Hunting & Fishing Report: Welcome Fall, Find a Pond

Posted

Spring is a time to uncoil from the slovenly habits of winter and make up for lost time while grass grows and blossom buds sweeten the damp air.

Summer is a mad dash to accomplish every outlandish dream concocted within the claustrophobic depths of the dark months. There too many spells to cast and balls to juggle and things to do and places to go. Mickey Mouse in his sorcerer’s cap the pace ultimately proves untenable and the pink dancing elephants and furiously sweeping broom sticks reign roughshod over once presumed sanity. Life is an unruly metronome.

In stark contrast, fall is a time to slow down. We seem to take our pace cue from the trees, which take their cue from the sun. We watch as the sap thickens and ceases to ooze from old weeping elders. We watch as drooping branches drop drop leaves that have discolored since their youth. We too can take the time to let our hair down and work in a more wizardly time.

Of course there is garden bounty to harvest and fish to hook and horned ruminants roam the backwoods with racks that beckon to decorate a caveman descendant’s man-cave. But sometimes a fall afternoon and on into the evening should be explicitly reserved for moments of abject leisure with the ambiance provided by nature rather than nature sounds on CD.

A two-person kayak and the inexplicable company of a patient, gorgeous and adventurous female companion have provided me a convenient excuse to leave the farm and the tools behind in order to find seasonal solace on the placid waters of the region. I like to paddle hard. She reminds me to breathe in the scene.

South County Pond in Toledo is full of migratory birds. There are even a few escaped from a farm’s flock as a pair of bravado masked Muscovy ducks mingle with the wild flocks. Fish jumped skyward at odd intervals while anglers lines languish limp on the surface.

The Old Mill Pond in Onalaska teemed with algae and attracted solitude seeking youths to the furthest reaches of its banks. There they huffed and puffed and harassed unsuspecting trout with buoyant bobbers and writhing worms ensnared with a caustic barbed core.

Up toward the mountain pass the reaches of Riffe Lake are surrounded by the accouterments of autumn and peppered with the vestiges of summer’s glory days. Newly snow covered peaks can be spotted from various vantages and bronzing hardwoods hug the dry crumbling rim of the low lake and drape the earth in their fluttering scales.

Osprey and seagulls snack on bloated fish and rest on the skeleton legs of exposed octopus stumps that were long ago speared and left to rot on the beach. Driftwood graveyards crisp in green meadows and blue herons balance on imperceptible perches like walking on water.

Glassy water surface turns choppy and rocks the boat. Wind pushes against progress and paddles push against current. Old ghost towns drift by underneath the boat while rain clouds gather at saddleback peaks and begin again their percolating erosion that turns mountain tops to sand.

We are lost in time as the time is passed and the world is changing, just like it always has.

FISHIN

Out on the old Chehalis River the fishing is poised to take off and run out some line. The salmon fishery officially opened on Sep. 16 but the first few weeks were a slow go as low water and patient fish collaborated against anglers’ odds.

According to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife statistics the bite picked up a bit last week with 46 coho caught in the lower river. A bit of wet stuff from the sky is sure to lubricate the run a bit more this week. The insiders behind The Lunkers Guide say that the silvers should be on the bite from the mouth up to about Montesano.

Coming inland a bit, the drought related fishing restrictions on the Black River have recently been rescinded by the WDFW. As of Oct. 2 properly licensed anglers have been allowed to fish for all species along the river’s course. Cooling temperatures and increased precipitation have improved migration conditions for fish in the river.

Down on the lower stretches of the mighty Columbia the disappointing coho run is giving it the ol’ college try to pick up the pace a bit. Chinook are still making up the bulk of the catch on the river but the majority of the season’s kings are well beyond Bonneville Dam by now.

“With more than a month to go, this year’s catch of fall Chinook will likely set a new record,” said Joe Hymer, a fish biologist for the WDFW, in a press release. “Rain and cooler water temperatures in September moved a bunch of fresh fish into the river, which will help keep this fishery going for weeks to come.”

The WDFW estimates that last week on the lower Columbia a total of 7,200 angler trips resulted in almost 3,000 adult Chinook reaching a cooler.

The change in season generally means a downturn in fishing effort so persistent anglers should find less of a battle for prime bank and trolling spots, along with improved river conditions for fish.

“Fall rainstorms will help move an infusion of Chinook and late-run coho salmon into the tributaries over the next month,” added Hymer in the press release. “They also bite better under those conditions.”

The bite last week was especially good in the Columbia Gorge where boat angles averaged 2.51 fall Chinook and 0.09 coho per boat while boat anglers at Buoy 10 averaged 1.44 coho and 0.56 Chinook per boat. In between, anglers averaged about a third of a Chinook per boat. The mouths of the White Salmon, Klickitat and Lewis rivers as well as Drano Lake have been particularly productive.

With that in mind we will take a trip around the tributary scene.

On the Cowlitz River fall Chinook are still making up the lion’s share of the catch with a pinch of coho and a dash of summer-run steelhead and sea-run cutthroats thrown in for good measure. More than half of the Chinook were unclipped and were subsequently tossed back in the water. Most of the steelhead and trout were predictably found near the trout hatchery while Chinook have been found up and down the river. The coho have been sparse and unpredictable.

