replicating some of the success he found using the line last year at Buoy 10. (BUZZ RAMSEY)
EVERY YEAR, IN each major Northwest fishery, I come away with lessons or observations that help me advance my thinking on how to improve my catch rates the following year. For example, last season the fishing rod on my boat that hooked and landed more fish than all others was the one spooled with lead core line. Most anglers – or at least those residing in the West – think of lead core as a fishing line used to get deep for trout, especially Mackinaw, but the reality is it works just the same for salmon. My motivation for first trying lead core was really twofold. One: playing salmon, especially a small one, with a 12-, 16- or 20-ounce sinker or large diver on the line isn’t my idea of a good time; and two: we lose a fair amount of fish while using big sinkers in combination with barbless hooks. In fact, a partial remedy for not losing fish as they near the boat is to lift your fishing rod high in an attempt to keep the line tight enough so the barbless hook won’t fall out when the fish gets close. Of course, lifting your fishing rod more than 90 degrees – “high sticking it” with a big sinker and fish on the end – can result in a broken fishing rod. It doesn’t matter what brand rod you use, as all can and will break if you high stick them often enough. When using lead core line I can get deep using 4 or 6 ounces of weight, as opposed to the typical 12- or 16-ounce sinkers commonly used at Buoy 10. And while I had to trail these lines out behind the boat a little farther to bounce bottom than when using larger sinkers, there seemed to be additional benefits to getting the gear away from the boat – the rods spooled with lead core caught way more fish. LEAD CORE’S AVAILABLE in several pound tests, with manufacturers using either nylon multi-fiber Dacron or super line Spectra material to braid around a strand of pure lead wire. In addition, lead core is color coded in 10-yard increments and normally available in 100-yard
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(10-color) spools. Lead core made from Dacron breaks near what the label indicates and is fairly thick. For example, traditional 60-pound lead core is the same diameter as 50-pound mono. On the other hand, Spectra Fiber Braid breaks way above what the label indicates – 27-pound line breaks at slightly over 60 pounds – it comes at a diameter similar to 25-pound-test monofilament, and pulls deeper than lead core fashioned from Dacron. I’ve used both of the above types of lead core and settled on the latter. Since I really don’t need all 100 yards on one reel, I splice five colors, or 50 yards, to a linecounter reel backed with 30-poundtest Big Game mono. A uni-to-uni knot is what I’ve used to splice or attach to a swivel, making sure to remove 8 or so inches of lead prior to making the connection. To avoid the possibility of your line knifing into the spool when hooking a big fish, which can happen with braid, it’s important to wrap your line tightly on the reel when spooling up. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get the line wrapped on the reel tight enough, so I attach the end to a stationary object and walk 90 or more yards away and then reel myself back while holding tension on the line as I reel. Only after doing this am I ready to tackle a big salmon.
I’VE GOT THREE rods filled with lead core and ready to go for this season at Buoy 10. My intention is to run these near the stern of the boat and extend them back 50 to 70 feet to reach bottom in 20 to 30 feet of water using 4- or 6-ounce cannonball sinkers. My forward rods will still be filled with traditional braid, weight, flasher and spinner or bait setups. However, I’m prepared to switch all rods over to lead core and probably will after losing more than a few fish at the boat or wincing when one of my good friends high sticks one of my favorite Air fishing rods. NS Editor’s note: The author is a brand manager and part of the management team at Yakima Bait. Like Buzz on Facebook.
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FISHING
Steelheading The Columbia
Fishing hits high gear in July on the big river, where smaller offerings rule the day.
By Andy Schneider
T
wo a.m. comes awful early. It feels like you’re having a bad dream as your body comes to the realization that it’s going to be starting the day now. Thank goodness you had the forethought to lay your clothes out, load the boat with tackle and gear and pack your lunch, because as you stumble from bed to bathroom, you stub your toe on the door jamb and that last conscious thought you had before drifting off – throw in the tackle box of new SpinN-Glos from your winter steelhead vest – has vanished for good. With Keurig brewing a strong cup of coffee in a matter of minutes, you’re soon out the door and firing up the truck, the first bursts of alertness mingling with anticipation and excitement of the day to come. While you know you won’t find a long ramp line as you pick up the crew and head to the river, you still feel a little anxious that other savvy anglers have awoken sooner – or worse yet, spent the night on the boat anchored in the productive locales. As you pull into the boat launch’s parking lot, you look for the telltale signs of these hardcore fishermen. Reflecting lights of parked trucks or wet tire marks emerging from the ramp? Nope! And that breath you didn’t even know you were holding you release in relief. The short boat ride from the marina to the anchor spot sends a slight chill through the light sweatshirts the crew is wearing. But as the anchor settles in and the boat comes to rest, the night still holds some warmth from the previous day.
With a forecast for more summer steelhead than actually returned last year, the Columbia should be productive off the mouths of its numerous cold tributaries below Bonneville Dam, including the Cowlitz, where author Andy Schneider hooked this one on a great day of fishing a couple seasons back. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)
With a pink glow to the east, Spin-N-Glos and U-20s are silently deployed, rod positions are finetuned and the crew settles a little deeper into their seats. Midyawn, you notice that the center rod that had been frantically wiggling with an orange plug suddenly stops and the tension on the rod relaxes slightly. All four onboard shift their weight to the edge of their seats in anticipation of the inevitable buckling of the rod. But instead of the rod making a move, a chrome-bright fish rockets out of the water to the side of the boat, splashing down loudly. Only as the fish disappears for good does everyone realize that they had seen an orange plug decorating the mouth of the fish. But as attention turns back to the promised rod, it returns to its normal frantic wiggle.
Ahh, the typical start of a day of steelheading on the Columbia.
THE BIG RIVER is one complicated piece of water. Not only do flows vary seasonally, but currents change throughout the day as power demands fluctuate and tidal influence slows it down all the way up to Bonneville Dam. The Columbia can be a challenge to figure out and no matter what any particular app, website or fishing article has to offer, there’s no way to completely define the river and its ever-changing conditions. Just as it’s always in a state of change, so too must its anglers be. Versatility and willingness to adjust anchor or plunking locations on the fly are the only ways to find consistent success. As soon as summer steelhead enter the freshwaters of the nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
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FISHING Columbia, they tend to travel close to shore, and as they migrate upriver, they seek out the cooler waters of every tributary they encounter. The Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, Washougal and the Sandy are some of the larger ones below Bonneville, but there are plenty of smaller tribs that may push a slightly cooler flume of water into the Columbia and pull fish in closer. Those are all the obvious and usually most popular spots, but if you’re fishing between them, structure is going to be the key element for productive fishing. Wing dams/jetties, pile dikes, inside corners and choke points are good choices for anchoring up and plunking. But an often-overlooked piece of structure is actually a lack of structure. Long straight stretches of the Columbia with a fairly steep bank broken with intermittent benches that continue underwater will also funnel fish onto these benches. Anywhere you look on the Columbia, it’s tough not to find some sort of structure that will enhance your fishing. If you drop anchor or cast and find that you are not sitting in the right spot, get up and move. As current flows fluctuate or river levels change with the tide, it may be necessary to move multiple times. The easiest way to be unsuccessful for summer steelhead is to do nothing. Don’t fall into a sedentary or lazy day of fishing, when productive waters may only be a boat width or a short hike away.
SUMMER STEELHEAD BAITS are some of the easiest and least expensive that anglers can buy, at least compared to salmon tackle. Coon shrimp, plugs, winged drift bobbers and spinners are all extremely productive, with smaller offerings such as plugs of 3 inches or less, size 3 or 4 spinner blades and 8 and 10 Spin-N-Glos the best bets. Coon shrimp are a pretty versatile bait and can be fished in a variety of ways, either in combination with a spinner or Spin-N-Glo or 104 Northwest Sportsman
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completely bare by themselves. The most popular way is in combination with the aforementioned sizes of drift bobber. Start with a single or double 2/0 barbless hook tied with an egg loop to 48 inches of 20-pound fluorocarbon leader. Just above the
to use at different times throughout the tide. Fluorescent red and orange tend to be the most effective color choices for summer steelhead, but don’t be afraid to try lighter and darker colors to match water clarity. A 48-inch leader of 20- to 30-poundtest monofilament and a 24- to 30inch lead dropper is the best way to rig plugs on the Columbia. In fast water, small spinners can be the best tactic, and in the waters directly below Bonneville Dam, sometimes the only way to effectively fish is with spinners. Size 3 or 4 French blades, Cascades or Hildebrandts in brass, chrome, rainbow or red/ orange finishes are the most effective. Another way to fish spinners is to wrap a small coon shrimp to the lure body, with the tail closest to the blade and the head between the hooks.
