The big news in my area was the opening of the Icicle River for fishing for coho salmon. It had been four years since we’ve had the chance to fish for coho, and anglers were out enjoying beautiful fall weather and catching a good number of them.

A couple of people that have been taking full advantage of the coho fishery on the Icicle River in Leavenworth have been my neighbor Dan Fisk and his son Calder. Calder just turned eight years old recently, but he is a veteran angler. On the opening day of the season last Saturday, the father and son duo only managed to land a bull trout, which was carefully released. However, the next day they had better luck, catching four coho. Dan had asked me if I had any purple and black jigs. I rummaged around in my garage and one of the first ones I came across was one that was given to me years ago. It was tied with “Husky” colors, so it had a purple head, black throat and gold Crystal Flash in the purple feathers. This turned out to be the winner. In the photo of this week’s column you will see Calder holding the coho he caught, with the “Husky” jig in its jaw.

I really appreciate how often Calder’s dad Dan gets him out fishing. Calder always has some fishing stories for me. This youngster’s passion for fishing is why so many of us work so hard and dedicate our time to make sure that he has many more good days on the water into the future.

Anglers that are interested in trying their luck fishing for these coho should know that there is still plenty of time. There are good numbers of fish in the Icicle right now, but more are on the way. Fishing for them isn’t too difficult either. Twitching jigs is the preferred method, and I have seen all kinds of different colors used. A jig of an eighth ounce to a quarter ounce will be adequate in the Icicle as the water is very low and clear. I have also learned that getting on the water early is important. One angler said that he went down to the river at first light the day before it opened, and he said the river was packed with them. He was in the area of the handicapped platform below the hatchery. He said that when he approached the river all the fish scattered. He stood still for a while and they came back, but you can imagine that the fish will surely head out when a bunch of anglers show up and begin casting.

These fish are part of an effort by the Yakima Tribe to re-introduce coho to some of our tributaries. I want to briefly remind anglers that the limit is two fish. Barbless hooks are voluntary. No bait is allowed. Night fishing is not allowed, and the two pole endorsement may not be used in this fishery. The no bait thing isn’t a big deal as most of these fish will readily hit a jig. I watched anglers on the Icicle the last time it was open, and it was really fun watching the coho pounce on these jigs. The best fishing was downstream from the hatchery, above the drift boat put in. I urge those who are interested in trying for coho on the Icicle to be sure to read the official news release to get all the details about the season and regulations. You will find the release at www.dfw.wa.gov.

You may have read or heard my report about a trip I made to Rufus Woods last week. I didn’t do worth a darn, but I did learn some things. One of the fish checkers with the Colville Tribe stopped by while we were there, and I had talked to another with the same job earlier in the week. They both had said that the fishing had been slow, due to very low flows and still warm water temperatures. This confirmed something that I had already knew about fishing Rufus Woods, or anywhere on the upper Columbia River for that matter. You need current to have good fishing. That goes for trout, walleye, kokanee, whatever. Water temperature isn’t so much of a concern, as we did well at the net pens in July. However, we were reminded that probably the best fishing of the year is in February. I think this has something to do with the number of lines in the water. Rufus gets a lot of anglers out in the winter months.

Also, that 14-pound fish that I mentioned being caught the day before we were there had a tag. Turns out it was released in 2015. It weighed less than 2 pounds when it was released. It shows how big these triploids get in four years after release. Consider that the tribe releases 30 to 50,000 of them every year and you will see why so many people are fishing for big triploids on Rufus Woods.

I ran into Travis Maitland, area biologist for our region out of the Wenatchee office of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. He said that he surveyed the kokanee spawning in the Stehekin River and the future looks good. He also mentioned that the number of Chinook in Lake Chelan are excellent, and he is even hearing of some kokanee being caught. I have had good fishing for kokanee in the month of November the past couple of seasons and I want to get up there and see if I can get some this year. I also haven’t spent enough time fishing for kings, and plan to spend some time doing this until the heavy snow I usually get here in Leavenworth forces me to store the boat for winter.

Man, it can be hard to decide what to do this time of year. When many anglers have already put their boats away for the winter months, I am torn between several options. I want to try Chelan for kings and kokanee, Rufus Woods for more triploids, and Lake Roosevelt for rainbow. I have my fingers crossed that there are some big kokanee showing up in Lake Roosevelt this winter, too.

Whatever I do or whatever direction I go, I will be sure to let you know how I do. Good luck or bad!