Last week at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery Separator 727 fall Chinook, 196 coho, 98 steelhead and 10 cutthroat trout were recovered. River flow at Mayfield Dam early in the week was about 3,570 cubic feet per second.



The Lewis River has been rewarding bank anglers around the salmon hatchery with a ration of fall Chinook and coho. The action has been especially productive near the mouth. River flow at Merwin Dam early in the week was reported at about 900 cubic feet per second, which is about one third of the normal flow for this time of year.

Things are getting stale in Drano Lake where boat anglers are still averaging more than one adult Chinook per rod, but many of the fish have been wild, or are beginning to turn dark. The result was that the majority of the catch was released. The lake will be subject to a 24-hour closure beginning each Tuesday at 6 pm in October.

Anglers in the lower Klickitat River have been doing well by averaging more than one adult Chinook per rod. River flow has been hovering around 600 cubic feet per second.

The Yakima River had about 775 visits from salmon anglers last week with an estimated 258 adults Chinook and 11 jacks harvested. That fishery has been stable and will probably see an influx of fish with the recent rains.

Walleye fishing has also provided some action for a few Columbia River anglers below Bonneville. In the Washougal area the WDFW counted 78 walleye caught between 16 anglers last week. More than half of those fish were kept.

Trout season is also picking up in lakes around the region. At Goose Lake in Skamania County 2,000 coastal cutthroat weighing about one pound each were recently planted. The mountain lake also received a few hundred big rainbows.

Along the Cowlitz River at Mayfield Lake and Lake Scanewa there should still be good numbers of rainbow trout ready for the pan. Those lakes was stocked consistently with what should be foot long rainbows through the summer. The daily limit is ten clipped rainbows per day.

The area around the trout hatchery on the lower Cowlitz is also a good area for sea-run cutthroat trout fishing in October.

In a report, WDFW fish biologist John Weinheimer said, “These aggressive fish average a foot or more and can be caught on a variety of gear including bait, flies, or lures.” The fish scientist added, “It’s the only place in the entire state where hatchery sea-run cutthroats are available for harvest and anglers should take advantage of this unique opportunity.”

HUNTIN

October is the realm of many of Washington’s most anticipated hunting seasons. Bird hunting season in particular is expected to be be flush with migratory visitors from the great white north after a productive off season in the hinterlands. Those numbers will bode well for hunter success.

Hunting seasons for pheasant, quail and bobwhite have all been open since September and geese, ducks, coots and snipes will join them in the hunt for red October beginning Oct. 17. It should be noted that dusky geese have been removed from the quarry list in goose management areas 2A and 2B which includes parts of Clark, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific and Grays Harbor counties.

Mike Cope, game manager for the WDFW, said in a press release that, “Big game hunts also look promising this fall. Hunters had a pretty good season last year and, with the mild winter, that should be the case again this year.”

Muzzleloader season for deer began on Oct. 3 and will continue through Oct. 11. Rifle season comes next from Oct. 17-31. Southwest Washington was home to some of the largest buck harvests in the state last year. Game Management Units 530 (Ryderwood), 501 (Lincoln), 520 (Winston) and 550 (Coweeman) have typically been particularly plentiful hunting grounds.

Muzzleloaders have also been in the field for elk since Oct. 3. That short season will conclude on Saturday, Oct. 9. Elk hunters should be sure to remember the new WDFW regulation that requires any harvested elk to have its lower legs severed and left at the kill site by the hunter. This action is meant to help slow the spread of a fatal hoof rot disease that has become prevalent in western Washington.

The early fall turkey hunt is also still under way and it will continue on both sides of the state through Oct. 16.

Hunters are required by law to wear hunter’s orange clothing but the WDFW recommends that other visitors to the woodlands, like mushroom picker and hikers, also dress brightly in order to be more easily identifiable to hunters.

WILDFIRES

The rains of fortune have sprouted seeds of change in Washington. That is to say that fire crews have largely been able to get a handle on the wildfire inferno that attempted to overwhelm the state and its resources this summer.

A number of wildfires are still burning in Washington, especially on the east side of the mountains but the worst is now behind us. Still, 2015 was the worst year on record for wildfires in the state.

According to a press release from the Washington State Patrol the fires required an unprecedented response from local and state agencies.

The Washington State Fire Marshal’s office assisted with staffing resources for 30 fires between June 13 and Sep. 13. The previous record was 17 coordinated response fires in 2012. Last year there were 14 firs that required a large scale coordinated response.

In total this year’s wildfires torched more than 1,005,424 acres and claimed 499 structures, including 307 homes and 21 businesses. The largest single fire was the North Star fire in Okanogan County. That fire charred 218,138 acres.

Prior to this year the State Mobilization response had only been required in western Washington on two occasions, once in 1998 at the Ball Park Fire in Cowlitz County and again in 2012 at the Powerline 2 Fire in Mason County. This year the full scale response was called for on three occasions on lands west of the Cascades. Those incidents were in Mason, Pierce and Whatcom counties.