I had a great time fishing below Wells Dam for kings this week. Plus, there are some great reports coming from the Hanford Reach for fall Chinook. I also can see a really fun fishery developing on the Icicle for coho. These are just a few of the terrific fisheries available to anglers this fall in our region.

I had a video shoot scheduled with North 40 Productions on Wednesday. They wanted to get some footage of catching salmon on the Columbia River for the Chelan County PUD. North 40 is doing work for the PUD as the utility is updating their Discovery Center at Rocky Reach Dam.

I decided to have Jeff Ostenson and Charles Atkinson from the production company meet me and my brother-in-law Tom Verschueren at the launch below Wells Dam. The weather was perfect for doing some video. It was clear and sunny and no wind at all. I felt confident that we could get what they needed here. Of course, I was nervous. Haven’t you invited someone to come fishing with you and wanted to really show them a good day and then Lady Luck turned her back on you? It’s happened to all of us.

Well, Lady Luck was smiling on me. I was back trolling Mag Lip Flatfish, wrapped with sardine, in a short stretch of river. We had just enough current to allow me to use this technique. A very small jack grabbed my lure on the first pass. A 12-pound king took the bait on the second pass and another king was landed on the third pass. Jeff and Charles had the footage they needed of salmon being landed and we dropped them off at the dock to set up their gear for an interview. We had a few minutes so Tom and I went back out and he landed another king. And get this: they were all keeper hatchery fish! How’s that for good luck. This week’s photo is the “set” on the ramp below Wells Dam.

This time of the season is when many anglers consider the best time to fish the Hanford Reach. There are usually very good numbers of big fall Chinook in this stretch of the Columbia by now and fishing can be excellent. This could be the best year since 2015 to fish the Reach. The run forecast has been upgraded again and a total of 514,000 fall Chinook are expected to enter the Columbia River this year.

This time of the season can be when to switch from Super Baits to back trolling eggs. This is a highly effective technique for taking fall Chinook. I have just posted a link to a video I did a few years ago with guide Shane Magnuson on fishing eggs at Vernita. Look for it on the Fishing TV Page on my Home Page at www.fishingmagician.com. There are miles of good water to use this technique in the Reach. I have caught lots of kings doing this just below Priest Rapids Dam. Last season I fished with Austin Moser, who was back trolling eggs in a spot right off the edge of the bar above the power lines, and he limited the boat here. Once you figure out how to rig this with enough Corkies to keep you from hanging up your big gob of eggs and get your boat speed right, you will have terrific success taking fall kings in the Reach.

I drove over to the National Fish Hatchery in Leavenworth to check on the coho salmon fishery. I spotted a few anglers below the hatchery and around the corner below the bridge. Then I walked onto the hatchery grounds. I could see a bunch of coho stacked up at the intake to the holding ponds and quite a few fish in the ponds.

I ran into Greg Wolfe, who works with the Yakima Tribe on the reintroduction effort. I learned that with the help of the Fish and Wildlife Service, who manage the hatchery here, that 500,000 coho are reared and released at the facility. Another 400,000 are released from acclimation ponds near Plain and even further up the Wenatchee River. There is another reintroduction effort being made in the Methow River.

Although there have been some coho taken on the Icicle River, which opened on October 1st, angler success should really improve with the recent heavy rain in the Leavenworth area. Wolfe suggested anglers should use Blue Fox spinners to catch coho. I observed many coho being taken by anglers twitching jigs to catch them the last time the fish showed up below the hatchery here in Leavenworth. Wolfe also mentioned that there are some larger coho showing up this year, and some really bright fish too.

A friend of mine sent me a great photo of a dandy crappie that he got on Potholes Reservoir. This is something I would really like to do. Good crappie fisheries are hard to find, but it looks like there is a good one on Potholes. I also have heard that the walleye bite has really improved on Potholes too. This is the time of the year when walleye and bass sense the coming of the cold season and put on the feed bag. I hope to get a chance to check it out soon.

My brother Rick was able to make another trip to Rufus Woods Reservoir. His buddies took him to the same place we fished a couple of weeks ago. This time they got their triploids, trolling naked Slow Death Hook rigs. They also put four really nice walleye in the cooler. I just don’t know why this great fishing for triploids and walleye wouldn’t continue through the fall and into the winter this season.

Something else to think about as our seasons change, particularly where I live in Leavenworth, is potential interactions with bears. We are in the habit of keeping our garbage inside and even freeze things like fish scraps until the day of pickup. It is also a good idea to remove bird feeders from your property. Fruit should be removed from trees, even from the highest branches. Most certainly don’t feed wild animals. Once fed they will return. Be sure to keep chickens and their feed confined and keep pet food indoors. Follow these simple guidelines and you avoid negative interactions with bears.

After this rain spell passes we should see the sun again. Get out and enjoy it!