Hunting & Fishing Report: Slow Going on the Steam Engine to Springtime

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Golden catkins sway from scraggly branches of hazel trees, and pioneering leaves unfurl from Indian plum. Silky swans sit in swampy corn fields and dogged steelhead surge in swollen streams.

One you can watch but not touch. The other you can catch but can’t see. So it’s time to turn compost and count worms. Hack blackberries and set fence posts. Order garden seeds and package bees.

Aggressive chickpeas and docile Italian queens? When will be the final freeze?

Cottonwood buds hang low enough to pluck. Squish between dirty fingers and smell sylvan musk. Bald eagles perch in shaggy evergreen tops. Hawks hide in bare maples. Osprey swoop and dive along the river, dead fish in toe.

Pastures percolate like a wet kitchen sponges. Paths turn to mud hauling water buckets in the rain. Time to wean piglets and feed cows. Always feeding the cows.

How much hay is in the barn? What will the gopher see? How many days until grass grows green?

Coyotes howl as honking geese cut a wishbone across a blue blood moon when witching hour clouds part ways. In the daylight, shorebirds make up for lost time when winter storms alter their course.

Mushrooms sprout beneath conifers on snow dappled hillsides and little brown birds flock in the yard by day. Wood stacks grow small while brickhouse chimneys chug like choo-choo trains to keep the creeping chill at bay.

But the days are getting longer and spring is surely coming. You can tell by the way winter that is all around.

FISHIN

With winter hunting all killed, cut and wrapped, outdoors types will be honing in on the winter steelhead run with increasing intensity over the next month.

“It’s all fishin’ now,” said Jerry Barr, master of gab and tackle at the Sunbirds sporting goods desk in Chehalis.

Barr noted that the Willapa system has been producing plenty of steelhead recently but Twin City area anglers won’t have to go that far to find a hot bite.

“The skookumchuck is just red hot right now,” said Barr, who pointed out that most of the effort has been focused near the dam deadline.

On the Cowlitz River effort has been spread up and down the river with minimal bite.

“Not too many fish, I mean, just a smattering out of the Cowlitz,” said Barr. However, those few fish he’s heard about were all “good three-salt fish” that tipped the scales at close to twenty pounds up near the barrier dam.

Statistics compiled by the WDFW tell a similar, if less titillating, tale to Barr’s word of mouth anecdotes. Last week the WDFW sampled 14 bank rods below the I-5 Bridge with just one steelhead kept, while 14 bank rods upriver released one adult coho and three cutthroat trout. At the salmon separator last week employees recovered just 38 adult coho and six winter steelhead. Earlier this week river flow at Mayfield was reported at about 13,100 cubic feet per second with a temperature of 43.1 degrees and visibility of five feet.

Anyone hoping to take a turn paddling the river for smelt this year will have to wait a bit longer for final word from the WDFW. Cowlitz River smelt returns are expected to be roughly half of what they were last year and would represent the lowest return in recent years but fishery managers say they need more time to make a final decision on a recreational dip.

Last year fishery managers approved a one-day sport fishery on the Cowlitz River which produced only a pittance of fish in nets. A commercial research fishery has been approved on the Lower Columbia River for dates in February and catch numbers from that effort will likely be used to determine the merits of a Cowlitz recreational dip.

“These fisheries have a limited impact on the overall smelt return, while providing essential biological data on the species’ abundance,” said Laura Heironimus, a fishery manager at the WDFW, in a press release.

Eulachon smelt have been listed as a federal Endangered Species since 2010. If commercial fishing efforts produce an average of 250 pounds per delivery then fishery managers say they will consider sport openings.

The WDFW reported that there was little to no effort observed for steelhead in the Bonneville or John Day pools last week and beginning Feb. 4 sturgeon fisheries between Bonneville and The Dalles will close. Additionally, sturgeon retention between John Day and McNary will end on Feb. 12.

Both of those areas, in addition to the lower Columbia River, will remain open for catch-and-release sturgeon fishing, as will the John Day Pool, which closed to sturgeon retention on Jan. 20. Those closures should leave the door open for summer sturgeon harvests.

