DECEM-’BOWS: Top Lakes For Tasty Trout!
6TH ANNUAL
REAL WOMEN OF NW FISHING
43 Gals & Girls Who Reel ’Em In!
FUN 509 Tri-Cities IN THE
Cast-&-Blast Potholes Reservoir Walleye
WICKED
TUNA'S
Dave Marciano!
STEELIE SEASON
KICK-OFF!
Chetco, Smith & N. Sound
Steelheading On A Budget ALSO INSIDE
Sportsmen’s Show Schedule Winter Boat Maintenance Chef’s Venison Mac ’N Cheese
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Sportsman Northwest
Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource
Volume 10 • ISSUE 2 PUBLISHER James R. Baker
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Dick Openshaw
ALUMAWELD TALON
EDITOR Andy Walgamott LEAD WRITERS Jeff Holmes, Andy Schneider THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Kristina Anderson, Megan Billinger, Kristin Bishop, Jason Brooks, Ashley Chaudiere, Katie Hoffman, Valerie Holmberg, Doug Huddle, Trishana Israel, Renee Johnson, Natasha King, Randy King, Sheila Larrson, Toni Pollock-Bozarth, Buzz Ramsey, Kari-Lynn Smith, Todd Switzer, Don Talbot, Randy Wells, Terry Wiest, Dave Workman EDITORIAL FIELD SUPPORT Jason Brooks, Jeff Holmes GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak
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ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@nwsportsmanmag.com CORRESPONDENCE Email letters, articles/queries, photos, etc., to awalgamott@media-inc.com, or to the address below. ON THE COVER Renee Johnson’s livin’ the life! The copresident and membership director of the Newberg Chapter of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders holds two hatchery winter-runs she caught out of a coastal river on Waco Fishing nightmare jigs. (RENEE JOHNSON)
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CONTENTS
VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 3
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WINTER TROUT WONDERLAND! With its rainbows fat, plentiful and tasty, Eastern Washington offers some of the Northwest’s best winter trout fishing – find out how to fish Lake Roosevelt, where Jo Wiebe landed this nice’n, and eight more lakes that are sure to shine this month!
FEATURES 20 6TH ANNUAL REAL WOMEN OF NORTHWEST FISHING From a tuna boat skipper to educators to gals out just to have fun on the water, we spotlight 43 of our region’s real-deal female anglers! 65 WESTSIDE STOCKERS Thanks to changing stocking strategies, there’s more opportunity than ever for trout in Western Washington, where 125,000 rainbows have been released for the “offseason.” 92 WICKED TUNA’S DAVE MARCIANO Skipper of the Hard Merchandise and star of Nat Geo’s Wicked Tuna, Dave Marciano talks
(DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST))
about the show’s meteoric rise, the natural wonders of the ocean, and conservation in part two of our interview. 109 WINTER BOAT CHORES Yer boat looking a little shabby? Might be time to back it into the shop. Andy Schneider has tips and tricks for sprucing up your investment during winter’s duldrums. 141 ‘TRI’ THIS CAST & BLAST It’s quackers and chromers time in the Tri-Cities! Jeff Holmes details the plethora of waterfowling and steelheading ops to be had around Pasco, Kennewick and Richland.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Go to nwsportsmanmag.com for details. NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Periodical Postage Paid at Seattle, WA and at additional mail offices. (USPS 025-251) POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northwest Sportsman, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues), 2-year subscription are $39.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Index Publishing Group offices at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2015 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.
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CONTENTS
COLUMNS 85
DEPARTMENTS
BASIN BEACON How’s Don Talbot’s boat barely moving and yet catching all those Potholes Reservoir walleye? The guide shares his trolling set-up!
121 NEW COLUMN! – SOUTH COAST December kicks off the Chetco’s and Smith’s steelhead season, and guide Randy Wells puts you on the action!
79 THE KAYAK GUYS
Eschewing the warm cabins of boats, Todd and fellow kayak anglers have refined how to troll for winter trout.
126 BUZZ RAMSEY An expert at just about every way to catch steelhead there is out there, Buzz says this method is easy to master and deadly! 131 WESTSIDER Want to get into steelheading, but limited by budget? Terry has the best low-cost options for catching fish. 149 CHEF IN THE WILD How do you get the kids to eat all that venison packed into your freezer? Randy has a twist on an old fave of boys and girls! 155 ON TARGET Need Christmas gift ideas for the gun enthusiast on your list? Our sharp-shooting Santa has some ideas! 163 NORTH SOUND Deer, grouse and steelhead opportunities round out the 12th month’s options, Doug reports.
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THE EDITOR’S NOTE
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CORRESPONDENCE
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THE BIG PIC 6th Annual Real Women of Northwest Fishing
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PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Monthly Daiwa, Browning prizewinners
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THE DISHONOR ROLL Illegal guiding; Oregon elk poaching cases; Jackass of the Month
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DERBY WATCH Longtime derby cancelled; King of the Reach and more recent results; Upcoming events
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OUTDOOR CALENDAR 2016 Northwest boat and sportsmen’s shows
63
RECORD NORTHWEST GAME FISH Real Women of Northwest Fishing edition!
137 RIG OF THE MONTH Beginner’s Drift Fishing Set-up
(TODD SWITZER)
We Have What You Need For Your Next Hunting, Fishing Or Camping Adventure!
ARCHERY: Mathews, Bowtech, Hoyt Bows GUNS: Sig, Kimber, Ruger, Remmington, Smith & Wesson, Weatherby, Glock FISHING: Lamiglas, Daiwa, Okuma, Shimano, Berkley, Yakima Bait GEAR: Vortex Optics, Swarovski Optics, Stika clothing
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Salmon anglers in a million dollars’ worth of boats troll for hatchery spring Chinook at Drano Lake east of the town of Stevenson, in Washington’s Columbia Gorge. (SPEROS DOULOS, USFWS)
THE EDITOR’S NOTE
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or years – decades, eons – Northwest anglers have felt our importance has gone under-recognized by The Powers That Be, but that may be changing. Last month, Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee sent the state Fish and Wildlife Commission an intriguing letter in which the firstterm executive professed unprecedented support for sportfishing. It warmed the hearts of those of us who know how vital to the region’s economy our trips’ contributions are – we’re talking nearly a billion dollars worth of gear, gas and grub annually, according to one Evergreen State study – yet have long felt left behind in terms of being able to harvest our fair share. Recognizing the importance of Washington’s recreational fisheries, Inslee said the commission should “consider economic factors when setting seasons” and what’s more, that he was “convinced that we can prioritize and expand fishing opportunities for the 800,000 Washingtonians who purchase fishing licenses annually …” This isn’t to say commercial fishing is going by the wayside any time soon, nor should it. Inslee noted it remains a viable industry as well, and importantly for anglers of all stripes and tribes, he specifically pointed out that one of the key challenges in managing fish stocks in this day and age is “third party litigation that threatens our state’s hatchery production.” Make no mistake, as much solid effort as is going into the rebuilding of native stocks, right now our fisheries – tribal, commercial and sport alike – are built on the smooth backs of adipose-clipped salmon and steelhead. When the Wild Fish Conservancy et al attack production, it threatens to sink everyone’s boat. We all lose then. Now, Inslee probably hopes to hang onto his gig – he’s up for reelection in 2016 – and so many will see his letter as purely political. Fair enough. And yet even as we’re all pretty entrenched in our own political casting lanes, his support of sportfishing may indeed earn him some new votes. “At the very least, it’s encouraging to see a standing governor take notice of the contributions that sportfishing makes to communities across Washington,” the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association said in its early November weekly newsletter. “In these times of hotter summers, strong commercial pressure, and decreased funding, the sportfishing community needs all the allies we can get.” Thank you, Governor Inslee, for this affirmation and recognition of the importance of sportfishing. It’s much appreciated. –Andy Walgamott
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CORRESPONDENCE WHAT’S UP WITH THIS YEAR’S COHO? For awhile it felt like the editor was some sort of silver salmon all-star (albeit in the Pop Warner Division), catching coho off the beach and in the river almost every time out. But in midfall it became very apparent that something was very, very wrong with this year’s coho returns. Biologist Brett Barkdull speculated the few fish that made it came in small and snappy because they’d starved trying to find food in The Blob. Washington salmon managers shut down rivers and bays in a desperate bid to get as many back to hatcheries and wild spawning grounds as possible, but it didn’t look good from Brad’s vantage point. “I know lower Hood Canal near Hoodsport has had almost no coho this year. I caught a dink a few weeks ago at Eagle Creek, but they just are not here in any numbers. Even Skokomish Tribe gillnetting efforts are catching very few – like three coho in three days of gillnetting on the Canal. That is very, very bad.”
COUGED IT Agreeing with an appeal from pro predator groups, in midfall Washington Governor Jay Inslee ordered the Fish and Wildlife Commission to reverse its decision increasing this winter’s cougar harvest guideline. Technically blamed on a procedural error, still it didn’t sit well with some, including Bart George, who posted on our Facebook page, “It’s really bad when the governor takes management advice from an anti-hunting group like HSUS instead of allowing the appropriate management agency to do their job. I wonder how big of a contribution he will be getting from PAWS, HSUS, ALF ... and other bottom dwellers when it comes time for re-election.” Our follow-up blog on Commissioner Miranda Wecker’s thinking behind her leadership to up the potential lion harvest sparked this kudo from Gary L. Johnson: “Thanks, Commissioner Wecker, for bringing common sense to the cougar situation. These predator populations need to be controlled.”
PHOTO CALL! PHOTO CALL!!
With big game seasons drawing to a close, it’s time to send in your images from Deer and Elk Camp for our annual bucks and bulls yearbook coming up in the February 2016 issue of Northwest Sportsman! Send stories and highresolution original pics, like Cameron Wilson and his Palouse whitetail, to awalgamott@media-inc.com! (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST VIA KEVIN KLEIN) nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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his December marks our 6th Annual Real Women of Northwest Fishing, and this year’s is our biggest yet! As always, we hope this popular feature helps tell the stories of how local gals got into fishing and what they get out of the sport. From discovering a new passion to helping bring more women into the sport to deckhanding and captaining their own boats to competing in tournaments, 2015’s ladies share why they love fishing here. While the reasons are many, Tammy Morgan summed it up most concisely: “I fish because I love it!” Enjoy this year’s edition of Northwest Sportsman’s Real Women of Northwest Fishing! – The Editor
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No stranger to these pages, Jessie Bigley spent five days fishing Buoy 10 this year, coming away with this big Chinook and a strengthened sense of awe of the power of the Columbia at its mouth. (JESSIE BIGLEY) nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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he challenge of consistently catching salmon and steelhead is a very powerful driving force in my life. The amazing rivers and beautiful scenery in the Northwest that surround the fish I target are inspiring. This is why I am an angler and why I am so driven to inspire others to fish ethically and promote good stewardship. My longterm fishing goal is to be able to teach women how to be comfortable in the man’s world of fishing. Inspiring women to fish is very important to me. Sharing product knowledge and introducing fellow anglers to the products I represent is an added bonus to my fishing experiences. This is also my opportunity to educate anglers on how to increase their success by using my sponsors’ products, while introducing them to new techniques. Throughout my life I have always been drawn towards helping others. This carries over into my fishing life in many ways. I enjoy lending a hand to an angler in need. There is always a little extra in my tackle box that is meant to share. My passion for fishing drives me to promote good stewardship of waterways and all of the amazing creatures they contain. Not only do I always follow rules and regulations, I encourage others to do the same and educate them when the opportunity arises.
GROWING UP IN PORTLAND, I rode horses and worked with animals of all kinds. My parents were very supportive of this and taught me to work hard for what I want. My father taught me to use my intuition, do what I love and to constantly push myself to exceed my goals. All that I learned growing up has shaped me into the fisherwoman I am today. My husband is the person who taught me to fish. I would hear him leave the house at 2 a.m. and see him come home in the afternoon exhausted but glowing. He had a sense of peace about him and I needed to understand what it was about fishing that was so wonderful. He bought me a simple rod-and-reel combo for my birthday and took me to Henry Hagg Lake. I quickly decided fishing was something I wanted to engross myself in. Animals had had such a big impact on my life and I missed having something that I felt connected to. After catching my first trout, I needed to feel like I had to do everything for myself. Many evenings were spent tying knots, practicing casting at the baseball field and learning all I could about fishing. The pursuit of salmon is my true love. They are 22 Northwest Sportsman
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Renee Johnson is copresident and membership director of the Newberg Chapter of the venerable Association of Northwest Steelheaders. (RENEE JOHNSON) powerhouses and I love the feeling of getting a hot fish in the net. Winter steelhead are another love of mine. The power and acrobatics of their fight is a thing of beauty. I love casting into a hole, watching the bobber hit the water and have it keep sinking, knowing there is a fish on the end of the line. The initial part of the fight when you do not know what is on the hook is wonderful. I now understand the glow my husband always came home with. Being surrounded by beautiful scenery and the sounds of nature is cleansing. Targeting and fighting powerful fish help me live in the moment, while challenging me to go harder. Many friendships have been made on the water too, and these friends are amazing fishermen and fisherwomen. Their words of wisdom and encouragement are always with me while I am out on the water.
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MIXED BAG in the Gulf of Mexico with my husband and parents. I landed three sailfish and one dorado. Other offshore adventures have been in the Pacific Ocean for halibut, rockfish and albacore. I have been tuna fishing a handful of times and the most memorable trip was a live-bait trip out of Westport. I got 17 to the boat in eight hours of fishing, most in the last half of the day. Offshore fishing is something I aspire to do more of, and one of my goals in life is to get a grand slam.
LOOKING BACK ON ALL I have learned and achieved since that first fishing trip, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I still have the same desire to learn more and do more in fishing. Working towards my goal of inspiring women to fish is a daily thing for me. Initiating conversations about fishing with women who are not very comfortable going on their own and sharing stories with them is something that makes me feel like all of my hard work is paying off. Personally, I can’t imagine my life without fishing. I am able to make food for my dogs with fish I catch, feed my family and make a person’s day by sharing some of what I catch with them. In the end, fishing is about the fun and big smiles that are brought to the faces of the people I L WOME A care about the most. E
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After a rough summer of surgeries to remove malignant melanoma, this nice South Fork Coos River Chinook brought a smile to Elizabeth Meadows’ face. She caught it while trolling with a Fish Prop Flasher in October.
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Fishing is not just a pastime for me; it is a lifestyle. My drive to go harder and consistently catch salmon and steelhead has given me the opportunity to fish 120-plus days a year. It is a regular thing for me to get two to three hours of sleep in one of our vehicles after driving to a river. My husband and I take turns sleeping and driving in order to fish the most productive waters. One day we fished five different rivers in two states. Other times, the only place to sleep is on the riverbank. It always begins with a hike that generally starts around midnight. The hikes are usually a few miles, occasionally without headlamps, making the moon the only light available. It is beautiful and peaceful every time. River crossings at night also happen regularly when I fish for winter steelhead. This is done with my husband and a few close friends for safety and in order to fish as early as legal in the spot that we feel will be the most productive. These adventures often result in limits and memorable moments with friends and family. Weather does not detour me from fishing. Living in the Northwest means spending many full days in the pouring rain too. But if the fish are running, I will fish for them. The coldest day I fished was 12 degrees, and it was well worth it – the river was full of big Chinook. My fishing adventures are not limited to our rivers. I have fished
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’ve been charter and commercial fishing for the last eight years. For me, being out on the ocean fishing brings a sense of calm and relaxation. It’s a getaway like no other. When I was 17 my brother told me that there was no way I would ever be able to do the work he does. With many others very supportive of my decision, thus began my venture into fishing. Through the years I have been a deckhand on multiple charter boats and a few commercial salmon and tuna fishing vessels. This last year I had the
Natasha King has gone from deckhanding – here she is with a youngster’s Chinook caught aboard Capt. Mike Harris’s Fury in June 2011 – to running her own commercial tuna boat. (JIM KLARK) 26 Northwest Sportsman
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opportunity to run a commercial F tuna vessel. This was a lot of fun, NW IN though one with big responsibilities, FISH being pregnant and all. But I enjoy being on the ocean doing what I love – fishing! My career as a deckhand began in 2007 on the charter boat Windsong, homeported in Neah Bay. We brought up to 24 customers out to enjoy a day of fishing for a number of sportfish, ranging from black rockfish, lingcod and salmon to halibut and tuna. As a deckhand, my day starts around 4 a.m. I use this time before our scheduled departure to get the boat ready, tying leaders and lead to the fishing rods for customers to use, and making coffee. We board customers approximately 20 minutes before departure. I greet the customers, introduce myself and make sure they know where their belongings go to be secured for our trip. The captain then makes the safety briefing and we are on our way! While out on the water, I help customers with whatever they may need – tying new leaders, netting or gaffing fish, baiting hooks, etc. On our way in from the fishing grounds, I clean and fillet any fish the customers want done. One of my uncles had taken me on my first commercial salmon fishing trip when I was 18. He taught me how to use the hydraulic gurdies to haul in the salmon on the trolling lines. This was new and fun for me. Watching the lines of the trolling poles vibrate as fish hit the hooks and bringing in those monster salmon was always a blast. My uncle and I would have competitions to see whose side could catch more fish, as well as the largest fish, changing lures throughout the trip to see which ones worked better. Though I didn’t stick with commercial salmon fishing long, it was fun and another page to write in my book of experiences. Between 2008 and 2010 I took a break from fishing for college, although I still helped work on the Windsong while it was in the shipyard, checking to make sure everything was working properly and up to Coast Guard regulations. In 2010 I met my husband and moved to Westport. He is also a fisherman and we both worked on charter boats. I believe the last five years I have worked for four different charter captains, all of whom have their own ways they like things to be done on their boats. In 2012, when I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, Zoeah, now three, I went out commercial tuna fishing on the F/V Jenny Blue with Capt. Jim. My main purpose was to teach two greenhorns how to fish for and properly care for tuna that
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Tuna fishing for us on this small boat L WOME A was fairly slow. Considering that it is a E new vessel for us to get used to and that there were bound to be some kinks, I have a better feeling about next 6 T H A N N UA L year’s season! This winter, I am hoping to add F another chapter to my book, crab NW IN fishing! It’s always something I have FISH wanted to do, though hard to find a boat. Because I am a female it is very difficult for me to find fishing jobs on the commercial side of the fleet, though it can be done. I enjoy being on the water, it brings me a sense of peace and happiness. Though I miss my children, they will understand when they are older why mommy was gone so often for so many days at a time. This is my story. I am a female who was told she couldn’t do something, and have been going strong ever since. You can always do whatever you set your sights to.
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came aboard the vessel. Being pregnant, I limited myself to what I did on deck, but definitely did my fair share of work. It was also my first venture into being in the captain’s chair of a vessel. It wasn’t necessarily what I want to do – I prefer to be needed on deck – but Capt. Jim will straighten out just about anyone who doubts the abilities of a female deckhand. Recently, my husband and I brought to my mother a proposal to purchase a 32-foot fiberglass trolling vessel for commercial tuna fishing. About a month after purchasing this vessel, she was ready to fish. Being the captain, I gathered my crew and groceries, fueled the boat, loaded her down with ice and ventured out to sea. Commercial tuna fishing is much like for salmon. You use trolling poles with lines running off of them. Along with the trolling pole lines, you can have what are called “meat lines.” The size of your boat depends on the number of lines you can run. For our boat, we ran three lines off each pole and another three meat lines off the stern. You can use a hydraulic puller to pull your lines in or you may hand pull them in. We prefer the latter.
