The Washington Outdoor Report

BERKLEY BIG BASS TOURNAMENT – The Berkley Big Bass Tournament, canceled twice due to Covid pandemic restrictions, is “a go” for April 10. So far 87 teams are signed up for this one-day event taking place at MarDon Resort and Potholes Reservoir. The rules are interesting. You are only allowed to fish with Berkley hard baits and soft baits. Every hour, for seven hours, the biggest bass weighed in is worth $3,000 (if caught by an angler using an Abu Garcia rod or reel). At the end of the tournament, each of the hourly winners is given an envelope. One of those envelopes will have a piece of paper with a single word on it…SKEETER. Whatever team is holding that envelope will win a Skeeter fiberglass bass boat from Nixon’s Marine valued at over $42,000. I’ll be fishing this tournament with my best friend. However, if Las Vegas bookies were making odds on our chances of winning, I’m guessing they would be about 300 to 1.

COLUMBIA GORGE FISHING PICKING UP – Wendy Boyer at Gorge Outfitters Supply in Rufus says walleye fishing has been picking up for anglers on the Columbia River and increasing numbers of smallmouth bass are being caught as well. Washington state creel checks from the weekend of March 13th confirm that. In The Dalles Pool seven bank anglers kept five walleye and 59 walleye were caught by anglers fishing from 27 boats. Bank anglers in the John Day Pool struck out but for boat anglers the fishing was solid with anglers in 103 boats catching 211 walleye and 57 bass.

MULTI SEASON HUNT TAGS DUE SOON – Tagging out on a deer or elk is not always an easy thing to do in the Evergreen State but one way to improve your odds is to hunt for more than one season this fall. That’s where the multi-season hunt tag comes into play.

You have until March 31 to enter into a drawing for one of these tags and it only costs $7.10 if you are resident hunter to do so (per species). A random drawing will occur in mid-April and if you win, you’ll get to purchase this special tag which enables you to participate in not only the general rifle season this year, but also the archery and muzzleloader seasons as well. You still only get to harvest one deer (and/or elk) each season, but having the ability to hunt all three seasons definitely increases your odds of bringing home meat instead of eating lean tag soup.

The applications can be purchased online through the WDFW website or from authorized license dealers.

SPRING TURKEY PROSPECTS – Spring turkey hunting season is just around the corner with a youth taking place April 3 and 4 and the general hunt opener happening on April 15. That means now is the time to pattern that shotgun (using a life-sized turkey paper target of course) and buy your new license with a turkey tag. It’s also time to start scouting and contacting private landowners to seek permission to hunt on their property.

John Kruse – northwesternoutdoors.com and americaoutdoorsradio.com