“That fishery closed with a fair number of fish still available for harvest under the catch guideline,” said Heironimus in the release. “We’ll be discussing the options for additional fishing opportunities in future meetings with our counterparts in Oregon.”

Last week at Bonneville boat anglers averaged one legal sturgeon per every three rods and boat anglers at John Day reeled in a few legals as well. Boat anglers in both pools averaged about two walleye per rod, along with a sampling of bass.

Trout fishing on area lakes continues to provide excellent piiscatorial prospects for those more inclined to stay close to home.

“Of course the lake scene is doing good. Mayfield is still producing by the hatchery,’ said Barr, who spoke with one local angler who helped to catch and release 33 trout at Borst Park Pond in Centralia last weekend.

On Jan. 16, Fort Borst Park Pond in Centralia was planted with 1,600 fingerling rainbow trout and Silver Lake, east of Castle Rock, was stocked with 3,000 half pound rainbows. On Jan. 8 Carlisle Lake in Onalaska, also known as Old Mill Pond, was planted with 100 five-pound rainbows. The next day Horseshoe Lake was planted with 115 five-pound trout in addition to 2,400 fingerling rainbows. Since Jan. 3 Kress Lake has been planted with 130 ten pound unsalted steelhead who were accompanied by 2,000 fingerling rainbows. Lastly, Longview’s crown jewel, Lake Sacajawea was planted with 30 ten-pound lunker trout and 66 five-pound trout on Jan. 10.

HUNTIN

Winter hunting officially ended on Sunday when waterfowl seasons across the region shuttered. Hunters will have another chance to bag birds in Area 2 for a limited opening extended season from Feb. 10 through March 10.

Cougar hunters be able to bag big cats in most units through April 30, although hunters should be sure to check for closures in units with harvest guidelines. Hunts for snowshoe hare, cottontail rabbits, bobcat, fox and raccoon will all continue through March 15, and of course, coyotes are always fodder for the crosshairs.

Aside from those fringe hunts, the only action before things pick up again next August will be spring hunts for black bears and turkeys. Anyone planning to bag a black bear this spring must apply for a permit before the end of February.

Master Hunters have only two more weeks to submit their applications for 2018 permits.



According to a press release those permits are doled out in order “to promote safe, lawful, and ethical hunting while strengthening Washington’s hunting heritage and conservation ethic.” Applications are due by Feb. 15.

“To qualify for the program, applicants must demonstrate a high level of skill and be committed to lawful and ethical hunting practices,” said David Whipple, WDFW hunter education division manager, in a press release.

Master hunters are deployed by the WDFW in order to remove problem wildlife that are causing damage to property or safety hazards. Master hunters also volunteer in projects related to access to private lands, habitat enhancement, data collection, hunter education, and landowner relations.

On Feb. 15 the WDFW will host a meeting at Lower Columbia College in Longview in order to disperse new information to current master hunters and educate prospective applicants. That meeting will take place from 6-8 p.m. at 1600 Maple St.

Hunters who enroll in the program must pay a $50 application fee, pass a criminal background check, pass a written test, demonstrate shooting proficiency, and provide at least 20 hours of approved volunteer service, in addition to other requirements. Currently there are about 1,650 master hunters enrolled in the program. Additional information is available online at wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/masterhunter/.

A set of proposed hunting regulation changes are available for review online. Those proposals cover rules through the 2020 hunting seasons and the WDFW is seeking comment from the public in order to help guide the final decision making process. Written comments are due by Feb. 14.

The policy making Fish and Wildlife Commission will also accept public comment in person during their March 16-17 meetings at the Red Lion Hotel in Wenatchee. Final action is expected to be taken in April. The 2015-21 Game Management Plan is available for review online at wa.gov/publications/01676/. Written comments must be submitted online. Visit the WDFW’s website, at wa.gov/hunting/regulations/seasonsetting/, in order to review and comment on the proposals.

