June 11-24, 2003

Contact: Doug Williams (360) 902-2256

The official start of summer is just around the corner, and that means summertime salmon fishing opportunities aren't too far away.

In fact, anglers who favor fishing for salmon in freshwater can get a head start on the saltwater crowd, as a lengthy stretch of the Columbia River opens June 16 for summer chinook salmon fishing. It's only the second time in the past 30 years that the portion of the Columbia from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to the Highway 395 bridge in Pasco has been open to chinook fishing at this part of the season.

Ocean salmon fisheries begin June 22 in three coastal areas, stretching from Leadbetter Point north to Neah Bay (marine areas 2, 3 and 4). Ilwaco (Marine Area 1) opens June 29, and marine areas 5, 6, 7, 10, a portion of Marine Area 12 and all of Marine Area 13, open July 1.

Puget Sound anglers have just a few days left for lingcod fishing, which ends June 15, while halibut fisheries are continuing in marine areas 5-13 on a Thursdays-through-Mondays schedule, with a one-fish daily limit and no minimum size. Much of the sound is also open for summer crab fishing.

Be sure to consult the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's "Fishing in Washington" sport fishing rules pamphlet for daily bag limits, minimum size limits and other important information before heading out to participate in any fishery. Check for emergency fishing rule change information via the rule change hotline, (360) 902-2500, or on the Internet.

Besides salmon and steelhead, the Columbia River offers fishers and wildlife viewers often bountiful opportunities. Visitors to the fish ladder and underwater viewing site at the Bonneville Dam can witness a tremendous run of shad this time of year. In fact, more than one million shad were counted moving through the Bonneville fish ladder June 5-6. The fish average two to four pounds and are also a popular target for anglers. There is no minimum size and no daily limit for shad.

The middle of June features some of the lowest tides of the year on Washington's saltwater beaches, which is good news for clam diggers and beachcombers alike. Budd Inlet at Olympia will have a minus 4.1-foot tide at 1:10 p.m. on Sunday, June 15. At Brinnon on Hood Canal, a minus 4-foot tide occurs at 12:15 p.m. on the 15th, while Deception Pass at the northern end of Whidbey Island will have a minus 3.4-foot tide at 11:17 a.m. on the 15th.

Anyone planning to dig clams or pick oysters should first check for updated harvest regulation information on the Internet, or via the toll-free hotline, 1 (866) 880-5431.

With most streams opening for fishing on June 1 and the onset of warmer weather for rafting and canoeing, new log jams and other hazards may have occurred over the past winter, and extreme caution should be used when floating rivers for the first time this season.

Washington is a virtual nursery now for wild babies of all kinds - seal pups on the coastal beaches, deer fawns and elk calves in the woods, ducklings and goslings on the water, songbird chicks from backyards to mountain meadows. These wild youngsters are fun to look at, but only from afar.

Young wildlife should not be approached and should never be picked up and removed from the wild. Protective parent animals are almost always nearby, so what may look like an "abandoned" baby can mean trouble. Taking wildlife into captivity is against the law and truly orphaned or injured animals should be handled only by a state-licensed wildlife rehabilitator contacted through WDFW.

Here are more details on fishing and wildlife-viewing activities for every region of the state:

North Puget Sound:

• Fishing: Salmon fishing returns to central and northern Puget Sound waters with a catch-and-release fishery set for the northern portion of Marine Area 10 from June 16-30. The fishery is open only north of a line from Point Monroe to Meadow Point, and anglers are required to keep salmon in the water until they are released. All of Marine Area 10 opens July 1 with a two-salmon daily limit, and all chinook must be released. The San Juan Islands (Marine Area 7) also opens July 1 with a two-salmon daily limit, no more than one of which may be chinook (22-inch minimum). There are just a few days left for lingcod fishing. The fishery runs through June 15 for hook-and-line and spear fishers alike. For hook-and-line fishers the daily limit is one fish with a minimum size of 26 inches and a maximum size of 40 inches. Spearfishers also have a one-fish daily limit for lings, but their fish can be any size. Halibut fishing continues throughout the region until July 18 on a Thursday-through-Monday schedule, with a one-fish daily limit and no size limits. Crab fishing has reopened on Fridays through Mondays only in all of Marine Areas 8-2 and 8-1. Marine Areas 9, 10 and 11, are also open daily. All areas have a six-crab daily limit. In the rivers, the hatchery chinook fishery on a portion of the Skykomish River continues through July 31 with a one-fish daily limit and a minimum size of 12 inches. The fishery is limited to the stretch of the Sky between the Lewis Street Bridge in Monroe and the mouth of the Wallace River. There's also an opportunity to take hatchery steelhead on the portion of the Stillaguamish River from the Warm Beach-Stanwood Highway Bridge upstream to the forks. Two hatchery steelhead, identified by a clipped adipose fin, can be retained each day, but all other game fish must be released. The fishery runs through Nov. 30. Mid-June is the time of year many Seattle-area fishers start to keep track of sockeye salmon counts through the Ballard Locks in the hope that enough of the fish will return to allow for a recreational fishery in Lake Washington. Chances for a fishery this year are slim, said WDFW Fisheries Manager Dick Geist. "Four years ago, the spawners for this year's returning adults were the lowest we've seen in many, many years," he said. "It's highly unlikely that we will have enough fish to support a fishery this year." However, Geist was quick to add, "never say never." That could have been the motto of last year's Lake Washington sockeye watch. Pre-season forecasts in 2002 showed a sockeye run below the threshold that would support a recreational fishery, yet everyone remembers the three-day fishery in late July when 36,000 fish were caught in the lake. WDFW will have frequent updates of the sockeye count at the locks. Many area lakes have transitioned to summer fishing patterns, which means trout fishing with flies or pop gear is now best at first light or at day's end, although some trout can still probably be picked up with bait fished on the bottom during the warmer part of the day. Anglers going after kokanee in area lakes should first find the thermocline - that area in the water column where there is an abrupt transition from water heated by the sun to the cooler temperatures near the bottom. "The kokanee will have definitely moved down into the thermocline, and the key is finding that depth," said WDFW District Fish Biologist Curt Kraemer. "Finding the right depth is more important than the terminal gear that's being used." Kokanee aren't necessarily finicky biters. They can be taken on yarn flies, maggots, worms trolled behind pop gear and spoons. Troll as slow as possible. Bass, catfish, crappie and perch fishing can get as hot as the recent weather during this time of year on area lakes. Fans of alpine lakes fishing should find plenty of open water, thanks to the recent hot spell that is melting away the ice layer on area lakes. Small spoons or flies can work great on alpine lakes, whether trolled behind a raft or float tube, or cast from shore. Check the U.S. Forest Service's Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest trail conditions website on the Internet. The site also has information on the status of several popular lakes in the sprawling national forest, which stretches from Mount Rainier north to the Canadian border.

• Wildlife viewing: As promised, a new WDFW WildWatch webcam is online and chronicling in real time the activities of a central Puget Sound bald eagle family, including a single eaglet. The awkward, gangly youngster is growing like a weed, thanks to its parents' frequent deliveries of fresh fish, which they feed one beakful at a time. Check out the action at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/eaglecam/puget.html on the Internet. It's also time to start watching the annual migration of sockeye salmon heading back to freshwater through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard. A visitor center, complete with strategically place underwater windows at the fish ladder, allows great up-close views of the bullet-shaped salmon as they near the conclusion of their migration. The locks, garden and fish ladder are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. year 'round, and the visitor center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily throughout the summer. Birdwatchers are reveling in the balmy weather and extended daylight that late spring and early summer provide in the Pacific Northwest. Birders contributing to the Tweeters website report a number of interesting sightings from throughout northern Puget Sound, including a Lewis woodpecker east of Marysville, olive-sided flycatchers in a Seattle neighborhood, house wrens nesting in a Bainbridge Island birdbox and a Wilson's phalarope at the Montlake Fill. Hummingbird feeders should be checked frequently in warm weather, as hot temperatures can quickly spoil the nectar solution. It's time for a new batch if the water and sugar mixture starts to look cloudy.