Hilary Bruton Instagrams it up with a postalbie adventure pic. (HILARY BRUTON)
Cyndi Lanier’s not afraid of a little blood on the decks – she enjoys angling for all species off Washington’s South Coast. (KEVIN LANIER) Carrie Cruz is among the very few female anglers – if any – who’ve caught a yellowtail tuna off our shores. She was fishing out of Westport this fall when she caught this one. (KEVIN LANIER)
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Sara Ichtertz calls the North Umpqua her home water, but also enjoys fishing the Coquille system for winter steelhead. Her favorite method is drift fishing, says fishing partner Brian Peters. (SARA ICHTERTZ)
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Megan Billinger works the sticks on the Sixes River, famed for fall Chinook and steelhead. (MEGAN BILLINGER)
FRIENDS ON THE WATER
Debbie Jahn with KokaneeKidFishing is pretty flexible – company owner, seminar speaker, instructor guide who put more than 1,400 of Odell Lake’s landlocked sockeye into the cooler this year, and the “heart and soul of our business,” says husband Jeremy Jahn. (JEREMY JAHN)
By Megan Billinger
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started fishing at a very young age with my dad, walking the banks of the Wilson River after school and on weekends. When I was 12 I went on my first charter ocean salmon trip. Dad and I drove down in the minivan the night before and listened to old comedy shows on the AM radio, then ate cereal out of Ziploc bags for breakfast at sunrise. I caught my first salmon that day and was hooked. My mom has that picture somewhere. I didn’t really get into fishing on my own until about six years ago. My goal is to fish two new rivers every year. The most rewarding thing for me has been all the awesome people I have been able to meet. Renee Johnson is my best fishing buddy and we really love supporting other women fishers in the area. I met my boyfriend fishing the hatchery hole on the Trask even. My entire group of friends is now all people who fish. We’ve all coined nicknames for each other too – it’s pretty funny. These people have really become my second family, and I couldn’t imagine life without them. My dad has handed down lots of his fishing secrets and gear. I’ve inherited three Lamiglas rods and I think it’s awesome that I catch fish on rods he did back in the day. Better than any new rod, in my book. Renee and I are so excited for fall fishing; we talk and get giddy about it like teenage girls and boy bands. One year ago I was in a very bad place, having just escaped a very abusive relationship. If it weren’t for fishing, the escape, the friends, the focus, I would be in a very different place. This sport, in all actuality, probably saved my life.
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Jani Kuper’s “a regular Energizer Bunny,” having helped found NW Tiger PAC, Chapter 57 of Muskies, Inc., and forming two other clubs after her husband’s Minnesota roots and love of musky fishing took hold in her. A liason between Washington’s tiger musky world and local media and WDFW, Kuper shows off one from Lake Mayfield. (PERRY PETERSON)
“I fish because I love it!” says Tammy Morgan of Eagle Point, here with an Alaskan grayling. Enough said! (TAMMY MORGAN)
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MELTING THE ICE: FIGURE SKATER GONE FISHERWOMAN
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18-foot Tide Runner comes out of storage and takes a voyage west to Sekiu and Neah Bay for the halibut opener and a bounty of lings and sea bass. Chris’s family lives in Sequim and graciously allows us to set up “salmon camp” in their yard. Every weekend we live in our camp trailer and head out in the wee morning hours to Port Angeles and Sekiu, chasing kings and dropping pots in Dungeness Bay for crab. I am lucky enough to say that my first drift boat fishing excursion was for steelhead on Washington’s Grande Ronde. It was a sunny 65-degree October weekend and was by far one of the most tranquil floats I have yet to experience. It seems that there is always so much more to learn and much
rom the age of seven I have spent every day on the water, but not the kind you cast your line in: It is frozen and in the form of an ice rink. This place that I spent my youth has the bone-chilling climate of a dry day during winter steelhead season, but the scenery of a cubicle. I lived my entire adolescence in the magical Northwest with a hankering for the outdoors while being stuck with a roof over my head. This all changed a few years ago when I went out for my first fishing adventure. It was a beautiful sunny day off Port Angeles. I watched as my fishing buddy tied up gear and got the downriggers ready for action. There were so many pieces that had to be in place before we could get to the actual fishing, but I found that intriguing. Staring at my rod bending into the water was mesmerizing and I quickly realized fishing is a game of patience. It wasn’t long after we set the gear that I got to witness the dance of my rod tip for the first time. Lost in the sway of the swells, I felt an adrenaline rush like that of landing my first axel when I heard from behind me, “Fish on!” The rod tip was buried and the sound of the line screaming off my reel had me in a state of panic as I grabbed the rod and Ashley Chaudiere pivots between waited for instructions. “Slowly lift and reel up the teaching ice skating and fishing – slack and let him run if he wants” sounded easy, but here, she pilots her 18-foot Tide Runner in hopes of catching big within a few minutes I started to discover muscles salmon and bottomfish in the Strait in my arms that I had never felt before. Still, I was of Juan de Fuca. (ASHLEY CHAUDIERE) determined to get that fish in the boat. After about a 10-minute battle, I won and pulled a beautiful chrome-bright king salmon into the net and onto the deck! more fishing to be explored. Last spring while down in Wyoming Growing up as a competitive figure skater I learned to love the I dabbled in fly fishing for trout. This brought me a whole new challenges both mental and physical that an individual sport brings perspective on the art of fishing and how each cast is a specifically to the table, along with the process of practice to competition. My choreographed step. Chris and I went out with a guide for this first fish was my gold medal and at that moment I was hooked! adventure, and just as with all my others up to that point, it was The past few years have been full of fishing. I teach ice skating, and me and the boys. Don’t get me wrong: I like fishing with the boys therefore I get to spend all my free time outside and going on fishing – especially when I outfish them! But during that trip, Chris sent adventures. I am extremely grateful and lucky to have Chris Keithley, me a Facebook post from a group called The Outdoors Chic Clique a fishing fanatic, as my boyfriend and partner in crime. There is no looking for two more spots to be filled on an all-girls bottomfishing time of year where we don’t have some type of fishing marked on trip out of Westport in July. I jumped on the phone and within the calendar. With many of the trips we are joined by our furry child seconds slapped down a deposit. Chris was excited to hear that Olive, a Chihuahua with the legs of Bambi. It starts in May when our I jumped the gun so quickly and asked who I was going with.
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tuna with over 20 other crazy die-hard fisherwomen, I left feeling like part of a tight-knit community. Fishing has cast me a whole new life, one filled with constant adventures, newfound friendships and, of course, a plethora of fish stories.
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family, but it wasn’t until 2013 that I was introduced to my passion of 6 T H A N N UA L bank fishing, and discovered my ’m writing this as my fishing buddy drives us to a river to camp favorite river: the Deschutes. Every and fish for the weekend. In two days I’ll turn 32 years old and F NW angler has their home river, that I can’t possibly think of a better way to spend the weekend IN FISH special place of euphoric peace and before my birthday other than fishing. solitude that makes them get a nostalgic I grew up fishing lakes in the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of and warm sensation in their heart when thinking about it. The Michigan with my father, Rick Hoffman. Lucky for him, I’d been in Deschutes is my happy place. It was the weekend of my 30th love with fishing from the start. I moved to Portland in 2010, but birthday, a big occasion, so naturally I wanted to do something it wasn’t until 2012 that I had fished a river, and that’s when my special to celebrate: fish. I went with a couple of friends and the addiction to fishing for salmon and steelhead began. In July 2012, day before my birthday, I was in waders with fishing gear in a river local family friend Nick Dazer invited me to go summer steelhead for the very first time. An enormous dead Chinook floated past me. fishing on the Columbia. Within 10 minutes of putting my line out, I was thrilled at the idea that I might catch something that size. I I hooked and landed a beautiful chrome-bright 13-pound hen. I was so excited that I wanted to keep that dead fish. I didn’t. Not was hooked. long after, though, it was, “Fish on!” I could barely keep the rod in I continued to fish for salmon and steelhead with Nick and his my hands. The fish ended up taking off downriver, along with my entire new spool of line. Damnit. With new gear Accompanied by Penny the Chihuahua in her on my reel it was minutes before I caught a beautiful and chest pouch, Katie Hoffman enjoys a day of nice-sized Chinook. This is my fondest birthday memory. bank fishing on a Northwest river. (KATIE HOFFMAN) I spent the next five weekends fishing the Deschutes, mainly mountain biking in a few miles and camping alongside the river. This is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Ever. Since then I’ve been river fishing by bank and friends’ boats for salmon and steelhead year-round throughout Oregon and Washington. Most times my Chihuahua, Penny, is with me. When it’s cold and I’m bank fishing, I’ll put her in the front of my waders. If it’s nice and sunny, she’ll just hang out close to shore. And if I’m on a boat, she’ll sit quietly, but preferably with whomever is willing to rub her belly. She’s a great little dog that hardly ever barks, and generally she’s just as happy to be outside as I am. To the average nonangler I may sound like I know what I’m talking about when it comes to fishing, but I’ll be the first to admit that I still have a lot to learn. I’m just a rookie with a passion for fishing, and passion makes perfect.
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503-206-7490 | sales@psmarine.com | www.psmarine.com nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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Get close enough to the Schertenleibs’ Customweld and you just might hear Cap’n Casey calling out, “Set that downrigger at 27! Tons of fish at 27!” as she steers and reads the Lowrance in hopes of hooking into rainbows like this one from Lake Rufus Woods. (CALVIN SCHERTENLEIB)
After her initial education on the banks of the Cowlitz and Green 22 years ago, Sara Stefano says she “just can’t imagine life without fishing in it. Fishing is a chance to get together with friends, spend time with my husband, and to reflect on life, enjoy nature and ‘get right with the world.’” (SARA STEFANO)
She’s a Chinook sharpie! Vicki Klein is a member of the North Sound’s female salmon slayin’ syndicate and is often featured in husband Kevin Klein’s Area 7 fishing reports. (KEVIN KLEIN)
If we got a San Juan Islands angling report this year, it probably had a pic of a salmon or halibut that super Seahawks fan Karen Rhinehart reeled in. (KEVIN KLEIN)
Misty Oden fishes during a bass tournament in which she caught all the fish and ran the boat, reports fiancé Cody Stentz, who also calls her “the best fishing partner I’ve ever had … She grew up fishing with her grandfather and loves the thrill of fishing in competition.” (CODY STENTZ)
When Lorelei Pennington says “Just one more cast,” count on her making a dozen more, says husband Glynn. “The only way to get her to stop casting is to say ‘If we don’t leave now, there will not be enough water to make it back to the boat ramp.’” Here she holds a Salmon River king, caught on a spinner. (GLYNN PENNINGTON)
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SHE’S FOUND HER PLACE IN THE WORLD
By Valerie Holmberg
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nyone who knows me will (VALERIE HOLMBERG) tell you I’m not a morning person. Five years ago, if you had told me that I would be getting up at 2:30 a.m. to drive two hours to fish Buoy 10, the Wilson or the Deschutes, I would have laughed in your face and said, “You’re crazy.”To be fair I did start out fly fishing for trout, which are evidently not morning people either. I was lulled into a sort of false security by being told not to bother starting to fish till the “hatch goes off” at 10 a.m. or so. Then someone introduced me to steelhead fishing and all that changed. Now I’m up at all hours seizing opportunities to fish coastal streams for steelhead or hit the ocean for ’Nooks and coho. I’ll head southeast for redsides on a dry fly and steelhead on a spey rod, northeast to troll Super Baits for Chinook at the mouth of the Klickitat. I’ll make my way west for big spring and fall Chinook on the Valerie Holmberg has learned many ways to catch Northwest salmonids.
Columbia. This year I caught fish on 10 different rivers in two states, from sleds, rafts, drift boats and the bank. The common denominator here is opportunity. Most fishers I know tend to stick to one style of fishing, without a lot of love lost between factions. So aside from the novelty of me being a woman who fishes, I also fish in a lot of different ways. Gear, bait, fly – I do it all because for me it’s about more than just catching fish, it’s the total experience. The more techniques I learn, the more opportunities there are. The only time I’m not fishing is during rifle deer and elk season because, well, I’m hunting. I never imagined that learning how to read a tide table or having water flows texted to my phone would be so important. Learning to row a drift boat is one of my proudest accomplishments, along with backing up the trailer. I’ve been stunned to see whales roll off my bow in Nehalem Bay and overjoyed by baby beavers slapping their little baby beaver tails on the Deschutes. I’ve tested my resolve and perseverance by learning to spey cast. I’ve learned how to tie knots, cure eggs and read water. I’ve been hypothermic from wetwading after the sun’s dropped below the edge of the canyon. I’ve learned that the world gets real small when you feel the take on a swinging fly, your body humming in anticipation as you wait for the fish to turn and to set the hook themselves. I swear to God I can hear angels sing when that happens. Best of all are the people who’ve taken the time to teach me what it means to be passionate about fishing. It means something to find your place in the world. For me, that just happens to be standing in a river at 5:30 a.m. with my waders on and a rod in my hands. And coffee – lots of coffee.
One of the early founders of local female fishing forums, Bryanna Zimmerman of Steelhead Girls shows off a Drano Lake spring Chinook. (BRYANNA ZIMMERMAN)
Erin Eastman has the Rogue River’s runs dialed in, catching its Chinook and steelhead regularly. (ERIN EASTMAN) 38 Northwest Sportsman
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Ol’ Whatshisname didn’t get a single bite when Kyla Hinds outfished the husband last winter during a three-day trip to the Sol Duc for winter steelhead. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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Originally from Minnesota, Sheila Larrson calls Northwest Montana her home these days, and she enjoys chasing everything from largemouth and pike to mountain trout. (ANDY LARRSON)
By Sheila Larrson
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y daddy took me fishing once when I was a little girl in Minnesota. I caught a sunfish that was so pretty – and I was hooked! He was surprised when I showed little mercy for that sunfish and wanted to cook him for dinner! I like to fish for anything that pulls hard on my line. That’s my
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favorite! If you twist my arm, I’d say northern pike fishing hits the top of the list. I like that moment when you realize you’re not snagged on a tree or limb, rock, etc. – that epic pull and the way they charge the boat. Landing a big fierce-looking, cool pike always feels like an accomplishment! I love the water. It’s always been that way. Fishing gets me on the water and reminds me of happy times with my dad and years
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of memories in Minnesota. We used to go “smelting” when they would run up the streams and rivers. Smelting season was an exciting time; we would wait for the call, 6 T H A N N UA L “They are running!” and we would load into Dad’s old bus and head F N NW for the stream. I FISH That was an entirely different kind of fishing, but oh were those the days! They didn’t make up the saying, “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work” for nothing. My husband Andy and I have invested in good gear, great boats and get out every chance we can. I’d have to say we have bonded more while fishing than during any of our other pastimes. We fish for pike in the rivers and lakes of Western Montana, lake trout
in the big lakes, bass in the mountain lakes and ponds near our home, perch off the dock with our grandchildren, and for anything anywhere else we think a fish may be lurking. In mid-August we flew into Fairbanks, where a couple hours after landing we were fishing for Arctic grayling. I caught my first grayling that day and couldn’t have been happier. During the next week we fished our way to Homer, with stops in Talkeetna, Whittier, Seward, Soldotna and any stream in between. We broke two poles fishing for salmon on Montana Creek. We caught more silvers, humpies and chums than you can shake a pole at. A day trip out of Homer onto the saltwater yielded some great bear photos and a limit of halibut. We are in hunting season now, but rest assured, in our hunting gear are a couple poles. It may be a rainbow or brook trout that’s only 12 inches long, but we will find something to fish for!
SEEING THE GOOD By Toni Pollock-Bozarth
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named that fish Wiley! That trip was so fun that when Brianna advertised for an allgirls trip on Facebook, I joined in. Another girl on this trip was my Facebook friend Cynthia Seafeldt, whom I had never met face to face before. Brianna taught us how to reel the lure through the slot where we got our limits. Cynthia had never hooked a salmon
he beginning of forums and social media on the Internet has opened up several ways for anglers to keep up to date on catching reports. This can also lead to what I call the good, bad, and the ugly of the ’Net. I am only going to concentrate on the good. My initial contact with Brianna Bruce was in the online fishing forums several years ago. We met face to face at the Sportsman Show in Puyallup, while I helped with the Washingtonlakes.com booth. This led to a few fishing opportunities with Brianna before she even became a guide. I enjoyed myself, so when she, through her guide service Livin’ Life Adventures, offered a special for 2015’s pink salmon run on the Snohomish River, I booked the boat. 2015 has been a year of both health issues and Toni Pollock-Bozarth, Brianna outboard motor problems for me, so I wasn’t able Bruce and Cynthia Seafeldt, to go fishing as much as I wanted to. Therefore, the who all first met online, smile over a stringer of pinks they Snohomish trip was much anticipated. I took my caught on the Snohomish River brother Richard Pollock, sister-in-law Kim Elliott and this season. (BRIANNA BRUCE) my 8-year-old grandson William. Brianna had hurt her back, so her fiancée Cody Servo came aboard to help her out. before, but with the instructions from Brianna, she did. She reeled During this trip, William got his first salmon, and Brianna let that fish in while she was jumping up and down with joy! Since him bonk all the fish on the head. She was extra patient with him then Cynthia has caught several salmon in the rivers, and says of as he tried to reel the fighting pink salmon in on a 7-foot rod. His Brianna, “I always repeat in my head how she taught me to reel in.” best moment was when he reeled in a salmon on the 6-foot rodWithout Internet fishing forums and social media, we would and-reel combo I brought for him to use. He was very excited and not have had these great experiences. 42 Northwest Sportsman
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An “insanely epic” albacore fishing trip prompted Kristina Anderson to tell her story. She also enjoys fishing for halibut, lingcod and ocean salmon. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
YEP, WOMEN BECOME TUNA ADDICTS TOO! By Kristina Anderson
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ishing has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl who went trout and salmon fishing with my dad. And since meeting my husband and experiencing offshore fishing for the first time, it has without a doubt become an addiction. From bottomfishing for halibut and lingcod out of La Push to albacore fishing out of Westport, I have been lucky enough to experience it all. However, nothing will ever compare to my first wide-open live-
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bait tuna fishing trip with Capt. Kerry Allen and my husband, Dave Anderson, with Offshore Northwest. We sold our boat, Dave became fully involved as a deckhand and we had an amazing summer getting to know Capt. Kerry and his family, as well as world-class offshore fishing with an awesome charter. The one thing that impressed me the most about Kerry is the emphasis on having fun and the experience as a whole. Family is also very important to him, and including his twin daughters and wife on trips is a priority and something
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was on! We had tuna boiling all around us. We all grabbed the live-bait rods and the crew helped us rig the live anchovies. Once I put the bait in the water and opened the lever drag, the anchovy swam off. After no longer than a minute, I felt the tuna grab the bait and take off. That feeling is something so hard to describe, but is the most exciting part of tuna fishing, in my opinion. At the same time, the hardest part is letting the tuna run for at least 5 seconds before closing the lever drag and watching the rod buckle over! After hooking up with and fighting multiple tuna, my back and arms were beginning to fatigue, but I kept going back for more bait and more of the fight, because nothing is as fun as experiencing the thrill of the tuna taking that bait, often times right at the surface. We were able to plug the boat in very little time and left the tuna feeding all around us. That trip was the highlight of my summer and I can’t wait for the next one. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to live in the Northwest and experience this fishery firsthand. I’m also very lucky to share this passion with Dave and family. I’m looking forward when we can share our love and passion of the outdoors and fish with our own kids.
