I am glad the full moon is fading away. I am going to blame it for some very poor fishing last week. My hope is that when I can get back out on the water in the Mark’s Marine Thunder Jet my luck will improve.
If you haven’t heard, the Icicle River has opened to fishing for coho salmon and will remain open until November 30th. Anglers can fish from 800 feet upstream of the mouth to 500 feet downstream of the National Fish Hatchery Dam. It is also open from the Sleeping Lady Resort to the Icicle Peshastin Irrigation Footbridge. The minimum size is 12 inches, and the daily limit is two coho. Fishing with bait, including scents and flavors is prohibited, and a night closure is in effect. Barbed hooks are allowed and anglers may not use the two-pole endorsement in this fishery. I checked on the water level of the Icicle and although low and clear, it appears to be higher than last year at this time. I think that the recent rains have raised the level and there is more rain in the forecast. Most anglers will be casting twitching jigs made of marabou or rabbit fur, or small steelhead jigs. The most popular stretch is below the hatchery deadline to an area above the bridge on Icicle River Road. I looked at the dam counts and it looks like there are good numbers of coho in the Columbia and Wenatchee rivers.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, anglers may keep coho salmon on the Columbia River from Priest Rapids Dam upstream to Rock Island Dam through October 15. The daily limit is six salmon with a minimum size of 12 inches. The limit may include no more than two adult Chinook and no more than four coho. Sockeye must be released. The department said returns of coho bound for the upper Columbia are large enough to meet conservation goals and still allow a sport harvest. It will monitor the fishery and may close it early if too many ESA-listed summer steelhead are caught and released. I have checked the dam counts and over 12,000 coho have passed over Priest Rapids Dam and are available to anglers. A popular fishing area for coho is on the rip rap at Wanapum Dam. Returning coho will swarm in the area and can be reached by anglers casting spinners or with a bobber and jig set up. I have observed anglers catching coho here and I tried it myself once without success, but I will make another attempt this season. I have not yet seen boats working the “toilet bowl” below the dam.
While most of the Hanford Reach fall Chinook are headed for the hatchery at Priest Rapids Dam, many overshoot this area of the Columbia River and are available to salmon anglers. One of the most popular areas that people fish for them is above Priest Rapids Dam. Anglers troll for these fall kings right above the dam with some success, while others will use the launch at Desert Aire to run further upriver. You will often see a small fleet of boats trolling off the mouth of Crab Creek. Some anglers fish the shoreline above Crab Creek and under the railroad trestle. There is a launch off Huntzinger Road on the west side of the river, and there is another launch right below Wanapum Dam. The techniques used in this stretch to catch kings are the same most anglers use below Priest Rapids Dam. Trolling rotating flashers trailed by Super Baits or other similar lures have proven to be very effective, and some put a spinner behind the flasher. Although I haven’t seen many anglers doing this, I would think that back trolling eggs along the bar across from Crab Creek would be productive. I may give this a try.
October is a great month for fishing in the region, and one of the places I try to fish this month of the year is Omak Lake. The ten-mile long lake is only eight miles from the town of Omak, and because it is on the Colville Reservation it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It offers the best fishing for Lahontan cutthroat in the state, and produced the state record for the species, which is just over 18 pounds. One of the challenges to fishing Omak Lake is the condition of the launch at the west end of the lake. It is extremely rough and rutted and I wouldn’t even attempt to put the Mark’s Marine 20-foot Thunder Jet Luxor in here. Anglers with smaller boats can use this launch, with caution. These big cutthroat can be caught from the beach near the launch by fly fishers or anglers casting spinners and spoons. I like to troll for them and usually fish at the east end of the lake. I have a special box of lures I use at Omak Lake. In it are large plugs, like the J-plugs made by Lure Jensen or Silver Horde Cut Plugs. This week’s photo is of a whopper Omak Lake cutthroat.
I mentioned Omak Lake, which is a Colville Reservation lake in one of my reports recently, and I wanted to tell you about another one I have fished. It is Buffalo Lake, that’s only about ten miles from the town of Grand Coulee Dam. Again, due to the fees associated with fishing reservation lakes, it receives very little pressure. The lake gets regular plants of rainbow every year and the tribe also releases a fair number of triploid rainbow that are often 4 to 5 pounds. Carryover rainbow can be 16 to 18 inches. It is also a kokanee lake. Last year, my friend Rollie Schmitten and I fished Buffalo Lake and had a spectacular day. After leaving the dock at Reynold’s Resort, I put on Kokabow blades and spinners and headed for the first bay. We were into fish right away and had our five fish limits in no time. The kokanee averaged 15 inches, and we never left this bay. Years ago, my wife and I took her sister to Buffalo Lake, and we caught some big rainbow in the same bay. If you want to get some kokanee I would get there soon before they turn color for spawning.
