March 20-April 2, 2002

Contact: Madonna Luers, (509) 456-4073

Despite the late-winter cold and snow throughout much of the state, spring is officially here.

The signs are all around: Hungry rainbow trout are hitting virtually everything on the end of fishing lines at early-opening and year-round lakes throughout the state, and big, beautiful hatchery spring chinook salmon are being reeled in on the lower Columbia River.

The sight and sound of thousands of 4-foot-tall, prehistoric-looking sandhill cranes, making their migratory stopover in the Columbia Basin, are hard to miss.

Razor clam digging opens on several ocean beaches March 27 and runs through the end of the month.

Those are just a few of the seasonal delights popping up all over Washington. There's lots more fish and wildlife recreation to enjoy now and as the new season advances, from the last weeks of blackmouth fishing in Puget Sound to the growing procession of spring migrant songbirds at backyard feeders and nestboxes.

Before getting caught up in the fever of spring, outdoor enthusiasts need to take care of a few "paperwork" details:

• New fishing licenses are required April 1. Fees remain the same: $21.90 for freshwater fishing for adults (16-69 years of age); $19.71 for saltwater; $7.67 for shellfish/seaweed, and $39.42 for all three in combination. Licenses can be purchased at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) offices and dealers across the state (for locales, see http://wdfw.wa.gov/lic/vendors/vendors.htm) or by credit card over the Internet at http://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/.
• The current sport fishing rules pamphlet remains in effect through April 30. The new rules pamphlet takes effect May 1 and will be available at license dealers and WDFW offices shortly before then. Rule changes are summarized at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/2002ces.htm on the Internet.
• Catch record cards for salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, Dungeness crab and halibut fishing during 2001-02 seasons need to be returned to WDFW as soon as possible or by the end of April at the latest, even if nothing was caught. If a catch record card has been lost, the catch tables provided on a mailed reminder must be completed and returned to WDFW's Fish Program, Catch Record Cards, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091.
• Spring turkey hunters preparing for the season opener in mid-April must complete a harvest report if they hunted last year before purchasing this year's license and tag. Elk, deer, and bear hunters, many who are planning to apply for special permits later this spring, must do the same. The mandatory reports, which will improve game management, must be filed over the phone at 1-(877)-945-3492 or on-line at http://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/ on the Internet.

Details of fishing, wildlife watching, and other springtime activities are in the following regional reports:

North Puget Sound:

• Fishing: The recent return to winter-like weather – especially high winds – has put the damper on what has been an up-and-down blackmouth fishing season, said Tony Floor, WDFW's Puget Sound recreational fishing coordinator. Nonetheless, there are still blackmouth for the catching, provided anglers can get to the fish through all the wind. Blackmouth season ends April 10, and good afternoon tides this weekend (March 23-24) might be a good time to hit the saltwater. Try the northern San Juan Islands, around Anacortes, or the waters north of Whidbey Island. Trout fishers need warmer weather to trigger afternoon insect hatches before catch rates start to improve on year ‘round fishing waters. One more way to get early trout action is to visit your favorite year ‘round fishing lake right after the hatchery fish are stocked. Six King County lakes – Green, Twelve, Morton, Deep, Spring and Beaver – are scheduled to receive or rainbow trout plants in the 8- to 10-inch range throughout March. Green and Beaver lakes are splitting more than 300 1- to 3- pound broodstock trout. In Pierce County, early trout plants are scheduled for Bonney, Harts, Wapato, Waughop, Whitman, Kapowsin, Spanaway and Bradley lakes. A reminder to crab fishers -- soft-shell conditions have lead to some fishing closures in North Sound. "We just closed Marine Area 9, and the Bellingham Bay portion of Marine Area 7, and we could see additional area closures in the near future," said WDFW shellfish biologist Rich Childers. "We are continuing sampling for crab shell hardness to see if we can identify any kind of annual pattern that would allow us to set our seasons and have programmatic closures for soft-shell conditions, rather than making a number of emergency in-season closures."Childers also noted that soft-shell closures are all-gear closures – that means no rakes, ring traps, scuba diving or other crab harvesting methods are allowed. Be sure to check WDFW's website for the latest fishing rule changes.

• Wildlife viewing: Majestic swans can still be seen in small numbers scattered throughout northern Puget Sound's agricultural areas. Bring a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, be sure to stay off private property and don't harass the birds. Estuaries are still teeming with an amazing variety of shorebirds, ducks and other seasonal winged visitors. Turkey vultures and other raptors can be seen throughout the region, especially on sunny days when rising warm air provides the updrafts that these soaring birds need to cover lots of territory in search of food. Male rufous hummingbirds are showing up throughout the region, noisily establishing their territories, so be sure to have feeders cleaned and ready to go. To make feeder nectar, use four parts water to one part sugar, boiled, cooled, and added to the feeder. Keep feeders out of direct sunlight to avoid spoilage.

Olympic Peninsula/South Sound:

• Fishing: The first of two scheduled spring razor clam digs is set to begin Wednesday, March 27, although final approval will depend on the results of marine toxin tests conducted several days earlier. "Marine toxins haven't been a big problem this year, but we can't say `go' until the results are in," said Dan Ayres, WDFW razor clam manager. The late March razor clam dig will run from noon March 27 through noon March 31, starting with evening tides during the weekdays, then switching to morning tides on the weekend. Long Beach will be open for digging all five days, but the four other razor clam beaches – Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch – will be closed for one or more of those days according to the following schedule: March 27 through March 28 – all beaches except Copalis and Kalaloch (p.m. tides only); March 29 - all beaches except Kalaloch (p.m. tides only); March 30 - all beaches (a.m. tides only); and March 31 - Long Beach and Kalaloch only (a.m. tides only). Final word on the opening will be announced to the news media, posted on razor clam site on the WDFW website and included in the agency's toll-free hotline message (866-880-5431). With the winter blackmouth season set to close April 10, fishing has been good around Gig Harbor and Point Defiance – and even better in the northeast Strait of Juan de Fuca. WDFW's Tony Floor recommends fishing afternoon tides around Coyote Bank and Middle Bank north of Port Angeles, where fish weighing in the teens are not uncommon. Steelhead fishing has also picked up on the Olympic Peninsula in the last week, as north coast rivers have dropped into shape. In a recent check creel check on the Quillayute River system, 38 plunk anglers had 16 wild fish in hand. On the Sol Duc, 28 boat anglers had 5 wild steelies in possession and reported releasing 12 more. The Queets system, including the Clearwater and Salmon rivers, were closed to steelheading by emergency action March 15. However, the Quillayute system will remain open to steelhead fishing through April 30 and the Hoh through April 15.

• Wildlife viewing: If you're traveling on Pioneer Way east of Tacoma, keep an eye to the sky. The herons are back – at least 35 of them – flocking around a rookery on a private lot just outside Puyallup. WDFW and local volunteers tried to restore the rookery after the original site was destroyed in 2000, but the birds built new nests on an adjacent lot and have returned there for two years running. "It's great that they're back, and we're interested to see whether the colony will branch out and return to the restore site," said Michelle Tirhi, a WDFW urban biologist. While the Pioneer Way colony is on private property, another blue heron rookery is on display alongside a new public trail on Mud Bay near Olympia. The William Cannon Footpath on lower Eld Inlet meanders through an area that is home to the heron rookery, river otters, salmon and – during the spring migration – one of the largest congregations of shorebirds in Puget Sound. A ceremony to open the new footpath is set for 1:15 p.m. April 3 at the state Department of Transportation's Mud Bay park-and-ride lot.