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I truly admire and respect. Daughters Jessica and Kristina even help clean tuna for clients at the end of the trips. Nothing beats the fight of a salmon, especially seeing them smack the Deep Six near the surface or break the downriggers and take off! However, nothing compares to the fight of an albacore. Having heard about tuna fishing and the addiction that so many people have acquired, I was ready to experience it firsthand. My first tuna trip was in August with some friends. Unfortunately, we had some bait issues, so we had a hard time converting to a livebait stop, but we were able to pick up several tuna while trolling swimbaits. That was fun, but on Labor Day weekend I discovered there’s nothing like live-bait tuna fishing. It makes me giddy just writing about it and reliving the experience! I was on a trip with the fishing manager, her husband and the fishing department lead from Sportco. We left at daylight and the weather was beautiful – we even had whales breaching in the path of the sunrise. Once we got to the grounds, we immediately found birds and tuna feeding on the surface. We started our first bait stop and were able to pick up a few tuna before boat traffic pushed the birds away and sent the tuna deep. It took a little while, but once we moved deeper, it
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(DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
Springers, fall brights – Kymberlee Schoonover is an all-season Columbia king angler. Here’s a beaut from Buoy 10. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
McKenzie Dwyer and fam make an annual trip to Buoy 10, and the gals in the bunch boast they can “outfish any boys!” (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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PROVING HER COHO SKILLS ON NEW WATER By Trishana Israel
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know there are lots of amazing women who can catch fish, but I keep hearing from fishermen that most girls don’t do this sort of thing. They say their partner will hold up a fish for a photo or reel one in, but that it’s still surprising for them to watch me start my little two-stroke, run it, cut my plugs while trying to keep the gear straight, then try to drop my little manual downrigger in stages while I adjust my kicker, catch/ net/fish at the right speed, etc. Phew, I’m tired just saying that all! I spent the entire summer fishing and L WOME A actually even was a guide/deckhand E on the Columbia at Buoy 10. You should’ve seen the looks from the guides on boats around us. I was the 6 T H A N N UA L only female I saw out there, and in two days got us into 10 nice silvers. F Guides were yelling things across NW IN H the water like, “Hey, you run that 24-foot FIS North River just like you do that small boat,” meaning my 10-foot Livingston that I refurbished and was featured in a recent issue of Northwest Sportsman. Guide Jerry Brown saw my article and challenged me to join his boat and see if I was up to being his assistant guide/deckhand out of Astoria for a few days. Keep in mind that I’ve mainly fished Puget Sound, so this was a new type of fishing. At times I made myself nervous, but then calmed down and reminded myself that I know exactly what to do, and to just to do my thing. I had hardly ever been out fishing in such strong currents and unpredictable water before, but after two days of revving the kicker to set the hook when the bite was on, as well as without instruction moving the boat from fish that tried to go underneath it, Jerry said. “Girl, you should really be very proud of yourself. Are you aware that you’ve successfully brought us into no less than 10 nice Columbia coho the past two days and numerous kings, which we had to release?!”
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Asked if she was up to the task of deckhanding at Buoy 10, Trishana Israel stepped up to the challenge and succeeded – and how! (TRISHANA ISRAEL)
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his year has been a phenomenal year. The page my friend Sara Dodd and I created, Reel Women of Fishing NW, has exceeded our expectations. We’ve been fortunate to meet amazing women who share a passion for a sport we love. We traveled to Montana to fish for walleye and pike earlier this year, headed south to the Rogue for half-pounders, then up to Snohomish to fish a derby. We fished for halibut, as well as spent countless hours in Astoria for Chinook and coho. In February we are headed to Idaho to fish with girls we’ve met through our page. And as always, we’ve hit our local waters as much as possible. It personally was my best springer year yet, and I can’t wait to drop my drift boat in the water for winter steelhead! A few other highlights have been appearing on Outdoor GPS, as well as being asked to speak at the Tualatin Valley Steelheaders meeting. We have an outstanding rod sponsor, Wraptor Rods, and are constantly
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learning new techniques and water. The best part is I’ve had a blast along the way and have been able to share this 6 T H A N N UA L adventure with my best friend Sara! I’m F looking forward to what this next year NW IN FISH holds for us. And one last bonus: I’ve hooked an amazing boyfriend who happens to also be a phenomenal fishing guide mostly in Washington waters. Put us on a boat together and we are unstoppable. This has been a fantastic year and I’m having the time of my life!
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A collage of Kari-Lynn Smith’s catches shows she chases quite a range of freshwater and saltwater species. (KARI-LYNN SMITH)
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didn’t grow up fishing; I was very much a “city girl,” as that’s just 6 T H A N N UA L not what my family did. When I met my husband Derrick 12 years F ago in high school, he introduced me to a whole new world I NW IN FISH never knew existed! He took me fishing for coho on our local river one day after school, and five minutes in I caught my first one and have been hooked ever since. We brave the elements year-round, hitting whatever rivers are fishable for salmon and steelhead, rain or shine – and when I say rain, I mean raining so hard you have to run your bilge pump all day! That’s not where we stop, though. I also head out to the ocean every summer to target halibut, lingcod and rockfish, and make a yearly trip to Eastern Washington to fish for walleye for a week. There are not many other girls out there who brave the harsh conditions like I do, so when I have the opportunity to meet them, it’s a friendship I cherish forever. There is only a short window when I’m not on the water, and that’s from mid-September to the end of October, when we switch gears to hunting mode for a few weeks. Between hunting and fishing and our drift boat and jet sled, I take advantage of every opportunity I have to be outdoors. Some people think I’m crazy because winter steelhead fishing is my favorite time of year. There are times where you are sitting in the boat in freezing fog with no heaters and all the eyelets on your rods are covered in ice, but there’s still no stopping me. I couldn’t be more thankful for my husband who introduced me to fishing all those years ago. I couldn’t have asked for a better fishing partner to guide me.
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This year’s low, warm water conditions were a learning experience for Ashley Masters, who’s come a long way since that first Kress Lake rainbow on a Winnie the Pooh fishing rod. “Some days we spent more time looking for good spots than actually fishing, but that’s OK: Any time with my family on the river is time well spent!” (ASHLEY MASTERS)
It did not take much to hook Remington Wiebe on fishing – this 21-inch Lake Roosevelt rainbow had her waking up her gramps at 5:30 a.m. the next day to head back to the beach to catch more! (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
Fishing, scouting and hunting since age 3, Rylee Lewallen is at home in Oregon’s woods and waters, and is well on her way to becoming a Real Woman of Northwest Fishing.
What did Lexi Han want to do for her fourth birthday? Salmon fishing on the Hanford Reach, of course! (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
(CARL LEWALLEN)
Trout slayer Kaley Schertenleib tried out her skills on fall Chinook to good effect this year, landing her limit of three on her first trip. “She says there is no going back!” says father, Calvin. (CALVIN SCHERTENLEIB)
Madison Bauman was a trooper that day on frigid Lake Roosevelt, landing this 17-inch rainbow, her first of what we’ll bet will be many more! (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
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Long after most bassers hung it up for the season, CaraBeth Beaudry landed her personal-best smallie, this 15-incher from the John Day River in early October. “She has gotten really good at fishing jigs, which is so cool for a li’l kiddo!” says dad Gabe. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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PHOTO CONTEST
WINNERS!
Jeff Wagner is this issue’s monthly Daiwa Photo Contest winner, thanks to this high-energy pic of himself with an Eastern Washington tiger musky. It wins Wagner a Daiwa hat, T-shirt and scissors for cutting braided line, and puts him in the running for the grand prize of a Daiwa rodand-reel combo!
An “awesome first hunt” just got, er, awesomer for Paris Holtzlander, who bagged this black bear last summer. She’s our monthly Browning hunting photo contest winner, and it scores her a Browning hat.
Sportsman Northwest
Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource
For your shot at winning Daiwa and Browning products, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to awalgamott@ media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print and Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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MIXED BAG
By Andy Walgamott Oregon poaching investigators were looking for help identifying who was responsible for illegally killing three bull elk in midfall, including this 4x5 found off Shutter Creek Road north of North Bend in early November. Only backstraps were taken. Another bull was discovered near Estacada off Wildcat Mountain Drive Oct. 15, and only some of its meat was taken. The other was shot east of Netarts along Ekloff Road on or before Oct. 23 and largely wasted. All three were killed outside season. Rewards of $500 were offered for info on the cases; call the TIP hotline (800-452-7888). (OSP)
Man Cited, Again, For Illegal Guiding S JACKASS OF THE MONTH
T
his issue’s Dishonor Roll is Groundhog Day for two Northwest gentlemen, including Robert L. Niquette, 56 (see story at right for the other) who earlier this fall pled guilty to illegally fishing, according to The Chronicle of Centralia. The Vancouver man was found angling on the Cowlitz last December well after dark, the latest in a long string of fishing citations and court appearances for Niquette. His fishing privileges had been revoked for life due to previous violations – The Chronicle reports he’s had 14 since 1989, with most of those occurring in the past decade. Following his guilty plea to violating his suspension in the first degree, Niquette was sentenced to 22 months in jail. He’s also been sentenced to serve December as our Jackass of the Month.
omebody’s jonesing to fish a little bit too much – cited for guiding without a license in 2012, a Boring, Ore., man was back at it in 2014, and earlier this fall pled guilty to unlawfully running fishing trips. According to the state police, last year troopers learned that Jereme Jones was guiding the Columbia, but a check with the marine board showed he didn’t have a license to do so. OSP caught up to the 33-year-old on Nehalem Bay in October 2014 at the end of a trip with clients and found cause to take him into custody and place him in the county jail for guiding without a license, as well as harvesting undersize crabs. At his October 2015 court date, Jones pled guilty to a count of failing to register as a guide/outfitter, and was sentenced to pay a $100 fine, spend five days in jail with a threeyear probation, as well as had his fishing license suspended for 36 months. Oregon’s marine board is charged with registering fishing guides and hunting outfitters and certifying they carry liability insurance, have first aid and CPR training, and, where required, have a Coast Guard operator’s license. To find out if a guide (or outfitter) is registered, search “fishing guide” at oregon.gov/osmb and download the Excel file.
I Got A Guy Who Can Get Us A Deal... A
former gun shop clerk who issued Idaho hunting licenses to out-of-state residents pled guilty to two misdemeanors in a plea deal and had his hunting privileges suspended for three years. According to the Idaho State Journal, Jerry Hall, Jr., sold his brother and nephew, who had moved to Oklahoma, and a friend, who had moved to Texas, resident licenses and tags, saving them as much as $500 each. Originally charged with 16 counts, he was ordered to pay $2,000 ($800 suspended) in restitution and serve 400 hours of community service, the newspaper reported.
nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 59
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By Andy Walgamott
No Lie – Tengu Derby A No-go
O
ne of the oldest – if not the longest-running – derbies in the region was cancelled this season because of Chinook management issues. The Tengu Club’s blackmouth derby – which has been held off of Seattle since way back in 1946 – as well as salmon fishing in Marine Area 10 were put on hold by state managers earlier this fall after an unusually large number of small kings were caught, chewing deeply into the fishery’s overall allowable impacts to the Endangered Species Act-listed stock. “Things change and fisheries managers are using new science that became available a couple years ago to measure impacts on wild unmarked chinook like those listed on the ESA,” Tony Floor of the Northwest Marine Trade Association told Mark Yuasa of The Seattle Times. “Unfortunately for the Tengu Derby, this is a torpedo in their wheelhouse.” The origins of the Tengu Club go back to the 1920s and ’30s,
A New King Of The Reach So close! Thor Ostrom and crew nearly repeated as Kings of the Reach, but Jeremy Siefken’s boat caught one more Chinook than they did and took the crown. Siefken et al brought in 63 upriver brights out of the Hanford
and in a December 2009 article in this magazine by Tim Bush, club historian Mas Tahara explained that the name actually is comprised of two different words, ten for the heavens or sky, and gu for a beastly creature. “Together, Tengu refers to a human-like creature in Japanese mythology that lived in seclusion around remote mountains, away from villages or human contact … Tengu is well known for his facial features, especially its large nose,” Tahara told Bush. “It is a Japanese proverb that the name Tengu is used for our fishing club’s name. One proverb is ‘to make one’s nose big.’ Another is ‘to become Tengu.’ Both mean ‘to become arrogant or boastful.’ Us fishermen never lie, but tend to exaggerate a bit from time to time.” This isn’t an exaggeration: State fishery managers told Yuasa that all those young Chinook could be a good sign for next winter. Here’s hoping central Puget Sound Chinook are shipshape by then so the venerable event can pick up where it left off. Reach during the third annual live-capture derby held around Halloween. They won $1,000 in gift certificates, a rod and reel and other gear. Put together by CCA Washington in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Grant County PUD to provide wild broodstock for Priest Rapids Hatchery, a total of 79 anglers in 26 boats participated in the Oct. 30-Nov. 1 event that collected more than 500 fall kings, a new high. Randy Jackson and his boat came in third with 49.
MORE RECENT RESULTS Westport Charterboat Association Annual Fishing Derbies, mid-Marchend of season, Westport – Albacore grand prize: Ryan Huber, 40 pounds, 12 ounces; $1,000; Lingcod grand prize: Justin Shaw, 48 pounds; $1,500
‹
Rick Ruggles of Grayland once again won the Westport Boat Basin Derby, following up his 2014 top place with an 11.52-pounder that paid off with a charter fishing trip next year and a $100 gift certificate to Bennett’s Fish Shack, a local restaurant. Justin Evans of Eatonville took second with an 11.46. (WESTPORT BOAT BASIN DERBY)
UPCOMING EVENTS Dec. 4-5: Friday Harbor Salmon Classic, San Juan Islands; info: fridayharborsalmonclassic.com Dec. 4-5: Resurrection Salmon Derby, San Juan Islands; info: resurrectionderby.com Jan. 21-23: Roche Harbor Salmon Classic, San Juan Islands; rocheharbor.com/events/derby.com Early February-mid-March: Spring Steelhead Fishing Derby, Washington’s Grande Ronde River down to Highway 129; boggans.com Feb. 19-21: Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby, eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca; gardinersalmonderby.org Editor’s note: To have your derby listed or results posted here, email awalgamott@media-inc.com.
nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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62 Northwest Sportsman
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RECORD NW GAME FISH CAUGHT THIS MONTH Once again, in honor of this month’s Real Women of Northwest Fishing feature, we’re highlighting state record fish caught in Washington, Oregon and Idaho by lady anglers! Date 1960-64 8-8-70 9-13-87 6-21-92 5-27-96 7-10-96 5-15-08 6-29-08 7-29-09
Species Largemouth bass Sockeye Chinook (lake) Grayling Warmouth Pumpkinseed Pikeminnow Peamouth Rainbow
Pounds 10-15 5 42 2-7 .53 .48 7.915 1.12 20-02
Water Anderson L. (ID) Redfish L. (ID) Coeur d’Alene L. (ID) Nez Perce L. (ID) Silver L. (WA) L. Oswego (OR) Snake R. (WA) Columbia R. (WA) Snake R. (ID)
Angler Mrs. M.W. Taylor June McCray Jane Clifford Velma Mahaffey Linda Hatlelid Linda Mar Pamela A. Ramsden Tanya Merrill Michelle Larsen-Williams nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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FISHING
WARM UP TO WINTER TROUT
125,000 nice rainbows stocked in 44 Westside lakes; releases on 509 waters too.
By Jason Brooks
T
he rod tip barely started to move as the line began to tighten. Reaching down and carefully picking up the fishing pole with gloved fingers until I could feel the fish, I set the hook hard – the battle with a scrappy rainbow was on! In winter, trout bite very lightly, often because the fish are a little more sluggish due to colder water temperatures. Patience is needed this time of year, but thanks to recent plantings at nearly four dozen lakes across Western Washington, the bites should come at a steady pace, warming you during the chill of winter and brightening the season. Larry Phillips is the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Inland Fisheries Program manager and is one of the
With a warming fire burning nearby, a winter trout angler hopes that a rainbow will bite his rig. (JASON BROOKS)
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biggest supporters of this fairly new fishery. The idea is to get anglers out around the holidays – the releases originally were focused around Black Friday and dubbed Fish Friday. With this year’s dismal coho runs and 2014’s lawsuit that forced early-timed steelhead to be released into lakes instead of rivers, anglers have a fantastic fishery and reason to rejoice. Phillips says most fish put into the lakes this time of year are not your average opening-day stockers, but instead are a bit bigger, around the 12-inch-or-better mark. “The fall jumbo program are those that are bigger fish,” he says. “People wanted to catch bigger fish versus more fish, so if you catch one or two big fish instead of a bunch of small ones, they consider it more of a successful day of fishing.” As for catching your share of the 125,000 stocked this fall, Phillips suggests fishing higher up in the water column and working your way down as winter progresses. “These fish are pretty easy to catch typically,” he says.
WATER TEMPERATURES AND the fact that these fish are still fairly fresh from the hatchery help determine how and where to catch them. “The fish are used to getting fed from above, so they will hang out at the top part of the water column until they figure out where another food source is,” says Phillips. If you have a boat, trolling is a top producer. Make sure to go slow – very slow, in fact – which means either run an electric trolling motor or simply pull on the oars once in a while to keep the craft moving along. One of my favorite ways to fish for winter trout is with a 4-weight fly rod and floating line. Oftentimes I will troll with this set-up by trailing a Carey Special or a Woolly Bugger in olive color. But don’t overlook rigging a small Yakima Bait Rooster Tail in black or green, a Smile Blade fly by Mack’s Lure, or even a small F4 FlatFish in frog pattern or black 66 Northwest Sportsman
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with silver sparkle. The floating line helps keep everything up high near the surface. Phillips stresses that as the water turns colder, the fish will slow down – not the bite, per se, but rather the movement of the fish. Switching to PowerBait or Pautzke’s Fire Bait can lead to bites, but one of my favorites to use in the winter is cooked salad shrimp, which you can find at your local grocery store, is fairly cheap and stays on the hook for a long time. I have been using this as bait since I was a kid growing up ice fishing on Roses Lake in Chelan County. In recent years I began adding some egg cures overnight to increase the
RECENTLY STOCKED LAKES November 26: Clark Co.: Battle Ground, Klineline, Kress Klickitat Co.: Rowland Lewis Co.: Fort Borst Park, South Lewis Park Week of November 17: Pierce Co.: American, Ohop Thurston Co.: Black, Long, Offut
scents and really like Pro-Cure’s Last Supper Egg Cure. They also make several scents that are UV enhanced, as well as a plain UV enhancer. With dwindling daylight in the winter, the added UV attractants are sure to help. You can fish the bait off of the bottom using a sliding sinker set-up with a long leader. Personally, I tie mine with a snelled size 8 hook to a 36-inch leader of Izorline Platinum 8-pound test. I will use a ¼-ounce or ½-ounce sliding egg sinker on my mainline with a swivel attaching the leader. If you use a nonfloating bait, such as the cured shrimp, make sure to add a small marshmallow to bring it off bottom. You can also use the standard adjustable float, like when fishing jigs for steelhead, and figure out what depth the fish are at. Phillips notes that most of the lakes that are planted for this winter fishery are fairly shallow and some have natural springs, causing the
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FISHING water temperatures to stratify. Using the slip bobber set-up allows you to fish various depths and locate where the trout are holding and feeding.
AS FOR WHERE to go, check out WDFW’s website’s Fishing tab, where there’s a list of the 44 Westside lakes scheduled to get plants from September through Nov. 26. For all of the lakes, including ones in Eastern Washington, that provide great winter fishing, check out the Fish Washington tab. Phillips says one of his favorites is Thurston County’s Lake St. Clair, which received around 22,000 trout earlier this fall. At 233 acres with two access points, Phillips notes you can use two poles here if you have the endorsement, and suggests you set one up for trout and the other for perch or catfish. This allows you to try for a variety of species and possibly catch a lot of fish. If trout are your main target, use the second rod with a different type of bait or cast spoons and spinners. Nearby Black Lake is second on Phillips’ fishing list, as it is a very popular Olympia fishery. He says most people who fish this time of year are not the typical April opener crowd, but instead are more diehard trout anglers, ones who want to get out and fish and enjoy the outdoors instead of a camping trip. With Black you can do a little fishing and then head to a nearby mall for some holiday shopping or just visit downtown
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These aren’t your typical opening-day stockers – fall and winter rainbows are usually bigger, thanks to extra time at the hatchery. Ryan Brooks shows off a nice pair of trout. (JASON BROOKS)
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and take in the season at the capital. Green Lake in Seattle is noted to be one of the more popular lakes with Puget Sound anglers, probably due to all the activities around the lake, as well as being centrally located in a highly populated area. You can even take a city bus to this lake – Metro’s RapidRide E line has stops on the west side, while routes 16 and 48 parallel the east and north sides. Green will see 15,000 trout planted just in time for the holiday lights to come on. This is a great park to take the entire family, do some fishing and work on your wigeon whistle, as it’s favored resting water for flocks of the species. Phillips notes most of the lakes will have carryovers from past plants and one of the most popular with fly fishermen is Nahwatzel in Mason County. It received fish up to 8 pounds earlier in the year, along with multiple releases of catchables, with another 2,500 in late September, making for a great fishery. You can use two poles here, as well as bait or lures, but for some reason those who like to troll flies do especially well. Westside lakes aren’t the only being stocked this fall. On the Eastside, it’s hard to beat Roses Lake. This 178-acre Chelan County lake received over 22,000 fish in October. With ample bank access and a boat launch with a large parking lot, Roses rests in a small valley protected from winter winds. Along with the rainbows you will find brown and tiger trout. Catfish and perch are abundant and you can use two poles. Kittitas County’s Fio Rito North and Mattoon Lakes got over 100 5and 10-pound broodstockers each in midfall. For more recent releases, see wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/plants/weekly.
THIS WINTER, TRY giving one of the many lakes recently stocked with trout a try. It’ll sure beat standing in lines at a mall. And when it comes time for those holiday parties, fresh smoked or baked trout make great appetizers! NS 70 Northwest Sportsman
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DECEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
FISHING
Nine For Noël December trout ops abound on the Eastside, including a new one by Spokane.
By Jeff Holmes
I
’ve never understood why people pay attention to “fishing season” except to avoid getting tickets and/ or to be ethical. Why should fishing ever stop during the calendar year? Frick, it shouldn’t – ever. If you have other things you like to do and want a break from fishing, that’s one thing. But if you’re one of those poor souls who would like to be out limiting on fat trout but has been trapped in a “season’s over” mentality, rig up your rods. Ready your gear. December’s one of the very best months to fish in Eastern Washington. It is perhaps my favorite due to my love for Rock Lake and the two winter lakes outside of my former longtime home of Cheney: Fourth of July and Hog Canyon. December is also the month that Lake Roosevelt’s winter rainbow fishery really begins to shine. Trout become aggressive and are in firm-flesh condition in all of Eastern Washington’s trouty waters, and they readily gobble everything from PowerBait to Woolly Buggers.
CHRIS DONLEY IS one of my favorite people, a good friend and my go-toguy for all things trout. In fact, Donley is the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s trout guru. He served as district fish biologist in Region One out of Spokane for a very long time before taking the statewide position of Inland Fish Program manager. Now Donley is back in Spokane as the Region One Fish Program manager, a well-deserved promotion and a stroke of luck for Eastside trout anglers. Donley is sincerely passionate about trout and about encouraging recruitment into the sport through
trout fishing. Statistically, it’s by far the No. 1 point of engagement for recruiting new anglers to the sport in Washington, and Donley and WDFW have been proactive in recent years. The sizes and quality have increased dramatically, as have opportunities throughout the year – not just during the traditional late-April trout opener. Repeating their success from Western Washington’s “Black Friday” promotion, four prime lakes opened the day after Thanksgiving in Eastern Washington for the first time in 2015. There may be no clearer voice, nor a more sportsman-focused and scienceminded voice, in the entire Northwest management community than Donley. He’s a native of Cheney and an idiot savant trout angler who understands every aspect of their biology and applies it to managing our fisheries – and to his own trout angling in his free time. He’s excited about another excellent winter trout season everywhere in Washington, and especially on his home waters. He encourages you, as do I, to get out and enjoy a good time in the outdoors this December. Some truly excellent angling ops exist at several lakes, including the arguably world-class December fisheries at Lake Roosevelt and Rock Lake. “We have stocked a number of lakes with good numbers of quality trout that should provide good to excellent fishing throughout December and beyond,” says Donley. “Four of those lakes are our traditional winter fisheries: Fourth of July and Hog Canyon Lakes in Lincoln and Spokane Counties, respectively, and Hatch and Williams Lakes in Stevens County. For the first time ever, we have moved the traditional opening day for these winter fisheries from
You’ll need a few more layers, but December trout fishing can warm up those hearty enough to get out after fat rainbows, like this 22-incher Kaley Schertenleib caught out of Lake Roosevelt at the Two Rivers Bridge this fall. She was plunking dough bait from shore and she and the family limited out fast. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
December 1 to Black Friday. This should offer a lot of trout anglers an opportunity to get out and be successful the day after Thanksgiving. Only time will tell whether anglers will be fishing open water or through the ice, but there will be plenty of fat rainbows either way.” Open water is the typical openingday scenario, as it would be a strange year for Hog Canyon and Fourth of July to be frozen early, though it has happened. Sometimes they remain ice-free most of the year or all of December. Ice is more likely on Hatch and Williams, but Williams has an aerator that provides open-water angling even when Arctic blasts descend. All popular trout tactics work nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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FISHING at all four lakes, including fly fishing with chironomids and streamers. Lures also take fish in December, but bait and slowly presented flies are the best bet. Below, Donley briefly overviews each of the lakes, all of which I have fished with success and recommend. He also offers insights into the Eastside’s best trout fisheries.
FOURTH OF JULY: This lake south of Sprague features great growth rates of rainbows. These are probably some of the largest trout available for harvest in the state. If it isn’t frozen, it’s a great place for float tubes and pontoon boats and other small cartopper-type craft. Low water levels make launching a boat challenging, to say the least. Many anglers also elect to walk in and fish the shorelines. Often the further you walk, the better fishing you can expect, but there are also plenty of fish right at the launch. Five trout
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may be retained, but only two can be over 14 inches. The lake produces lots of rainbows in the high teens and some much larger.
HOG CANYON: A great little trout lake full of 10- to 12-inch rainbows, it’s ringed by basalt and ponderosa pines and is undeveloped except for the fishing access. Hog Canyon is shallow, so it freezes over first and can be a really good early winter lake. Five trout may be retained, but again, only two can be over 14 inches. With extremely low water conditions, it’s unclear how many holdovers will be available this year, but the lake often produces nice fish.
WILLIAMS AND HATCH: Hatch is reputed for fish in the 12- to 16-inch range. Low water is affecting growth rates slightly, but we expect it should fish well. It’s best fished from the ice and has limited access for anything other than small watercraft. Williams is a great lake
to fish from shore if it’s not frozen, and it’s also a consistent producer of rainbow from 12 to 16 inches during the iced-over period. Five rainbows may be retained at both lakes, with all other species catch-and-release.
WAITTS LAKE (Stevens Co.): Open until Feb. 28, this is an outstanding December fishery for brown trout and rainbows. Rainbows grow very well here, and some truly trophysized browns can be had during openwater and iced-over conditions. It could produce a state record brown at some point. Waitts is also a great perch fishery through the ice. It has both abundant and good-sized perch.
SPRAGUE LAKE (Lincoln Co.): This long lake paralleling I-90 in Lincoln County features the best trout growth rates in the state. With the latearriving fall and colder temperatures in December, this lake will fish really well because exploitation rates have
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FISHING LAKE ROOSEVELT (Multiple counties): All been low with the warmer water temps. There are still thousands of steelhead left in the lake from the May 2014 stocking. Some of these fish are reaching 20-plus inches. There are also plenty of ultrafat rainbows, and even some Lahontan cutthroats. Sprague fishes great through the ice or in open-water conditions.
ROCK LAKE (Whitman Co.): Very low water makes launching tougher than normal, but it’s worth the effort to fish this lake. We stocked an additional 269,000 steelhead smolts that should be 14 inches by this winter, and that’s in addition to very heavy stockings of rainbows and brown trout. Rock is a great troll fishery, but it fishes well from the boat launch too. Casting flies and lures can also be extremely effective in December. We manage Rock to be an exceptional trout fishery, and it shines in December.
of 750,000 rainbows were stocked in May, and those fish should be 14 inches and greater by December, with lots of carryovers to 20 inches, some larger. Since this past spring we saw very low runoff, almost no fish were washed out of the reservoir, meaning there will be lots of holdovers available. These are the best-eating trout in Eastern Washington, and the lake fishes well all winter. There’s plenty of great shore and boat access.
LONG LAKE (Spokane Co.): As part of Avista’s hydro license, the utility stocks 155,000 all-female triploids in June of each year. This is the second year of the program. This lake grows trout rapidly, so these fish – released at 8 inches – will be 14 to 20 inches. This is a new fishery and hasn’t been thoroughly explored, but there is a lot of trout available. If I were looking for these fish, I would look down by
the dam beginning in December, but they are caught throughout the reservoir. Should be a similar fishery to Roosevelt when it gets going.
“THE BEST PART about December trout angling,” Donley says, “is that there are many days where you can find places to be alone because the waters that are available are large. They generally provide boat and shore access – the crown jewel being Roosevelt. These are the best quality trout in the state from a table-fare perspective because of water temp and forage (generally zooplankton and invertebrates that pigment the flesh red). These are the biggest high-quality trout available because the 3-year-olds have reached maximum size (18 to 22 inches) before they start their downward spiral to sexual maturity. All of our December trout fisheries offer excellent table fare and a great opportunity to get the kiddos out and catch a few.” NS
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COLUMN
Cold Rainbows I
t’s approaching winter, the days are short and cold, and those warm fall weekends spent catching salmon along the coast are a distant memory. Many kayak anglers pack away the craft at this time of year and consider cleaning up their tackle trays when they aren’t watching football. Kayak Guys While it’s true that opportunities from the kayak By Todd Switzer are limited in December and winter, trout are still willing to bite during the coldest and shortest days of the year, if you’re willing to put in the effort. Trout love cold water and spend most of the summer deep in the lake seeking it out. When water temperatures begin to fall below 60 degrees in October and early November, a couple of important changes take place. First, lakes that became thermally stratified during the long, hot summer begin to mix. When water is just a couple of degrees different in temperature, a thermocline is established and this upper lens of warmer water doesn’t mix with the cooler water below. As summer progresses, the upper layer of a lake gets warmer and the thermocline gets stronger, but early winter is the time when the stratification breaks down and trout actively hunt throughout the entire water column. Lots of other chemical changes are happening in both the warm surface water and cooler deep water below the thermocline over the summer. The most important of these changes is that the
THE KAYAK GUYS
Rainbows are game year-round, and winter offers good opportunities for kayak anglers to get into fat trout, like this one held by author Todd Switzer. (BRAD HOLE)
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COLUMN of catching plenty of trophies. oxygen content of the deep, cooler water slowly decreases over the months. Trout love water temps in the lower 50s, but if they stay in the deepest part of the lake to enjoy these cool temps, they have to live with the lowest oxygen levels and, at times, a lack of food. Trout will make occasional forays into the warmer surface water during the summer to grab a quick meal, but mostly they stay deep in the cool water in a state of decreased activity. Meanwhile, in the warmer surface water, there’s a bonanza of productivity, with baitfish feasting on plankton growing fast during long sunny days. When the thermocline breaks down during fall and early winter, the trout come back into their element. Water temps are approaching their preferred range, oxygen levels are high relative to recent months and the baitfish that were abundant during the summer are still up near the surface. This is the time of the year when trout gorge themselves, and when kayak anglers have the best chance
MY PREFERRED TECHNIQUE for trout fishing from a kayak is trolling. In addition to covering a lot of water, it’s nice to keep moving and stay warm this time of year. While it’s possible to outfit a kayak with a downrigger and go deep for trout, dragging all that gear around by your own power isn’t much fun. With the trout near the surface after the lake has turned over, kayak anglers can get away with using just an ounce or two of weight to get their presentations into the strike zone. Trolling for trout isn’t like trolling for salmon. When I troll for salmon, I usually have less than 50 feet of line out. This makes a diving plane or dropper lead more effective and it’s easier to move around a lot of boats without tangling gear. However, when I’m trolling for trout during the winter, I usually have 120 to 200 feet of line out. I do this for two reasons. First, I love the nice long fight I get from a fish that hits 150 feet back. Second, there’s a lot of evidence that trout are
very sensitive to vibrations and noise, and they have excellent vision. Therefore, they could easily spook from a kayak passing overhead. Since winter lakes are usually empty of boat traffic, I run the gear a long way back and usually never need to worry about another boat crossing my line. Even running gear 150 feet back you’ll want to use some method to keep your presentation down. One easy way to do this is to add a few ounces of lead, but where and how to add this weight should be addressed. If the lead is a leader length away from your terminal tackle, it will add vibration and be noticeable to every trout that approaches your hook. A better option is to use sliding weight and have some method to secure it temporarily to the line. The routine goes like this: let out 50 feet of line and secure the weight, then let out the rest of your line. When you retrieve the line, you’ll need to pause to release this weight before reeling in the last 50 feet. When you’re fighting a trout, the last thing you’ll want to do is stop for this extra step, as releasing tension on the
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or baitcaster, style reel to accommodate leadcore, as spinning reels will twist up and kink the line, eventually causing it to break. Tip the leadcore with 30 to 50 feet of mono before your leader and your presentation, and incorporate swivels where you can. It’s also a good to back the leadcore with braid, or at least plenty of mono. Don’t try to put 100 yards, or 10 colors, of leadcore on a single reel – you’ll seldom need this much at one time. After the first five colors you’re better off letting out some of the backing to increase the depth of your presentation. Adding a flasher and fishing well behind your craft are keys for catching cold-water fish. (TODD SWITZER) line to detach the weight gives the fish an opportunity to slip off the hook. After going through this extra step about 15 times a day, I was ready for another option. Leadcore line provides the best option I’ve found for controlling depth when trolling for trout from a kayak. With leadcore, the lead is encased in a
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Dacron sleeve of line and the line changes colors every 10 yards so you can measure off how much is out. At typical trolling speeds of 1.5 to 2 mph, the line sinks at a rate of about 6 feet every 10 yards. Using between three and five colors of 15-pound leadcore usually produces the best results during winter. You’ll need a levelwind,
NOW FOR TERMINAL tackle. Fast-action spoons like Needlefish and Dick Nites are a great place to start. When possible match the hatch and choose a size and color that imitates the baitfish that trout are feeding on. That said, sometimes spoons in the wildest color combinations work best. Spinners and plugs can be deadly choices when spoons aren’t working. The benefit to using plugs is the ability to add bait without reducing their action. Using a flasher can help in dirty or noisy water. Bottom line: Try out different tackle choices, especially when the bite slows down or the fishing gets tough. Some days it seems that trout have a favorite color or pattern and they’ll turn away from everything else, so when the bite slows down, try something different. Trolling speeds vary with the temps. During late fall and early winter, when the water is still in the high 50s, moving along at 2 mph is fine, but during the dead of winter when water temps drop into the 40s or even the 30s, cut this speed in half. Trolling around the edges of the lake will usually be best, but don’t hesitate to investigate trout surfacing in deeper water. During the winter, hatches of all types of insects can still occur, even at the lower temps, and trout will gather to feast on the larvae. Being where the fish are is key to success, so stay aware and look for signs of fish. Rainbows might not be the biggest game fish the Northwest has to offer, but they are in their prime at a time of year when a lot of other fishing opportunities are a distant memory. NS
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COLUMN
How To Troll For Potholes Walleye By Don Talbot
I
t is the end of October and the walleye fishing is really getting good on Potholes Reservoir. The water temp is 58 degrees and the winds are light. Nearby on this BASIN BEACON Tuesday are 25 other boats on the water – five times the amount of traffic I’d see if I By Don Talbot was fishing the mouth of the Methow River in Pateros for steelhead. Don’t get me wrong – my first love is fall and winter steelheading, but walleye fishing may just take half my recreational time this winter, as long as the weather holds out! Why? The fishing is excellent and super easy to understand – the only problem we have is that the rookies try to set the hook on almost every bite. This isn’t trout or salmon fishing, where you set
the hook and hold on. The idea is to feed a walleye when one grabs your bait. I learned this technique while fishing with a Professional Walleye Trail pro in 1999 and 2000. Give the walleye line for about three seconds so that the fish can start to turn the bait in their mouth. Then I sweep the hook with one steady motion until the weight of the fish is solid, and reel slowly up. In 1999 Royce Dry and I won the Potholes Classic walleye tournament by nearly 15 pounds. Held in the fall that year, we won the event using a 1-ounce slinky weight and No. 2 octopus glo hook rigged with a leech. It wasn’t long after that leeches were banned in Washington state for use in our waterways. That didn’t slow down the fishing and here is why: We have something more productive than an octopus glo hook to offer the walleye. The Slow Death hook is the biggest improvement in walleye fishing in the last 10 years. This hook allows you to troll all the way through winter, and it uses the worm to create a rotating action while trolling .7 mph and up. Winter trolling needs to be kept at under 1 mph and this is the rig to do it. I enhance my rig with a Shaker Wing that I developed for MoneyMaker Products. I was the first person to use a Mack’s Lure Smile Blade and packaged and named this award-winning product while I worked as the marketing director for Mack’s from 1996 to 2002. I have been using the blades for the past 19 years until lately. If you know anything about me and the development world, then you can count on improvements to be made that challenge the status quo. I designed the patent-pending MoneyMaker Shaker Wing over 16 months ago to spin faster and shake more at slower speeds. The lopsided design is proving to be extremely effective while fishing side by side against other blade patterns and designs. The Shaker Wing is helping me look better than I am, and that is one reason why I am going to take up walleye guiding and maybe fish a few more tournaments in the near future.
