With the fall-like weather comes some really good news for fall fishing. Anglers are starting to have better success on the Hanford Reach, and now there is a bonus limit of coho salmon to make it even more fun.

The most exciting news for fall fishing is the huge return of coho salmon to the upper Columbia and Icicle rivers. Over 138,000 have passed Bonneville Dam, and they are still coming at a rate of over 3,000 a day. Anglers who are fishing above Priest Rapids Dam of the upper Columbia are able to keep two adult Chinook and four coho per day. The four-fish coho daily limit is in effect on the main stem Columbia all the way up to Wells Dam. 

The Icicle River is also open to fishing for coho, with the same four-fish daily limit. I stopped to look at the Icicle below the National Fish Hatchery on Saturday morning. I thought I would see a bunch of anglers on the bank here, but there was no one there fishing. The water is so low that if there was a fish in the river I would have seen it. Over 16,000 coho have passed over Rock Island Dam and it appears that they are staying in the main stem Columbia. I am going to give that a try with my brother Rick on the Columbia early next week. It sure looks like the Columbia will be the place to get coho until we get a few days of heavy rain, and then it will be game on for the Icicle.

Last year I waited to go until there was a really heavy rain in Leavenworth, and I even gave it a day or two to settle down. On my third cast I got a hit that almost tore the rod out of my hand. This week’s photo is of the fish I managed to land. Even though the fish looked pretty gnarly, the meat was a deep red and was delicious.

Thursday was full of surprises. I chose to go to Banks on Thursday as it had the best forecast, with little wind. What a surprise when we arrived to find it blowing a stiff ten-plus miles per hour. Not enough to keep my brother in-law Tom Verschuren and I off the water, though. 

We launched at Northrup, and I ran down and round the Poplars, where it looked pretty calm when we drove by. Down went the bow mount to work the rip rap along the highway. Surprise, surprise I had no thrust. No matter what I did with the controls I couldn’t get the prop to spin. While I maneuvered the boat with the big motor Tom cast to the bank and almost immediately hooked and landed a nice smallmouth. I got one myself a short while later. When the wind died slightly, we ran across the lake and worked a bank on the far side. We got a few hits, and he landed another smallmouth. I had a nice blowup on a topwater plug. 

We realized that we really weren’t fishing right, and I needed to get my bow mount problem solved. We stopped at the Electric Fisherman’s shop in Moses Lake on the way home, and Scott tried to fix the motor while we were there, but he was stumped—he had never come across the issue with the motor before. That was an unexpected surprise, too. Scott is the real expert in the area for Minn Kota repairs. He told me he fixed 350 motor so far this year. 
When I stopped back to pick up the motor the following day, he told me that even the tech he spoke to at Minn Kota had never come across the problem before. Turned out to be an armature issue, which is very rare, particularly on motor less than a year old. 

Salmon fishing activity is on the rise as more and more fall Chinook move up the Columbia River and into the Hanford Reach. The numbers over Bonneville are excellent this year, and fish are still coming at a rate of over eight or nine thousand per day. 

Paul Hoffarth, who is with the Washington Department of Wildlife in the Yakima office, is providing regular updates on the progress of the fishery and monitoring the fishing effort. He reports that the counts are well above the 2017 through 2020 counts. Anglers are always eager to get at these fish and many will start right when it opens in mid-August. They struggle in the early season, but do better and better as more and more fish move up the system. 
For example, Hoffarth reported that through the week of September 7th anglers averaged just one fish for every 26 hours of effort. The most recent report said that anglers were now averaging just over 18 hours of effort per fish. That’s a big improvement, and angler success will continue to increase as the numbers of fall Chinook increase on the Hanford Reach. If you plan on fishing at Vernita this season, get ready. The fish will be there soon.

In recognition of National and Washington Public Lands Day, Washington State Parks, Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will offer free entrance to state lands on Saturday, Sept. 25. On this day, visitors to Washington state lands will not need a Discover Pass to park. Discover Pass free days apply to all visitor parking on DNR and WDFW lands and in day-use areas at Washington state parks.

In 1994, National Public Lands Day was established as the fourth Saturday in September. The National Environmental Education Foundation coordinates the special day every year. In 2019, the Washington state Legislature passed a bill proclaiming the fourth Saturday in September as Washington Public Lands Day.

Part of the E-Letter that I just sent out was a list of my top prospects for the fall. It is always my wish list of fisheries that I want to try in the coming season. Close to the top of the list is Sprague Lake. The lake is between Ritzville and Spokane and known for producing very good numbers of big rainbow. I fished it a few years ago and had very good success and have always wanted to go back. See all my prospects for fall by signing up for my free E-Letter, Hope to see you out there!