I got to do some fishing on the west side of the state last week, as the guest of the hosts of The Outdoor Line, which is a sports fishing broadcast, and I got to go on the air live with them. Also, mark your calendars for a fun free kids fishing event coming up very soon.
For many years Tom Nelson, host of The Outdoor Line radio show on AM radio 710AM ESPN in Seattle has invited me to come over and fish with him. This popular broadcast about all things fishing is co-hosted by Joe Pyburn. I mentioned to Tom that I was planning to be in Seattle for a couple of days in July and he invited me to join he and Joe in the studio for a live visit and participate in the program. That sounded great to me, and I committed to being there last Saturday morning. Tom got back to me and said that he and Joe were taking his relatives out on Puget Sound to fish for resident coho and pull their crab pots, and asked if I would like to come along? Heck yes I told him. We had a terrific morning with Larry Stauffer and his grandsons Colt and Jack. Both boys caught their first salmon and were fascinated with the crab we got as well. We had 26 Dungeness crab, and Joe cleaned my share and Tom cooked them right on dock when we got back. I can’t thank these guys enough for treating me to a wonderful day on the Sound. It had been many years since I had that experience. This week’s photo is of me with Joe Pyburn, co-host of the Outdoor Line radio show.
The following morning, I met them at their studio for the two-hour show. I thought I would be there for a short segment, but I was there for the full two hours. They had me chime in on a couple of topics, like my opinion of what was going on with the WDFW commission right now. Mostly the show is upbeat with a good report on the coho and crab fishing that we experienced the day before, and the excitement about the Chinook fishery opening in Area 9. We touched on the opening of the Entiat River to summer Chinook and the potential of an opening of Chelan Falls. They got a report on the sockeye fishery on Baker Lake and learned that the line to the ramp was two miles long! Tony Floor was on with sentiments about the passing of Frank Haw, who was a legendary figure related to salmon fishing in Washington State and he will be missed. They covered a lot of ground, and it was an honor to be there.
Calder Fiske is an avid angler, and the 14 year old thinks every kid should learn the joy of fishing. So much so that he has organized his second free kids fishing derby at the Blackbird Island Juvenile Pond in Leavenworth. It will take place on Sunday July 26th, from 8 till noon. The pond was destroyed by last year’s windstorm and flood. An amazing local effort that included donations of heavy equipment time, volunteer workdays and funding through a GoFundMe page has been restored and planted with 2,000 rainbow trout. Calder has been busy visiting some local businesses and getting prizes and bait for the event. I will remind you that youth under the age of 15 are allowed to fish at Juvenile ponds, and there are several scattered around the state. Kids age 6 to 14 are able to join the fun at the free kids fishing day and qualify to win a prize. Those of you who would like to bring your kids to the event should bring their own rods and reels. Bait will be provided. You should also bring a small cooler to keep your trout fresh. Thanks Calder for sharing your joy of fishing by putting on this event!
The return of sockeye to the Columbia River is dismal this year. Sockeye forecasts have been downgraded a couple of times and are now below 80,000. The entire Columbia River was closed to fishing for sockeye, but some were holding out hope that the Lake Wenatchee return would be high enough to allow for a fishery. I looked at the number of fish that had passed over Rock Island Dam as of the 15th of July and it was just over 48,000. The number of sockeye over Rocky Reach Dam was just over 38,000. Many will look at the difference and assume that these fish are heading up the Wenatchee to the lake. If so, that would represent just over 10,000 fish. Chad Jackson, with the WDFW said that as of the 9th of July 11,000 fish had passed through Tumwater Dam and should be in the lake. That means that maybe over 21,000 fish could be in the lake, but the escapement needed is 23,000. Only 150 fish a day are coming over Rock Island Dam now, so although there has been no official announcement yet, I would bet Lake Wenatchee won’t open this season.
There is a special fishery on the upper Columbia that opens on July 1st and runs through August 15th. It takes place in the vicinity of Bridgeport, below Chief Joseph Dam, and occurs in one of my past favorite steelhead fishing areas. During this period anglers are allowed to keep rainbow trout, and the daily limit is 10. It is a barbless hook fishery, as all fish except rainbow must be released. This was introduced to eliminate triploid rainbow trout that had come down from Rufus Woods Reservoir. Many may recall that several years ago, there was a very large intentional release of triploids into Rufus Woods from the net pens due to extreme high water levels and heavy current. I heard estimates that over 100,000 fish were released, and the area below Chief Joseph Dam was opened to fishing for trout. Of course, the fishing was amazing, with many anglers getting their 10 fish. There aren’t the numbers of triploids here now, but there should be enough to make for a great day. This is a good area to fish with a bobber and jig, and I saw many fish taken by anglers casting a white hoochie to the shore and eddies.
