Anglers are having increased success fishing for salmon on the Hanford Reach for fall kings, and success will take a significant turn for the better on the Icicle River for coho salmon. The river level on the Icicle has come up and more fish have entered the river.

I got a call from my friend Brian Anantatmula inviting me to join him for a run down to Wanapum Dam. He loves fishing for salmon and really wanted to give this area of the Columbia River a try. I fished down here last season a couple of times and in late August. My fishing buddy, James Lebow landed a king that must have weighed 30 pounds. Getting that fish surprised me as I usually don’t consider fishing down here until later in October.

I checked out the area last week and saw a pretty good fleet of boats trolling off the mouth of Crab Creek. Brian put the boat in at the launch off Huntzinger Road and we ran down and joined a fleet of a dozen boats trolling near the mouth of Crab Creek.

If you haven’t used this launch you will appreciate its location. Putting your boat in here avoids the white knuckle run across the shallow rock shelf below Wanapum Dam. We can thank Grant County PUD for this great facility. Like most of the anglers, I am sure, we were trolling Super Baits and Spin Fish behind flashers. Two rods were on downriggers, and one was out the back on a 12 ounce lead ball. While we were trolling we both watched the other boats. Only one boat was landing anything. This boat was just below the mouth of Crab Creek. He was pretty close to the shore and using large divers with Mag Lips or Kwik Fish, I couldn’t tell which, and he landed three fish while we were there. This week’s photo is of Dan Schleiffers with Shane Magnuson with a whopper he got a few years back.

Coho salmon continue to trickle into the Icicle River at Leavenworth. Recent rain will really push them up from the Wenatchee and into the stretch below the National Fish Hatchery. When they shut off the irrigation canal, which I believe will happen on Friday, the river will come up even more, and make fishing even better. I have lost a fish a day this week, and finally put one on the bank Thursday morning. No fish were rolling that morning and getting one looked doubtful. It was a big surprise when the 28-inch male grabbed my Rock Dancer jig.

I have been saying that all we needed was some rain to move the coho salmon from the Wenatchee River into the Icicle. We didn’t get a lot, but it was enough. I was so confident that I took my gear this time when I went to check on the conditions on Tuesday. Just as I stepped out of my truck to take a look I saw an angler setting the hook and land a nice fish. This was his second one of the morning. He was fishing from the handicapped platform but landed his first fish further downstream. I walked down to a point below him, and sure enough, there were fish splashing on the surface. I managed to hang up and lose a jig right away and then a “new line” issue added to my frustration. Finally, my jig got heavy and a big, and very bright coho rolled on the top of the water. He rolled a couple of times and threw the hook. The sight will haunt me until I get one to the bank.

The area below the handicapped platform is where fish had grabbed my jig earlier in the week, and the same area produced for me on Thursday. Anglers should try to use light jigs while the river is as low as it is right now. Heavier jigs can be used when the level and flows increase. A good old Rock Dancer jig in purple and charise, which was one of my favorites for steelhead, has produced better than anything so far on the Icicle. The fish are still very bright with dark red meat. These early fish are terrific!

According to Paul Hoffarth with WDFW’s Region 3, the salmon fishing effort and harvest continues to increase in the Hanford Reach fall salmon fishery. A run update was completed this last week for the Hanford Reach fall chinook return. The wild return is currently estimated at 66,842 adult chinook, similar to the preseason forecast (67,293). Based on the in-season update, harvest allocated to the Hanford Reach sport fishery is expected to be sufficient to continue the fishery with a two adult limit through the end of the scheduled season.

From September 20 through September 26, WDFW staff interviewed anglers from 718 boats (1,840 anglers) and 134 bank anglers with a harvest of 643 adult chinook, 58 jacks, and 11 coho. Boats averaged 17 angler hours per salmon, 1 salmon per boat. Bank anglers averaged 42 hours per salmon.
Based on sampling, an estimated 2,222 adult chinook, 199 chinook jacks, and 38 coho were harvested during 6,629 angler trips this past week. For the season, 6,624 adult chinook, 506 chinook jacks, and 101 coho have been harvested.

The counts of coho salmon over Bonneville Dam are the highest passage observed for this time of year since 2001.

In contrast, the cumulative steelhead passage over Bonneville Dam is the lowest on record (61,221). The cumulative unclipped steelhead passage (22,072) is the lowest since clipped and unclipped counting began in 1994. We can only hope that some serious plans for recovery in the works for this extremely important species.

Something anglers should find interesting is the much improved Weekender Report from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The report allows folks to look for opportunities for all kinds of outdoor activities. You can select the region you want to learn about, and I am very impressed with the format and content of this report compared to what was offered in years past.
I just can’t get enough of the coho fishing on the Icicle. Bright coho just ten minutes from my home – how can you beat that!