Smaller sized plugs and spinners are very effective on steelies in the big river, as is coon shrimp, either run naked or behind a Spin-N-Glo for lift and attraction. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)
NO MATTER WHERE you fish for summer steelhead on the Columbia or what method you use, make sure to take care of your catch. With water temperatures in the high 60s and air temps in the 90s, it doesn’t take long for your catch to spoil after harvest. Lots of cocktail ice and either a hard or soft cooler will ensure that your fish will keep cool on even the hottest of days. And while the majority of steelhead you’ll catch will be hatchery fish, take care when hooking natives. Don’t prolong battles in the warm waters of the Columbia, and if a fish has inhaled your bait, simply cut the leader as close as you can. Even if the wake-up comes early, spending time on the Columbia on a warm summer day is one of the best things about living in the Northwest. Not only are we presented with ample and productive fishing opportunities, the scenery is tough to beat and family watersports are only an inner tube ride away after pulling anchor. Summer steelheading could very well be a “gateway” fishery for many anglers just starting out, so don’t forget to invite family, friends and coworkers out to experience the bounty of the big river. NS
hook slide two small beads to allow your Spin-N-Glo to spin freely above the shrimp and to act like a bearing. Rig with a sliding dropper line of 24 to 30 inches. Either back-bounce or cast your shrimp into position. When casting, utilizing a pyramid sinker will allow you to fling your bait to the side of the boat (or from the bank) to hold it in position. When you notice some activity on your shrimp, don’t pick up your rod until it is loaded up with the weight of the fish. Oftentimes a steelhead will make multiple passes on your bait before committing. Setting the hook too soon will more than likely result in a missed opportunity. With barbless hooks required on the Columbia, it can be tricky to keep these slime rockets hooked once they start their aerial show, but keeping constant tension and the rod loaded, as well as a net ready at the back of the boat, will ensure that your landing ratio will increase. X-4, X-5 and U-30 FlatFish, 3.0 and 3.5 MagLips and K9X and K11X Kwikfish are all very productive plugs
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FISHING
THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE OF STEEL By Skylar Masters
I
’ve been fortunate to grow up fishing lakes and rivers all over the Northwest. I have fond memories of my dad and grandpa waking me up early in the morning to go with them. There is something special about sitting on the water with just a hook and nightcrawler, waiting to see what is tempted to take your bait. I didn’t care if it was a trout, bluegill, carp or catfish. Fishing was simple! No pressure, we were just fishing. Nowadays, I find myself taking fishing way too seriously, always looking for a way to catch bigger fish and ways to catch them faster than the boat next to me. Recently, I was reminded of what it was like to just fish. A family friend hosting a foreign exchange student from Spain asked if I could take him fishing. Any time I can take a young fisherman out on the water, I jump at the opportunity. My daughter and I met David Torres at the Kalama Olé! The smile on Spanish exchange student David Torres’ face says it all after he caught this nice hatchery summer marina. Summer steelheading steelhead on the Lower Columbia. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST) was in prime form and I was confident we could get him into on his feet and about to experience village of Ciganda, in the western one. David spoke very little English a fish of a lifetime. He fought it like a foothills of the Pyrennes north of and I speak even less Spanish, so our champ; the feisty hatchery steelhead Pamplona and home to 30 people. communication was very limited. made numerous runs and a couple Over the next hour, we looked at During the boat ride to Longview, I acrobatic flips. When the fish finally pictures on each other’s phones, told could see the astonishment on his face. hit the deck, we high-fived like fishing stories with hand gestures He seemed to be absorbing every bit of longtime fishing buddies. David and nodded and laughed. We were the Columbia. beamed from ear to ear! just a couple fishing buddies with Once anchored and ready to fish, David had no expectations that our lines in the water, waiting to see I showed David the Looney Coonies evening; he was just happy to go what would bite. David had no clue and Spin-N-Glos that we were going fishing. I would love to have been a fly about what he was fishing for and he to be using. I’m pretty sure he told on the wall and watched him tell the didn’t care. Fishing was simple. me with a smile that my bait would story to his family and friends back When the rod bent over and the never work in the creeks in his small home in Ciganda. drag started screaming, David was
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COLUMN
4 Places To Catch Upper Columbia Summer Kings
T
he rules have changed over the past five years for Chinook fishing above Rocky Reach Dam in the summer. We used to be able to harvest clipped and up to one unclipped fish from July 1 to October 15 – even two wild kings as recently as 2009 – but BASIN BEACON nowadays, it’s adipose-finless kings only. While By Don Talbot this rule change has discouraged the majority of the region’s anglers, the good news is that production at one of the largest hatcheries on the Columbia River is coming into full swing in the next couple of years. The Colville Tribes have been working with the Bonneville Power Administration to develop a state-of-the-art Chinook hatchery in the Bridgeport area. We may see some hatchery summer jacks this month, and next year is when we will see the first serious returns of adult Chinook from the program. But as it stands, with a forecast of over 93,000 Upper Columbiabound kings expected back to the mouth of the Columbia, I am excited to see what kind of Chinook fishing we might encounter around Wenatchee this summer. I am also very excited about the 5th Annual Wenatchee Salmon Derby, put on by the North-central Washington chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association and coming up July 14-15. This article should help you on both fronts.
GUIDE WATERS IN this part of the Columbia are not very big. You will find one or two guides working just below Rocky Reach Dam from time to time. This is an advanced hole that has a ton of trouble in it for rookies. I have seen many close calls with boats trying to maneuver for position to fish the shoreline 200 to 300 yards below the dam. If you use downriggers in this section, you have to watch out that you are not swept out of the hole about 400 yards below the dam on the west side of the river. The two main ways to fish this section are with herring extremely tight to the shoreline and Brad’s Super Baits run outside of the herring fishermen and off downriggers set 10 to 20 feet down. The bite times are early in the morning to about 7 a.m., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 4 p.m. to dark. I do not fish this water on the weekend. It simply gets too crowded for more than 10 boats in the hole. The second best fishing area in early summer is right at Walla Walla Point, which is the prominent peninsula just downstream from the mouth of the Wenatchee River. This area used to be strictly a herring fishery 15 years ago. It has changed to 90 percent Super Baits and 10 percent herring and plugs. Why? The Super Baits do not rip off the hook like a herring does in fast water.
The set-up for using Super Baits is the same whether you use the original body type, the original Cut Plug style or the Mini Cut Plug. I just happen to like running all three designs down to see what the fish want. I will generally run the Mini on my middle downrigger at 13 feet and the outside rods at 16 feet at Walla Among the places author Don Talbot likes to fish Walla Point to on the Upper Columbia in July for summer Chinook are off Walla Walla Point, just below Rocky Reach the Wenatchee Dam, off the mouth of the Entiat and below Wells Row and Paddle Dam, which is where he caught this one, last year’s Club dock about Wenatchee Salmon Derby winner. (DON TALBOT) a quarter of a mile down from the point. The best fishing day of the year at this location is always the opener. You may lock into several fish in the 20-pound-plus range if you hit it right. It is good for the first couple of weeks and then it gets way tougher to catch Chinook regularly from late July into September. During CCA’s first annual derby, my boat took second place in the big fish category fishing just above Walla Walla Point. Austin Moser, a local guide (austinsnorthwestadventuresllc .com), hooked and landed the big one fishing 13 feet down on the middle rod using a pink Brad’s Super Bait and a prototype Scent Bomb. This was the start of the Scent Bomb era to help attract more fish to the Super Bait. The more scent, the better your chances are to catch more fish, proven at many derbies since.
MY FAVORITE SUMMER Chinook fisheries on the Upper Columbia are located at and below Wells Dam. I have two guide locations that consistently produce solid catches day in and day out here. The most recent fishery that has come on very strong is located in front of the Chelan River. I launch my boat at the PUD park a quarter of a mile south of Beebe Bridge off Highway 97 at 4 a.m. to get ready for the early morning bite. Last year’s opening day (July
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COLUMN
Some folks are still running herring for summer kings on the Columbia around Wenatchee and Chelan, but many have switched exclusively to Super Baits (top left). The rotating hollow lures in which you can place scent come in three sizes, and this year’s class of Cut Plugs come in five new colors (top center), including Groucho, Twisted Sister, the baboom, Capitol Hill and rotten banana. You can string them up with your own hook and leader, but Hooked On Toys in Wenatchee ties custom rigs for the product (bottom center). Talbot doesn’t leave anything to chance, using two attractors on his line (right), a Pro-Troll 11-inch flasher with an e-chip and a Money Maker Scent Bomb, which spins while dispersing scent. “I like to win the events and it helps bring in the big ones,” he maintains. He takes it a step even further, soaking both the lure and bomb in a mix of tuna and scent (bottom left) before putting them out. (DON TALBOT, ALL) 1) produced four hatchery fish in the first three hours of fishing. I will fish my middle rod at 13 feet and my two outside rods at 16 to 20 feet on downriggers, just like downstream at Wenatchee. The bite will die off at about 8 a.m., so I change locations to below Wells Dam for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Most people do not fish the Chelan Falls area in the afternoon and this is a big mistake. I have boated many really nice fish 24 to 35 feet down on my downriggers in the middle of the river on the 40-foot shelf right out from the mouth of the Chelan. The hardest part for a rookie is changing downrigger depth and location to go after running fish in the afternoon. These salmon are on the edge of the river channel and in the morning they hang in shallower water that’s 15 to 30 feet deep. This is the best information to apply when fishing at Chelan Falls during the summer run. It’s also an easier fishery than our next stop. Wells Dam has always been my favorite summer Chinook fishery for late morning through evening. The fishing gets better during the heat of the day. My favorite 112 Northwest Sportsman
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depth is down 19 feet, hugging the bottom on the west side of the river below the hatchery sign that says no fishing above that point. This is very important to pay attention to as Department of Fish and Wildlife folks watch this area on a regular basis for those who fudge the line and fish in the hatchery opening. Over 90 percent of the boats will be pulling Super Baits in this water, and I would bring a good selection of colors. I only put my gear back 10 to 15 feet from the downrigger ball. The Chinook do not spook in this area as much as others that I have fished. I took the largest fish in last year’s CCA Derby fishing here and I did it running in 16 feet of water with my gear down 13 feet before 9 a.m. We only got one bite that Sunday morning, on a Super Bait Mini Cut Plug, and it was all we needed to score big and take home the $2,000 first-place prize. Other contestants who witnessed the catch knew we hooked a big one. The fish took us all the way out of sight around the corner and way downriver before we landed it. We figured it was a big unclipped fish and when my fishing partner Greg DeCamp saw the fish had no adipose fin we got a little bit excited. We kept getting calls from other derby fishermen wanting to know how big. All they had to do was see that our cooler lid would not shut – on a 100-quart cooler that means the fish is over 25 pounds. We got back to the weigh-in station early and had to gut and gill the big catch at the dock before weigh-in. Lance Merz from Mack’s Lure (mackslure. com) watched me accidentally drop the fish into the water and sink to the bottom of 10 feet of milfoil. DeCamp went into shock watching the tournament-winning catch disappear completely. I went for a quick dip off the end of the dock and caught the fish with my toe right in the gill while everyone started laughing at my dumb mistake and lucky recovery. I will be back to catch another one of those fish hopefully this year. I will see you there. Best of luck! If you have any additional questions about this subject, contact me at Don Talbot’s Fishing (509679 8641; donsfishingguideservice .com). NS
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FISHING
Whither Wander Walleye? By understanding the seasonal movements of baitfish in Columbia Basin lakes you can catch more of your target species.