THE GREAT THING about Potholes Reservoir is that the state park
Potholes State Park’s excellent fish-cleaning station is now closed for the winter, but not before author Don Talbot (right) and a client gave it a good workout. Good walleye and perch fishing should continue into this month.
ramp is right next to the most popular fishing hole on the lake for walleye. The launch has two lanes and a nice dock in the middle. With the lake full of walleye, bullheads, perch, bluegill, crappie, bass and rainbow trout, you will likely catch three or four kinds of fish while you are going after the walleye. It is a ton of fun to troll along the 30- to 40-foot shelf straight out from the launch. You can also try to find the secret humps on Fish-n-Map’s Potholes
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COLUMN map, available at local tackle dealers, a good buy if you don’t have a depth finder with the chip for Potholes on it already. The info on the map will help you mark spots that are productive. Fat perch the size of your shoe are a bonus catch at the reservoir, and there’s a daily limit of 25 with no minimum size. The combined bluegill and crappie limit is 25, and the latter species must be at least 9 inches. Daily limit on walleye is eight, with only one over 22 inches allowed. In season, the state park boasts a world-class cleaning station with electricity and a fish grinder, but it closed as of Nov. 2. MarDon Resort (mardonresort.com) also has a boat ramp, as well as a tackle store; for the latest fishing info, be sure to check with the Mesebergs (509-346-2651). I can see why Potholes Reservoir has a boatload of midweek traffic during the fall and winter until it ices up, and I will see you there in December, trolling very slowly. I might even take up blade baiting as the water cools off further. I will not be alone if the weather is nice. Enjoy your fishing journeys as we discover productive and new products and techniques to try together. The next article will be on dressing up your favorite casting spinner to catch more trout and steelhead year-round. If you have any additional questions about this subject, contact me at Don Talbot’s Fishing (509-679 8641; donsfishingguideservice. com). NS
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Trolling as slowly as possible is one of the keys to catching fall and winter walleye at Potholes Reservoir, a task made easier with Slow Death hooks and specialty blades, like these Shaker Wings, which follow on Smile Blades and turn at very low speeds. (DONSFISHINGGUIDESERVICE.COM)
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‘WICKED’ SEASON AHEAD
Dave Marciano, skipper of the Hard Merchandise and a star of Nat Geo’s Wicked Tuna, talks about the show’s popularity, the ocean’s wonders and conservation. Part II of II By Jeff Holmes
“W
hen the opportunity to do Wicked Tuna came about, I thought, ‘This is an opportunity for a cool memory and maybe a little extra money to supplement my fishing income,’” says Capt. Dave Marciano, the most recent winner and most beloved captain on the hit reality TV show. National Geographic Channel’s Wicked Tuna depicts a bluefin tuna fishing competition between several boats of eccentric personalities, some of whom are truly excellent, career fishermen out of the historic port of Gloucester, Mass. Marciano is the show’s most authentic fishing personality, with 40 years of commercial experience to his name. “I never would have thought the show would get this big … and growing. I was pretty sure no one would watch it,” he says. When the last season of wildly popular Wicked Tuna went in the books and Marciano and his son Joe and nephew Jason “Jay” Muenzner took top boat honors, I realized how invested I was, like I was rooting for a sports team. To some extent the drama depicted by producers drew me in, but the real magnet for my attention is the stark reality of giant Atlantic bluefin tuna and the quest to hook, fight, harpoon, gaff and tail wrap them into submission. The fish are so big that merely bringing them aboard can be a challenge. Averaging well over 300 pounds per keeper, bluefin are one of the biggest sportfish and one of the most sought-after commercial fish swimming in the ocean. With each fish producing anywhere from $2,000 to more than $20,000, depending on quality, the economic gravity of getting these big, warm-blooded monsters on board small fishing boats should not be understated. In this second installment of my interview with last season’s champion and top captain, the 40-year veteran of Gloucester commercial fishing answers a range of questions and
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FISHING
Capt. Dave Marciano pilots the Hard Merchandise, one of several bluefin fishing boats featured in the National Geographic Channel show Wicked Tuna. (ADAM MARKLE, PILGRIM FILMS AND TELEVISION)
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FISHING gives a sneak peek ahead at the upcoming season.
Jeff Holmes So I know the show just wrapped up another summer bluefin fishery and that you’re probably not able to share many details, but is there anything you can tell us about season five, which starts Sunday, Feb. 15th? Please tell me Dave and Tuna.com lose; just kidding. Dave Marciano You’re exactly right, I can’t tell you much about this upcoming season, obviously, but I can tell you this: It was the best season in Gloucester in many years. That’s the result of years of conservation efforts and collaboration between scientists and fishermen. I can tell you that all the boats on the show caught lots of fish, lots more than have ever been caught on the show. Everyone did very well, and there is a lot of competition to look forward to. Viewers will also likely get to see one of the coolest spectacles of nature I’ve seen on the ocean, a bird’s-eye view from a drone of humpback whales working together, blowing bubbles and surrounding bait, while other whales slash through, eating baitfish. One day while we were on anchor fishing, I saw whales corralling baitfish a short distance away and suggested to the cameraman that he fly his drone over there to get some footage. I mean, I’ve seen this behavior maybe a 1,000 times in my life, but never from above. Seeing the organization and the communication was like watching seine netting … Seeing that was nothing less than profound, and I suspect producers will share it this season.
torpedo rays here – they’re fairly common – and they’re electrically charged like an electric eel. The front half looks like a ray, but the rear half looks like a shark. They can give you a really good shock, but the trick is you can see them convulse and their muscles contract before they deliver their charge. That makes for a pretty good trick, one that’s been played on me too. It’s a favored prank when new government observers come on board a fishing boat, to hand ’em a torpedo ray right as it’s beginning to convulse … You hand it off right before it shocks. [Laughter]
JH I know you’re a class act when it comes to not speaking
JH What are some of the other really cool natural phenomena you’ve observed during your extensive time fishing the ocean? You What it’s all about – big bluefin tuna that can bring in from must have seen some really cool weather $2,000 to $20,000 for commercial anglers like Marciano, his son Joe and species. (right) and nephew Jay DM A little while back while commercial Marciano Muenzner (left). (DAVE MARCIANO) gillnetting, we brought up a 1,000-pound rough-tailed stingray, which was the size of a manta ray. We cleared it from the net and it swam right ill of your fellow captains, and I know in general you’re a off, but it was caught by its tail, so we saw it and had to good guy who was maybe initially depicted on the show handle it. The stinging spike on the tail was a foot long as being pretty severe with your deckhand, Jay. So I won’t by itself, and there were smaller spikes all over the tail, bug you about the captains I want dirt on – Tyler from the which was very rough. The crazy part was that I scraped Pinwheel and Dave from Tuna.com – and instead I’ll ask you the knuckle of my rubber fishing gloves on the tail, and it about season one and your depiction as being perpetually made my hand swell significantly right away! frustrated at your deckhand and nephew. Now you’re my favorite captain on the show, but it seemed like either you were harsh with him or producers amped up the drama. JH Wow, that is nuts. You could have easily died. DM: Yeah, it’s possible, and it puts me in mind of another DM Well, truth be told, it was probably a little bit of both, unique thing I’ve seen while out fishing. We’ve got these but mostly it was the depiction of events. I can definitely 94 Northwest Sportsman
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FISHING lose my temper, and I do sometimes, but I try not to. I tend to go back and apologize after cooling down and reflecting, and the producers didn’t show that. They
showed you when Dave blew his cool because that’s what’s more interesting. And when you’re filming the show at all times, it goes on display when we snap. We’re all human, we lose it, we say things we don’t mean. It sure makes for good TV. At first, show producers framed Marciano as being pretty hard on Muenzner, but the skipper now says he’s “lucky to fish with him,” as well as son Joe. “It’d be tough to do too much better than having both Joe and Jay as my crew,” says Marciano. (ADAM
JH It seems like your relationship with Jay and his fishing skills have either improved or at least the producers are depicting it that way. DM At this point Jay really is one of the top hands in the whole fleet. I’m proud of him for always sticking with it through thick and thin. He has worked hard as a young guy for years, and it has paid off. You’ve seen on the show how excited he gets, right? That used to annoy the crap out of me until I realized how truly genuine his enthusiasm is. It’s 100 percent real, and I’m lucky to fish with him, and to fish with my son, Joe. He’s been out on the boat with me since the time he was young, and he is also a top hand every season before he has to leave for
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FISHING college. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be tough to do too much better than having both Joe and Jay as my crew.
JH The ďŹ sh youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re after â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for most of us, these are like mythological beasts, but for you guys, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re the stock youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re blessed to ďŹ sh on. For those of us here in the Northwest, can you talk a little bit about the size of these ďŹ sh and just the ďŹ shery in general? DM Sure. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a 73-inch minimum to be a keeper, and no maximum length. All of us in the tuna ďŹ&#x201A;eet are always hunting that next largest ďŹ sh, and it becomes an obsession. For Jay and I, our personal best ďŹ sh was 1,200 (pounds), but that was an exceptionally large ďŹ sh. The range we catch â&#x20AC;&#x2122;em is from 50 to 800 pounds. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s excellent and a sign of improved management and healthier stocks that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re seeing all age classes show up in the catch. In the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;70s, as the stock was collapsing, we only caught large ďŹ sh. Now, after 25 years of conservation, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made major ground, for sure. Our quota is up 20 percent again, in fact. Conservation is so important for the continued health of our ďŹ sheries, and ďŹ shermen see that clearly. As the stock has rebounded, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been able to harvest more. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a learning process in managing the ďŹ shery, and in how we treat the ocean. Thirty years ago, big cities on the East Coast dumped their trash in the ocean. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen some
dramatic improvements out here in our stewardship for the resource, and it has been paying off. A lot of the left-wing environmental groups out there focused on commercial ďŹ shing, and especially blueďŹ n tuna; they misrepresent us as Vikings who pillage the sea, but really weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re the ones out there collaborating with scientists to manage our ďŹ sheries. Meanwhile, those who oppose us and frame us as pillagers are scarďŹ ng down scallops and eating shrimp at dinner parties â&#x20AC;Ś I like that National Geographic Channel allows us to show the conservation and the health of the stock in action.
JH It seems like conservation is a truly key value for you and it makes sense. Your livelihood and your concern for the resource depend on management based on the best available science. DM Yes, very much, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exactly right when you say â&#x20AC;&#x153;the best available science.â&#x20AC;? The science that actually is available at a given time isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always the best because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always at least a couple years old and might not reďŹ&#x201A;ect conditions in the ocean. There are times when the best science is the only science at the time, and as ďŹ shermen sometimes we know when thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the case. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but the best available science isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always good â&#x20AC;Ś For example,
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Northwest Sportsman 99
FISHING fishermen collaborated with scientists to prove that scallop populations were crashing. What they found when researchers went out with fishermen and lowered cameras to the bottom was quite the opposite. That fishery has really boomed since they proved there were sustainable scallop stocks. Science isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s the best bet. It’s in fishermen’s best interest to work together and to collaborate and make sure we have a seat at the table when decisions are made. All of the best fisheries are those where fishermen and scientists collaborate. Restrictions lead to better fisheries, and restrictions allow fishermen to survive.
JH You’ve been at this for a long time? How did you get started? Were you born into a family of fishermen? DM Surprisingly, no one in my family fishes. I developed an
interest largely on my own, reading sporting magazines … Pretty crazy I turned it into a career. Now my wife and I get invitations to come fish all around the show
In words that resonate on the West Coast as well, Marciano says, “Conservation is so important for the continued health of our fisheries, and fishermen see that clearly. As the stock has rebounded, we’ve been able to harvest more.” (ADAM MARKLE, PILGRIM FILM AND TELEVISION)
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Northwest Sportsman 101
FISHING from notoriety gained from Wicked Tuna. We’ve got a couple of trips planned over the next couple months to go fish, including paddlefishing in Oklahoma, and we’ll fish yellowfin tuna later in the spring in Mexico. Both of those invitations came about as a result of the show. We’re really open to seeing where this little bit of notoriety gets us invited! I don’t ever see me not fishing. It’s a little early with the show; it’s just starting to get really big, and certainly I can see myself slowing down, though, down the road, maybe getting a little place and a boat and Florida with my wife and growing old that way. Right now we’re playing it by ear.
JH So we still have to wait a couple months for the show to start before we can see the details of the season, but is there anything else you can tell us about what we’re about to see? DM We wrapped filming early this season with all the boats because we just flat caught way more fish than we did last season. And last season we caught more than previous seasons. It has been very good and getting better. Obviously, I can’t say who caught what, but when producers get done with the editing process, it’s going to be really exciting because we all caught a sh*tload of fish this season. NS
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Season 5 of Wicked Tuna, which premiers Feb. 15, promises to deliver a boatload of bluefin for the Hard Merchandise and others in the fleet. (DAVE MARCIANO)
nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 103
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Northwest Sportsman 105
ATLAS-MIKE’S Trout, salmon and steelhead anglers have been counting on Atlas-Mike’s to help fill their stringers for years. Atlas-Mike’s Bait, Inc., has been field testing, developing and marketing quality products to anglers for over 80 years and is still going strong! Salmon eggs, floating trout baits, marshmallow baits, fish attractants, bait cures and salmon/steelhead accessories have long been a part of their product line-up. In addition to all the tried-and-true-products, check out all the new items too. Every angler is looking for an edge; tip the odds in your favor with Atlas-Mike’s! Our website is Atlasmikes.com. See us on page 33.
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DECEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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FISHING Author Andy Schneider applies Sharkhide to the aluminum hull of his jet sled. Taking time to protect your investment will keep its resale value up, and keep it looking good and functional on the water. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)
Winter Work Nowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the time to make sure your boat maintains that new look and is well protected from the elements. By Andy Schneider
nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 109
FISHING
T
here is nothing like that new boat smell. It’s kind of like that new car smell, though there’s a chance it may leave a bitter taste in your spouse’s mouth. While buying a new boat isn’t for everyone, as anglers, we’ve all felt that desire to obtain a craft to take our angling and hunting adventures just a little bit further. Once we step up to the level of being a boat owner, everything seems to change. Now we search out opportunities where we will utilize our vessel more and more. Sometimes we find those at the sacrifice of more productive fishing or hunting if we had just left the boat at home. The life of a boat owner isn’t for everyone, and even as boat owners we sometimes question our sanity, fiscal decisions and time investment in just keeping our craft up and running. A clear vinyl protectant applied to your boat – essentially a giant sticker – not only protects the paint job from bumps and scrapes at the dock, but keeps the craft looking showroom-new. (ANDY SCHNEIDER)
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Every boat owner has had multiple moments of clarity, times when it would just be simpler to pull the boat to the curb, hang a “For Sale” sign on it and wish its new owner the best of luck. Whether you are buying new, buying used or building your own, most boaters want to keep their vessel looking like new for as long as possible. But the nature of boating in such an unpredictable environment as the Northwest can be rough on boats, equipment, passengers and operators.
PROTECTIVE COATINGS FOR VINYL, PLASTIC Taking the time to apply protectants when your boat is brand spanking new or freshly detailed will keep it looking good and keep your resale value high. It will ensure that corrosion, ultraviolet light and, yes, even water don’t start deteriorating your investment. Some protectants can be as simple as wax or polish from your local auto-parts store, while others need to be applied by professionals. But even taking the smallest of steps to keep your investment looking nice can also add years of life to a boat. Wax or polish may be one of the simplest things you can do to keep your boat looking good. Applying wax is pretty straightforward, though there are a couple extra steps you need to take on a boat to ensure the wax does what it’s designed to do. If you are in the majority of Northwest anglers, you probably have an aluminum boat and the only surface that truly requires a wax is your outboard engine cowlings. Start by washing your outboards with a mild liquid soap, like Lemon Joy. After hand drying your motors, look to see if any water spots, egg goo or fishing scent stains remain.
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FISHING If you have troublesome spots still staining the glossy finish, try using rubbing alcohol, vinegar or mineral spirits with a microfiber cloth. Start with the least aggressive chemicals first and avoid rubbing compounds and any hard scrubbing. Once you have your outboard cowling as clean as possible, apply your protectant. Many waxes or polishes from the auto world work great, but may require more frequent applications for boats exposed to the marine environment. Nu Finish is a great and very accessible product that will last most boaters for a year. When applying a product like Nu Finish or any other wax, be careful to avoid the black plastic trim pieces of your outboards. If you get any of the wax, sealer or polish on your trim pieces, it may leave a white haze. To remove this haze, use rubbing alcohol, vinegar or mineral spirits. If you really want to get serious about protecting your outboard cowlings, look to the aerospace industry. RejeX is an extremely tough product made to keep turbine exhaust gas residue from sticking to aircraft. Turns out, saltwater, fishing scents and egg goo are not much of a challenge for it. Another aviation product that works great for protecting those matte plastic trim pieces is 303 Aerospace
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Protectant. Not only will this product protect trim pieces, it’s great for all plastics and vinyl. And it will protect boat seats, clear plastic windows, vinyl boat tops and anything else plastic or vinyl on your boat from UV fading. Both RejeX and 303 are available through Amazon and other online retailers. Just remember, when washing your boat between fishing trips, use a car wash soap and not a dishwashing soap. The former will not strip your freshly applied waxes, polishes and sealers, while the latter will shorten the lifespan of any applied protectant, washing away any handwork you put into protecting your investment.
PROTECTIVE COATINGS FOR ALUMINUM, PAINT JOBS With your outboard cowlings, vinyl seats and boat top protected, you’ll want to move on to protecting bare aluminum. While aluminum boats work perfectly for Northwest anglers, they do have some drawbacks. The metal is an extremely strong, lightweight and corrosionresistant alloy, but it does need some maintenance to keep from staining, discoloring and/or corroding. There are only a few products on the market for keeping aluminum from staining and discoloring. Sharkhide is the most well known and widely used by local boaters.
