Front page | News archive | Sports | Internet guide | E-mail the Herald
Hoopengarner on Outdoors | |
509-582-1544 |
Opportunities abound as fall approaches I asked Bill Monroe, outdoor writer for The Oregonian in Portland, whether he enjoyed fishing or hunting best. "Well let's see," he said, "do I like my right arm or my left arm best." Such is the dilemma Mid-Columbia sportsmen find themselves in as fall advances. Whether it's hauling in the last of the huge fall chinook salmon run on the Hanford Reach, bird or big-game hunting or casting for rainbow trout or steelhead, choosing from autumn's long list of possibilities seems an almost impossible task. However, all good things do come to an end, including this year's fall salmon fishing on the Columbia River's Hanford Reach. Tuesday is the last day anglers can fish for salmon from the old Hanford townsite wooden powerline crossing upstream to Priest Rapids Dam. And from all reports, the season has been a good one - and still is. Joe Hymer, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in Vancouver, said anglers have done well this year and shouldn't give up until the season closes. "At the peak, anglers were catching adult fall chinook at a rate of about one fish for every two to three rods," he said. And although the fishing effort in the Reach has dropped off about 25 percent from last week, the catch rate has held steady. "As soon as hunting seasons start, we see a drop in fishing pressure. But with the four adult chinook bag limit and the fish bunched up pretty good, now's a great time to boat some very large salmon," he added. With the fall salmon season ebbing, many anglers are switching gear for the Columbia's bountiful run of steelhead, including the stretch from Highway 395 (blue bridge) to the old Hanford townsite wooden power line crossing, which opened Oct. 12. And one of the current hotspots is Ringold, north of Pasco, where anglers are starting to land hatchery steelhead. Anglers should note that only steelhead with a missing adipose and ventral fin can be kept on this section of the Columbia. This year's run of steelhead past Priest Rapids Dam is expected to be the second largest in 15 years, and about 6,200 legally-marked fish are forecast to return to Ringold, so prospects for the season, which runs through March 31, appear excellent. Also, this year's steelhead return on the Snake River is just slightly less than last year's record run. More than 400,000 steelhead already have been tallied at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia, making this year's overall run one of the largest on record. Glen Mendel, the state's fish management biologist for Southeastern Washington, said about 210,000 of those steelhead are expected to pass the Snake's Lower Granite Dam. Despite the large number of fish moving through the system - so many so that the state has upped the daily take to three hatchery steelhead on nearly all southeastern waters - Mendel said the catch rate has been spotty. "What we need is some rainfall and higher, off-colored water to pull more fish into the tributaries," he said. Some Snake tributaries, such as the Grande Ronde River, are running at stream flows 60 percent of normal. In such conditions, the fish are easily spooked and difficult to catch. Mendel said the catch rate on the Grande Ronde last week was only fair. Moreover, the Grande Ronde - 212 miles from the mouth and upstream - is under selective gear rules this season, which limits anglers to single barbless hooks and no bait until Nov. 1. "This is the first year that the no bait rule has been in effect and we hope to change it back next year to allow bait beginning Sept. 1," Mendel said. Steelheaders plying the Columbia above McNary Dam report only fair success with some of the best action occurring after sunset for anglers trolling lighted lures or fishing with bobbers and shrimp. Often overlooked in all the fall hoopla over salmon and steelhead are rainbow trout. Around the Mid-Columbia, trout fishing can be excellent as the fish pack on calories before winter sets in. However, picking the day the fish are on the bite is the real trick. Earlier this week, I spent the day at Lenice Lake, one of three desert waters near Mattawa that offer big fish for patient anglers. On this day, I was one of the more fortunate - I actually landed a fish. John Westland at Clearwater Fly Shop in Kennewick said that after a spring and summer insect smorgasbord, the trout can be a tad more discriminating come fall. Moreover, as the water temperature begins to cool, fewer insects are hatching and anglers have to be quick to figure out what's going on. Westland added, however, that many anglers swear by a size No. 10 bead-head woolly bugger in black or olive for fall fishing. Personally, I've had my best luck at Lenice using the tandem of a size 14 or 16 brassie and a pheasant tail nymph. The one fish I did managed to fool, however, snapped up a size 14 flashback hare's ear nymph. Also, chironomids, or midges, make up a significant part of the trout's year-round diet and knowledgeable anglers almost always end up working a pupa imitation slowly off the lake's abundant weed beds. Lenice, Merry and Nunnally lakes are open through Nov. 30. One last trout offering would be Tucannon Lakes near Dayton. Joanne Kirkpatrick at the Last Resort along the Tucannon River said there are still some good-size trout lurking in the man-made lakes which close Oct. 31. And with cooler water temperatures, the summer carryover trout are back on the bite. Kirkpatrick said Spring, Deer and Beaver are good bets for chunky 12- to 14-inch trout, although she added that a 22-incher was caught recently at Blue Lake. Fly casters might want to soak up some of this great fall sunshine casting for rainbows at Big Four, the only Tucannon Lake set aside for fly-fishing only.
|
Sports home | Americans | Posse | Area sports | Riley | Outdoors | Area golf | |