The key to catching stringers of Columbia Basin walleye this time of year is, in part, locating their forage, but not necessarily matching the hatch, argues author and local Moses Lake-based guide Keith Jensen. (BIGWALLYSGUIDESERVICE.COM)
By Keith Jensen
I
’m frequently asked what the hot lures are that I use to catch Columbia Basin walleye. With the species being as finicky as they are, bait selection is definitely a critical component to catching more fish. However, a better question often is how to find walleye throughout the year and from lake to lake. Locating your target is always the key to a successful day of catching fish. The best lure or bait in the world will only work once it’s around the fish you’re after. One of the best ways to locate walleye on a given body of water is to understand their food sources, namely baitfish such as
the yellow perch. As a result, I’m constantly asking myself where the baitfish are in their seasonal movements. More often than not, when I find yellowbellies, I find walleye in close proximity. In most areas of the United States, walleye chase shad, freshwater herring, ciscos and shiners, to name a few forage sources. Here in Washington, however, yellow perch dominate the baitfish section on a walleye’s menu. So knowing the seasonal patterns and movements of perch will help walleye anglers put more fillets in their frying pan this season.
WHEN WALLEYE SEASON typically gets rolling in late February nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
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FISHING and early March on lakes such as Banks and Potholes Reservoir, the perch are in deep water, 40 to 60 feet, and are relating to sandy or muddy lake bottoms. It’s no coincidence that these areas are exactly where you also find walleye. April can be one of the more frustrating months for walleye anglers. Although the tasty fish will still feed, most of their efforts are going into spawning, making the bite
Once you locate schools of baitfish, troll 3- to 5-inch crawdad-pattern, blue or purple crankbaits to offer walleye a meatier bang for their buck. You’ll get some aggressive hits. (BIGWALLYSGUIDESERVICE.COM)
tough at times. Perch, meanwhile, have entered shallow, weedy bays such as the Devils Punchbowl on Banks and Crab Creek at Potholes. Once the walleye have wrapped up their spawn, their focus shifts to recovery. This means finding the perch to satisfy their now-large appetites. And find them they do. May and June are filled with anglers catching limits of walleye in shallow weedy bays, exactly where the perch are located. As we move into June and lasting through July and August, locating the yellow perch fry that hatched this year is the number 1 key to finding walleye. The fry relate to main-lake areas and are found in large schools. Places such as the south end of Banks and the face of the dunes on Potholes will be loaded up with schools of ½- to 1-inch perch fry. During the summer, there are two main ways to locate baitfish schools and thus walleye. First, your electronics. I rely heavily on my Raymarine fishfinder to locate concentrations of fry. When you see clouds of baitfish on your electronics, immediately hit a waypoint to mark their location. Continue to hit waypoints in the area as you locate more. A second and just as important way to locate schools of yellow perch fry is to look for bird activity. Saltwater anglers know this routine very well. When targeting
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FISHING salmon in coastal waters, fishermen know that when they see heavy bird activity, it is a telltale sign that there’s a school of baitfish such as herring, and thus a great chance to find feeding Chinook or coho too. The same is true here in Eastern Washington. When you see birds working an area on Potholes or Banks, they are actively feeding on perch fry, with walleye feeding right along with them. The major difference is the species of birds. In saltwater you’re looking for seagulls and terns, while in freshwater you’re looking for grebes and loons. This scenario plays out perfectly in July and August near Coulee City. As I’m trolling I’m constantly looking for bird activity. When I see several grebes up ahead, I know there is baitfish there and most likely walleye as well.
WE’VE NOW COME full circle to the original question about hot lures to use for walleye. Now that you’ve located the baitfish and the real target species, walleye, you can focus on the right presentation and bait. A very important detail to keep in mind during summer is the fact that there are literally millions of perch fry available to the walleye – that’s a lot of competition, so how do we get them to choose our bait instead? You’ve heard the phrase “matching the hatch.” Trying to mimic inch-long fry is a tall order, so I go to the opposite end
of the spectrum: I troll large crankbaits such as Rapala Jointed Shad Raps, Berkley Flicker Shads and Bass Pro Shops XPS Laser Eye Hardbaits. After chasing small perch fry around, walleye just can’t resist the opportunity to eat a 3- to 5-inch-long bait. Think of the perch fry being the appetizers prior to the main meal. We all enjoy the appetizers, but we really want the main meal. Walleye are no different. They will eat all the perch fry appetizers they can sink their teeth into, but when a main-course meal swims by, their eyes light up and stomachs growl. I take going against the matching-the-hatch theory one step further too. Instead of using 3- to 5-inch perchpattern crankbaits, I use red crawdad or even purple or blue cranks in that size range. Seeing a bigger bait with a different color than the small baitfish very often produces aggressive bites from summer walleye. If you are planning a walleye trip to the Columbia Basin this summer, consider looking for the baitfish first. Use your electronics to mark schools of perch fry, and use your eyes to spot birds actively feeding in an area. And do not be afraid to use large baits. Remember, the walleye have a lot of food available to them this time of year, so offer them something that will really satisfy their appetite. NS Editor’s note: Author Keith Jensen operates Big Wally’s Guide Service (bigwallysguideservice.com).
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COLUMN
Jarrod Rivera hefts a nice Columbia Gorge smallmouth. With its myriad rocky coves everywhere from Stevenson to The Dalles, the Bonneville Pool is particularly bassy. (MARK VEARY)
Pool’s Cool For Smallies By Mark Veary
S
unrise on the Bonneville Pool. The Columbia spreads out before you like a mirror, reflecting the dwindling stars. A dense blanket of cool, humid air greets you at the river’s edge. This magical time of day is to be savored. All too soon the astringent July sun will call to throngs of recreational power boaters and paddlers, but for the moment, the river is yours. The Bonneville Pool is defined as the reservoir formed by
Bonneville Dam, running east to The Dalles Dam. Though this stretch of river is over 100 feet deep in a few places, you’ll find plenty of rock and cobble habitat from 2 to 20 feet deep that the impoundment’s prolific smallmouth call home. With over 100 miles of shoreline, it could take even the most avid bass fisherman years to discover all of the best bass water just on the Oregon side alone. Some of the more popular and productive launches on the southern shore include Eagle Creek, Herman Creek, Government Cove, Hood River boat basins, Koberg Beach State Park, Mayer State Park and The Dalles Yacht Club. Washington-side put-ins include parks and ramps in Stevenson, Home Valley, Drano Lake, Bingen and elsewhere.
APPROACHING A SHALLOW, hardrock shelf, you stop paddling well nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2016
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COLUMN short of your destination to ready a topwater prop bait. The still morning air allows you to stand in your kayak for added distance and accuracy. Experience has taught you to anticipate an instantaneous hit in these conditions, so you engage your reel as soon as the frog-patterned plug touches the water. After a few seconds, you remember to breathe and give the lure a sharp tug. A small swirl can be seen a foot away but no strike comes. Another short tug puts your lure in action, and it’s interrupted by a furious strike. Choosing the right postspawn bass bait can be maddening. These fish are well fed and have a myriad of options to key in on. Fry of all species are starting to get bolder and venture beyond their safe havens. Crawdads are active in the warming Author Mark Veary reels in a smallie. He starts out his conditions. Smolts are still flushing through the days in the gorge with topwaters, then after the sun Columbia and perch are omnipresent. Even frogs rises, switches between plastics and crankbaits and and small rodents are on the menu. passive and active approaches. (MARK VEARY) My confidence bait in the Bonneville Pool is a 3-inch Senko. Black or green pumpkinseed work violent eruption, but this time your hooks find a home. best in stained water. Red or natural are my choices when the visibility is high. THE SUN CRESTING the walls of the Columbia Gorge signals the Working the shoreline, I’ll dead stick weightless Senkos. If end of the topwater bite. Smallmouth are still feeding aggressively but their attention is now subsurface. This is the time to break out there’s any current or wind, I’ll add a tiny split shot above the a spinnerbait or a crankbait. swivel to increase the sink rate. My preferred crank is a small, sinking plug, such as a size 03 Around submerged structure or when the smallies are holding Rapala CountDown Minnow. I’ll often troll these while hunting for deep, I’ll change over to a drop-shot rig. Drop shots are effective bass nurseries. Once I find a likely location, I’ll work the plug across even in wind or current, so long as you pay attention to line scope and around the nursery in hopes of coaxing an ambush strike. and adjust for changing depths. Usually, the strike will come just off the edge of a shallow shelf, Though a ravenous smallmouth just went airborne with your weedbed or woody structure, where tiny fry hide. topwater frog, an overly enthusiastic hookset will only send the Throughout the day, I’ll switch back and forth between the lure whizzing past your kayak. You steady yourself and take a passive and active approaches – Senkos and crankbaits. But as deep, calming breath. Another cast drops your lure 2 feet from the day wears on and wind picks up, plastics will invariably begin where the strike occurred. A short wait. A sharp tug. Another outfishing hardware. I may still pitch the hard baits into sheltered areas, but the majority of my fishing will be with Senkos, tubes or small craw/creature baits.
The Bonneville Pool grows some fat smallmouth. Early last summer, a Camas, Wash., angler nearly topped the state record with an 8.53-pounder hooked on a plastic grub near Stevenson. (MARK VEARY) 122 Northwest Sportsman
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THOUGH THE POOL in July is often idyllic, there are still precautions to be taken when fishing this area from a kayak. The sun is a force to be reckoned with and requires regular applications of sunscreen or clothing that protects you from UV rays. Also, bring more water than you think you’ll need. Wind is nothing to take lightly either. There’s a reason so many people flock here for windsurfing and the eastern end of the gorge is lined with windmills. It can go from dead calm in the morning to deadly serious in the afternoon. Luckily, there are several websites that provide pinpoint wind speed and direction forecasts, such as iwindsurf.com. As always, anytime that you’re on the water, be sure to wear a properly fitted PFD. That said, enjoy the bass fishing to be had by kayak in the Columbia Gorge. NS
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FISHING Channel catfish are a popular species across the country, and interestingly they’re a common search term that leads to our blog, indicating Northwest sportsmen want to know more about them. (JULIA JOHNSON)
Channel Discovery There are catfish to be had in Southwest Washington and beyond, and here’s how an old whiskerfisher says to catch ’em. ABOUT THE EVERGREEN STATE’S CHANNEL CATFISH
By M.D. Johnson
I
grew up in northeast Ohio. There 28 years. Catfishing was big in The Buckeye State. I spent 17 years in eastern Iowa. Catfishing was huge – and I mean huge – in Iowa. Channel cats. Flatheads. Trotlines. Limb lines. Ditty poles. We did it all. Except noodling, or as it’s sometimes called, grabbling. I’m not real big on shoving my arm up into a muskrat hole hoping to grab a catfish by the face. Sometimes muskrats live in muskrat holes. Or snapping turtles. Or evil-tempered water snakes. So my wife, also a catfisherman – or person, or whatever the politically correct phrase is nowadays – and I move to Southwest Washington in July 2015, and I start looking for channel cats. Oh, folks tell me, I need to drive clear across the state to the Yakima or Snake or Palouse Rivers, where catfishing is fast becoming a right regular pastime. But I’m looking for something closer to our home here in Wahkiakum County. What I found was that while the catfishing in my (new) corner of Washington isn’t red-hot, nor is it what I was accustomed to in Iowa, there’s still enough opportunity to be had to hold the interest of this old catfisherman from back in The Day.
Assigned to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Region 5 office in Vancouver, Stacie Kelsey is an inland fisheries biologist and she gets us caught up on her agency’s plans for channel cats in the southwest corner. “Our goal is to continue stocking Swofford Pond and Kress Lake. We make the determination each year based on the budget, (but) we hope to stock channel cats into both waters this year,” Kelsey told Northwest Sportsman. “We’re looking at other waters within the region to determine if there would be a benefit to stocking channel catfish. If the water has not historically had channel catfish plants, it would have to go through the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process.” In Reader’s Digest Condensed Books form, the SEPA process provides a system of checks and balances, as well as state, local and public input, where the environment, or more precisely, changes to the current environmental status are concerned. In plain English, before a new water can be stocked with channel catfish, there are certain regulatory steps which must be taken. Kelsey explains that the channel cats stocked in Westside waters are purchased from a facility in Arkansas, transported here in tanker trucks, and raised at WDFW’s Meseberg Hatchery, aka The Rod Meseberg Warmwater Fish Production Facility, on the banks of the Columbia near Basin City north of Pasco. From here, the fish are trucked to waters on both sides of the Cascades. But what about natural reproduction? It’s happening east of the mountains, but on the wetter side of the range? The common theory focuses on water temperatures, or more precisely, the lack thereof in Southwest Washington. Channel cats, like their cousins the blue cat and the flathead, spawn once water temperatures hit roughly 70 degrees. Seventy degrees – enough said? So you won’t have that in the mainstem Columbia or the smaller tributaries; however, and given the recent weather patterns in the Pacific Northwest and Al Gore’s Theory of Global Warming, shallow dark waters, e.g. Vancouver
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FISHING Lake, may have the capacity to warm sufficiently to allow for some natural reproduction. “There are some (people) who believe channel cats cannot reproduce in inland waters,” says Kelsey. “However, there has been spawning witnessed along the northwest side of Vancouver Lake over the past several years. Getting in and getting lakes sampled should give us some insight on what kind of reproduction could be occurring.” Kelsey’s field work with channel cats took her to Kress Lake early last month. Electroshocking surveys targeting
cats,” she says. “They’re stocked at 12 inches, and (have been) very successful. There have been some caught as large as 20 pounds.” The researcher recommends anglers target the northern shoreline from the dam to the west. To get to Swofford, take Highway 12 to Mossyrock, drive into town and then head east on State Street, which becomes Mossyrock Road. Turn right at Swofford Road and follow it to the lake. Like Kress, Swofford carries a no internal combustion motor sticker. Located on the western edge of Vancouver, the aptly named Vancouver Lake holds a goodly supply of our quarry. “Channel catfish in this lake move back and forth from the Columbia River,” says Kelsey, “either through the flushing channel or through Lake River. There is very good shoreline access on the west side of the lake at the county park, at the Felida boat ramp (Lake River), and along the shore where Lake River meets Vancouver Lake.” Take the Fourth Plain Boulevard exit (1D) of I-5 and head west to Fruit Valley Road, taking it north to La Frambois Road and the WDFW boat ramp.
MATCH THE HATCH These whiskered fish – this one was caught at Swofford Pond – prowl the bottom in search of morsels to eat, and while often associated with the use of stinkbaits, they’re actually somewhat more discerning eaters than that. For his money and on lakes where they’re stocked, chunks of rainbow trout marinated in scent do the trick for author MD Johnson. (STACIE KELSEY, WDFW)
the species was on the agenda; however, the researcher said her work was to also involve setting trot lines – ah, take me back, Oh Iowa! – specifically targeting cats. Northwest Sportsman will provide an update of Kelsey’s field research in the August issue.
WHERE TO CATCH CATS Southwest Washington channel fanatics are, at least for the time being, rather limited as to where they might ply their trade. However, there are a trio of waters which, says Kelsey, fall under the heading of excellent in terms of potential for the slick silver fish. “The channel cats stocked in Kress Lake do very well,” she says of the lake just north of Kalama. “They’re stocked at 12 inches. There are a couple of holes on the backside of the lake where they like to hang out, but they can be caught all over the lake.” From I-5 northbound or southbound, take exit 32 and head east on the Kalama River Road less than a quarter mile and then north on Old 99 South. Kress and its state launch and parking area are several hundred yards up on the right. A maintained trail provides access to all corners; internal combustion motors are a no-no. Well north of Kress, Mossyrock’s Swofford Pond is another excellent option, according to Kelsey. “Swofford is our second water stocked with channel 126 Northwest Sportsman
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Surprising to some, channel cats aren’t merely bottom feeders that are more than happy to eat whatever dead and decoying nondescript crud they come across. Oh, they’ll eat some downright nasty stuff, but that’s not to say said nasty stuff is always on the menu. When you think of channel cats, think sturgeon. In February, the bait of choice is smelt. June, and it’s shad. Go to Deep River or below the Astoria Bridge, and it’s sand shrimp. Yes, just like sturgeon – or trout – it’s often essential to match the proverbial hatch, if you want to catch channel cats consistently. That said, and in a place like Kress Lake, what exactly is the hatch? Unlike flathead catfish that prefer their meals still wiggling, channel cats are partial to food, plain and simple. It can be alive. Or dead. Sometimes, it doesn’t seem to matter. But back to Kress and the bait of choice. Well, and as much as I hate to say it, it’s tough to pin it down. Natural food selection for Kress cats includes planter rainbows, sculpin, small panfish like bluegills and crappies, and bullheads – the catfish variety, and not the sculpin kind. There’s crayfish too. Which brings us to a quandary – what can and cannot be legally used for natural bait in Kress Lake, and of those, what might be the best option? Rainbow trout. If you’ve legally harvested one and possess all the necessary licenses and adhere to all of the regulatory considerations pertaining to said rainbow trout, that trout can then be cut into 1-inch chunks, put into a Mason jar, coated with a goodly amount of Garlic Smelly Jelly, and used for channel cat bait on Kress Lake. See where I’m going with this? And it only makes sense. Kress is annually stocked with rainbow trout. Rainbow trout
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RING CANYON RANCH Tucked away in a quiet location just minutes from Downtown Dayton this property includes 2 homes under one roofline. These 754.95 +/- acres (76.11 tillable & 313.81 pasture PER ASSESSOR and 294.75 tillable & 70.28 pasture PER FSA records) are made up of 284.70 acres currently enrolled in government CRP program that expires in September 2016 with annual income of $18,578. Outbuildings include a detached double car garage, 768 square foot shop attached to 2400 square foot machine shed and a 1920 square foot Quonset building. Remaining acreage is rangeland. This property can be easily set up for livestock. Nearby recreation includes both snow and water sports, and is located just a few miles from Walla Walla Wine Country. An abundance of wildlife graze in the grassland and add to the tranquility of this rare opportunity.
PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS: Price: $1,400,000 Acres: 754.95 County: Columbia Closest City: Dayton
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FISHING a $4 garage-sale Barbie pole sporting a pink-and-white Zebco 33 Classic to a Lamiglas rod with a $300 Penn die and sink to the bottom, where they become catfish baitcaster on top of it. My call is either or anything in food. A favorite catfish food. And that’s where I’d start the between will work just fine. One- to 3-pound cats are a process. It’s no different than my using chunked quillback hoot on trout gear – light to medium-light spinning rods or redhorse sucker covered in Smelly Jelly back in Iowa. and reels spooled with 8-pound monofilament. No need But channel cats have been caught by folks using an to get fancy here. Bigger fish, if that’s what you’re after, almost infinitely long list of baits, some of which rank call for a rod with a little more backbone. I’m partial to a pretty high up on the weird scale. These oddities would 9-foot Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite medium/heavy topped include pieces of Ivory soap, chunks of hot dog and prewith an Abu 5500S levelwind. Line of choice for the latter chewed Bubble Yum bubble gum. Nightcrawlers certainly work; however, you’ll have to fend off the hordes of sunfish, mud daubers and bullheads prior to MORE WHISPERS ABOUT WHISKERS catching any channel cats. Chicken livers are a possibility, but like sand shrimp, liver is a challenge What would have been a very sweet deal for Washington whiskerfishers fell to keep on the hook. (See last month’s bonus Rig through this spring. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission offered the of the Month for some tips.) Other options include Department of Fish and Wildlife 50,000 free channel catfish, but for wont of a congealed blood, cocktail shrimp and a variety of way to get them to the Northwest, the offer fell through. man-made concoctions, aka stinkbaits so vile that Transporting fish, it turns out, is not exactly cheap. Running a tanker truck many of them come with a Haz-Mat suit and a the 2,000 miles from the Natural State to the Evergreen State would have cost 4-foot stick for application. Me? I’ll stick with my twelve grand, and it would have been another $6,000 afterwards to distribute Mason jar ’o trout parts. them to local lakes. The hope is that there will be money available in next year’s
SCENTS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEANLINESS
budget to buy and truck some up. But as it stands, the channels stocked here in recent years are coming along just fine, thank you. “We have had some phenomenal growth in the fish stocked into Lake St. Clair in Lacey,” says WDFW’s Bruce Bolding. “There have only been twoyear classes stocked, 2011 and 2013, but there was a 13-pounder caught last summer. Other Westside waters where they’ve been released in the past five years include Campbell, Fazon, Green and Lawrence Lakes and both Gissburg Ponds. On the Eastside, the list includes Bear, Liberty, Powerline, Roses, Rotary, Sprague and Whitestone Lakes, Columbia Park, I-82 1-4 and 6, McCabe, Ping and Sarge Hubbard Ponds and Potholes, Scooteney and Stan Coffin Reservoirs. In Northwest Oregon, there’s the Gilbert River and the Multnomah Channel, into which the Gilbert drains. Upstream, the lower Willamette and its tributaries such as the Tualatin and Yamhill Rivers, as well as Oswego Creek, see cats, according to a 2015 article in this magazine. They’re also in all seven of the St. Louis Ponds, Hartman Pond and Wilsonville and Woodburn Lakes. –NWS
A channel catfish is nothing more than a 24-inch bundle of nerve endings. A swimming sensory organ. His skin is filled with receptors. His face is covered with dangling receptors. Really, he’s one big nose, so to speak. More so than any other species I’ve targeted, channel cats – and catfish in general – seem to be susceptible to anglers using scents. It’s no secret that Mike Borger’s Catcher Company, makers of the now-famous Smelly Jelly, is the go-to juice when the topic turns to scents. When I fish shad as bait, I use shad. A crayfish bait, I use crayfish. Here, I turn to the one-two punch of garlic or anise, with a slight lean toward garlic. I soak my cut-bait in it, and periodically freshen it up on-site with a squirt or two. On the subject of scent, here’s something I believe in completely when it comes to catfish and catfishing: You have to be careful, and I mean almost surgically careful, of what you get on your hands and then transmit, intentionally or otherwise, to your bait presentation. Remember what I said about a channel cat being a swimming olfactory organ? Well, he can not only smell food, but unnatural and suspicious odors as well. This means no insect repellent. No aftershave. No gasoline or motor oil contamination. No alcohol-based hand sanitizers. And smoking. Do I go so far as to wear nitrile gloves like salmon anglers do when I catfish? You can, I reckon, but no; still, I definitely watch what I touch. If it’s not bait or bait-related, I don’t get it on my hands.
