Fishing Report
Merrill-Lee Rasmussen of Eatonville won last weekend’s Rainbow RV Resorts fishing derby at Tanwax Lake. He won a new Minnkota trolling motor by landing a 5-pound, 9-ounce trout.
Taking second was Brian Strain of Eatonville (4 pounds, 14 ounces); third was Mika Maakeed of Puyallup (4 pounds, 13 ounces); fourth was Adam Rosman of Puyallup (4 pounds, 10 ounces) and fifth was Sam McMahan of Spanaway (4 pounds, 3 ounces).
More than 100 anglers hit the water for the derby. Anglers fishing from boats had better luck than from the dock, trolling with Woolly Buggers or Wedding Rings tipped with a worm.
RIVERS
Columbia: A state check last weekend showed 1,261 anglers had 135 adult and 13 jack summer chinook, 62 steelhead and 43 sockeye. Sturgeon fishing has been good in the Bonneville Pool, where boats averaged a little less than one legal-size fish per two rods. In the river below Bonneville Dam, the state last weekend sampled 367 shad anglers with 1,873 fish. On Sunday, more than 176,000 shad were counted at the dam. It was the season-high daily count to date. Almost 1.6 million shad have been counted so far this year.
Cowlitz: Fishing has been fair in recent days. There are spring chinook and summer-run steelhead throughout the system, but getting them to bite is sometimes a challenge. Steelhead are being targeted down at Blue Creek, with boaters running divers with coon shrimp and bank anglers using Glo Balls, corkies and yarn, sand shrimp and spoons, said Marshall Borsom at Fish Country. The springers are being caught all the way up to Barrier Dam, with boaters back-bouncing eggs, sand shrimp, tuna bellies, anchovies, etc. Bank anglers were using sand shrimp and eggs together.
Green: The water is high, but the fishing has been decent, said Todd Rock at Auburn Sports and Marine. People willing to put in their time are getting one or two fish a day. Bank anglers are using spoons, spinners or a bobber and jig, while boaters are using bait divers, shrimp or plugs. Cutthroat trout fishing also has been good.
Klickitat: Anglers continue to catch some spring chinook and steelhead, said a state report.
Toutle: Anglers are catching some hatchery summer-run steelhead in the South Fork.
Yakima: A surge of water from upriver lakes and tributaries had flows at Umtanum approaching 7,000 cubic feet per second, making it very difficult to fish.
LAKES
Alder: People are catching some rainbow trout near the dam and finding largemouth bass lurking in shallow water in the grass and stumps.
Mayfield: Fishing pressure has been light, but some boaters are catching a few trout trolling pop gear with Wedding Rings tipped with worms.
Riffe: Fishing for silvers is still going strong, with limits in no time for many people. When they bite, it seems that anything thrown at them works – worms, corn, cocktail shrimp, spinners, etc., Borsom said.
Steel: This Federal Way lake has been fishing very good for trout. Try using Power Eggs or dough bait floating off the bottom.
SALT WATER
South Sound: Salmon fishing has been fair in recent days despite the winds over the weekend, said Art Tachell at Point Defiance Boathouse Marina. Some fish reached 30 pounds but had to be released because they were wild. Jigging Point Wilson Darts has been working, as well as trolling flashers with spoons, hoochies or plugs.
Westport: Salmon fishing has been good to very good. Most of the fish have been weighing in the mid-teens. A lot of wild chinook were caught over the weekend, which is a good sign as the season changes Sunday, Rock said: Anglers will be able to keep one wild fish as part of the two-fish daily limit.
jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com 253-597-8640
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