Southwest Washington:

• Fishing: Fishing for spring chinook continues to improve on the lower Columbia. Waters just below Bonneville Dam opened last Saturday with big crowds of bank anglers and some good catches, says Joe Hymer, WDFW fish biologist in Vancouver. Checks indicated 137 anglers had caught 21 spring chinook (including unmarked fish released). Even though the season is still young, those numbers indicate good things to come, Hymer added. Recent heavy rains have made water visibility variable in the mainstem Columbia, especially downstream from the mouths of the Willamette and Cowlitz rivers. "Anglers who fish in the clear zone upstream from those areas are doing pretty well," Hymer said. As the season progresses, keep an eye on water conditions and fish counts at the dams in planning their fishing trips, he suggests. Wind River and Drano Lake also opened for chinook last Saturday but angling is off to a slow start there with only a few fish reported caught. Those waters, as well as The Dalles and John Day pools, should pick up later this month. The lower Klickitat River opens April 1, but fishing for both hatchery steelhead and any chinook is allowed only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Other prospects to catch a hatchery spring chinook include the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis rivers. Fishers are seeing some good late steelhead action on the Cowlitz River in the Blue Creek area with boat anglers there last week averaging 1.5 fish per rod, including released fish. Trout fishers have been finding a lot of success, thanks to some recent stocking in the region. At Klineline Pond near Hazel Dell, anglers were bringing in a mix of browns and rainbows, averaging 4 fish per rod last week. Klineline was planted with 2,000 rainbows and 4,000 brown trout. Another good prospect is Battleground Lake, which recently received 3,000 rainbows in the half-pound range. Lacamas Lake near Camas was planted last week with 7,500 brown trout and 5,000 rainbow trout. Walleye fishing below John Day Dam has been good over the past two weeks, with catches averaging a half fish per rod including releases. Boat anglers are still finding sturgeon between Bonneville Dam and Longview, but all fish must be released on Sundays and Mondays on the lower Columbia. There are reports that smelt are still present in the Cowlitz River, with the best dipping in the river north of Kelso. Catches are coming in from a few fish to a few pounds of fish per dip.

• Wildlife viewing: March has continued to be a productive time for waterfowl and viewing these wetland visitors. Last Friday large numbers of waterfowl were seen at Swofford Pond on the Cowlitz Wildife Area. The many common mergansers using the pond suggest that the fishing is good. Ring-necked ducks, mallards, widgeons, and buffleheads seem to be pairing up everywhere. A few western grebes were also noted in the waters, as well as two great blue herons silently stalking the shoreline. Meanwhile a contributor to the Tweeters website reports recently spotting five turkey vultures, a white-tailed kite, nine western bluebirds and 49 Dusky Canada geese at Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge. Another area birder reports seeing 19 bird species last weekend on the South Jetty of the Columbia River. Black-legged kittiwakes and mew gulls were seen heading north. There were also good numbers of second- winter glaucous-winged gulls and a single pulse of herring gulls. Other species spotted included red-throated, Pacific and common loons; red-necked and western grebes, and song sparrows.

Eastern Washington:

• Fishing: For anglers willing to brave the snows of spring, Amber and Coffeepot lakes have great fishing for rainbow trout, reports WDFW fish biologist Chris Donley of Spokane. Amber, in south Spokane County, is open now for catch-and-release fishing only until the April 27 opener. Donley says it's been producing nice 12 to 14-inch trout. The region's winter-only trout lakes – Fourth of July, Hog Canyon, Hatch, and Williams – are in their final days and still offer good fishing. With warming water temperatures, yellow perch will soon be moving into the shallows to spawn, Donley notes, and good fishing will follow at Eloika, Sprague, Coffeepot and many other lakes. Warm sunny days may be great for early season bass fishing, especially in areas with high sun exposure time. Lake Roosevelt rainbows continue to bite and walleye at the mouth of the Spokane arm are hot as they move into spawning areas; remember that walleye fishing is closed in that area April 1- May 31. The Tucannon River impoundments in the southeast are giving up rainbow trout to weather-resistant anglers and waiting for fair-weather fishers to join them. Pampa Pond, southwest of Lacrosse in Whitman County along State Route 26, and Fishhook Park Pond, along the Snake River in northwest Walla Walla County, are also now open and stocked with hatchery rainbows.

