RIVERS
Columbia: The Bonneville Pool has been the spot for sturgeon anglers. Boat anglers last week averaged nearly a legal kept fish per boat, said a state report. Through Sunday an estimated 737 legal-size fish have been kept. The 2011 guideline was 2,000 fish. The guidelines for 2012 have not been finalized.
Green: The upper river is fishable and is producing a few steelhead to plunkers, said Todd Rock at Auburn Sports and Marine. He warned floaters to watch for new logjams after the most recent high water.
Lewis: The East Fork is producing an occasional steelhead.
Olympic Coast: The rivers are finally fishable, but high winds this week have kept people away, said Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods. He said people have not been able to fish the last eight or nine days.
Rocky Ford: Drift scuds through faster-moving sections to hook some trout. The best fishing has been early in the day, according to online reports.
Skookumchuck: Fishing has been slow. Some cutthroat trout are being caught, but no mention of steelhead.
Skykomish: The river has been off and on, with people catching some steelhead from the mouth of the Wallace River up to Reiter Ponds area. Try using gear in green.
Wynoochee: The river has been fishing well, but this rain could make it rise again, said Walt Harvey at Verle’s Sports Center.
Yakima: The lower canyon stretch has been unfishable because of ice, but the stretch near Ellensburg has been OK a few hours each day, said a report from Red’s Fly Shop.
LAKES
Chelan: Fish the deep water on either side of the Narrows near the Chelan Yacht Club for large lake trout, said Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service. Most fish have been biting from 260 to 340 feet deep.
Pass: Trout anglers have had some success, when the winds weren’t causing havoc. Leeches seem to be the most effective pattern, according to online reports.
Roses: This lake outside Manson has been good for ice fishing. People are catching trout and lots of perch. Anglers are mostly dangling dough baits through the ice for planter rainbow trout and worms and jigs for perch, Jones said.
Rufus Woods: Bait fishing for triploid rainbow trout near the lower net pens remains good to very good. Jones said they have been using Fire Bait’s Mallow Balls O’ Fire, as well as some jigs.
Sammamish: Cutthroat trout fishing has been good to very good in recent days. Rock recommends trolling with a 3-inch needlefish or a Wedding Ring tipped with a night crawler 75 to 100 feet behind the boat.
SALT WATER
North Sound: The best blackmouth fishing has been around Friday Harbor. A state sampling Saturday showed 10 anglers brought in 10 chinook.
South Sound: Salmon fishing in Marine Area 13 has been very slow. A state sample of two anglers at Les Davis Pier on Saturday showed they had caught three striped sea perch.
Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640 jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure