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is Cabela’s RipCord 30-pound braid. The Ugly Stik has a sensitive tip, and the braid imparts good feeling through the rod. I like both, as sometimes cats hammer a bait, while other times, you’d hardly know they’re there. Riggings, like rod and reel, can be as simple or as complex as you wish. I run two. The first I use for clean, i.e. grass-free, rock or sand bottoms. It consists of a 5mm glass bead, 1-ounce egg sinker, and a snap swivel. To the snap I clip a 24-inch, 20-pound mono leader tied with a 1/0 Daiichi Bleeding Bait Octopus hook. The second I use because I know channel cats, especially aggressive fish, won’t hesitate to separate their belly from the bottom and rise to a good bait. This rig is essentially the same as the first; however, I’ll lengthen the leader to 36 inches, and at the halfway point, I’ll peg a small (2-inch) slotted foam float. Slightly larger baits, which I
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FISHING use often as even small cats will pound big baits, may require a similarly larger egg-style float. Float color doesn’t seem to matter – orange, yellow, red, or a combination of any. The goal is to pick the bait up off the bottom and allow the scent to disperse to a wider range.
GO NOCTURNAL There’s a reason why channel cats have a reputation for being easier to catch after sunset. It’s because they’re more active after sunset. Don’t you just love it when things are that simple? While cats can be caught any time of the day, darkness often sees fish moving out of deeper water onto large shallow flats where they cruise into the wee hours. Knowing this, stock up on propane and extra lantern mantles, and prepare yourself for some serious sleep deprivation. With salmon seasons in such flux for 2016 – and who knows how far into the future – Washington anglers are already on the hunt, no pun intended, for suitable alternatives. In these parts, channel cats are not as glamorous as silvers, kings and steelhead, but they’re worthy adversaries on light tackle and can more than hold their own – at least those under 5 pounds or so – on the table. And if they’re anything like walleye, another 10 years and the cats will be pouncing on baits regularly on the Columbia closer to my home in Cathlamet. A mixed blessing, perhaps, but one I’ll take. NS
Channels are a long-lived species that can reach large sizes. Nick Thorn pulled this estimated 15-pounder out of the Willamette River above the falls last year. One caught in 2011 at Lacamas Lake was 28 pounds and around 20 years old; a 2005 fish there went 33 pounds. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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This property includes a home that was custom built in 2008 that is more than 4,000 square feet. There is an outdoor kitchen next to the swimming pool, waterfall and pond. Outbuildings include a shop and machine shed. The Tucannon River flows through the property and there is nearly a mile of river frontage. This property is a hunter’s paradise where you might see wild turkey and white-tailed deer. It’s the perfect place to get your fishing pole out and catch brown trout or steelhead. There are also five campsites, all complete with RV hookups for your family and friends.
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Channel Cat Set-up
Large snap swivel 36-inch, 20-pound monofilament leader
NOTES Standard operating procedure for plunking for most species that hunker near the bottom is an egg sinker, bead, swivel and long leader to lift your bait out of the weeds, and that’s certainly the case with this channel catfish set-up. However, where it differs is with that 2-inch-long float, which does not go above the sinker, as with eggs or worms under a bobber for stocker trout, but actually in the middle of the leader. While channels have whiskers to find food on the bottom, they also will rise to grab a bait. The float allows for scent to be broadcast more widely than if the bait’s anchored to bottom. –NWS
5mm glass bead
2-inch slotted foam float 1/0 octopus hook
1-ounce egg sinker
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FISHING Georgetown Lake shines year-round, but the western Montana mountain reservoir really comes into its own in early summer, when fly anglers flock here to take advantage of the prodigious insect hatches that make for fat and sassy trout. (BOB HENRICKS, FLICKR)
GEORGETOWN A GREAT GETAWAY Prime time on western Montana lake to fly fish for rainbows, brook trout. By Mike Wright
L
ocated in what used to be a high mountain meadow lies one of the finest stillwater fisheries in the Northwest, Georgetown Lake. The reservoir approximately 20 miles west of Anaconda, Mont., is over 3,000 acres, covers 4.5 square miles, and is relatively shallow and very weedy. The only exception is near the dam, which is at the head of a steep, narrow canyon leading to a broad valley below and, eventually, the Clark Fork River. Here the water can reach nearly 40 feet in depth. The heavy aquatic vegetation in the main part of the lake teems with insect life and other food sources for the fish that inhabit these waters. Georgetown’s trout and kokanee grow rapidly, producing rainbows that average around 14 inches and can range up to 10 pounds. The
kokanee average around 9 inches, with a few growing up 14 inches or more. Although not nearly as prolific as the rainbows and kokanee, there are also brook trout present in the lake. They average between 12 and 13 inches with some growing to trophy size, as much as 5 or 6 pounds, plus a considerable number of 2-pounders that are caught each year. This makes Georgetown one of the premier brookie lakes in the Treasure State. In an effort to enhance the number and size of the eastern imports, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks mandated a catch-and-release policy, and although it was lifted in recent years, there does seem to be a noticeable increase in the population. About 50,000 are stocked annually. Although the trophy brook trout fishing is exceptional, the real draw to Georgetown is the rainbow angling.
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FISHING include some fingerling Kamloops to the annual stocking of Arlee rainbows. Three years later, in 1991, a 10-pound There is a sizable, self-sustaining population, plus FWP Kamlooper was caught, apparently from the original augments the population at various times during the year. stocking. Even the regular rainbows were surviving and In 2015, just under 200,000 were released between May thriving in the extremely fertile waters of Georgetown, and September, and they were comprised of three different reaching the 3- and 4-pound range within two to four strains. The fast-growing Arlee and reproductively better years. Kokanee were also added to the annual stocking, Eagle Lake rainbows made up the bulk of the stocking, but and they became added feed for the larger rainbows, 25,000 long-lived Kamloops, or Gerrard, rainbows were bringing the lake back to its former glory. Unfortunately also let loose. This mixture ensures a variety of sizes and this glory was fleeting. somewhat different fighting characteristics. Shortly after the start of the new millennium, Montana, along with much of the West, suffered through a severe GEORGETOWN HAS UNDERGONE a number of changes and drought and unprecedented wildfires. In order to aid some drastic mismanagement since its creattion just after downstream farmers and ranchers, the flood gates at the turn of the 20th century when a dam was constructed Georgetown Dam were opened and the lake level dropped perceptibly. Weedbeds that were normally underwater were exposed, while clouds of blue damselfly adults hovered over the water and hatched out on the exposed weeds. The smoke from the nearby wildfires created eerie, near-twilight conditions over the lake, sparking a feeding frenzy on the part of the trout. In the deeper, open-water sections fish were coming completely out of the water to feed on the adult damsels hovering above the surface. These feeding frenzies became so intense that it appeared a rainstorm had settled over the lake. The trout were keying in on the flying insects, which meant in most cases the Stocked with three different strains of rainbows – Gerrard, or Kamloop, Arlee and Eagle Lake – as well as brook trout and kokanee, the shallow impoundment grows them big. Author Mike Wright reports most of Georgetown’s trout fish were caught without an average over a foot long, with some specimens going several pounds or more. (MIKE WRIGHT) angler’s fly even reaching the surface of the water, occasionally even on a backcast. Although this was extremely on Flint Creek at the northwest end of the meadow. In the entertaining, it could also be rather frustrating. The trout 1940s it was one of the finest trophy trout lakes in the were not noted for their extreme accuracy, meaning there entire country, with an abundance of fish that averaged were far more misses than hits. over 4 pounds. For some unknown reason, FWP decided However, observant fly fishermen who gave their casting to turn this magnificent fishery into a put-and-take lake arm a rest could see fish leisurely feasting on damsels at the with very liberal daily limits. People flocked in from all base of the weeds or floating near the edges of the exposed over the area to take advantage of the situation. vegetation. There were some problems inherent in targeting When fisheries biologist Wayne Hadley transferred into these more tranquil specimens. First, it was necessary to the region in the 1980s he began to work on changes to maneuver through the very shallow water and thick mud these policies. By enlisting the aid of sportsmen’s groups in in order to get within reasonable casting range. Secondly, the area he was able to lower the kill limits, thus increasing getting the fish to take the fly wasn’t a major problem; the average size of the fish in the lake. As expected, this however, landing them was another story. Often the fish move found favor with anglers, especially fly fishermen, would dart into the heavy weed cover, leaving you with from all over Montana and even neighboring states, only a broken tippet to remind you of the spirited, but brief making it easier to implement further quality changes. fight you had just encountered. On other occasions the Another important change made by Hadley was to 136 Northwest Sportsman
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FISHING trout would make a mad dash toward deeper water, leaving a telltale wake indicating you had just hooked a very nice fish – and a fly that looked like it had been tied on a sewing needle rather than a fish hook. There were, however, more than enough times when everything went right to make you feel you’d died and gone to angler’s heaven. Unfortunately, by the next summer it was apparent that this heaven had turned into paradise lost. Winter was colder than normal and with the depleted water level, there was a major kill that especially affected the larger fish. Following the drought and winterkill Georgetown suffered through some lean years. With the annual stocking, the trout fishing was still good, but the size was a definite disappointment in comparison to previous years. Kokanee were again stocked in large numbers and the size of the rainbow and brook trout began to increase. Today, the fishery has rebounded admirably, again producing numerous 3- to 5-pound fish, plus the occasional behemoth.