• Wildlife viewing: Concentrations of tundra swans are being seen from the Chewelah Valley and Calispell Lake areas of Stevens and Pend Oreille counties to WDFW's Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area in Lincoln County. Sharp-tailed grouse are dancing on their "leks" or spring display grounds at Swanson Lakes, too. Wild tom turkeys have been spotted throughout the region in full-tail display struts to impress local hens. Backyard birders are reporting new arrivals of robins, red-winged blackbirds, bluebirds, varied thrushes, spotted towhees, brown creepers, mourning doves, song sparrows and other birds ignoring the prolonged wintery weather and running by the longer daylight hours clock. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, pine siskins, goldfinches, house finches, juncos, quail, pheasants and other year-round resident birds are also eating voraciously at backyard feeders as they prepare for the rigors of breeding, nesting and rearing of young. WDFW regional office manager Lois Blanchette of Spokane filed this report: "I have several hundred birds at my feeders, many coyotes in my greenbelt, and a bald eagle or two living along the Little Spokane River next to Pine River Park. There's a dozen or more deer in my phlox every night and my roses are supporting the rest of the herd. The owls are breeding outside my window and the flickers are going nuts. I'm sorry to report there are no bugs, no worms, or any other insect life left in my yard. The robins and the flickers have finished them off. The other day I did see a spider in the basement, and one on the front door, so I'm reasonably sure spring is on the way."

North Central Washington:

• Fishing: WDFW officials will explain the coming closure of a portion of Crab Creek at a meeting March 22, from 7 – 9 p.m., at the Moses Lake Fire Department Station, 701 E. 3rd St. in Moses Lake. The lower portion of Crab Creek, between State Route 17 upstream to Grant County Road 7 NE, near Moses Lake, will close from March 1 through May 31 each year to protect spawning walleye. The change, which was approved in February by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, will only be in effect starting May 1 of this year, when the new regulations go into effect. But beginning next year, the fishing closure will be in effect for the entire three-month period when walleye are spawning in lower Crab Creek. Dry Falls Lake in Grant County opens to fishing April 1, thanks to an agreement reached with Dry Falls State Park allowing angler access to the lake nearly a month earlier than usual. This is a great rainbow trout fishery, but remember it's under selective gear rules and a one-trout daily catch limit. Potholes Reservoir anglers are hoping more spring-like weather returns for good soon, since recent water temperatures have been only about 39 degrees and fish have been slow to bite. Die-hard Potholes fans, using everything from nightcrawlers to marshmallows, have managed to haul in a few lunker rainbow trout, from the shoreline near MarDon resort, off the face of O'Sullivan Dam, and in Potholes Canal. Over 50,000 rainbows, about a third of those net-pen-reared in the reservoir, will be released on April 4 near MarDon resort, which will waive dock and launch fees that day. Many of the March 1 – opening lakes in the Basin are continuing to provide good rainbow catches, including the Hamptons, Caliches, Martha, Burke, and Pillar-Widgeon lakes.

• Wildlife viewing: The fourth annual Othello Sandhill Crane Festival runs March 22 – 24, with most "main events" on Saturday, including guided tours of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding area to view cranes and an evening banquet featuring keynote speaker Peter Matthiessen, world-renowned author whose latest book is "The Birds of Heaven – Travels with Cranes." For more information see http://www.othello-wa.com/sandhillcrane.htm or call toll-free1-866-SANDHIL (866-726-3445) or 509-989-5606. Many events are already booked now, but up to 25,000 of the four-foot-tall, pre-historic-looking cranes can be viewed in the area through mid-April. The Columbia Basin is a stopover area for these migratory birds, which can be seen and heard for 30 miles along the wetlands and farmlands south and west of Othello and Scootney Reservoir. In addition to cranes, you'll see thousands of ducks and geese in the area; more than 100,000 migrating Canada geese along use this area as a feeding and resting stopover.The Royal Lake public viewing area on the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, and Crab Creek south of state highway 26 between Othello and Royal City are among the best places to watch crane concentrations. You can also drive the auto tour route of the refuge and area gravel roads to view feeding cranes and waterfowl. WDFW Wildlife Research Biologist Mike Schroeder, who conducts a tour of sage and sharp-tailed grouse display grounds or leks during the Sandhill Crane Festival, reports that these prairie grouse species are showing their spring behavior. The males perform spectacular, ritualistic "dances," vying for territories and breeding dominance. Both are listed as "threatened" species, so visits to their known leks usually require scheduling with land managers, best through local bird-watching groups. Schroeder also reports another sign of spring: A flock of up to 1,000 snow buntings seen near Waterville.

