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Hoopengarner on Outdoors
By Ken Hoopengarner 509-582-1544 Back to Hoopengarner home page	Winter offers red-hot fishing If absenteeism is up this week in Tri-City area offices and schools, employers and teachers should call Mother Nature on the carpet. Who can blame outdoor enthusiasts for playing hooky with spring-like temperatures, mostly sunny skies and willing fish? Although Eastern Washington's early lake opener is still more than three weeks away, there are plenty of angling opportunities for perch, crappie, trout and steelhead. Many Columbia River backwaters such as Casey and Cargill ponds are booting out some dandy perch, along with some smaller crappie. Fly casters can mend a line at several locations, including Rocky Ford Creek near Ephrata, the upper Yakima River and the Deschutes River in Oregon. Many of the Columbia Basin's seep lakes below Potholes Reservoir are open year-round and trout fishing has been fair to good. As most steelhead anglers know, fishing has been first-rate on the Snake River. Mark Schuck, a Department of Wildlife fish biologist in Dayton, said steelhead are now beginning to migrate out of the Snake and Columbia and up tributaries such as the Walla Walla, Touchet and Tucannon rivers. Although steelhead are on the move, anglers may catch fewer this year, Schuck said. Overall, steelhead returns to the Columbia Basin system are up over last year but the number of fish returning to tributaries appears to be down, he said. For example, roughly 1,000 to 1,500 steelhead are caught on the Walla Walla River each season. This year only 800 fish might be caught. Some of the best steelheading on the Walla Walla and Tucannon rivers has been near or at the mouth. At the mouth of the Tucannon, for example, fishing has been excellent. What that may mean, Schuck said, is that many of the 300 to 400 steelhead generally taken on the river each season may already have been caught. The only drawback to the unseasonably warm weather has been early snowmelt in the Blue Mountains, which can muddy up steelhead prospects on these tributaries. On the other hand, water temperatures are in the 40s and fish are quite active, Schuck said. "Usually about this time of year water temperatures are much colder, which can slow fish migration and activity," he said. While there may be more fish in the lower end of the rivers, steelhead have been trapped at the Tucannon Fish Hatchery. And on the Touchet, anglers report catching steelhead as far upstream as Dayton. Remember, all wild steelhead must be released unharmed. Only hatchery-reared steelhead (those fish with a missing adipose or ventral fin) over 20 inches can be kept. Many anglers who fish the Walla Walla, Touchet and Tucannon rivers for steelhead use fresh roe, nightcrawlers or red-dyed shrimp with bait-casting tackle. In low and clear water conditions, use the lightest test line you feel comfortable with. Many anglers opt for 6- to 8-pound test. Fly fishing for steelhead on small streams is exciting, especially if you hook into a large fish. Most beginning steelheaders are bowled over the first time they catch a 4-to 10-pound steelhead in a stream no wider than their living room. Because most area streams are fairly shallow - but swift -floating line, a 6- to 8-foot leader and a moderately weighted fly are preferred over sink-tip fly lines, which offer little control under those circumstances. Among the popular steelhead flies are the red and green-butt skunk, Fall Favorite, Street Walker and Doc Spratley in sizes 2 to 8. Anglers might also want to try natural nymph imitations such as a tan or olive hare's ear or a black all-purpose nymph in about a size 10. On small streams, look for steelhead to hold in pools below riffles or at the top end of the riffle. But don't overlook undercut banks, the eddies of large rocks and submerged logs. A couple of years ago, I was fly fishing the Tucannon River with a friend when he snagged a submerged tree limb. Not wishing to break off the expensive fly, I offered to wade out and retrieve it. Whoosh. A bright steelhead torpedoed out from behind the log. We were able to follow the fish upstream because he had to swim through some very shallow water, exposing his dorsal fin. Besides stealth, anglers should always make a few casts near shore before wading into the river. Fish often rest in shallow pockets along the shoreline.
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