The big news in my area was the closure to sport fishing for spring Chinook on the Icicle River, and the opening of fishing to the tribes. This has created a lot of controversy and disappointment with recreational fishermen. There are a lot of other alternatives for anglers, and I hope to try some of them soon.
If you have been following the news about the spring salmon fishery on the Icicle River this season, you can understand the frustrations of recreational anglers. Although this is pretty much a local fishery, due to the lack of shore access and number of boats that float the river, it still points to some larger issues. Many will blame the WDFW and the National Fish Hatchery. There was a break in a water line at the hatchery, and an emergency pump system had to be erected to get the fish ladder working so the salmon could be collected in the holding ponds. Even with this delay there appeared to be enough fish to allow for a recreational and tribal fishery this year. The hatchery needed 1,000 for brood stock, and that was going make perhaps 700 available to sport and tribal purposes. Well, the WDFW delayed the opening and 1,200 to 1,300 fish rushed into the ponds. There just weren’t more fish on the way this year. The WDFW decided not to open it to sport fishing, and the Coville Tribe started fishing on Friday. This outcome is difficult to understand and is complicated by Treaty Fishing Rights. Before people condemn the tribes, I want to remind them that the Coville Tribe contributes to many fisheries in the region. They operated a hatchery at Bridgeport that releases millions of summer run and spring salmon into the Columbia each year. They release close to 50,000 triploid rainbow trout into Rufus Woods Reservoir that sport anglers enjoy catching, and the coho fishery in the fall on the Icicle is the result of a project conducted by the Yakima Tribe. No one is happy how things came together this year, and steps are being taken to prevent it from happening again. Unfortunately, no one is going to come out of this looking good.
I got a text from John Calder at Mark’s Marine in Hayden, Idaho, saying that the new Thunder Jet Luxor that was being built for me at the production facility in Clarkston, Washington had arrived at the dealership. It included several photos of the interior and exterior of the finished boat. The next step will be the rigging at the Mark’s Marine shop. Which will be extensive. The Mercury motor package came with the boat, but the Minn Kota bow mount needs to be installed, along with the lithium and deep cell batteries. There will be four Garmin fish finders in the boat, including the latest available Live Scan. They had a “Lund” style live well installed in the boat at the factory, which is absolutely the best. It will be equipped with Scotty downriggers and Folbe rod holders. There is a lot of work yet to do with the mounting of the electronics and other features, and it will still be a week or so before I can visit the dealership and get an orientation ride to go over everything.
A few weeks ago, my friends James and Ryan and I fished for walleye with guide Leon Stafford below Little Goose Dam on the Snake River. We had a great time and caught some very nice walleye and even got to spend time in the scenic Palouse River. We liked this so much that we traveled there again last Thursday. We launched at the Texas Rapids Recreation Area, and although there was a pretty good breeze blowing we drove up to the fishing area right below the dam. We put out a variety of crank baits and began trolling. The wind began blowing even harder, and although we thought this was getting a little bit crazy we saw a couple of other boats on the water. Still, it was difficult to manage the boat, so we ran back down to the launch. We thought we might find better conditions off the Palouse River mouth and stopped at the marina that is just across the river from there. We found the wind just as bad here. While there we noticed some anglers holding up some catfish. They had a wheelbarrow full of big ones. This week’s photo is of these anglers and their catch.
One of the questions that I am asked most frequently, due to my proximity to Lake Wenatchee, is if there is going to be a sockeye season on the lake. The return of sockeye to our region is something that is watched closely by anglers. The popularity of this fishery exceeds the interest in summer run salmon, particularly since the summer run salmon numbers have dropped significantly. Last year the summer runs season was curtailed and only open for a shore time in certain “bubble fisheries”. Last year the return of sockeye to the Columbia was forecast at 350,000 and the actual return was 168,000. This was enough fish to see the Brewster Pool packed with boats. The forecast for sockeye to Lake Wenatchee was 94,000 and 64,000 showed up. This year the forecast is for 85,000 to the lake. They need under 24,000 to pass over Tumwater Dam for escapement. You can check out the graph from the Fish Passage Center on my Facebook page, FishingMagician.com.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has issued an update of the salmon steelhead seasons for the Lower Columbia River. These seasons begin as early as June 16th. Summer run salmon and steelhead counted in the summer run data from the Fish Passage Center are just starting to hit Bonneville Dam. It is good to know what the various openers and rules are for each section of the main stem Columbia River are described in the news release. The sections detailed in the update include the area from Megler-Astoria Bridge to Bonneville Dam; Bonneville Dam to the Dalles Dam; to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco. There probably aren’t any surprises for anglers that annually fish these sections of the lower Columbia. It is always a good idea to review these seasons and rules just to be sure that they are consistent with past seasons. As many anglers are aware, the return of summer run salmon to the Columbia River is anticipated to be down significantly.