South Central Washington:

• Fishing: The Columbia River Ringold Area bank fishery near the Tri-Cities opens April 1 for spring chinook salmon and hatchery steelhead trout. These season is for the waters of the Columbia River adjacent to Ringold Hatchery (in Franklin County north of Pasco) from the WDFW markers a quarter mile mile downstream of the Ringold irrigation wasteway outlet to the markers upstream of Spring Creek (hatchery outlet). Only the hatchery side of the river is open and for bank fishing only. About 500 hatchery spring chinook are expected to return to the Ringold Springs rearing facility this spring, and since none are needed for hatchery production, they are available for the catching. The season is beginning earlier than normal this year to take full advantage of the last returning spring chinook run to Ringold and to give anglers continued opportunity to fish for hatchery steelhead remaining from the 2001-02 run. There's a two-fish daily limit, salmon or hatchery steelhead, in combination. Any chinook, regardless of presence or absence of an adipose fin, may be retained with a 12-inch minimum size. Only hatchery steelhead, identified by a missing adipose or ventral fin and a healed scar, can be taken; all wild steelhead, as well as any steelhead with a radio-tag wire in its mouth or disk tag attached near the dorsal fin, must be released. Except for this area, fishing for hatchery steelhead in the lower Hanford Reach from the Hwy. 395 bridge in Pasco to the Old Hanford townsite wooden powerline towers closes on March 31. Easton Ponds One and Two in Kittitas County are temporarily closed to all fishing through June 7 during coho salmon smolt acclimation and release. The closure means there will also be a delay in trout stocking until the smolts have left the ponds. Easton Pond Three, a three-acre water closest to the interstate frontage road, remains open and will be stocked with catchable rainbow trout in May. WDFW Fish Biologist Eric Anderson reports that 50 adult hatchery steelhead each were just stocked in Mattoon Lake near Ellensburg and Lavender Lake along I-90 between Cle Elum and Easton. Anderson explains that the steelhead were trapped at the Ringold Hatchery on the Columbia River where they are not needed for production and where they should not spawn with wild fish. He reminds anglers that there is a daily catch limit of one fish over 20 inches in the waters where the steelhead have been stocked. WDFW Fish Biologist Jim Cummins notes that many year-round waters in Yakima and Kittias counties have been recently stocked with catchable-size and larger rainbow trout, from the Naches, Goldendale and other hatcheries. Complete trout stocking information is available on the department's website. Cummins also says that trout fishing on the Yakima River should be picking up when water temperatures warm and insects hatch. Water flows may increase as temperatures warm, making fishing difficult as snowmelt increases flows, but if river conditions are good, fishing should be very good.

• Wildlife viewing: Most elk on WDFW's Oak Creek Wildlife Area west of Naches have moved up south-facing slopes where spring's first green-up is providing new forage. This is a critical feeding time for elk and other ungulates like deer and sheep, so visitors to the area should avoid disturbing them and give them a wide berth. To protect elk from disturbance, particularly by enthusiastic shed-antler collectors, the area around Oak Creek's headquarters off Hwy.12, as well as the Lower Bethel Ridge and Cowiche units of the wildlife area are closed to access through April. For other wildlife watching in the area, be aware that the Tieton River bridge is out and won't be repaired until funds are available. There is an alternative bridge about two miles upstream, but keep in mind also that the Tieton River trail and surrounding cliff areas are closed now through April 15 to protect nesting golden eagles.