The Washington Outdoor Report week of February 26

SPRING SALMON SEASON SET

Fisheries managers in Oregon and Washington have published the spring Chinook salmon seasons for the Columbia River and it’s tributaries. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the season will look similar to last year.

The 2023 forecast for upriver spring Chinook is 198,600 fish, an increase over the 185,209 that returned in 2022, and significantly higher than the 10-year average of 150,485 fish. While fishing is open now from the mouth of the Columbia River to the Interstate 5 bridge, most anglers wait until late March or early April to target these fish which arrive in good numbers during this time frame.

The Columbia will open for the following dates and locations in 2023:

March 1 - April 7: Buoy 10 line upstream to Beacon Rock (boat and bank), plus bank angling only by hand-cast from Beacon Rock upstream to the Bonneville Dam deadline.

April 1 - May 6: From the Tower Island power lines (approximately 6 miles below The Dalles Dam) upstream to the Oregon/Washington border, plus bank angling by hand-cast only between Bonneville Dam and the Tower Island power lines.

Daily limit 6, including no more than two adults of which no more than one may be an adult Chinook. Release all wild steelhead and all salmon other than hatchery Chinook. Salmon minimum size 12 inches.

Anglers can also expect to harvest spring Chinook in the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis Rivers in 2023, with regulations for those fisheries listed in the 2022-23 fishing regulations pamphlet. There is no word yet about spring Chinook fishing in the Yakima and Icicle Rivers. Expect to hear more about these fisheries in late April or early May. 

NEW STATE RECORD WHITEFISH

From the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife we learn a Davenport angler who attends Gonzaga University reeled in an unexpected catch while fishing for walleye at Lake Roosevelt on February 11. Gavin Boggs was fishing with a college friend near the Lincoln boat launch that afternoon when he hooked into something very big.

Boggs said, “I was targeting walleye at a depth of around 75 feet using a four-inch swim bait and it was a pretty tough day on the water. We did mark a lot of fish on the fish-finder but had only caught one walleye before this big fish took my lure.”

Boggs, whose family has a place at Seven Bays toward the southern end of Lake Roosevelt, continued his story saying, “As soon as I hooked it, I thought it was a big walleye. I carefully let the fish do its thing down below the boat and then when it came to the surface and we netted the fish, I was totally surprised. I’ve never targeted    whitefish in Lake Roosevelt. It is my favorite place to fish for smallmouth bass and walleye, and this has changed my mind about fishing for lake whitefish.”

Gavin caught the fish in the late afternoon and he texted his father about the catch.  Gavin’s dad, Tony Boggs, did some research and told his son he might have a new state record on his hands.

According to WDFW, Boggs immediately iced the fish in a cooler and drove from Seven Bays to Davenport Family Foods, where an official scale verified the weight as 7.86 pounds. The store owner, a friend of the Boggs family, stayed late just so Gavin could have it officially weighed.

Gavin then took the fish to the WDFW Spokane regional office on February 14 where biologist Danny Garrett measured this new state-record lake whitefish at 26.25 inches long with a girth of 16 inches.

The old state record weighed 7.5 pounds and was caught Feb. 19, 2021, by Jacob White at Cox Lake in Franklin County. Gavin said Jacob actually reached out to him on Facebook to congratulate him and “pass the torch”.

Will this record be broken again soon? Possibly. WDFW conducted a netting survey at Lake Roosevelt last fall and caught quite a few lake whitefish, to include one that weighed 9.5 pounds.

POTHOLES RESERVOIR IS OPEN

Pete Fischer at MarDon Resort reports Potholes Reservoir is iced out! The past week brought temperatures in the upper 50s with strong winds and according to Pete, “you could literally watch the ice recede”. Pete does not expect the lake to freeze over again despite the recent cold spell.

What does this mean for anglers? If you like to catch walleye or rainbow trout this is good news. The walleye will be as big as they get as they prepare to spawn. Using blade baits or jigs is an effective way to target these tasty fish at this time of year and as the water begins to warm, trolling a spinner worm harness such as a Mack’s Lure Wally Pop or Cha Cha Crawler at 1.5 to 1 mph will entice bites.

Trout anglers can catch sizeable rainbows from the shore at Medicare Beach, Potholes State Park or MarDon Resort. If you have a boat, try trolling for them near Medicare Beach or off the mouth of Frenchman’s Wasteway. A Berkley Flicker Shad is a very good lure for rainbow trout here.

Looking for more information? Call the MarDon Resort tackle store for current conditions and fishing information at 509-346-2651.

John Kruse – www.northwesternoutdoors.com and www.americaoutdoorsradio.com