TriCities Chinook/Steelhead

[drysideshooter]

Looks like we should hopefully have some more Chinook headed through the TriCities in the next week or two?  The numbers over Bonneville have dropped to almost nothing and it sounds like Biologists think we've probably seen about all we will over that dam, which means a smaller than expected run. Looks like quite a few fish potentially between there and here though.

I went out the last two days and didn't see hardly any fish on the sonar between the 395 bridge and Howard Amon Park, where just a few days before there were a lot. Should be good news for the folks fishing further upriver.  Everything I have been seeing has been in mid water column, with the fish being 15-30 feet or so deep.  Is that what everyone else has been seeing as well?

Anyone having much luck getting steelhead to bite yet?  Water is still pretty warm, around 64 degrees yesterday.  We have fished the Snake pretty hard and thrown everything at the large number of fish there and haven't had much luck yet.

Tight lines everyone.

[Badhabit]

The guide boats are dog piled in the long drift above Ringold. Lots of nets waiving. Most all hookups on the downstream troll. Some fish being caught on drifting eggs now as well as the Brads. I know some guys that troll lighted plugs around midnight just above McNary and do well but no reports yet. I can give you a report on Monday how Hellar Bar is fishing.

[gaddy]

Pretty much the same here. My last few trips were around Baitmans and the only fish to hit was at about 40' in 60' of water. Had it to the boat twice when it decided to make a screaming run, spun out a lot of line before the leader on the brads let loose  . The only leader i hadent tied myself ( I had been warned about the line that comes on the brads) and the only fish on for me this year. Hope to get out today for another shot.
I haven't seen any caught and the fish checkers say the most caught have been above ringold. 
I'm thinking about running a spoon and smaller flasher mid column to see what happens, or maybe less weight and farther behind the boat ? I talked to an older guy at the launch that was running spinners with no luck but he was seeing the same thing with fish being mid column.
Good luck ! If you find something that works don't be shy about letting me know. I really want to land a couple before season ends.

[drysideshooter]

I have heard the fishing at Vernita and Ringold has been pretty decent, I just don't like the crowds.

Bummer you lost that fish gaddy.  I lost a nice fish myself below Ice Harbor a few weeks ago. First cast of the day with a bobber and eggs. Must have hit the fish and miffed it off or something because several hours later there weren't any more hits. 

I have talked with a few guys that have done okay between the blue bridge and Howard Amon running 11" pro trolls and Brad's with oil tuna, trolling downstream at about 3mph GPS speed.  I've duplicated that and not had success there yet.  A few days were spent with more time clearing weeds from gear than actually fishing, which doesn't help. 

I am going to head out tomorrow morning about sunrise and give it another try, and then head above Ice Harbor for steelhead on Friday.  I should have an empty seat since my wife can't make it if anyone would like to go along and fish.  I have a comfy 21' aluminum boat with a top.  I will launch at the ramp by the blue bridge at Columbia Park tomorrow morning and the corp ramp above Ice Harbor Friday morning. If anyone want's to go along send me a PM. 

[gaddy]

Same, Same for me. I tried a few times launching at Leslie Grove park and heading up river a bit as well. I also don't like crowds and was reluctant to hit Baitmans but I lucked out with not a lot of boats. Heading out now to give it a shot. I did notice a few boats working shallower water the last couple of trips, I might try that as well.

[C-Money]

We are hitting the Bluffs in the morning. Had one good hit with no fish last trip, and two hits and two kings in the boat the time out before that. Been slow!! Good luck everyone!

[drysideshooter]

Same, Same for me. I tried a few times launching at Leslie Grove park and heading up river a bit as well. I also don't like crowds and was reluctant to hit Baitmans but I lucked out with not a lot of boats. Heading out now to give it a shot. I did notice a few boats working shallower water the last couple of trips, I might try that as well.

Good luck gaddy, hope you hear some good news after your trip.  I am still planning to launch at around sunrise tomorrow.  If there aren't many boats around Bateman I will probably troll around the Yakima delta a bit there.  Hoping to see more fish on the sonar. When the wife and I went out yesterday there were only a fraction of the fish we had been seeing, but they can move in pretty quickly.  Wife said she can go with me Friday so we will try steelhead above Ice Harbor.  Everyone I have talked with that has any success up there has been using a float and shrimp or a float with a jig with a chunk of shrimp.  Anyone else heard anything different or had success with anything different lately? We were there a long time yesterday and there were a lot of fish, mostly at 15' or deeper in 30-85 feet of water.  A couple folks have told me that regardless of the depth of the fish to have the shrimp or jig at 7'.  Any thoughts on that?

[drysideshooter]

I ended up getting a 26 pound wild male chinook this morning when I went out. How did you do yesterday gaddy?

