As the days run short in January a litany of false springs lay in wait. Flower bulbs have already begun sprouting presumptuously from relaxing soils. Punxsutawney Phil will soon be ceremoniously roused from his groundhog lair so that he can cheese for the assembled cameras while cherub suited and top-hatted men false predict the future.
Next in the annual preamble to spring will be pitchers and catchers reporting to professional leagues of grapefruit and cacti. Old men will dust off old stirrups and ball caps and saunter onto the invigorating grounds of their youth. They will bask in the sunshine and hand down lessons to game's most recent incarnations. Mostly, though, what they provide is perspective.
Have you ever stopped to watch a flock of birds and allowed yourself to be stunned by their fluidity? Each singular bird ceases to be an individual and instead moves in concert with its winged companions. It is a dance with no leader. It is liquid with no container. It cleaves and morphs and reconstitutes based on the whimsical desires of not one, but all of the ballet birds at once. Their intuition is interlocked and inextricable. They know that spring is coming.
In the stead of communal flying to stave off the deliriums of winter and the pangs of cabin fever humans often resort to more practical and less inspiring pursuits, like counting the days until spring. The crunching of numbers leads one down a rational rationing rabbit hole. How much hay is in the barn and how many days until the grass grows on the pasture? How many cans of last year's garden bounty remain shelved in the rainbow spread pantry? And how about the Westport tuna and Cowlitz River salmon sliced and preserved pink in glass mason jars and stacked in the cupboard, will they last the winter through?
The deep freezer is foreboding in winter. It's white cherry ice chunks cling to the sheer sides and threaten to entomb all things that dare linger within reach of its creeping frozen fury. Alaskan moose, Roosevelt elk, Buoy 10 salmon, Wishkah deer, Copalis clams, Thanksgiving Tom and backyard pork all inhabit the vast rungs of the ice chamber but supplies have dwindled conspicuously since the high cotton days of summer.
Luckily one summer project that has been patiently fermenting to a bubbly conclusion involves about 35-gallons of apple and pear cider. Harvested during the drought while fending off viscous yellow jackets and pressed beneath the cool ambient light of the harvest moon, the sweet nectar of garden fruit is fully imbued with the intoxicating forces of nature. Of course as a serious brewer I have to taste test each batch of fruit brew before it is bottled. Which suits me just fine. While others are examining the shadows of rodents I'll be savoring the preserved tastes of summer and waiting to stick my head out until the seasons change.
FISHIN'
While area rivers have been picking up steam, debris and flow, word from area anglers brave or foolhardy enough to ply those waters has been slow to trickle in. In the words of John Snyder, a local fishing escort and curator of The Lunkers Guide, “A lot of rivers are blown out!” In other words the winter fishing has been slow.
Out on the Cowlitz River last week Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff contacted 14 bank anglers with a whopping one hatchery winter steelhead to show for their efforts. Three boat anglers on the river were skunked. In the meantime, employees at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator recovered 90 adult coho, 18 jacks and 21 winter steelhead during four days of operation. River flow at Mayfield Dam on Monday was recorded at about 10,000 cubic feet per second.
The WDFW noted that there was no effort for steelhead in the Bonneville Pool last week but boat anglers were catching some steelhead in The Dalles Pool. The John Day Pool reportedly had, “light effort and no steelhead catch was observed.” Walleye fishing has also started to pick up a bit at John Day with boat anglers averaging one fish per every five rods.
If trout are more to your liking then it would be wise to note that the WDFW planted 1,900 rainbows at Klineline Pond in Clark County on Jan. 19. There was no report of effort or angling success available from the WDFW for any local lakes.
Heading back out to the mighty Columbia River sturgeon fishing effort picked up a bit last week in the Bonneville Pool and those anglers were rewarded with a few more fish than in weeks previous. Boat anglers at Bonneville caught about one legal size sturgeon per five rods. In The Dalles Pool boat anglers averaged about one legal per seven rods and boat anglers in the John Day Pool are said to have been “catching some legals.” Bank anglers had a rough go of it in all of the pools.
At a recent WDFW Wildlife Commission public hearing the lower Columbia River sturgeon received the lion's share of attention. Stock numbers for the river monsters have been dwindling in recent years and scientists are putting much of the blame on the insatiable appetite of sea lions. However, an elimination of sea lions was not put forth as a solution. Instead the catch and release sturgeon fisheries of the lower Columbia appear to be targeted for the rubbish bin.
In decades passed the lower Columbia was open to sturgeon harvest but it was turned into a catch and release only area in an attempt to help recover sturgeon numbers. Additional no-fishing zones, called spawning sanctuaries, were created in order to help buoy stock numbers in the lower Columbia as well. No decision has been made on the fate of lower Columbia sturgeon fishing but fish and wildlife officials from Washington and Oregon are in the early phases of negotiations.
