Can you believe the great fall weather we’re having? This is a good time of year to be on the water and when the temperatures are in the 80s it makes it all that more inviting to get out in the boat. Once again, I made a trip up to Rufus Woods and had a great day catching big triploids. I have plans to do some salmon fishing below Wells Dam and maybe some bass fishing somewhere soon.

My good friend Rollie Schmitten had heard of the great fun I was having catching big rainbow on Rufus Woods Reservoir and he really wanted to try it. I also owed my brother-in-law Tom Verschueren another shot at these fish. We were blanked on a trip earlier this year, which seems impossible now.

On Wednesday of this week we launched the Kingfisher at Seatons Grove on a beautiful sunny and warm fall day and headed down the river to the upper net pens. When we crossed the bridge below Grand Coulee Dam and saw the river, I was nervous as there was very little current. I like to have a decent current flowing when I am fishing on the Columbia. We did manage to take three very nice triploids from the area I have been very successful trolling this season. The fish were dandies, too. One of them was probably 8 or 9 pounds. We were going downstream with bottom bouncers and Slow Death Hook rigs. In addition to the trout we were getting, we were getting our nightcrawlers stolen by walleye. We reeled in many baits with the classic worm nipped off right at the hook.

The bite just wasn’t good enough for my standards so we dropped down to the middle pens to see how we would do. We hooked a few fish deep but were getting our baits picked off by walleye here too. Rollie had been watching the fish finder closely and he came up with the idea of maybe fishing our baits 30 to 40 feet deep instead of just off the bottom. We weren’t bothered by walleye stealing our baits anymore. Soon we had our limits of fat triploids. This week’s photo is of Rollie with one of the fish we caught.

If you would like to take your family and friends out for a really fun day of catching fish, I would highly recommend this fishery. It has been terrific all summer and I can’t imagine it slowing down anytime soon. I also want to remind everyone that these fish are being released into Rufus Woods by the Colville Tribe. They should be thanked for keeping good numbers of triploids in Rufus Woods so we can enjoy this fishery.

We had some great surprises this season. There was a better than expected return of summer run salmon to the upper Columbia River. We had a great return of sockeye so there was a fishery on Lake Wenatchee. The fall run is also coming strong, even larger than anticipated, and these big kings are still showing up to the Hanford Reach.

Here’s another piece of good news for upper Columbia River anglers. There are significant numbers of coho making their way into the region this year and anglers are able to add coho to their catches now. In addition to two adult Chinook that may be kept from Priest Rapids Dam to the Rock Island Dam, anglers can also keep two coho. From Rock Island Dam to Rocky Reach Dam anglers can keep two adult Chinook and two coho. Wild Chinook must be released in this stretch of the river. Also, now open to coho salmon fishing is the Icicle River. Anglers can keep two coho through November 30th. Please read the official news releases on these fisheries to be sure you get all the details. The good news for salmon fishing this season just keeps on coming!

Some of you may know that Chelan County PUD closed their Discovery Center at Rocky Reach Dam last fall. I attended the last opportunity to see the extensive interpretive displays that showed the history of the area and the impact of hydro power in our region. Work has begun on the updated Discovery Center which should reopen in the next year or so. I have known and worked with many of the people involved with the PUD’s fishery programs and

I mentioned to the managers of the Discovery Center that I would be happy to help in any way, so that recreational fishing could be part of the updated center. On Wednesday of this week I will be meeting some folks from North 40 Productions to shoot some video on salmon fishing below Wells Dam. This has been one of my favorite fisheries. I have taken a lot of folks here this time of year and have done battle with lots of big kings. I like to back troll big Flatfish wrapped with sardines. I use the big divers and let them walk over the rocks in about 20 feet of water below the Power Lines.

I mentioned in an earlier column that we had made a trip to Lake Coeur d’Alene. When you cross the border into Idaho you must stop at an inspection station. They are looking for Quagga and zebra mussels that are a very scary critters that have infested many lakes in the Midwest. On the way home you stop at an inspection station in Washington. As usual the inspection was quick and easy, and we got a nice surprise. Sergeant Taylor saw my truck and boat and came out to introduce us to a special member of the WDFW Enforcement staff. “Puddles” is a Russel terrier mix breed rescue dog that has had some very special training. Puddles can actually sniff out these invasive mussels, that are undetectable to the human eye, if they have attached themselves to your boat. This is a very important program conducted by the WDFW and deserves full funding even in these tough times.

I wanted to let folks know that Washington State Parks is offering another free day at our parks throughout the state. Saturday, October 10th a Discovery Pass is not required to access our parks. This replaces the second of two days that were postponed due to the COVID-19 related park closures.

Get out and enjoy this wonderful fall weather!