John Otness of Tacoma landed a 17.6-pound salmon and the $10,000 check for winning last weekend’s Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
Despite strong winds and changing weather, competitors in the weekend derby checked in 217 winter blackmouth. The average weight of checked fish was 8.44 pounds.
The $5,000 second-place winner was Steven Sevilla of Discovery Bay with a 15.5-pound fish. In third place, good for $1,500, was David Hansen of Port Angeles with a 15.3-pound salmon. Fourth place ($500) went to John Calkins of Shelton with a 15-pound fish.
RIVERS
Columbia: Steelhead fishing is good in The Dalles and John Day pools. Anglers also are catching a few steelhead and early spring chinook on the lower river, said a state report. Walleye angling is starting to pick up between Bonneville and McNary dams.
Cowlitz: The fishing is far from red hot right now, but some boaters pulling plugs or divers with coon shrimp are catching some bigger B-run steelhead. Bank anglers are really having to work hard to get a bite, said Marshall Borsom at Fish Country in Ethel.
Olympic Coast: The Sol Duc and Bogachiel have been the best choices in the last few days, according to Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center in Lynnwood. Side drifting eggs or corkies and yarn in red or orange has been working on the Sol Duc, while drifting pink or orange has been effective on the Bogachiel.
Skookumchuck: People online are reporting catching some whitefish, but there were no reports of steelhead.
Wynoochee: The fishing has been fair, although it has slowed down in recent days after the river level rose, said Ron Adams at Verle’s Sports Center in Shelton. The story is the same on the Satsop.
Yakima: The lower canyon has been fishing well in the last few days. The trout still are focusing on nymphs, such as skwala and stonefly patterns, said a staffer at Red’s Fly Shop in Ellensburg.
LAKES
Chelan: Trolling the lower basin is producing good numbers of lake trout. The larger fish seem to be coming either side of the Narrows near the yacht club, said Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service in Manson. Some anglers have been catching big rainbows shore-fishing with Fire Bait.
Lone: The lake has been producing good catches of trout. Fly anglers are stripping leeches and using chironomids under an indicator.
Offut: The recently stocked lake produced some limits over the weekend. People are using worms and Power Bait fished about 2 feet off the bottom.
Riffe: The lake is fishing really well for silvers. People are using worms, cocktail shrimp and lures like Kastmasters. Borsom said he had reports of people catching limits in 90 minutes. The fish are ranging from 12-16 inches.
Rufus Woods: Fishing with Pautzke’s Fire Bait near the lower pens has resulted in catching some fish, as have jigs, Jones said.
Spencer: The lake was producing limits fairly quickly. Try slowly trolling a worm with a couple of split shot 3 feet above the bait. Wedding Rings and orange Power Bait also are working.
SALTWATER
Hood Canal: Salmon fishing in the north end seems to have improved a bit, based on sampling done at the Misery Point boat ramp.
North Sound: The blackmouth action was fair to good in the Port Angeles area, based on creel checks. Sampling done at the Ediz Hook ramp showed anglers averaged a fish for every three people or so.
Tacoma: The salmon fishing was poor over the weekend, based on state sampling done at Point Defiance.
Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640 jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure
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