I saw quite a few other boats out there and was wondering if any of them were you gaddy.  I didn't see or talk with anyone else that had landed any fish today.

[drysideshooter]

This mornings fish.

[syoungs]

I usually leave my jigs at 9' and up, even when marking fish lower. I've tried matching depths and haven't had much luck. I'll be headed out to above mcnary this weekend to try for steelhead, haven't even wet a line for salmon this year, looks like I haven't missed much though.

[gaddy]

Not good for me Dryside, all was good until i got to the top of my troll lane for my first pass. Went to throttle down and the motor went flat dead. There was only 3 boats and thankfully one was Tim's adventures ? I was paddling my ass off to get to the baitmans side when he pulled up with a boat full of clients and towed me in ( I had just taken out the electric troller since it has been running so well). THANKS AGAIN TIM IF YOU ARE ON HERE. Been checking connections and crap since i got in yesterday and have no spark.
Good for you on the fish, That's a dandy and i bet it was fun.
As far as Steel-head above Ice harbor, I always used a blood red hook with the leader squired from head to tail on a full shrimp, (I got a 6" needle) the whiskers on the shrimp hide the hook. No jig, a weighted slip bobber at about 5 to 7'. An old man up there showed me this and he did well. Cant really say the same for me but i got a couple, I'm not real good at tending the line from shore and missed a few take downs, but i got take downs when others weren't. I also learned to wax the line to keep it on top of the water, another reason I wasn't so successful as I could have been. Good Luck!! The fish counts look good at Ice Harbor.

[drysideshooter]

Sorry you had motor problems, that can be frustrating. Good on the guide for giving assistance though. There are still some really good people out there.

Thanks for the info on the shrimp rigging.  My wife and I are going to head up that way tomorrow unless she decides she would rather try chinook in the Columbia. Since it's a Friday I am guessing it will be less crowded above Ice Harbor. 

I saw a guide boat on the river this morning with a few clients, as well as some other boats.  I ended up locating some fish where nobody else was around and pulled that one out of the group. 

[gaddy]

Just a thought, but if the guides are there ?

[drysideshooter]

I grew up and spent 33 years in Alaska and have close friends that are guides.   Guides can do a great job, but some times they are looking for the fish just like everyone else.  My wife and I have talked with walleye guides on days that we have a boat full of fish and they haven't put their clients on any.    As competent as they are, I never blindly trust they are on the fish where they are.  They can be a great source of information though, and from my experience most are pretty friendly folks..

[drysideshooter]

A few more days on the river and not another fish, though there are plenty showing on the sonar.  I saw one person catch a small jack, and everyone else that I have talked with has had similar slow fishing.  I am seeing a lot of fish in the 18'-25' range, traveling and not holding. I have seen some holding in slack current areas and trolled through them as well.  I have run sardine wrapped kwikfish right through them as well as about every color Brad's superbait behind various color flashers, and tried a Brad's cut plug in rotten bananna, all run in the middle of where the fish are showing, and above them a bit, as well as close to the bottom.  It's been frustratingly slow, and I can say that having lived in Alaska for 33 years and fished extensively there, I have never seen anything quite like it.  I have run quite a bit of gear close to enough fish that it's almost mind boggling to not get one to make a go at it. 

The only thing I haven't tried is plunking with either some eggs or a Kwikfish style lure.  I may give that a go but have to admit that I'm quickly losing interest.

The good news is the water was down to about 63.4 this morning, so it's cooling off nicely and hopefully the steelhead bite will pick up a bit soon.  About ready to call it quits on the CR salmon for this year.

[C-Money]

Its been a tough year. I have only put 4 fish in my boat this fall, kinda embarrassing...

[syoungs]

Steelhead opened up a bit above mcnary this weekend. Saw over a dozen caught, 2 boats of 4 limited, saw a few salmon caught there as well by the guys trolling, water temps coming down so it should start getting good soon!

[drysideshooter]

Steelhead opened up a bit above mcnary this weekend. Saw over a dozen caught, 2 boats of 4 limited, saw a few salmon caught there as well by the guys trolling, water temps coming down so it should start getting good soon!

That's good news.  I've been on the river somewhere about every day for a couple weeks and the water temperature has started to cool quite a bit more the last several days. 

[drysideshooter]

I personally think the behavior of a lot of the chinook has to do with the fact that an estimated 80% are hatchery fish, and I assume some of the remaining 20% could be the result of some wild/hatchery fish reproduction.  As anyone that has fished much in areas where the salmon are wild can tell you, the behavior of the fish are different.  Sort of like it is fairly widely acknowledged that wild steelhead are more likely to take some types of presentations than hatchery fish.  The wild fish are probably more aggressive.  I know it's the result of all of the dams and the need for inexpensive power but it's still a bit sad for sure.