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Northwest Sportsman 113
FISHING It is best applied when the aluminum is brand new, acid washed or freshly polished. Diamond plate, exposed chines, rub rails, gunwale combing and any unpainted bare aluminum, inside or outside of the boat, can benefit from being protected. Applying Sharkhide can be done with any microfiber cloth and only takes minutes to apply to an entire boat. It will last most boaters three to five years without having to be reapplied. Sharkhide is available at most marine and boating supply stores. Most Northwest aluminum It’s only a weak charge, but a charge nonetheless that sacrificial anodes suck up, protecting your boat’s hull when used fishing boats have both interior on the ocean or bays from galvanic corrosion. Check to make sure yours don’t need replacement. (ANDY SCHNEIDER) and exterior paint that need protecting too. While waxing your boat’s exterior paint bad netting/gaffing jobs, mooring buoys and countless will protect it from water stains and UV fading, it won’t other obstacles that your boat comes in contact with take protect it from bumps and scrapes. Docks, lead sinkers, a fast toll on your nice paint job. Applying a clear vinyl
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nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
Northwest Sportsman 115
FISHING protectant over your entire boat will not only protect your paint job, it will keep it looking showroom-new for a long time. Brad Baker of Coho Design (503-888-7513; cohodesign.net) applies clear vinyl protectant to boats on a daily basis. In essence, the clear vinyl goes on as a giant sticker over the entire side of the boat. The clear vinyl will fend off small collisions, dock rash and other bumps and scrapes experienced during common usage. “The clear vinyl has a lifespan of at least three to five years of normal use,” says Baker. “If boaters are careful and use docking bumpers on a regular basis, it’s easy to extend the life of the vinyl much longer.”
SACRIFICIAL ANODES One of the most important protectants that you can add to your craft may not add any luster or shine at all. In fact, it may be hidden away while protecting your boat on a daily basis. But remove it and you will see negative results in as little as four months and your craft may never be the same again. This hidden savior is a sacrificial anode. As you bolt, screw or crimp any accessory to your aluminum boat, more than likely you will be using a stainless-steel fastener. While a stainless-steel bolt or screw makes
perfect sense due to its corrosion resistance, it can quickly start to damage your boat unless steps are taken. When you connect two dissimilar metals and immerse them in seawater, you create a battery. While you may not achieve a current as strong as a 12-volt Diehard, there will still be current flow between these two dissimilar metals. This process is called galvanic corrosion and can literally dissolve parts of your boat over time. The best way to counteract galvanic corrosion is to add another metal into the circuit in the form of a zinc or aluminum alloy anode. That way this “sacrificial” anode can give up its electrons first instead of your precious aluminum hull. But note that sacrificial anodes need to be replaced when half of the anode has been lost to corrosion. Every outboard has anodes built into the motor that need to be inspected annually. If you don’t have any anodes welded or bolted to your aluminum hull below the water line, make sure to add some as early into your ownership of the vessel as possible. Many boat owners will buy an additional anode found on their outboard motor and find a place to bolt it to the hull. This simplifies the process of replacing the anode as it corrodes, as it will be the same one you are buying for your motor. Most modern aluminum boats are built with galvanic corrosion in mind
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FISHING and do a good job of insulating most dissimilar metals, reducing the size of anodes needed. A 2-inch-by-6-inch anode should keep most boats safe for multiple years. If you find your anodes are only lasting a year, then you do not have enough of an anode and need to add a larger one.
TRAILER TOO With your boat getting all the attention this offseason, don’t forget to do a once-over of your trailer. Without a properly functioning trailer, your boating experience will be greatly hampered. Wheel bearings are always the first thing boaters think of when it comes to trailer maintenance, and for good reason. But in reality, boat trailers and their bearings have gotten a lot better in the last decade and it takes a lot of negligence to have bearing issues anymore. Many new boat trailers come with a five-year maintenancefree bearing pack that actually may last twice that long. Others are coming with “oil bath” bearings that can be inspected by just glancing at them while walking around your boat. These two types of bearing have been keeping boaters rolling to and from launches with far fewer issues.
That said, many trailers still don’t come with spare tires. Buying a spare, wheel and bracket to bolt to your trailer from the boat dealer may run you close to $400. But thankfully, boat trailers don’t differ much from other trailers on the road, and you can find a matching bolt pattern (usually 5-by-4½) and matching tire size (usually 14- or 15-inch) on Craigslist or at your local tire shop for a fraction of the price of new. The difference between having a spare tire and not having one can mean the difference between being just a little late to the fishing hole and being That Guy On The Side Of The Highway. Make sure to have a lug nut wrench in your tow vehicle that matches the lug pattern of your boat trailer, since it’s unlikely your rig and trailer share the same size lug nuts.
GET CRACKIN’! Wet and blustery days are perfect for pulling your boat into the garage to do a little preventative maintenance and add some protection to your boat. Nothing beats the satisfaction of hitting the water and having your boat look and run great at the start of fishing season. Heck, even your spouse will have to admit that the bitter taste of a new boat starts to fade when your investment still looks new year after year. NS
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DECEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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COLUMN Side-drifting eggs, drifting yarn balls and pulling plugs are popular and productive techniques for winter steelhead on the Chetco and Smith Rivers, separated by only a few miles and the Oregon-California border. (OREGONFISHINGADVENTURE.COM)
South Coast Steelhead Fishing Starts This Month
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tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time put away the fall Chinook rods and break out the winter steelhead Winter-runs By Randy Wells rods. start to show up on the Smith and Chetco Rivers this month after Christmas, and by Jan. 5 the bite is on. Both rivers have good bank access and easy to difficult drifts.
SOUTH COAST
THE SMITH IS a short, narrow river that becomes full of fall Chinook and winter steelhead starting in October and running through March. The South Fork of the Smith is 43.3 miles long and hits the ocean just 10 miles north of Crescent City, Calif., and just a few miles south of the Oregon border. From Sept. 1 through April 30, only barbless hooks may be used, two
hatchery steelhead can be retained, and native steelhead must be released. In addition, no motors are allowed on the Smith above the Highway 101 bridge. Best water flows for winter steelhead are between 4,000 cubic feet per second and 8,000 cfs. The Smith has a low-flow closure; if the river is below 600 cfs, it is not open for fishing. Call (707) 822-3164 for current flows,
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COLUMN and remember, the river can drop below 600 cfs while you are fishing it. Always check current regulations and water flows before fishing. One hundred percent of the Smith’s hatchery steelhead come from the Rowdy Creek fish hatchery, the first privately owned hatchery in the state of California. Run by a nonprofit organization, it depends solely on donations and volunteers to keep the fish coming. To donate or volunteer at the hatchery, visit rowdycreek.com. A common drift is from Jedidiah State Park off California Route 199 to Ruby Van Deventer campground off Highway 197, but during low water, the river takes a skilled oarsman. There are a lot of great bank accesses up and down the river from the Jedidiah put-in, and bank anglers have good success bouncing spoons in these areas. If you are going to drift the Smith and need a shuttle or a guide, call Mick Thomas at (707) 458-4704.
The Chetco is one of the few rivers in the Northwest where wild steelhead can be retained, but anglers are encouraged and applauded when turning them back. (OREGONFISHINGADVENTURE.COM)
THE CHETCO RIVER is just north of the Smith and meets the Pacific in Brookings. Like the Smith, the Oregon river is short and undammed. Its fall Chinook run begins in October, with steelhead showing up just after Christmas. The most popular drift is from Loeb Park to Social Security Bar. Two steelhead a day may be retained, one of which can be a native. However, releasing wild steelhead is applauded and encouraged. As with all coastal streams, water flow is key. The Chetco fishes best between 3,000 cfs and 4,500 cfs. You can find current river flows at waterdata.usgs.gov. The Chetco can be very crowded and competitive, especially during peak flows, so going with the flow of other anglers is a must. For example, anchor fishing
while other boats are drift fishing is not only dangerous, but can cause a heated situation. If you are unfamiliar with the river and its holes and drifts, it’s best to sit back and watch for a minute, get the drift and then get in. If you want to fish during peak season, hire a guide; he or she will put you on fish, ensure a relaxing day and save you from the job of dealing with a busy river.
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Northwest Sportsman 123
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THE MOST COMMON techniques for targeting winter steelhead on the Smith and the Chetco are side-drifting eggs, drifting yarn balls and pulling plugs like the Mag Lip 3.0. Bobber fishing with gear such as the BnR Tackle Holey Worms and Soft Beads is quickly gaining hookups too. Because both rivers tend to run clear, if you are going to fish eggs, use a dime-sized cluster in a natural color. Many anglers find the Pro-Cure Natural egg cure to be the ticket. Visit Lunkerjunkies.com to see winter steelhead episodes and great how-to videos. When fishing clear water, light tackle is the way to go. The 9-foot-8 Lamiglas 6-10-pound Infinity series rod has the backbone to fight big fish, and the sensitivity to feel light bites. While sidedrifting these two rivers, anglers have success with a 12-pound mono mainline and 6- to 8-pound fluorocarbon leader. Leader lengths range from 36 to 60 inches, depending on water color and depth. The bottoms of the Smith and Chetco Rivers are a mix of gravel and boulder. Because of that, anglers who are sidedrifting find that the Mad River Sploosh Ball, aka Mad River Drifter, helps to eliminate snags and keeps your gear in the strike zone longer. During low and clear water, it is crucial that you stay off of the steelhead. Don’t drift over areas where fish are holding. This is another reason that, if you are fishing new water, you should sit back and get an idea of where they are holding. Staying off of fish can make or break the day for all anglers. Finally, winter steelhead are among the most tight-lipped and skittish fish I have ever targeted. But I have found that if they are around, eventually one will get angry and strike a passing lure or bait out of aggression. If I am side-drifting an area where I know fish are but they won’t bite, tossing out a plug can get those lockjawed fish turned on. If you see fish rolling but not biting, definitely run a Mag Lip 3.0 through them – one will hit! NS Editor’s note: Author Randy Wells is a fulltime fishing guide on the Chetco River in Oregon and in Seward, Alaska. His website is oregonfishingadventure.com.
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Though set up for just about every kind of steelheading method out there, author Buzz Ramsey says there are few as productive as drift ďŹ shing. He caught this hatchery winter-run on the Wilson with a Corky. (BUZZ RAMSEY)
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COLUMN
Get The Drift? S
hattering like glass, the water erupted skyward as the steelhead cartwheeled in a frantic effort to BUZZ RAMSEY throw the hook lodged in the corner of its jaw. Unable to free itself by jumping, the steelhead tried a new maneuver, running downriver. Had the water been low and the steelhead small, this wouldn’t have been much of an issue. But given the size of the fish, higher than average water conditions and the fact that there was no way to follow the dragster downstream due to the brush-covered shoreline, it didn’t take the steelhead long to peel much of the line from my reel. Since it was a little late to try freespooling line such that it would extend downriver from the fish, which can cause fish to swim back upriver, I had two choices: let the fish take all my line or clamp down on the reel spool and hope the fluorocarbon leader, rather than my main line, would break. When the leader did finally snap, it took me a few moments to gain composure before rerigging my outfit, given my elevated heart rate and shaking hands. Steelheaders sometime call this adrenalin high a “fish rush.” I wasn’t discouraged; after all, I knew my morning’s success rate was on par with what most accomplished steelheaders accept as the average hookup-to-land ratio. The reason: I’d landed two beautiful steelhead (one a released native) in less than an hour prior to losing one to the fast-water rapid stretching downstream from my
position. It was likely there were more fat steelhead waiting to be hooked in the tail-out I was casting into.
ALTHOUGH SUCCESS ISN’T certain when you’re chasing steelhead, this fishing adventure was payday for me, as I’d located what seemed to be a swarm of fish. You see, when it comes to chasing steelhead, the biggest challenge (besides learning how to read water and the habits of the fish) is mastering productive angling methods. Since I was fishing from shore and the river was a foot higher than ideal, I was employing a method known as drift fishing. It’s pretty easy, really: cast out, across and upstream with enough weight so that your pencil or slinky-style sinker will bounce the bottom as it moves downstream with the river current. Your drift is complete when your outfit swings near shore, which is when you’ll need to reel in and cast again. Drift fishing is a series of casts, drifts and retrieves. The hardest part, once you’ve got the drifting down, is learning to detect when a fish is mouthing your bait. This is important because unless you set the hook immediately, the fish will drop your bait (egg cluster or sand shrimp), drift bobber (like a Li’l Corky, SpinN-Glo or other product) or bobberand-bait combination quicker than an unsuspecting friend would after the first bite from a jalapeño sandwich. You wouldn’t expect such a light take from a big fish like a steelhead, one that averages 7 to 10 pounds and can tip the scale at 15 pounds or more. But the fact is that this fishing method requires an almost uncanny sense of feel in order to
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differentiate a steelhead mouthing your bait or bait imitation from a hang-up or your sinker momentarily pausing as it maneuvers along the river bottom.
THERE WAS A time not too many years ago when drift fishing was nearly the only method used (at least by bankbound anglers), and the difficulty of mastering it kept steelhead success the property of the few. The only exception were those anglers who could keep a spoon or spinner working near bottom (this method works best when the water is clear) without getting hung up every cast, an equally challenging method. Or those who had access to a drift or jet boat (by owning one or hiring a guide) from which they could employ “plug” or “diver n’ bait” methods, in which the bite is unmistakable. Things have changed a lot in more recent times as new steelhead methods have emerged, like the bobber-andjig technique, that make steelheading success easier than ever, even for the novice. All that’s required, besides a rod and reel and perhaps a pair of knee or hip boots, is a few bobbers (also known as floats) and a few bright-colored jigs. By comparison, it’s pretty easy to maneuver a bobber and jig through a drift and yank when it disappears, as opposed to bouncing the bottom of a snag-filled river while trying to feel for a bite that hardly exists. Jigs work best when rivers are low and clear or when working current edges, where steelhead often hang. The depth of the water determines how far your jig should extend below your float; try positioning it one-half to three-quarters of the way to the bottom, but middepth when the water is clear as gin. Fishing with your eyes rather than by feel can make steelheading easy for both bank and boat anglers and greatly up your odds of success. However, when the water is a foot higher than ideal, there are few methods as productive as the tried-and-true drift fishing. With winter steelhead beginning to enter most Northwest rivers, now is the time to give it a try. NS
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Steelheading On A Budget For Beginners T
hose who have not had the thrill of a magnificent steelhead on the end of their line simply can’t understand our obsession with winter-runs. We freeze our butts off in the middle of rivers for the chance to catch a fish that many times we will then WIESTSIDER release! Yes, to some this sounds like we’re By Terry Wiest nuts. And don’t get me wrong, we kinda are, but experiencing what a steelhead can do to your mind just once converts some of the most hardcore doubters into hardcore anglers, men and women alike. While many would-be anglers are astonished at how much money we sink into our passion, for beginners it really doesn’t have to be that way. You can always start out simple. Believe me, when you get hooked, you’ll be looking at those $300 rods, $200 reels, $400 waders, $200 boots, etc., but two key things for getting into the sport are actually free – the drive to catch one of the most magnificent fighting fish on the planet, and the patience to endure those times when you don’t find fish. For the beginner, the latter may come quite often, but here’s a true fact: Even for highly experienced and skilled anglers, a skunking is always a possibility, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. We steelheaders know you have to work for these fish, and maybe that’s why we love them and the sport so much: Catching one is never a given. But while the motivation costs very little, the basics – rod, reel, line, swivels, hooks, weight, lures – do require a bit of investment. There are two ways we can get started – the traditional drift fishing set-up (my recommendation), and float fishing. Both have their advantages that I’ll discuss below.
rod that can be used for other techniques, and the specs are just suggestions. I started out with an 8½-footer rated 10-17 pounds. Looking back, this was a “killer” rod that I caught many fish on. These days, probably not many people would recommend one
Deborah Turner shows off a nice winter steelhead. (STEVETURNERPHOTO.COM)
DRIFT FISHING To me, this is the method that every steelheader should start with. The premise of drift fishing outlines the entire gamut of how to fish for steelhead and why they bite. It also gives one an enormous sense of pride having conquered the hardest part of steelheading, detecting the bite. Once you’re relatively successful at drift fishing, all other techniques will just kind of fall into place. Another advantage of drift fishing is the rod. A good drift rod can be utilized for almost all other techniques. But to get started you’ll probably not want to invest too much money into equipment and gear until you get hooked – just in case you’re one of the few who struggle. I always suggest beginners go with a 9-foot fast-action rod rated 8-12 pounds. Again, this is a
with those specs as the ideal steelhead rod, but you utilize what you can afford. There are plenty of options out there for under $100. With drift fishing, “sensitivity” is key. The main difference between a sub-$100 rod and a $300-plus rod is that the material used is lighter, stronger and much more sensitive. Learn to feel a bite on a rod at the lower end of the cost spectrum and just wait until you experience what you feel with a top quality stick, such as the G.Loomis IMX Series! You’re also going to need a nice reel. I always suggest to purchase the best possible within your budget. A smooth drag will pay dividends in fish caught versus fish breaking off, or coming unbuttoned. A baitcaster is preferred for drift fishing,
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A full vest isn’t necessary – beginning steelheaders really can find success with as little terminal gear as a selection of pink, peach and pearl jigs or Corkies, depending on whether they start out as float or drift fishers. (TERRY WIEST) and even though some of the spinning reels are super sweet, I’d suggest a nice levelwind reel, hands down. Another suggestion is, if you’re right-handed, use a left-handed reel, and vice versa for left-handers. The reason is that when you cast, you don’t want to switch hands to engage the reel and to retrieve. This way you continue to hold the rod with your dominant hand. For under $100 the Shimano Caenan 100 or 101 is a pretty sweet low-profile reel with an awesome drag. I’m 100 percent sold on Shimano’s drag technology and swear by them. For slightly over $100 is the Shimano Cardiff 200A or 201A, a round-style reel preferred by most who are just starting out. Many will stay with the round reel, while others will migrate to the low-pro. It’s all about personal preference – me? I use both. For gear, the beginner can stay pretty simple. Size 10, 12 and 14 Li’l Corkies in pearl pink are sure winners. Other shades of pink and orange are good choices as well, and it’s wise to have some pink yarn. Tie a quality octopus-style hook (Owner, Gamakatsu) in size 4 or 2 via an egg-loop knot to some Ultragreen 10-pound leader behind 10-pound Ultragreen mainline with a 20-pound swivel between them. Pinch some hollow-core lead onto the tag end of the knot for weight, and you are fishing, my friend. The technique is simple: cast upstream (always) and let your presentation glide down and through the hole. With the leader being about 3 to 4 feet long, allow the weight to “tick” the bottom every few seconds. You do not want it to drag bottom, but not touching bottom is not good either. The periodic tick will let you 132 Northwest Sportsman
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know you’re in the strike zone, roughly 1 to 2 feet above bottom. As for the bite, well, that’s something you’ll just have to experience to feel. Many say it’s like sponge sucking your lure in. After years of experience, it becomes instinct, so much so that it’s actually one of the hardest things about fishing to describe. One of the most well-known drift fishing areas to explore is below the hatchery on the Bogachiel River, just west of Forks. Pay attention to how others there are working the water, especially those who are catching fish. Don’t crowd anyone, but don’t be afraid to ask questions of fellow anglers. Watching others fish for steelhead is second only to experiencing it yourself.