GEORGETOWN DOESN’T HAVE any special regulations on gear, so it is not uncommon to see bait, lure and fly fishermen all working the same water. Bait fishing is effective throughout the year, with nightcrawlers, PowerBait and corn being the most popular during the warmer months, while maggots are the preferred bait through the ice.
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For the hardware fisherman, early spring just after iceout and before the weeds have had a chance to grow back is the ideal time. Although lures work well throughout the season, the dense vegetation in much of the lake makes it difficult to fish these sections effectively. Among the most popular lures are spoons like Thompsons, gold Mepps and Panther Martins in orange or chartreuse, as well as stickbaits like Rapalas. Also try jigging a Swedish Pimple within 2 feet of the bottom. While bait and lures can be very productive, Georgetown is far better known for its outstanding fly fishing. Three major hatches are particularly prolific. The first is usually the callibaetis mayfly hatch, which begins in early June, but in most years doesn’t start reaching its peak until the first part of July. In warmer summers the hatch continues through August and occasionally even into September. During the early or middle stages of the hatch, nymph patterns such as Pheasant Tails, gold-ribbed Hare’s Ears and Princes are highly productive. In calm conditions with rising fish, switch to a Parachute Adams, Purple Haze, regular Adams or a Sparkle Dun. Once the fish key in on the adults, nymphing is definitely over. As season progresses, the effective patterns are reduced from a size 14 down to a size 18. The next major hatch to appear on Georgetown is the damsel. This is arguably the most highly anticipated of the year and can be so prolific that the shoreline can appear to be growing light blue grass. The hatch usually begins in late June and can continue well into August. The damsels provide the trout and kokanee a larger food source, which can send the fish into a feeding frenzy when the insects begin to appear in mass. The most effective nymph patterns include olive and brown Marabou Damsel, a green Woolly Bugger, a green Kauffman Mini Leech and a Sheep Creek, but a wide variety of damsel imitations will produce fish. Since the damsel and callibaetis hatches overlap, using a dropper could be a wise decision. Use the larger damsel nymph as the lead fly with a callibaetis imitation as the dropper. A damsel adult can also be an effective pattern, especially if fished at the edges of exposed weedbeds. The third of the major hatches is caddis. These are not your runof-the-mill caddis; they are much larger than those found in other bodies of water in the area. Known as “traveling sedges,” the bugs are so
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FISHING large they have difficulty achieving flight off the water. The commotion caused by the insects’ efforts attract the attention of cruising fish. To best imitate the action of the caddis, you need to employ a fast, erratic retrieve to approximate the skittering of the struggling sedge. An Elk Hair Caddis or a Goddard Caddis in sizes 4 to 12 are the top choices. It would also be advisable to include an orange Stimulator in your fly box, along with a couple large caddis nymphs. This hatch is not always easy to predict, but it usually happens toward the end of June and can last until September.
A wide variety of other patterns will catch fish. Leeches in black, brown and olive can be quite productive. A dragonfly imitation and a Carey Special will also produce, as will scuds, black caddis and midge imitations, as well as terrestrials in late summer.
THE EASTERN END of Georgetown is closed from April 1 to June 30 to accommodate the rainbow trout spawn. This includes two of the most popular spots: the Pump House Hole and Stuart Mill Bay. Come July 1, they can become rather crowded, testing your patience and sometimes
Georgetown Lake fills a meadow and features several large bays on its western and eastern ends. Those in the west – in the foreground is Rainbow Bay – offer some shelter from the westerlies that spring up daily. (MIKE WRIGHT)
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expanding your vocabulary. There are two factors that can and do make fishing in Georgetown difficult. First is the aforementioned dense weed cover, which can make it difficult to land a fish. As summer progresses and the weeds near the surface, boat traffic leaves behind vast quantities of floating green snags. This makes it extremely difficult to keep your line and fly clean. The second factor to keep in mind is the wind. It is almost a foregone conclusion that sometime during the day you will be blown off the lake. Since it is usually a westerly, some refuge can be found in the western bays, such as Rainbow, Pebble Beach and Philipsburg Bays, the northern indents on the lake’s western side. Some relief can also be found close to the willows in Stuart Mill Bay, in Georgetown’s southeast corner. But for the most part it might be best to pull out of the water, relax and wait for late afternoon’s calm. There are eight boat ramps on the lake, as well as four Forest Service campgrounds plus other lodging options and restaurants nearby. Montana Highway 10A (often called the Anaconda-Pintler Scenic Highway) runs alongside Georgetown, making it very accessible to fishermen (the lake is under 300 miles from Spokane). The scenic surroundings along with the outstanding fishing makes it one of the most heavily used pieces of water in Montana. Georgetown has often been referred to as a “fish factory.” Considering the lake’s biomass and the number of fish it can support, this is a fairly accurate appraisal of the lake. As Wayne Hadley once stated, “Give us the right (possession) limits and we’ll make Georgetown so good you’ll be afraid to throw a stick in it for your dog to retrieve.” Georgetown has rebounded to the point where my dog stays in the pickup. NS
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Hook ’N Cook Plentiful Brooks W
hether you consider it a curse or blessing, with poetic By Doug Huddle liberty applied to it, the apocryphal adage “May you fish in complicated times” certainly describes the period we fishers find ourselves. Federally protected species, courtmandated catch-sharing plans, statetribal disputes, hoot-owl restrictions, not to mention spawning escapement goals are among the myriad influences conspiring to keep in flux both the legal and practical landscapes of angling. Also in play: The recent climatological transition to milder winters and earlier melt-outs has moved up the timetable for backcountry and high lakes fishing. The sooner-than-we’re-accustomed to arrival of the dog days of summer takes the angling edge off many forest and mountain waters that does not return until the first flakes of the “next” winter appear in October. For a host of these ponds and lakes, when the snow comes off, there’s a fish-now urgency while waters are cool and brimming, or its wait until fall.
NORTH SOUND
WITH 2015-16’S SNOWPACK all but gone from the Cascades even before summer arrives, a number of higher elevation waters in the forested foothills and even above the timberline are now available to fair-season backcountry anglers. Trout in many of these remote lakes demand anglers practice catch and release to conserve them between stockings, but some with indigenous populations of brook trout will support harvest. A clan on the char limb of North America’s salmonid family tree that also includes Dolly Varden and bull trout (native to Northwest waters), as well as Arctic char and lake trout, brookies as their full name indicates came
from the eastern parts of North American continent. They, along with westslope cutthroat, were among the first trout introduced into high lakes in Washington, often to provide a ready and reliable emergency source of catchable food for miners and other mountain explorers. The problem was and is that they all too readily reproduced It’s time to go mountain troutin’, and a number of high lakes in explosively in the absence of a the Mt. Baker area offer good opportunities for anglers. Some waters are close enough to trailheads to easily pack in rafts, even top predator, often to the point float tubes, while others have plentiful brook trout that could use where they taxed the native some thinning. (MIKE G. QUINN, NWALPINEGUIDE ON FLICKR.COM, BOTH) insect and amphibian life in the brookies tend to take baits and fly patterns lakes. What we’re left with as the brook trout most vigorously and thus get caught first stocking legacy are stunted populations and more often. But anglers who can of small, inevitably thin fish. That’s why get offerings “below” them in the water “keeper” fishing is encouraged to help crop column of deeper lakes will fasten into the them. Brookies do have a reputation for occasional brightly colored lunker. In the being quite tasty, especially if they have fall these can be truly trophy-quality fish, any chunkiness to them. but they are hard to catch. Big brooks also The younger, more aggressive small
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COLUMN become scarcer as the population ages because the forage base can’t support them.
