Paterson Ducks

[NinePiner]

Hey Guys,

First post here.... and Im asking for a little guidance.  Forgive my manners as I do love to give back in the form of information and such and plan to do just that in the future.....   Some of my earliest memories getting after ducks was around the Paterson area on the Columbia.  I was 10 years old then, Im 35 now and work rules the roost in my world.  A good buddy of mine and I have forged a new appreciation for the wet and cold chasing ducks in cool new spots as well as some of the old haunts from a time that seems quite long ago.  I know that area is pretty special to a lot of duck guys for some fairly obvious reasons, but I thought Id ask if anybody had some simple knowledge to throw my way.  Im thinking of heading down with my pal next Tuesday and Wednesday for some weekday fun.  Simple as recent reports, areas to possibly focus, or even maybe just a good ribbing at my expense due to my "jumping the gun" so to speak in terms of forum etiquette.  I just love shooting the breeze too in regards to anything feathered or finned.  Im willing to trade some secrets on large winter trout by fly on the Yakima if anyone is interested in tit for tat info.....  Ive spent a lot of my years guiding and fishing all stretches of the river.

I appreciate any info and look forward to chatting with some fellow waterfowlers.... PM's welcome.

[Elkstuffer]

Welcome to the site NinePiner

Last I heard was that the cold spell we had a couple weeks ago froze up all of the sloughs and  shallow backwater. I don't know if it has melted away now or not. I'm sure there are birds down there, sure as heck aren't any around here. Just finding them might be the hard part. If you have two days to go down there you may be doing a scouting job on day one and hunting the 2nd. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

[Badhabit]

Last weekend the open bays didn't shoot very well. Guys who hiked in a half a mile to break a big hole in the ice did well but it was an ALL DAY hunt to their 21. We took a boat in at 5AM and  by legal shooting time there were no less than 12 groups we could see that had boated in. Closest group was about 200' away from us on our point. I'm not going to complain as everyone we saw had an equally bad day shooting ducks. We got 4. 1 mallard, 1 hen pintail, 1 gadwall and 1 common GE.

[NinePiner]

Sounds about how my weekend hunts have gone so far.....  Nice handle by the way BadHabit

Hoping the weekdays will prove to be a little less crowded.  One can hope.  Are there any areas down there that have regulated hunting days?  Or can you hunt any day of the week?  WDFW's info site is a bit confusing and does seem to show some weekly regulation in certain areas.... but    Another reason I'm here.....

Thanks fellas, looking forward to posting some success stories......

[270Shooter]

Patterson is in the umatilla national wildlife refuge, go to there website to find what areas are open on certain days.

[magnus100]

Sites 1, 2, and 15 are used to be the best sites. Don't hunt down there anymore.