HUNTIN'
What began with a big bang shot at a bear back in August will soon come to a close as the scattering of bird shot along the horizon. When the grains of time run scarce on Jan. 31 another round on the bandoleer of time will be fired into the setting sun and hunting season will come to a smoking barrel close.
Hunting season takes on many forms from August through January but it is a hallowed time of reverence, and celebration for hunters of all stripes. Shotgun-toting waterfowl hunters will pull the blinds on the season but riflemen, musketeers and archers have all shared the woods in commune over the past five months.
Bear and waterfowl may be the first and final chapters of the book on fall and winter hunting season but deer, elk, goats and turkeys played a prominent role in the drama as well. Even more diverse than the characters was the scenery and setting. Opening scenes were parched by drought and the action delayed by the dangers of wildfire. When the flames finally settled only a brief respite befell the charred land before staggering volumes of rain turned the ground to muck and ran rivers roughshod over their banks. Wind joined the ruckus and sent drought damaged timbers toppling while compromised hillsides slid away under foot. Unlike years past, snow stuck to the hills and craggy mountain tops and foolhardy adventures trekked above the snow line to say they’d reached the top, and brought a mountain goat back to prove it.
While August-January represent the traditional hunting season of lore, when camouflage changes from a fashion statement to a measure of practicality and symbol of unity with one’s ilk, the great hunt never really dies. For instance, seasons for cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares are scheduled through Mar. 15.
Of course there’s still bigger game open to hunters as well, including bobcats, fox and raccoon which will also remain open through the notoriously fatal ides of March. Cougar hunting is slated to remain open in most areas through Apr. 30 although some areas were closed on Dec. 31 after their harvest quotas were reached. Other cougar areas with quota limits are subject to similar closures at any time.
Still, there is one more predator that never leaves the list. Colby Steele, a 15-year-old from Centralia who became the first youth in Washington history to bag a billy goat with a bow when he did so last October near Chinook Pass, said it best when he explained his favorite time to go hunting. “Whenever it’s hunting season,” deadpanned the record-setting Steele, “Whenever there’s a time you can go. If there’s not, I guess there’s always coyote hunting.”
SNOWIN'
Although it's been a great season for snow it has not been a great week. White Pass didn't add any new snow early in the week and temperatures were hovering in the mid to high-30's while skiers and boarders tried to make the best of groomed runs.
Mt. Hood was drizzly on Wednesday morning with temperatures pushing past 45 degrees. Some sun was predicted for the afternoon and it had the lodge's official snow reporter anticipating rainbows, and suggesting, “So, come on up. As you drive up here, notice the red taillights of the car in front of you. See the orange cones in the parking lot. Check out the bright yellow sun overhead. See the green trees on the slopes, the blue sky overhead, and the hints of indigo and violet in the black feathers of the parking lot ravens.” Indeed.
To the north Crystal Mountain, Snoqualmie Summit, Stevens Pass, Mt. Baker and Hurricane Ridge were all experiencing warm and slushy conditions with no trace of new snow mid week. Conditions should improve ever so slightly on most of those slopes with colder temperatures and possible snow in the forecast as we head into the weekend.
A skier on Mount Baker was killed in an avalanche on Sunday and nine other adventurers have been claimed by avalanches in the west in just the past ten days. Three other slide related deaths this month have combined to make January the deadliest month for avalanches in the past 20 years. A bumper crop of snow this season has many powder heads excited to hit the backcountry but officials are asking folks to exercise extreme caution when going beyond the ropes.
WILDLIFERS
The WDFW is asking the public to comment on ten new land acquisition proposals that are intended to preserve wildlife habitat and increase opportunities for public recreation.
The proposed land acquisitions include parcels in Walla Walla, Snohomish, Lincoln, Kittitas, Klickitat, Grays Harbor, Thurston and Pacific counties. Information on the properties is available on WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/acquisitions/.
"We want to give people the opportunity to comment on these proposed acquisitions before moving forward," said Cynthia Wilkerson, WDFW land conservation and restoration section manager, in a press release. “"Land acquisition helps preserve our state’s critical habitat and species for the future.”
Comments will be accepted through Feb. 12 and they can be sent by email to Lands@dfw.wa.gov, or by mail to Lauri Vigue, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091.
In other out of doors news the annual Washington Sportsmen's Show is back in Puyallup this week for five days of immersion into the world of hunting, fishing and everything outdoors. The event, which draws hundreds of vendors and thousands of outdoorsy types to the Washington State Fairgrounds began on Jan. 27 and will run through Sunday, Jan. 31. Admission is $12 per day for adults, $5 for youths, and kids under 5 years old get in free. An $18 two-day pass is also available for adults.
Attractions at the outdoors extravaganza include a free kiddie trout pool and a cowboy quick draw contest for the buckaroos, as well as a head and horns contest for the state's most impressive trophy mounts, guns, rods, and boats for the adult set. The bonanza will be open from noon to 8 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Washington State Fair Events Center.