HERE ARE SOME Whatcom County waters to plumb for the species. Several are readily accessible, while others require some sweat equity to enjoy. • Blue Lake, on the western ridgeline of the Baker River valley in the Bear Creek watershed, is considered one of the most family-friendly mountain waters in the North Cascades. It’s not too far in, too high nor is the logging road too nerve-wracking for family members to bear in getting there. The trail is about half a mile long, the grade gentle. The shoreline in many spots also is conducive to easy casting. Brookies predominate here, though anglers may catch the occasional brown trout, another European species introduced to try to rein in the prolific nonnative char. • Shuksan Lake, on the southeast flanks of its namesake and much-photographed mountain, drains via Lake Creek to the Baker River. Unfortunately, it is now
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much harder to get to. Its overly plentiful eastern brook population has been further isolated by the increased hiking distance imposed when the Shuksan Lake Road washed out in 2003. The start of the old 2-mile trail now lies 5.4 miles uphill from the spur’s intersection with the Baker Lake Road near Shannon Creek Campground.With this extra distance and exertion, Shuksan Lake is best considered for a backpack fish outing of several days, but there will be ample numbers of brook trout to catch and eat. • Upper and Lower Bagley Lakes, in the Heather Meadows Recreation Area, are a short trail walk from the big parking lot behind the Mt. Baker Ski Area maintenance facility. Once their ice-covering comes off and snowmelt subsides, unless there is a gully washer of a summer or fall rainstorm, their gin-clear waters conceal few if any secrets, including their brookies. Most trout in the more uniformly deep lower lake tend to conceal themselves under and around sunken wood and submerged boulders, with only a few daring to openly
patrol in midday light. Upper Bagley has more depth, which holds the majority of the trout, but a fair number patrol the mudflatlike shallows of its west end. Because of their easy access, both Bagleys are candidates for fishing from small floating craft, which can improve success, especially at dawn or dusk. Bagley Creek is also available for youth fishing. • Twin Lakes, both the upper and lower bodies, are considered drive-up mountain waters, though the last six switchbacks, maintained as a mine-to-market thoroughfare by Whatcom County, can be a serious hurdle for some nervous drivers or passengers. Camping is allowed around both and their ease of access facilitates use of canoes and cartopper watercraft by anglers. Relatively the same size at about 17 to 20 acres with good near-shore water clarity, both lakes still have large, depthshrouded areas to which the brookies retreat during the daytime. • Mazama Lake, the smallest and often overlooked of the so-called Chain Lakes cluster northwest of Table Mountain, is accessible by loop trail from either Artist Point or the Warming Hut parking area. It is shallow, with neither the depth nor structure to hide many of its brookies. Fishing from soggy shores is the norm and will require a long cast with either a single egg or fly pattern. • Anderson-Watson Lakes is a unique grouping of waters on the east flanks of the Baker River Valley above Baker Lake. They are accessible by trail, the Andersons over a 2-mile stretch and the Watsons via a 3-mile walk with some loss in elevation. While the Andersons have a somewhat mixed stocking history and may yield cutthroat and rainbows of various lineages, brook trout predominate in the Watsons. Big Watson also has the reputation for yielding the occasional bigger brookie – a 5-pounder is among its storied history. • Three Lakes and Bear Lake are named brook trout waters among a collection of five smaller lakes on the south end of the Twin Sisters Range on national forest lands. Previously they were most easily accessible via private timberland roads, but now an old P-line (primitive) trail off the end of USFS’s Sisters Mountain Road
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START NOW FOR A DEER STAND Now is the time to set up a quality Whatcom County deer hunt on farmland in the western lowlands. Contrary to casual observation, blacktails here are doing quite well, so much so they’re causing problems for commercial growers and anyone trying to raise a garden. Muzzleloader and archery seasons are ideal for these deer pursuits, but lay the groundwork for access by contacting landowners or leasing growers well in advance of hunt dates. Landowners are very busy from midsummer through fall, so don’t procrastinate and show up opening day
with blaze orange or camo paint on and eager to go after deer. Do some scouting, pick some promising options, then introduce yourself now. Consider this meeting to be like a job interview in which the landowner or grower needs to develop confidence in you. They’ll want to lay out their ground rules for your hunt so that it does not put their employees at risk or interfere with harvest or plant prep operations. Once you get permission, spec out the lay of the property with an eye toward finding animal transitions from cover to crop that have good sight corridors and
in the upper South Fork Nooksack is the best way in. They should be considered an option for a backpack stay in which the other three lakes, including McGinnis and two unnamed ones, also can be fished. • Heart Lake to the north has a population of small Westslope cutts, if you need a change of pace from brooks.
• Several streams also offer brook trout opportunities. Try Bear Creek or Noisy Creek in the Baker Lake Valley. In the North Fork Nooksack above Nooksack Falls try Swamp, Ruth and Anderson Creeks. Stream-associated beaver ponds are now legally fishable under the allencompassing regulation as long as the
safe backdrops for shots. Look for good spots to set up shooting blinds, or perhaps put up tree stands (with permission). Also, pay attention to how the air moves or may move under different weather conditions. Once you have a main plan and an alternative, also learn the property lines of the land you have permission to hunt and know which neighbors to contact for permission to retrieve an animal should it fall outside your legal hunt parcel. Check back with the landowner on the details of your plans, as well as proposed comings and goings, for final approval and so that he or she can make adjustments in farm activities to reduce unnecessary disturbances to your hunt set. –DH
flowing waters are otherwise open, which is the case in both these watersheds.
SOCKEYE SEASON AT Baker Lake opens Sunday, July 10, under rules that allow party fishing and a daily limit of five. These salmon are most effectively pursued at dawn and though the
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transported reds will be released in the lower lake at the West Pass Dike ramp, plumb for them in the old lake â&#x20AC;&#x153;holeâ&#x20AC;? up around the corner south of Swift Creek and the old resort. The water chemistry is better for the fish uplake of the acidic, volcano-affected inflow of Boulder Creek. Otherwise the best advice is continuous prospecting, keeping gear in the water, always being on the move to increase chances of crossing paths with them, and trolling really slowly. Watch for other boats â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there will be many as 19,000 sockeye are expected to be transported into the reservoir â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and do what they do. The basic set-up is a short, 10- to 20inch leader of 20-pound fluorocarbon tied with two 2/0 octopus hooks in pink or red, over which you run a pink or even a clear hoochie. Some give their offering a little meat in the form of a small chunk of cured prawn, while others tie in several strands of Crystal Flash, sparkly tinsel from the flytying world. All of that is run behind an O or OO hammered chrome dodger, trolled either off downriggers or with enough weight to get down at least 40 feet. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve not experienced Baker Lake before, here are some things to remember: â&#x20AC;˘ Watch the weather, fair or foul. This long, L-shaped mountain valley reservoir can be dangerously windy. â&#x20AC;˘ Parking is limited and weekends are crowded. Be prepared to pay a launch/ parking fee at the USFS concessionoperated camping/access facilities. Only Puget Sound Energyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s West Pass Dam Ramp has no fee. â&#x20AC;˘ Camping along the lakeshore is allowed. You may arrive early to launch at an uplake USFS campground (Horseshoe Cove, Panorama Point or Swift Creek) but you must be quiet. A good map of Baker Lake can be found on line at fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_ DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5311984.pdf.
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Raising Redbands The Bruneau and other streams flow through the Owyhee Mountains and high desert of Southwest Idaho and Southeast Oregon and offer some opportunities to catch pure-strain Columbia River redband trout. (BOB WICK, BLM)
T
he water flowed freely between the two car-sized boulders, delivering a steady stream 2 feet wide into a deep pool carved into the rocks below. The pool was not 8 feet across, but was CHEF nearly 10 feet deep. Large sheets of By Randy King granite lay across much of the stream and sheltered it from the blazing sun above, keeping the water cool and hiding unknown things in its dark waters. On a boulder not 20 feet from the pool was my buddy Ryan. He was lying on his side and casting his fly rod. Short bursts of line would shoot out from his Depression-era bamboo rod, whip back and forth until the correct amount of line had been expended and the correct distance had been reached. It was a Norman Macleanesque trout-chasing moment. Except set in the high desert of southern Idaho.
to Dr. Chris Walser, a professor of biology at The College of Idaho, the subspecies has been in the great bowl that encompasses most of Southwest Idaho, Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington and northern Utah for the past 50,000 years, plenty of time to evolve and adapt to the region’s climate. Meanwhile, in the 1880s, fish management practices led to the introduction of the coastal rainbow trout throughout the Northwest, including the Snake River basin. These hatchery trout were able to breed and have, in the past 100 years, passed their hatchery genes to the native redbands. “You don’t find genetically pure populations (of redband trout) unless you are in an isolated location – a location not historically stocked with hatchery fish,” Walser states. The heavily regulated South Fork of the Boise River, for example, has a sustainable population of large rainbow trout. Those fish are wild, but carry the genes of hatchery trout.
THE TROUT WE were fishing for are an interesting quarry – the Columbia River redband trout, a close relative of the ubiquitous rainbow found throughout the Northwest and beyond. According
SEEKING NATIVE REDBANDS is why Ryan and I found ourselves on a tiny creek in the middle of the Owyhee Mountains. The Western states actually have very few native game fish, and most are in
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Success! Father and son pose with Noah’s goat. (RANDY KING) Trout, grits and shrimp in rum and lemon sauce. (RANDY KING)
A VERY DEEP SOUTH TAKE ON TROUT Shrimp and grits is a classic dish of the South. My slightly even more southern take infuses some Caribbean flavors to great effect. Enjoy the little panfries! You’ll want to start with the grits first. 1 can coconut milk (13.5 ounces) 10 ounces chicken stock 1 tablespoon honey 2/3 cup course ground cornmeal Salt and fresh black pepper Combine coconut milk, water and honey in a 2-quart pot. Bring to a boil, then whisk in cornmeal. Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to “low” and cover. Cook for 30 minutes on low, stirring often. Start in on preparing the trout when you have 10 minutes left on the grits. ¼ cup oil, divided ¼ cup flour 1 tablespoon Cajun “blackening” seasoning 4 each panfry-sized trout 2 tablespoons butter, divided 1 teaspoon red chili flake 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 154 Northwest Sportsman
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1 tablespoon diced red onion, or shallot 2 tablespoons brown sugar ½ a lemon, juice and zest 1 shot of cheap, dark rum 1 cup spinach, or lambs quarter Heat half the oil in a 10-inch heavy-bottomed sauté pan on medium for four minutes. Combine flour and Cajun seasoning in a plastic Ziploc-style bag. Add the trout, one at a time to the bag and shake to evenly coat the fish in the flour. Remove trout to a plate. Place trout, two at a time, in the hot oil and cook on one side for three minutes. (If the oil does not sizzle, the pan is not hot enough, so turn up the heat and wait a few more minutes.) Next flip and cook the other side for two minutes. Remove trout to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the remaining oil and repeat on the other fish. When fish are done cooking pour off any remaining oil and add half the butter and the red chili flakes. Cook the butter and chili flakes until the butter is clear and fragrant, about one minute. Next add the shrimp, onion, garlic and brown sugar. Toss pan to incorporate and cook for two minutes until shrimp are pink. Next add the lemon juice and rum – careful, the rum will flame off; this is good. Cook for one more minute, then add the remaining butter and spinach. Toss all to combine. Serve hot. For more recipes, please see chefinthewild.com.