Olympic Peninsula/South Sound:

• Fishing: The much-anticipated summer ocean salmon fishery will get under way June 22 in three coastal areas, ranging from Leadbetter Point to Neah Bay (Marine areas 2, 3 and 4). Ilwaco will open a week later on June 29, followed by openings in both the eastern and western areas of the Strait of Juan de Fuca July 1. WDFW is predicting strong runs of coho and chinook salmon, allowing for coastwide catch limits of 225,000 coho and 59,600 chinook. "There is a great balance in the chinook and coho quotas this year, which is something we haven't seen for a long time," said Mark Cedargreen of the Westport Charterboat Association. Marine Areas 1 and 2 (Ilwaco and Westport) will be open on a Sunday-through-Thursday basis until subquotas for those areas have been reached. Willapa Bay and the portion of Grays Harbor west of Buoy 13 will open at the same time, and under the same rules, as Area 2. In Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay), chinook may not be retained east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line at the opening of the Strait until July 1. Bag limits and other regulations vary by area, so anglers should consult the WDFW Fishing in Washington rule pamphlet before heading out. Meanwhile, spring chinook fisheries are picking up on the north coast rivers, especially the Hoh which is also producing some nice summer steelhead. Most of the action on the Hoh is concentrated on the lower river, where anglers are targeting "dip-in" hatchery chinook on their way to the Quillayute system. Kwik Fish plugs and Flatfish lures wrapped with a sardine or herring proving effective there. Hatchery chinook are still available in the Quillayute system itself, but fishing has been slow due to low water. Fishing rules vary for each river so, again, be sure to check the pamphlet for each area. Starting June 18, anglers will get another four days to catch halibut off LaPush and Neah Bay (Marine Areas 3 and 4). The catch in May was very close to the quota for that month, leaving most of the 31,896-pound allotment reserved for June available for harvest. The bag limit in both areas is one halibut per day, although anglers can supplement their catch with lingcod, rockfish and other bottomfish as specified in the rules pamphlet. Got a craving for a crab Louie? The recreational crab fishing is now open seven days per week in a number of areas throughout Puget Sound, including Marine Areas 9, 10, 11,12 and 13. The daily limit is six crab. Unfortunately, those accustomed to soaking their pots off the pontoon on the east side of the Hood Canal Floating Bridge will no longer be able to do so after July 6. In preparation for retrofitting the bridge, the Washington State Department of Transportation is closing the popular fishing access area and does not plan to accommodate it in its new bridge design. WDFW is exploring alternative sites, but has not yet found an arrangement that provides access to deep water for people without a boat. Fishing for trout, bass and other freshwater fish has been good at a number of lowland lakes, including American, Tanwax, Silver, Offut and Alder lakes in Pierce and Thurston counties. Thanks to the recent warm weather, many alpine lakes in the region should become fishable fairly soon, said Larry Phillips, WDFW area fish biologist. Good bets in Pierce County include Pitcher, West (Hidden), George and Helen lakes, all of which have been planted in recent years by WDFW. "As we start moving into the summer months, fishing in the lowland lakes tends to drop off," Phillips said. "That's a good time to head to the high lakes, where the action's picking up."