CLAMMIN

A seven day set of clam digs that began last weekend have gotten off to a slow start thanks to a bout of uncooperative weather.

“Ocean conditions have been less than desirable, but digging hasn't been a total blow out,” said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the WDFW, in an email to The Chronicle.

Harvest data shows that results have been varied up and down the coast. The best results were had at Copalis on Monday when 1,673 diggers averaged 13.8 clams per person and the next day 2.202 diggers hit Twin Harbors and brought home 11.9 clams each. The biggest turnout was at Mocrocks on Sunday when 3,310 diggers brought home just 9.9 clams each. The digging improved at Mocrocks on Tuesday though when 1,642 diggers hauled out 13.5 clams per person.

Upcoming digs are approved on the following beaches, dates and evening low tides:

· Feb. 1, Thursday, 7:17 p.m.; -1.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

· Feb. 2, Friday, 8:00 p.m.; -1.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

· Feb. 3, Saturday, 8:42 p.m.; -0.4; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

Ayres insists that the best digging results are typically had about one or two hours prior to low tide, but no digging is currently allowed on any beach prior to noon.

Late last year Ayres cautioned that winter digging opportunities at Long Beach could soon be coming to an end due to elevated effort and a low clam population. As we head into February though he says the future at Long Beach is still up in the air.

“It's too early to know what we might be (able to) offer down the road on any beach...but we do want to save clams so we can get to some spring morning tides, and they really don't kick in this year until April,” wrote Ayres. “We'll know more when we are done with this opener.”

POACHIN

A man convicted of killing two wolves in Pend Oreille County in 2016 was been fined $8,293 with a suspended 364-day jail sentence.

Terry Leroy Fowler, 55, of Liberty Lake, pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful taking of endangered wildlife, but a third count was dismissed under his plea agreement. That fine includes $8,000 in restitution to the WDFW and $293 in court costs. Fowler will also be required to spend 30 days at home under electronic monitoring.

According to WDFW Police Capt. Dan Rahn the WDFW began investigating the case last February as a follow up to a wolf mortality near the LeClerc Creek Road in Pend Oreille County. After WDFW police found evidence at the scene that connected to Fowler they served a search warrant at his cabin in Pend Oreille County as well as his residence in Liberty Lake, Spokane County.

In a press release Rahn said WDFW police found evidence of wolf trapping, wolf hair, tissue, scat, and two skulls. The WDFW received results from a DNA analysis of three sample that confirmed they were from three separate wolves.

Wolves are listed as endangered throughout Washington by the state and in the western two-thirds of the state under federal law. There were at least 115 wolves in Washington as of March 2017 with 20 known packs, with at least 10 breeding pairs. The wolves in the Fowler case were within the Goodman Meadows pack range.

There are two other ongoing wolf poaching investigations in northeast Washington. One of those involves the killing of a radio-collared female wolf that was once part of the Profanity Peak pack in Ferry County. The other case involves a dead female wolf found within the range of the Dirty Shirt pack in Stevens County.

The WDFW is asking anyone with relevant information about these cases to call 877-933-9847 or 360-902-2936.

MOURNIN

One person was killed and two others injured when a helicopter under contract with the WDFW crashed on Saturday, Jan. 27 in Garfield County while conducting a mule deer study.

The deceased was identified by the Washington State Patrol as crew member Benjamin M. Poirier, 19, of Berthoud, Colorado. The two other crew members on board were taken to a hospital in Lewiston, Idaho. All three men were employed by Hells Canyon Helicopters.

“This is a tragic accident that will be deeply felt not only by the families but by members of our own staff who have worked with this dedicated crew,” said WDFW Director Jim Unsworth, in a press release.

According to Kevin Robinette, regional WDFW wildlife manager, the accident occurred roughly 20 miles northwest of Pomeroy. The helicopter crew was there to work with ground-based state biologists to capture and attach radio collars to mule deer for a study on their movement and survival. Saturday was the first day of their work in the Blue Mountains.

The crash is being investigated by state and local law enforcement agencies and the National Transportation Safety Board.