While the fall fishery for Chinook salmon has ended on the Hanford Reach, there are many other great fishing opportunities in the region. Steelhead fishing on a certain section of the upper Columbia and the Methow River has opened for the first time in nine years. Perch and crappie fishing is great on Moses Lake, too.

I had a busy day last Saturday. I traveled to Vernita to shoot a video of fishing for fall salmon on the Columbia River, in the Hanford Reach. I started at Priest Rapids Dam, and then drove my truck downstream to talk about the most popular spots to fish for fall kings in this area of the Reach. In a narration style, in order to include as many of the known fishing holes in this stretch of the Columbia as possible. In addition to including descriptions of these spots, all the way down to the B Reactor, I talk about the techniques that anglers use to catch the big kings that return to the Reach. I show the boat launches located just above the Vernita Bridge and mention that there are changes coming to the boating access and camping here. I will keep you updated as these changes come about. The Chinook fishing season in the Hanford is ending, but the best fishing areas that I describe, and the techniques used to catch these big kings will be the same. You will want to refer to this video on the Dave Graybill YouTube channel to make the most of your future fishing trips to the Hanford Reach.

Anglers in the region have something significant to celebrate. A section of the upper Columbia River and the Methow River is going to be opened to fishing for steelhead beginning on October 16th, and until further notice. This gives fans of steelhead fishing the opportunity to catch hatchery steelhead for the first time in many years. Anglers will be able to fish from the Beebe Bridge up to the Highway 173 Bridge at Brewster. The Methow will be open from the mouth to Burma Road. Fishing will also be open to the retention of coho salmon. The daily limit will be two hatchery steelhead or two Coho salmon or one of each. All other salmon and steelhead must be released. The retention of hatchery steelhead is mandatory. The minimum size is 20 inches for steelhead and 12 inches for coho. Selective gear rules are in effect, except that bait is allowed. A night closure is also in effect. Also, steelhead with an intact adipose fin must be released immediately, unharmed, and cannot be removed from the water. On the Methow, fishing from a floating device is prohibited from one mile upstream from the mouth to four miles upstream from the mouth. Please read the WDFW’s news release on this for complete details. See you out there!

Like many other anglers, I am getting my steelhead fishing gear organized. I dug out my bobber and jig rods and will be replacing the leaders and stop knots. I have a whole bunch of jigs ready, in a variety of sizes and colors. One thing that I have learned over the years is that when it comes to jigs, bigger isn’t necessarily better. If you aren’t getting bites, go smaller, not larger, even when using bait. Also, I have a couple of very good videos on how to set up for bobber and jig fishing for Steelhead. If you search the Dave Graybill channel on YouTube for “How to Rig for steelhead with a Bobber and Jig”, you will find a good one. This video has received over 182,000 views. Another one to watch after this one is called “How to Tie a Bobber and Jig Stop Knot”. This has received over 190,000 views and many people have sent me very positive comments thanking me for this one. I have trolled plugs and divers with bait many times with very good success on the Columbia, but casting a bobber and jig is my favorite way to catch steelhead. It works great from the shore or from a boat.

There is good news for anglers that enjoy catching perch. There haven’t been that many places where you could consistently catch perch of any size in recent years. I had been trying to get to Park and Blue lakes, where I had heard that the perch were of very good size and in good numbers. However, I found Moses Lake a great place to fish for perch. My friend James Lebow and I gave it a try on Monday, and it was by far the best day of perch fishing we have had in years. We started our day off at the bottom end of Goat Island in 12 to 15 feet of water and were into fish immediately. I was casting a drop shot style set up with a piece of nightcrawler on the hook and caught fish after fish. James tied on an eighth ounce jig head, baited with either a crawler or a perch eye, and was as busy as I was. Most of the perch were eight to ten inches, and we saw a 14 inch perch landed in the boat next to us.

James and I found out that the crappie fishing was amazing, too. He had heard that they were catching them near the I-90 Bridge, and after putting a bunch of fat perch in this live well near Goat Island, we ran up to the bridge. We tied to one of the pilings on the north side of the bridge and put our lines out. There was an angler above us dropping his line into the water from the bridge and hauling in crappie after crappie. He showed us the chartreuse jig he was using, and James found something similar in his tackle box. We moved to the south side, just to be in the sun. The jig worked, and we started catching crappie, too. James said it was the best crappie fishing he had seen since he was a youngster. Most of the crappie are just under the 9 inch size limit but you can still take some keepers home if you stick with it. The crappie are back at Moses Lake! This week’s photo is of one of the crappie we caught on Moses Lake.