FLOAT FISHING Now, while float fishing happens to be my favorite technique for steelhead – in fact, I’ve written a book on it (Float Fishing for Salmon and Steelhead; Amato Publications) – I don’t necessarily feel it’s the best for beginning steelheaders. Why? It can be deceptive as to how steelheading should be. You cast a float out with a jig suspended underneath, watch it glide downriver, the float disappears, and boom – you have a fish! Well, it doesn’t always work that way, and to be ultraeffective there are many fine details that will distinguish you as an expert float fisherman. But compared to the skill it takes to detect one while drift fishing, feeling the bite is a no-brainer. A float fishing rod is a specialty rod, therefore it’s techniquespecific and of not much use for other methods. While I prefer
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the G.Loomis 1262, unless you know you’re going to love steelheading and float fishing will be your preferred technique, I’d try a less expensive rod first. There are several float rods out there for under $100. Look for a rod that’s between 10 and 10½ feet long and rated 8-12 pounds with moderate action. The 1262 is rated 6-10 pounds, which you’ll appreciate once you have a few fish under your belt. For a reel, go spinning! While some very good float fishermen still use baitcasters, the majority overwhelmingly employ spinning reels. Again, as with drift fishing, the drag is key and Shimano is the leader of the pack. For $100 get a Symetre 2500FL – this is a super-good reel with an incredible drag for this price point. Now if you want to feel something special, try the Stradic CI4 2500. It’s like butter! The set-up is simple. Use 30-pound PowerPro main line. Slide a bobber stop, a bead, a 3/8-ounce float and another bead on the mainline. Tie a palomar knot to a ¼-ounce inline weight. Add on a 3-foot leader of 10-pound Seaguar. Attach an 1/8-ounce jig to the leader using a clinch, or reverse clinch knot. And as for terminal offering, overall you can’t go wrong with a pink jig. Anything that’s close to the Beau Mac SMJ #02 and you’re money. You may want to get a few in pinks, whites and peaches, all in the 1/8-ounce size. For reference, the size of the float is equal to the inline weight plus the weight of the jig, so a ¼-ounce weight plus a 1/8-ounce jig
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equals a 3/8-ounce float. And here you go. Cast your presentation out and let it glide through the holes or slots. You do not want the jig to touch the bottom. Your float will tell you if this is the case by bobbing or going underwater. Adjust the bobber stop by 1-foot increments until you no longer touch the bottom on the drift. You are now in the strike zone. If the float goes down, set the hook! There’s probably no more famous float fishing water than Reiter Ponds on the Skykomish River. It’s as if Mother Nature created the spot solely with the intention that steelheaders would one day discover the method works really, really well here. Again, watch and talk with other anglers. Watch where they cast, how long their line is from float to jig, etc. This is a popular place to fish and many winter-runs will be caught here this season. While this tutorial was extremely brief, if you want to know more about float fishing, please read my book. If you want to talk to experts who can set you up within your budget, talk to Gabe Miller at SportCo in Fife and Brian Kim at Outdoor Emporium in Seattle (sportco.com). “Send them down,” says Miller. “We’ll take care of them and set them up, no matter what their budget.” You don’t need to spend a fortune to get started steelheading, but once you catch that first one, plan on adding to your collection – like the rest of us! NS
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DECEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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Northwest Sportsman 137
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HUNTING
‘Tri’ This Cast & Blast Steelhead, waterfowl to be had around Pasco, Kennewick and Richland. By Jeff Holmes
D
espite 300,000 residents in the Tri-Cities and adjoining communities – and a steady stream of out-of-area waterfowlers and steelheaders – the Columbia here is one of the Northwest’s best and most overlooked cast-andblast opportunities. Steelhead bound for the Ringold access and hatchery facility squirt past Kennewick, Pasco and Richland all fall and winter, holding in surprise locations from town all the way to the Wooden Power Lines, the upstream boundary of the winter fishery on the Hanford Reach. Meanwhile, abundant waterfowl – sometimes by the hundreds of thousands – descend on the area as winter drives birds south to plentiful open water and food sources. If you like killing hatchery steelhead and dumping ducks and geese, this December presents a new and exciting opportunity to double up in the Northwest’s waterfowl capital, where the gaudiest numbers of steelhead in the state are often caught. Book a room and relax in the evenings amidst good breweries, great wineries and the Northwest’s best Mexican food. Then get up early and blast greenheads, wigeon and geese, followed by a bobber-and-jig or side-drifting trip for abundant wintering summer steelhead. It’s as good as it sounds, especially if you grab a guide for a day of steelheading to reduce the learning curve on big water. Waterfowl hunting here can occasionally be tough, but even beginners can quickly get on birds through a little trial and error. Some of the Northwest’s best guide outfits operate within a short drive of town, including Burbank Guide Service (burbankgoose .com) and their famous set-up at Paul’s Ponds. Cold, miserable weather is the friend of both the waterfowler and steelheader – as can be even bluebirdnice days. There are plenty of birds and fish moving around most any day during December for a potentially good haul, and both weather patterns are common in the year’s last month. Granted, the ultimate windy duck day may make boat control difficult for steelheading. But the beauty of a Tri-Cities cast-and-blast trip is the ability to duck and goose hunt one day and steelhead the next, or to bring both into the mix on the same day when conditions allow, an easy feat for anglers with or without boats. Generally, when forecasts call for sustained winds of 12 mph or higher, that means gusts to 25 in the Tri-Cities area.
These are ideal days to sit with the wind at one’s back in a duck blind instead of getting blown around the Columbia fishing steelhead. Reliable boats piloted by experienced and cautious captains are tremendous aids for hunting and fishing the big waters of the Columbia, but shorebound anglers with waders also have a lot of options. The passages that follow provide a “getting-started” overview of steelhead and waterfowl opportunities within a short drive of town. They are many.
RINGOLD IS KNOWN throughout steelheading circles, as are nearby McNary and Ice Harbor Dams, and these are three of the Cadillac spots that attract Tri-Cities-based anglers. But lesser known are all the amazing points, ledges, boulder fields, manmade structures and rocky shorelines that concentrate steelhead in town and on the Hanford Reach.
The Reyes boys know about Tri-Cities’ winter opportunities, including its steelheading. Surrounded by brothers Issac and Ivan, Levi shows off a nice summer-run caught last winter side-drifting at Ringold. (DAIWA PHOTO CONTEST)
Steelhead here love structure just out of the main flow, and fish react to dramatic changes in current from Priest Rapids Dam. Moving around to find fish with a prospecting bobber-and-jig rig is fun and often yields success. Steelhead hold in good numbers from the Snake confluence all the way to the Wooden Power Lines. Ringold is surely the gem of this long stretch and is perhaps the best place to begin the search for newcomers to the fishery, but limits can be had elsewhere too. Moving around to find fish is key to being successful here because the fish move, regularly. Many Tri-Cities guides will take you on a steelhead trip, and most are reliable to excellent, including my friend and nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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HUNTING neighbor, Flatout Fishing’s Jerry Reyes (509-302-1240), who is arguably Ringold’s best side-drifter and an all-around slayer and fun dude to fish with everywhere from McNary to Ringold. I fish with him often, and he’s helped reduce my learning curve dramatically. But the guide I’ve spent the most time with in and around Tri-Cities is another friend, TJ Hester of Hester’s Sportfishing (hesterssportfishing .com). Both Reyes and Hester are my first choices for TriCities steelhead. No one spends as much time prospecting and dialing in the local steelie spots as they do, especially fish-bum Hester. And no one is as weird as him. I’ve run the Reach with Hester piloting his Alumaweld in a full-sized banana costume; also, a hockey mask. He’s as fun a guy to fish with as there is. Reyes and Hester are both entertainers, as well as great guides, and they fish excellent gear: Lamiglas for Hester and Edge Rods for Reyes. Hester side-drifts the river at times, but most of his clients’ time is spent fishing standard slip bobber rigs with a 3-foot leader of Maxima Fluorocarbon to either a coon shrimp or a shrimp-baited jig. Hester prefers Mack’s Rock Dancers. He sets bobber stops anywhere from 4 to 12 feet when fishing the Power Lines-to-town stretch, focusing most of his time at or around Ringold. Still, he finds fish everywhere and has a uniquely effective approach. He understands steelhead movement on the Hanford Reach at a high level, and he actively targets the many pods of fish that move around throughout winter. Steelhead here in December are killing time, eating a little and drawing energy from their mighty fat reserves, which are designed to carry them into their early spring spawn. “Steelhead, unlike kings, are complete wanderers and are the most curious of our fish,” says Hester. “They are found throughout the river system at all times of the year, but the big pods of fish you find travel around – upriver, downriver and even cross the river at times. I picture them being just bored until spawn time, so they just swim around. When king fishing on the Reach, you can go to one spot every day of the season and every day find fish; steelhead just wander too much to do that. Take the Wooden Power Lines to just below Ringold and break it up into quadrants. You can find fish in each section, but day to day, week to week and month to month will determine which section is firing best. However, the Ringold Hatchery section is as close to ‘consistent’ as you’re ever going to get pertaining to steelhead.” Many, myself included at times, get intimidated by the sheer vastness of the Columbia. Guides like Hester and Reyes share in common a strategy for overcoming the hugeness of the river: They fish it like any old river. “Take the extremely vast, large and mesmerizing Hanford Reach and break it down as a small stream,” says Hester. “Make the big river a little river and fish it as you would a small piece of water. Those tiny rock piles and points still hold fish like they do in the smaller waters; they just may 142 Northwest Sportsman
DECEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
be harder to locate. Flows do not seem to make a huge difference for me when it comes to the bite, but it does for locating fish. High flows flush fish to the bank, and in low flows they scatter. Steelhead here do not like to expend energy holding in heavy current, but they always want to be in a slow, walking-speed current. Find the seams, the gentle protected water. Steelhead and waterfowl are the same in this way: They just want to rest, and you can find birds in similar water on the free-flowing Columbia.”
INDEED, WATERFOWL OFTEN hold in and around good steelhead spots, and vice versa, but the waterfowling opportunities in the Tri-Cities area in December are vast and exceed the scope of the steelhead fishery. Whereas the Columbia is one of the most stable and least conditions-driven steelhead fisheries in the Northwest, the area’s waterfowl are almost entirely conditions-driven. Where and how to hunt this month will be dictated by how cold our weather is and how cold the weather is in Canada and the northern Columbia Basin. The Tri-Cities always holds lots of birds, but when open waters freeze over and holding water becomes scarce, and the need to feed in cold weather becomes greater, conditions can go from good to amazing fast. Birds will move between feed and water several times a day when the weather is cold, and the result can be waterfowl tornados cascading into cornfields and skies darkening with ducks and echoing with quacks and honks. The less open water there is and the colder it is, the more hunters will want to hug the big, open waters of the Columbia and the Snake’s Army Corps of Engineers Mitigation lands (www.nww.usace.army.mil). Finding places to hunt from Burbank to the Walla Walla River is pretty easy along Mallards and Canadas both shorelines of make up most of the the Columbia, with harvest around TriCities. (BRIAN LULL) lots of tumbleweeds and debris to build blinds and hide boats. Here the Columbia runs east, strangely, and the north shore of the river is the McNary National Wildlife Refuge and the famous Peninsula Unit and Casey Pond. Plenty of walk-in access exists at the refuge (fws.gov/refuge/mcnary), but boats allow even more freedom to move to premier locations not accessible to shorebound hunters. Still, walk-in hunters have lots of opportunities. Waders are required, and dogs help. I’ve seen one guy here using an elaborate tent-pole contraption to retrieve birds. And birds can be beyond plentiful in this stretch of river when it’s cold and frozen, but don’t
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HUNTING overlook smaller moving waters like wasteways, as well as the Touchet and Walla Walla Rivers. When ice does not lock up still waters, the hunting can be similarly amazing, especially for mallards and geese that enter the region in huge numbers when Arctic cold descends. The Sunnyside-Snake River Wildlife Area is broad and comprised of properties spanning the best of duck and goose habitat around Tri-Cities and the lower Yakima Valley. As a total noob to the sport and newcomer to Tri-Cities several years ago, I enjoyed hunts on some of these properties that defied my wildest imagination in terms of number of birds, number of easy shots, number of easy shots I could miss, and the sheer number of both northern mallard drakes and greater Canada geese that would approach my crummy decoy spreads. Competition for spots on public land can be fierce, so planning an allnighter is often in order on highly prized public duck waters. One great cast-and-blast approach would be to hit the steelhead hard in the morning if the conditions are good, and then do an evening scouting trip to some of the aforementioned properties or to other undeveloped shorelines of the Columbia. Options abound for great hunts, and a leisurely scout is a great transition from the water to the evening’s entertainment.
MY PREFERENCE IS to fish the Reach below and above Ringold and to hunt close to town, but amazing fishing can be had in the forebay of McNary Dam, just 25 miles from Tri-Cities. Similarly amazing hunting can be had on the Columbia at Plymouth and Paterson, just downstream from the dam. As long as you’re observing birds and finding undeveloped shorelines on the big river, there are tons of possibilities anywhere, and there are plenty of steelhead at places like Wallula Gap, the mouth of the Umatilla River and in countless undiscovered places that hang up wandering, wintering steelhead. Tri-Cities can enjoy some nasty winter weather, but in general it’s rather mild, and any day spent exploring the waters and skies in December is liable to be a good one. I try hard to hunt on goose days – Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays – because I have goose floater decoys, and the area is full of geese with a death wish. I’m not a huge fan of waterfowl meat, opting instead to make rich stocks with entire carcasses. But breasted goose soaked in milk and chicken-fried in strips is an exception that will force me to abandon the steelhead gear for the decoys and a super-early wake up or an all-nighter if I want to hunt dream spots like some of those in the Sunnyside-Snake River Wildlife Area that I’d be lynched for naming in print. NS
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DECEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
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Middleman’s Buck
Cameron King, author Randy King’s middle son, prepares to field dress the forked horn mule deer he harvested this fall in Idaho. (RANDY KING)
I
t was still dark when Cameron and I parked at the gate and got off “Pepe,” my little mule ATV. We closed the gate behind us and IN THE WILD walked slowly up a By Randy King high desert road to a drainage I had hunted heavily in archery season. The draw held a ton of legal, i.e. forked horn or smaller, deer. It was also Cameron’s tenth birthday, and at sunrise he was a legal hunter in the state of Idaho’s eyes. He carried his grandmother’s
CHEF
.243 over his shoulder, bright orange cap on his head and an ear-to-ear smile. We whisper talked about Pokémon, sagehens, school and hunting ethics. This was far from the first time Cameron had gone hunting with me – he has gone since before he could walk – but this was the first time he could shoot a deer. He was looking to make meat for his house and to be the first of King boys to shoot a deer. (His older brother drew a doe tag for later in the year, and missed a buck the prior year.) As we dropped into a small meadow I caught sight of mule deer heads on the horizon. It was one of those awkward
moments of being busted by deer and literally having nothing to do but stare back at them. Then hope they grow horns. One by one the small herd came to the crest of the ridge, caught sight of Cameron and I, and then took a hard left downhill. Thankfully, each deer gave us a clear look at the top of its head. The second to last deer was a small buck, a 3x1. It was one of those funky ones that clearly had damaged one of its horns while in velvet. But in this management unit, he was legal. The buck stopped for us at about 70 yards, blue sky and nothing else behind him. Cameron looked at me for guidance,
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Northwest Sportsman 149
COLUMN
ITALIAN SAUSAGE MAC N’ CHEESE
Italian Sausage Mac n’ Cheese. (RANDY KING) In honor of young hunters and meat makers I offer up a super simple and tasty venison macaroni-and-cheese recipe. Cheers to those taking out the next generation, and double cheers for the little ones who bring back dinner!
Italian Sausage This recipe is a riff on Alton Brown’s Italian sausage recipe, with the notable exception that it includes venison. This recipe yields 5 pounds and I will often double it for a big batch – it is great for all sorts of quick-and-easy Italian sausage needs. This will work on just about all redmeated animals too. 4 pounds ground venison 1 pound ground pork fat 1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. fennel seeds 1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 tbsp. coarse ground black pepper, fresh ¼ cup chopped parsley 150 Northwest Sportsman
DECEMBER 2015 | nwsportsmanmag.com
In a small, heavy-bottomed sauté pan toast the fennel seeds on medium heat until they are fragrant, or about five minutes. When cool add the fennel to a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle. (If you don’t have these, preground fennel will work – just add a teaspoon more and don’t toast it.) Next, mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, incorporating them well. Chill the mix in the refrigerator for at least an hour, then divide it into 1-pound balls. Freeze the portioned sausage for use at a later time.
Italian Sausage Mac n’ Cheese 1 pound Italian sausage, thawed (see above) 2 tbsp. flour 1 cup milk ½ pound Velveeta, diced 3 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni, cooked (1½ cups uncooked) ¼ cup Parmesan
¼ cup Italian-style bread crumbs 1 tbsp. chopped parsley Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a medium-sized sauce pan on medium for three minutes, then add the Italian sausage. Brown and crumble the sausage until fully cooked but retaining some moisture in the pan. Next, add the flour and incorporate fully. Then add the milk and reduce heat to low. Bring to a boil and let thicken. When thick, add a small amount of cheese at a time, making sure to stir to incorporate the dices fully. Add the noodles to the sauce, fold them gently to incorporate. Transfer noodle and sauce mix to a 3-quart casserole dish. Spread the mix evenly in the pan. Top with Parmesan, bread crumbs and parsley. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve hot. For more wild game recipes, please check out chefrandyking.com.
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Northwest Sportsman 151
COLUMN “Can you make that shot?” I asked. “No, you shoot him,” was his reply. I chambered a round, shot and the buck fell. I was thankful for the meat and the solid education for the new hunter in the family.
for permission to shoot. “Why can’t you shoot?” I asked, channeling my inner Socrates. “I can’t see what is behind him,” he said with a sigh. “No backstop, no shot,” I explained. The herd moved downhill from us, trying to get into a patch of timber. We paralleled them down the ridge, blocking them to one side. Several times the herd stopped at about 150 yards, giving Cameron a short window for a shot. But he could never quite put it together. As soon as he would get set up, the herd would move over a ridge or behind tall sage. The time they gave us was simply not enough for a 10-year-old to get an ethical shot off. Eventually, tired of being harassed, the herd made a break for the timber. They cut back our direction, dropped down into the valley and started up the other side. Then they made the typical mule deer mistake, stopping and looking back at us from about 200 yards out, about 100 further than I thought Cameron should shoot.
