I got out on the Icicle a couple of times this past week. It rained hard last Friday, and that should help. The weather kept me off the water for the most part, but I did try for cutthroat near the Monument at Lake Chelan.

My friend Brian Anantatmula wanted to try the coho fishing on the Icicle, so we met near the handicapped platform early Friday morning. There were already a couple anglers casting and we joined the fun. We didn’t get any hits at this spot, so he moved upstream, and I moved downstream to see if we could find a fish. He actually hooked one and lost it, and I had a couple of fish chase first my jig, and then a spoon, I was casting right to the bank but didn’t grab on.
Did I mention it was raining? Yes, the rain that was forecasted poured down on Thursday evening and it was still sporadically raining on us Friday morning. It looked like the river had come up slightly. On Saturday I stopped at a fishing hole on East Leavenworth Road to see what was happening there, and I came upon a sight that I never grow tired of. There was a father and son fishing here, and they had a coho on the bank. The Dad went to their truck to get a stringer, but he didn’t get far. His son yelled—Dad I got one! Dad ran back and netted the fish, the first salmon ever for his son. I am not sure who was happier—the proud Dad who helped his son get his first salmon, or the boy himself. This week’s photo is of young Bryce Maier and his Dad Brian.

I had hoped that the rain we got on Wednesday in Leavenworth would be enough to raise the level of the Icicle and bring some fresh fish into the river. I took my gear to my favorite stretch on Thursday morning and found it wasn’t the case. The river was low and clear. I did see one fish landed and the angler was nice enough to let me take a photo of the spoon he caught it on. He said he had been fishing jigs on previous trips and decided to try something different, and it worked.

The highlight of my morning was running into my old friend Fred Harvey. He is a member of the Colville Tribe and worked at the Cashmere Museum for many years. Fred is known for his flint knapping and he gave me an obsidian knife that he had made. It’s one of my most prized possessions.

Looking at the weather forecasts for the coming week there is a lot of rain coming into our region. It should be enough to raise the Icicle, give it some color and move some fresh fish up from the Wenatchee River. Coho fishing should improve dramatically.

I mentioned in my report about the kokanee fishing at Lake Chelan that we were pestered with cutthroat. As most anglers who fish Lake Chelan know there are a lot of cutthroat trout in the lake. You can catch them in the lower basin, and I have encountered them way up the lake in places all the way to Stehekin. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has been planting the lake with these trout for many years. I remembered that there are folks who like to cast for them from the Monument area on Chelan and have even done this myself with success.

Last Tuesday was a beautiful day and I decided to run up there and try it. I arrived in the afternoon and the steep hillside put the water in shadow. I found a likely spot to cast a Rooster Tail spinner and tossed it way out into the lake and let it sink. On my third cast, which I made parallel to the shore something grabbed the lure. Oh boy, I thought, a cutthroat. Nope it was a smallmouth bass. Emphasis on small. I watched the water and saw nothing rising, which is usually a sign that cutthroat are present, and decided to try again another day.

As many of you are aware that in 2019 the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife took an action that eliminated daily bag limits on walleye and smallmouth bass in the Columbia River. This sent alarm bells among the bass and walleye fishing community. These species are very popular among recreational anglers. Concerns for the dwindling numbers of salmon and steelhead returning to the Columbia, and recommendations from the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force prompted this move.

Also, in 2019 the WDFW Commission directed the department to provide guidance for the management of non-native species. The result is a proposed policy on the non-native game fish and fisheries. A draft of this policy was presented at the Commission meeting on October 21st through 23rd.

This policy continues be under review with the Advisory Committee and public input is still being heard. Anglers interested in the draft policy can find it by going to the WDFW website and clicking on the WDFW Commission. You can find this item on the agenda for the October meeting. You can either review the policy online or download and print it.

There has been a bounty program for pike minnows on the Columbia River below Priest Rapids Dam for many years, and in recent years a bounty program has been in place for northern pike on Lake Roosevelt. These programs are part of the effort to protect salmon and steelhead on the Columbia River.

Anglers have been waiting for the kind of rainfall we have seen in the Leavenworth area for weeks. The anticipated huge return of coho to the Icicle River has been stalled by low water and the rain is all that is needed to ignite this fishery. I can’t wait to get out and try it next week. Anglers have had some success already on the Icicle for coho, but it’s just going to get better and better.