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COLUMN the salmonid family. Without introductions, the Northwest would not have brook and brown trout, catfish, crappie, largemouth and smallmouth bass, Mackinaw, northern pike, tiger musky, walleye and other popular species. So an afternoon spent seeking a native fish seemed like a great idea for an adventure. In order to avoid detection by the trout that lurked below, Ryan would not stand on the boulder and had, in fact, belly crawled up its face to cast. A big shadow across the surface of the water is a sure sign of trouble for these desert fish. Every few casts Ryan dropped his line into the base of the waterfall, right where the water hit the pool. He would then quickly shorten his line and let his artificial fly, a small grasshopper imitation, float atop the water. It would dance lightly across the surface, looking very much like food to those lurking below. A fish not 8 inches long lunged out of the water to eat the ’hopper. No novice, Ryan waited like the trained fly fisherman that he is for a few inches of line to disappear below the surface before he set his hook with a quick pop of his wrist. “Fish on,” he uttered, but not too loud. That would ruin the setting. On the other end of his line was a wild trout, not some soft and hand-fed version that is stocked in many waterways by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (graciously stocked, and Success!for). Father and son pose withthis native fish something that I am thankful Since egg-hood Noah’s goat. (RANDY KING) had had to fight for every inch in length and every scrap of food.
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Don’t worry, this little redband that author Randy King landed in the Owyhees wasn’t harmed in the making of this recipe, but meatier trout just might have! (RANDY KING)
It was a survivor. That is why the fish, small as it might be, put up so much of a fight. The little pugilist showcased a wide variety of acrobatics. It skipped across the top of the water like a dolphin, dove like a steelhead and rolled like a sturgeon. Life for this fish had always been a struggle, and it knew how to fight. It was wild. Eventually, simple mechanics and larger brains won the day. After the fish had fought its last, Ryan reeled him to the edge of the boulder he was crouched on. He grabbed his line and hoisted the little panfry onto the rock. A quick slice from a pocket knife and the fish knew no more. “One more and we are set,” I said, watching the scene play out. Soon I was hooked onto a fish – my much less graceful earthworm had worked. Quickly the fish were eviscerated and then cooked over a campfire. Wild onions, some dandelion greens and a little mustard made all the difference on these delicatetasting wild, native and strong fish. NS
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JULY 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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Author Bryce Towsley, left, autographs copies of his book Prepper Guns during the NRA convention in May. With him is broadcaster Elton Rambin. (DAVE WORKMAN)
Ready For When SHTF? V ON TARGET By Dave Workman
eteran outdoor writer Bryce Towsley has a new venture, and one that is going to give a fair number of people something to think about. He’s authored a new hardcover book called Prepper Guns. It’s a 250-plus-page text about “firearms, ammo, tools, and techniques you will need to survive the coming collapse.” Wait, the say what?!?
Whether you agree or not, there are many very rational people who are genuinely concerned about what may be waiting over the horizon and in their opinion, it’s not going to be a Tequila Sunrise. While most of us are thinking about this fall’s hunting opener, and being prepared to notch a tag, these people are preparing for something else: surviving a social breakdown of monumental proportions. Word to the wise: Your bolt-action deer rifle or that nice
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sporting clays gun probably aren’t going to cut it in an emergency. Even if you don’t subscribe to an apocalypse scenario, Towsley’s book is a very good volume about firearms, ammunition and their capabilities. It is also a good read for anyone who might want to survive an unplanned emergency in the wilds, or some natural disaster, such as a hurricane or earthquake. Remember a generation ago when a huge autumn storm trapped a lot of elk hunters up on Bethel Ridge west of Yakima? Some of Towsley’s tips just might help someone in a similar situation get by until help arrives. Prepper Guns is primarily about guns, of course. It discusses in matter-of-fact detail different firearms and what you can do with them. His discussions are sound and based on years of experience with firearms. Towsley definitely covers all the bases, and he does so in a way that allows the reader to soak it all in without thinking
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they’ve just been treated to a sermon or Ivy League lecture.
CHAPTER BY CHAPTER Towsley, who happens to be a longtime friend of mine, has gone through various modern sporting rifles, discussed different handgun models and looked at what he calls “sniper guns,” but what today’s longrange hunters might consider a really good rifle for very long shots on game. In chapter after chapter, he talks about the advantages and disadvantages of various firearms for various purposes, especially survival. Think about this for a moment. The gun control crowd has invested a lot of energy demonizing the AR-15, which just happens to be the most popular rifle in America today. What happens when they finally figure out that these are not the “high power” rifles they’ve been claiming, but amount to a distant second when stacked up against a good scoped .308 Winchester or .30-06?
®
Suddenly your trusty Remington Model 700 or Winchester Model 70, or your Ruger American, Weatherby Mark V or any other scoped rifle becomes a “deadly sniper rifle.” Anybody who dismisses this as paranoia hasn’t been around the gun control movement. It becomes worse if, say, that Browning A-Bolt with the black synthetic stock happens to have a bipod mounted up front. The book also discusses shotguns, and there’s a section on suppressors, which are becoming increasingly popular and are legal in many states for hunting. Towsley writes in a very relaxed style, and the book is an easy read that can be used as something of a reference guide for preparing for any kind of disaster. Looking back at Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, a future disaster of that magnitude – say the Northwest finally gets hit by “the Big One” that earthquake researchers think is coming – a lot of people are wholly unprepared. Your rifle, handgun and shotgun may come in very handy, along with the emergency supplies you may have. Prepper Guns is published by Skyhorse Publishing in Delaware. It is available from Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.
NEW GUNS FROM S&W, RUGER Speaking of guns, handgunners and plinkers should be interested in recent announcements from Smith & Wesson and Ruger. S&W’s popular M&P Shield semiauto pistol is now available in .45 ACP. While chambered for a fat cartridge, the pistol is slim and well suited for concealed carry. It is less than an inch wide and measures 6.45 inches overall. The pistol features small front cocking serrations and full serrations at the rear. It has a 3.3-inch barrel, comes with two magazines allowing for a six- or seven-round capacity and the slide has an Armornite corrosion-resistant finish. Available with or without a thumb safety, it has an extended trigger guard to allow for use with gloves. The pistol weighs 20.5 ounces. The newest incarnation of the legendary Ruger 10/22 semiauto rifle is the 162 Northwest Sportsman
JULY 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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Rugerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Takedown Lite 10/22 semiauto riďŹ&#x201A;e. (RUGER)
Takedown Lite. This version features f at a cold hammer-forged steel barrel inside a 6061T6 aluminum alloy sleeve that is ventilated toward the muzzle. The barrel is threaded so it can be fitted with a suppressor. Designed around the reliable 10/22 action, this take-apart model has a black synthetic modular stock, 10-round magazine and Q-D sling swivel studs fore and aft. This stock comes with a low comb but can be switched to a high comb for use with a scope that comes with the rifle. This model would make a great companion for early autumn backpackers who want to pick off a grouse or rabbit for dinner on the trail. The MSRP is $659. For more on either, see smith-wesson. com and ruger.com. NS 164 Northwest Sportsman
JULY 2016 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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BOATSIDE MANNERS: PEEING ON A BOAT By Dennis Dauble
“U
h, oh. I’ve got to pee!” Such is the cry after your fishing buddy polishes off a two-quart thermos of coffee or following your celebration of a successful net job with a six-pack of Bud Light. Although you’ve got to go when you’ve got to go, you’d better think twice before voiding your bladder on public water. Do not scoff at the absurdity. Public urination is illegal in every state of the United States of America. If you think the law applies only to street bums and drunk college students, you’re wrong. The act is considered disorderly conduct, public nuisance or lewd conduct, and comes with penalties that range from a $50 fine to incarceration in a county jail for up to two years. A male boater from California who violated the code was put on the watch list as a registered sex offender. Along with social consequences, safety hazards such as impaired balance involved with relieving yourself off the back of the boat are in play. As an example, Benton County (Wash.) Deputy Sheriff Claude O’Brien reports that most male drowning victims in the Columbia River are recovered with high bloodalcohol concentrations and unzipped pants. Go figure. A few other salient facts on the topic: The capacity of an average bladder is approximately a pint, or 16 ounces, and the “urge” to go creeps into your mind when it’s just 25 percent full. Consequently, the need to pee will come up sooner or later. All drama aside, anyone who watches late-night television commercials is aware that “having to go” is no small issue. Up to half of the world’s population over the age of 20 is affected by an overactive bladder. I am often reminded of the time a geriatric friend inquired if I had a pee bottle on my boat. We had been salmon fishing since first light and he was in pain. “I usually relieve myself over the side,” I replied. “Why don’t you use your coffee cup?” He chose that option – an hour later. It shouldn’t have to be that difficult. Other considerations include mixed gender angling and whether grandma and grandpa would prefer to retreat to a corner of your vessel for a moment of privacy. Luckily, several personal lavatory products
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are on the market to provide respite when you lack access to a public restroom. One innovative product, RESTOP, comes in a bright blue bag with a one-way valve to prevent spillage of liquid waste. A four-pack costs around $10 – far less than a civil fine. The TravelJohn also contains absorbent material that turns excess urine into a gel prior to disposal. Meanwhile, I suspect you’re wondering what to do with your pee bag until it can be properly disposed of. You have several choices. For example, on a cold day, it can serve as a hand warmer or a heat pack for an arthritic knee. Walleye anglers might try using it as a marker (MANISH CHAUHAN, FLICKR) buoy. Alternatively, two bags could be tied together to serve as an emergency flotation device. Playing hacky sack with a used pee bag is not a preferred option, however. Other commercial-available products involve in-water disposal of excess body fluid. As the name suggests, both men and women can use the John and Jane Urinal. This portable unit is made of rugged polyurethane and comes in bright red to increase the odds of finding it among the rest of your fishing tackle. Specifically for females is the compact Go Girl urination device, purported to conform to the shape of the female body. It has a patented splashguard that allows ladies to urinate while standing up, fits in a purse and comes in attractive lavender. Low-budget products include the Urine Bottle Camping Travel Pee Bottle Pisser and the Portable Car Caravan Urinal Toilet Camping Travel Bottle Boat Tent Pee. (Note the large number of key words cleverly designed to come up in an internet search.) Neither receptacle, however, provides a significant upgrade from a recycled plastic milk jug with the top cut off. When it comes to in-water disposal of your excess body fluid, don’t despair. As near as I can tell, it’s not illegal to rinse your pee container into the water. Such action is not likely to raise the nutrient level of the average lake or stream to a concentration that damages ecological function either. I would suggest you look the other way, however. You know, like you do when your dog is on leash and it relieves itself on the neighbor’s begonias. NS
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