SIX DAYS LATER Cameron and I found ourselves glassing a lone buck, again on a skyline. He walked a ridgeline and showcased his horns, a perfect forky. But without a backstop, we let him walk down off the ridge and then promptly lost sight of him in the dull morning light. We also paralleled a herd of deer with several small bucks in it. But this time we were on the top of the ridge and they were about midway down the side. Each time we would get set up for a shot, the herd would move further than Cameron reliably could shoot. Eventually the deer had enough and set off down the valley. We lost them in the aspens. The hike back to the truck was several miles and Cameron’s legs were a little worn out when we got there, so we unloaded
the four-wheeler and went for a quick ride. Glassing from a ridgeline about a half mile away I caught sight of a lone white butt feeding uphill. It was near the top of the mountain and was going to be a grueling stalk. But the little I know about mule deer biology had me convinced that this solo deer was a buck. I figured, since no doe is ever alone, ergo, it must be a buck. We bushwhacked our way through buckbrush, sage and aspen, climbing from 6,500 feet to nearly 7,100 feet, and Cameron hardly complained. We whisper-talked about Pokémon, his recent birthday party and the student council elections that he had organized. We used sporadic pines between us and the lone deer as cover for our approach. The higher we climbed, the less often we saw the deer until it was completely out of sight. It had dropped into a small bowl in the side of the hill. On the approach I spotted a small outcropping of rocks jutting out of the buckbrush. I told Cameron that was our shooting location and that we would
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approach carefully. We slowed our pace to a crawl, watching ridges around us for an escaping deer. Slowly I climbed the rocks, finding the buck and then, thankfully, seeing he was a perfect forked horn. Seventy yards out and not spooked â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it might actually happen this time! Some days, in the course of a hunterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, things are just meant to be. This was one of those days. The little buck held while Cameron scooted around on the rocks for a solid 30 seconds trying to locate the deer and get positioned for a shot. He held while I helped to calm the shaking hands of my child, buck fever taking hold in a hilarious but nasty way. Eventually the buck slowly walked to 100 yards, broadside between two junipers and simply held. It was a true blessing when Cameron shot and the buck ran down the hill 70 yards and died, not 30 yards from where we stood. Cameron had worked for this animal. He had the patience, the judgment and the shooting skill to make meat. Cameron is now a deer hunter. NS
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154 Northwest Sportsman
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Yuletide Tips For The Outdoor Santa D
ecember means many things to active outdoorsmen and -women, but most of all it means taking a break, sharing good times and memories of the fall with family and friends, and even the buddies who are part of those memories. ON TARGET By Dave Workman Christmas is a good time for tinkering around the house, cleaning your guns, putting an edge on the knife and doing a little “playing Santa.” Here are some ideas:
IF YOU WANT to cheer up somebody with a stocking stuffer, check out the new Quiet-22 line of rimfire ammunition from CCI (vistaoutdoor.com). This stuff is designed for small game hunting, and the winter months ahead are a good time for popping lateseason rabbits. Designed to reduce the noise level considerably and loaded with a 40-grain Segmented Hollowpoint bullet that splits into three sections on impact, the Quiet-22 puts the hurt on small game instantly. They come in 50-round boxes, and this cartridge is loaded for accuracy out of a rimfire rifle or pistol. Sig Sauer (sigsauer.com/ammunition) recently announced a new load in its proprietary line of ammunition, this one for the classic .38 Super. It’s a +P Elite Performance round pushing either a 125-grain V-crown jacketed hollow point or a full-metal jacket bullet, at a muzzle velocity of 1,230 feet per second. These cartridges feature Ducta-Bright 7A coated brass for lubricity, reliable feeding and extraction, a n d corrosion
resistance. The .38 Super is a sizzler, and often overlooked as a reliable defensive, competition or small game and predator load.
GOT SOMEONE REALLY special on your shopping list? Browning (browning.com) has a new X-Bolt Varmint Stalker rifle, chambered in .204 Ruger, .223 Rem., .243 Win., and .308 Win. with a 24-inch heavy sporter contour barrel, and in .22-250 Rem. with a 26-inch barrel. The rifle wears a Mossy Oak Brush camouflage finish, and also features a barrel in nonreflective matte blued finish. Other standard features found on all X-Bolt rifles include a detachable rotary magazine, adjustable Feather Trigger, 60-degree bolt lift, bolt unlock button and Inflex Technology recoil pad. Now, for those who don’t care to put a rifle under the tree, put a gift certificate from a local gun shop in a long box and let your recipient pick his or her own gun! Browning also has a series of fixed-blade High Grade knives called the Storm Front Damascus. They feature 4¼-inch handforged Damascus hollow-ground steel blades, called the Stag Clip Point and Stag Drop Point. In the folder arena, there’s a Big Belly skinner and Drop Point, both with 3½-inch flat-ground blades and black ash hardwood handles. Browning offers three new Damascus Folder models, all with 31/16-inch hollow-ground Damascus blades featuring a lasercut Buckmark emblem. There’s a full Damascus model with Damascus handle or mother of pearl and mammoth tooth with Damascus bolsters. SHOOTERS HAVE TO protect their hearing, and Ghost Stryke hearing protection from Sport EAR (sportear.com) can be worn on the range and even in the field. It has four different-sized tips made from foam or silicone, and can be tailored by the user for maximum comfort. Engineered to compress noise at 85 decibels, the Ghost Stryke comes in different colors including black, tan and pink, and the noise level can be adjusted. Safety-conscious gun owners could easily put to use a new gun safe, and the Bellingham-based Bullets.com has a full line of rugged gun safes from Bald Eagle, designed and constructed especially for this Washington company. I’ve had a look at a
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Can’t go wrong with .22 ammo! CCI’s Quiet-22 line of rimfire ammunition is designed to reduce noise but still be deadly on small game. (CCI) nwsportsmanmag.com | DECEMBER 2015
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Browning’s new X-Bolt Varmint Stalker rifle is chambered in several calibers. (BROWNING)
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couple of them, and they’re well-built and rugged. For the home gunsmith, Pachmayr (pachmayr.com) offers Master Gunsmith products including: • A Master Gunsmith plug screw assortment with 120 pieces. There are screws to fit virtually all open scope and sight base holes, and there are a dozen each of the 10 most frequently required sizes. • The Master Gunsmith 10-piece screwdriver set that features hollow-ground, magnetized S2 steel tips. Each screwdriver has a through-shaft handle design with steel striking cap. The handles are polymer coated and feature triangular Torq Grip wings. • Pachmayr’s Ultimate Gunsmith tool kit is just the thing for professionals, with all kinds of useful tools. Included in the kit is a
DO-IT-YOURSELF GIFTS ARE often especially appreciated, and a few months ago, I knocked together a portable target stand that just might make a special present for a very active shooter. My total cost was about $30. I built this thing from standard 1-inch PVC tubing, available in any hardware store. I wish somebody had made one for me about 40 years ago because I would have gotten lots of use out of it. You’ll want to buy a couple of 10-foot 1-inchers cut to four 5-foot sections, plus four plastic elbows and two three-way joints. Add to that a can of cement, and head for the workshop. You will also need a good jigsaw or some kind of cutting tool. For the base, cut one of the 5-footers into equal lengths of 15 inches, because you can cut four equal pieces from a 60-inch piece of PVC. Next, cut a length of pipe that will spread the base legs wide enough to accommodate the target you plan to use between the 5-foot uprights, to be added later. Mine
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is cut to accommodate a Birchwood Casey silhouette target, which measures 24¾ inches across, so my cross pieces (a second one is used atop the two uprights) are cut at 25 inches to allow for a tight fit of the target between the uprights. Do not cement the elbows to the cross-pieces unless you have them on a level table or some other surface. That way, the elbows will line up. Also, do not cement the uprights into the threeway joints. They need to stay loose for setup and takedown.
IF YOU’VE GOT someone on the Christmas list who spends lots of time in the outdoors, they just might need a good chainsaw. I’ve found them indispensable when it’s time to set up a hunting camp. I had to buy a new Stihl earlier this year after some skunk stole mine, along with my Gerber axe. For someone who already owns a chainsaw, get them a six-pack of oil for mixing fuel.
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Author Dave Workman’s homemade portable shooting stand, an easy build that might make a shooter you know happy. (DAVE WORKMAN)
®
The cost of a hunting and fishing combo license is no small investment anymore. How about a subscription to Northwest Sportsman and its sister publications, American Shooting Journal and Alaska Sporting Journal? Want to help protect their gun rights into the future? Buy someone a membership in the National Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation or Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, where I work. These groups are fighting the good fight on your behalf, because there are well-financed groups that are working 24/7 to turn the Second Amendment into a tightly restricted government privilege. Be sure to send a Christmas card to each of your hunting pals, and for sure to your host who lets you hunt on his property. I was born on Christmas, and hope I’ve got quite a few left. I hope the same for all of you. Stay safe and shoot straight. NS
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Deer, Grouse, Even Steelie Ops On Tap NORTH F SOUND all hunts are winnowing down to the late primitive-weapon options for deer and elk in Northwest Washington, with the bulk of those opportunities in the By Doug Huddle lowlands. While access to the breadth of Eastern Washington upland gamebird haunts becomes more problematic as the snow flies, there are still options in December for last-chance pheasants and more traditional native feathered quarry, the ruffed grouse. And despite all controversy and discouraging verbiage surrounding the future of Puget Sound steelheading, while state fishery managers strive to save parts of the hatchery program, there still will be some opportunity, albeit for significantly lower numbers of the famed clipped versions of this gamefish species.
DECEMBER DEER
seats are acumen and skills that are vital to success. It’s amazing the number of deer that can occupy a small parcel of forested acreage or wooded stream corridor. It appears they’re inherently masters at hiding, moving and emerging from these places. Larger farms, especially those around Lynden that focus on growing berries, are among the best places to start making inquiries about access for these hunts. However, almost anywhere there’s a thicket, deer – along with rabbits and other critters – are likely to be residing. Preliminary site searching is much easier – and far less expensive – nowadays on the Internet with the advent of orthophoto-included websites such as Google Earth, Bing Maps and MSRmaps. Cyberscouting before taking to the road allows you to zero in on good spots without having to burn gallons in fuel expenses, and you can see well beyond the often-shortened sight-distance from public roads, as well. Real estate tax records are available online for Whatcom and
Complaints continue to come in regarding blacktails in ag country in Whatcom County. There are enough woodlots to support a number of these deer, and while most of the North Sound’s Cascade foothills are now closed during the general late hunt, an out-back stand for a crop-munching buck is a good bet for last-chance venison seekers in several game management units, depending on weapons type. Game cameras deployed over the years have found this racked bounty to be a well-established fact. Instead of finding just one or two male deer ensconced in the brush, in many locales accumulated snapshots amount to a rogue’s gallery of antlered blacktails. Several of my hunting confidantes who’ve prospected with trail cams over piles of apples came away surprised that they could actually choose the buck they wanted. That doesn’t mean these are easy or pushover hunts. Deer stalkers still must be students of their quarry’s behavioral tendencies. Also, if you’re not lucky enough to have an uncle or granddad with a Blacktail deer make a living hunkered down in small lowland woodlots, and a number of units 50- or 100-acre wooded or brushed-up tract, winning offer late fall options to bag a buck by bow, muzzleloader or shotgun. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST) over the farmer/owner to gain access is a significant and crucial first step. Along with the understanding of deer habits and permissions to hunt, accounting for the ever-changing general weather and microclimes, picking out places and setting up stands, blinds or tree
Skagit Counties at their respective assessor sites that will steer you to the landowners with whom you need to talk. Skagit and Snohomish County’s iMap systems are especially point-and-click easy for getting property information. Unfortunately, Whatcom
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County’s is a little more cumbersome. When dealing with farm land, often there is a lessee who has control of the property and can, if they choose and their lease allows, grant access. Considering the nature of this problem and demands made on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to deal with “trouble” deer here, a program that brings willing landowners together with hunters in an efficient and orderly fashion seems ideal. And within the next year there is expected to be in place a register-to-hunt system for aglands in Northwest Washington similar to the online program that features private-lands admission for hunting mostly east of the Cascades. It would go along with the current effort to provide increased waterfowl hunting opportunities locally. In case you’ve not visited WDFW’s online site, in this arrangement an agency staffer meets with willing owners to flesh out what he or she will allow in the way of hunting on their land. Simple terms and conditions are developed for each tract and then are presented online. If a surfing hunter finds an opportunity acceptable, and a date or dates to their liking are available, they can reserve the opportunity then and there in cyberspace. It saves a considerable amount of what can be frustrating courtships or introductions-and-turn-downs, and though there are no absolutes, it also saves time and gives both sides a greater
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LEAVES-OFF GROUSING Ruffed grouse are the last upland gamebird standing for most Westside hunters in December. Higher elevation blue, a.k.a. sooty, grouse on the west slopes of the Cascades, though still legal, are pretty much out of reach now, ensconced in their snowbound old-growth roosts. Also the Westside pheasant season, except in the abovementioned areas, is over, as are options for rare quail. Being largely ground-dwelling foragers that would rather sneak or run off instead of jumping to wing, ruffeds, or drummers as they’re also called when hidden within the bounds of their turf or rather brushy lairs, are only marginally easier to bag in December. Though the vast majority of ruffeds are shot as they stand in plain sight on a backwoods road, true grousers in the spirit of fair chase always choose the less productive but far more sporting foot pursuit of these native gamebirds into their brushshrouded coverts, or along abandoned logging roads. There’s no question that on the latter terms, drummers are a highly challenging quarry. When they’re not dodging human gunners and their canine hunting companions, grouse typically are evading ever-present winged predators in the form of forestdwelling or hunting hawks and owls. Open woodland habitat with great visibility does not promote grouse survival. Hunters can rule out younger closed-canopy
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degree of certainty how things will work. To work, however, landowners must deal in good faith and be trusting while hunters must sincerely abide by the rules and behave honestly.
NORTH SOUND STEELHEAD Surprisingly, though WDFW’s Puget Sound hatchery steelhead program teeters on the brink of its own demise, there will still be some early winter-run options in northern streams. The Skagit River, with its cultured production voluntarily suspended for at least 12 years by the state as a result of the April 2014 out-ofcourt settlement with Wild Fish Conservancy, will be open for gamefish (for two hatchery steelhead) in December and January. The Sauk River from its mouth to the Whitechuck River will be legally fishable through January’s end as well. On the upper Skagit, personal-use fishers have additional time to ply the Rockport-to-Marblemount reach, with its Barnaby, Washington Eddy, 101, Rocky Creek and Big Eddy Holes, together with the hatchery doorstep section (.9 mile up from the Skagit) of the Cascade River, open until Feb. 15. With no broodstock requirements to be met, all 353 adult hatchery early winter-run steelhead that are predicted to be coming back to the Skagit this season are fair game. The lower Samish fishery as far up as I-5 has a date with closure
MARINE & OUTBOARDS
Douglas fir stands that have just a smattering of sword ferns scattered across thick, bare duff – they’re just not hospitable to these birds. Nor do grouse last long in mature conifer forests where the first branches start 30 to 40 feet off the ground and provide lofty stalking perches for the aforementioned raptors. Mixed stands composed of alder and cottonwood with red cedar, western hemlock and Douglas fir are more likely holders of grouse. There should be moderately thick shrub growth, the so-called understory hierarchy of plants that give the birds the best cover. In covert-quality woods, I also look for a selection of downed trees that can serve as spring display or drumming logs for the males. Abandoned skid roads and watercourses are key components of good ruffed habitat in that they supply the daily dose of grit for grouse gizzards that’s an essential first phase of their digestion of the staple coarse vegetation, seeds and insects in their diets. A good pointing dog is a tremendous asset for woodland grousers here, just as they are in Upper Midwest and East Coast hardwood forests. Sans such detection it’s still possible to generate a few gunning opportunities on solo boot hunts. I will shoot ruffeds on the ground when I’m afoot, but frankly the majority of encounters are flushes, and of those, only a small percentage are going to be bona fide shooting chances. To stand any chance at all in off-road grouse hunting without
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New Year’s Eve. Clipped winter-runs haven’t been released in the river for more than a decade, so this is a stray-intercept fishery with not a lot of keeper action, though the limit is two a day. In the greater Nooksack basin, there’s still a possibility the hatchery winter-run program can be kept into the future. The Kendall Creek Hatchery has one brood-year lot of juveniles from spawning in January 2015 that managers hope they’ll get federal permission to release in May 2016. WDFW is also going ahead with plans to spawn returning adults this winter and to produce another brood-year with the expectation they may be liberated in May 2017. But with only one age-class of fish expected back, they might not get enough volitional recruits to accomplish the goal of getting about 165,000 fertile eggs. They’ve back-stopped against this shortfall by establishing a captive broodstock of about 1,100 fish made up of unreleased fin-clipped smolts and previously spawned adults to make up any potential deficit, but this is for all intents and purposes an experimental effort. The forecast hatchery steelhead return for the Nooksack is 115 adults. An additional 30 are expected back to Whatcom Creek. For these reasons, hatchery steelhead are going on the do-notkill/release-alive list in the main Nooksack (from the Lummi Nation boundary up to the confluence of the North and South Forks) and
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a dog you must be in a perpetual state of alertness. I also pull the choke from my 12 or 20 gauge and switch to No. 7 or 7½ lead loads (if legal to do so where I’m hunting), since I’m not likely to be able to effectively reach out more than 20 to 25 yards in the best and most likely grouse territory. I keep a long list of ground grouse beats in reserve for December hunts and generally won’t hunt them earlier in the season. I group them to hit in several hours of concerted hunting, but not the whole day. Unlike most road hunts, these sites will produce birds in all hours of daylight, not just early morning and late afternoon. –DH
It’s a different hunt than September’s, but ruffed grouse are open through the end of the year and offer a challenge for wingshooters willing to beat the brush. (BROWNING PHOTO CONTEST)
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the lower South Fork starting on or about the first of December. At the same time, the North and Middle Forks on the way up to Kendall Creek Hatchery will be closed to fishing to make sure fin-clipped adults that make it through the lower river gauntlet deliver their much-needed eggs to their production facility. Meanwhile, a seven-day-a-week treaty net fishery in the river for chums will continue through Dec. 9. Afterwards, commercial and subsistence fishers of at least one tribe are expected to deploy their nets three more times through New Year’s Eve, then a total of 10 days in the first half of January. State managers say it’s going to be tight, but with luck and angler cooperation, plus consent from federal overseers, the Nooksack’s hatchery steelhead program still can be saved. This winter’s only real steelhead return in the region will be in the Skykomish system, where smolt releases have continued under the settlement. The fish are headed for Reiter Ponds, east of Gold Bar, where there is good access on either side of the river down through and beyond Cable Hole. Drift boats launch at High Bridge and float to Sultan. There are also launches off Ben Howard Road and Lewis Street, and the latter is best for sleds.
PHEASANT FINALE Four release sites on northern Whidbey Island around Coupeville
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and Oak Harbor remain open for 15 days in December. These are locales where pen-raised pheasants were liberated in October and November, but also where this extension will not create conflicts with waterfowl hunters. In the 2015 Western Washington Pheasant Release Program pamphlet (available at wdfw.wa.gov), look for the Ebey Prairie, Arnold Farm, Seaplane Base (Navy) and OLF Coupeville (Navy) sites all clustered on north and central Whidbey Island. Most are in close proximity to State Route 20. These aren’t going to be the highly lucrative gunning options, more like mop-up endeavors for residual or escapee birds. The last release of the season on them was the day after Thanksgiving. There’s direct access to the Ebey and Arnold Road sites, but you must check in with the NAS Whidbey Environmental Office at (360) 257-1009 to hunt the Navy properties.
NEXT ISSUE Post-New Year’s snow geese and waterfowl, plus winter trout and blackmouth options. NS Editor’s note: Doug Huddle lives in Bellingham, is retired from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and has written about hunting and fishing in the Northwest for more than 32 years.
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