• Wildlife viewing: It's hatching season for a variety of birds throughout the region. A clutch of six eggs being incubated by a barn owl in the Orting area are expected to hatch any day - and anyone with access to the Internet has a front-row seat at the nest. The barn owl's nest, built in the attic of a building, is wired with a remote camera that provides great images of her nesting activity on WDFW's WildWatch website. Check on mother and chicks, as well as other webcams on the WDFW website. Meanwhile, a pair of bald eagles nesting near the state capitol in Olympia has recently hatched two chicks. The baby eagles have started standing on the edge of the nest in an old-growth Douglas fir tree and flapping their wings, noted Bob Trebil, who has a bird's eye view of the nest from his home on Capitol Lake. The pair of adult eagles first gained local notoriety when they built a nest next to the Governor's Mansion on the Capitol Campus in 2000. Prior to the 2001 breeding season, WDFW aimed a camera at the nest so wildlife biologists and the public could view nest activities on the department's WildWatch website, but the eagles abandoned the nest right after the Nisqually Earthquake on Feb. 28, 2001. Their new nest, which the eagles have used ever since, isn't wired for video but seems to be working out fine. Across town, the Port of Olympia, a pair of peregrine falcons that have been nesting on a crane at the Port of Olympia, have abandoned incubation of their three eggs. However, the falcons continue to live their lives on and around the crane, hunting birds around the port dock and taking refuge at various places in the iron works when the sun gets too hot. Between the falcons, the eagles and the ospreys nesting in Priest Point Park, downtown Olympia has become a pretty good spot for viewing raptors. Throughout the region, butterflies are taking advantage of warm days to fly about in search of nectar sources and mates. Many species are on the wing right now including western tailed blues, tiger swallowtails, red admirals, mylitta crescentspots and margined whites. Look for butterflies almost anywhere that's sunny. Open meadows and clearcuts surrounded by forest make for especially good viewing opportunities.

Southwest Washington:

• Fishing: The focus of fishing activity in the region is on shad, says regional fish biologist Joe Hymer, but there is plenty of other angling to choose from, including steelhead, sturgeon, a rare summer chinook fishery opening June 16 and even some remaining spring chinook in a few tributaries. When it comes to sheer numbers, however, shad have everything else beat. A record-breaking half-million-plus shad were counted passing Bonneville Dam on June 5, and the next day another 520,000 passed the dam. Through June 8, a total of 2.4 million shad had been counted passing the day. To keep track of the shad bonanza visit http://www.fpc.org/CurrentDaily/7day-ytd_adults.htm on the Internet. Bank anglers below the dam were landing seven fish per rod the first week of the month. Meanwhile at Steamboat Dock in Washougal catches were averaging three shad per rod, based on incomplete trips, and four fish for each boat angler in the Camas-Washougal area based on completed trips. Good shad fishing can also be had downstream from John Day Dam. Sturgeon are another bright spot, with private boats out of Deep River averaging one-and-a-half legal-size fish per boat. Meanwhile June 16 marks the beginning of summer chinook fishing in the lower Columbia-only the second such fishery in the past 30 years-from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to the Highway 395 bridge in Pasco. This is the chance to catch 30-pound-plus, silvery-bright chinook, large enough to earn the traditional title of "June hogs, " Hymer notes. In addition, some good catches of hatchery summer-run steelhead are occurring on the mainstem Columbia from Longview downstream. And if all that wasn't enough, some spring chinook remain in tributaries such as the Wind and Klickitat rivers as well as the Kalama, Lewis and Cowlitz rivers, although anglers on the lower Columbia tributaries below Bonneville Dam are switching their effort to steelhead with some good results, Hymer noted. Spring chinook also are reported being caught on Lake Scanewa by anglers using plugs and herring. Meanwhile, lake fishers have plenty of trout awaiting them at Mayfield Lake, which has been recently planted with 50,000 rainbows. Despite the riches, only 20 boats were counted on the lake on a recent weekend in early June. That led to catches averaging two trout-per-hour for the fishers who ventured out. Many of the planted fish are still swimming in the lake.

• Wildlife viewing: The Cowlitz Wildlife area offers a variety of wildlife sightings-black tail deer are seen daily and the males are beginning to show antler growth. The occasional black tail fawn has been observed as well. Elk have also been observed on Peterman Hill. The east side of Riffe Lake is a good spot to observe bald eagles fishing the shallows, and an osprey was seen there last week as well. A Tweeters website correspondent reports spotting two great egrets June 6 in the ponds at the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Washougal. The birds were visible from the pull-off on Highway 14 just east of the railroad overpass. There is a large heronry on Reed Island next to the refuge that the birds may be using.

Eastern Washington:

• Fishing: WDFW Fish Biologist Glen Mendel of Dayton reports that the special Snake River chinook salmon fishing season that ends June 15 has been slow. "Our most recent creel checks at Little Goose Dam have not documented any chinook kept or released and angling pressure has dropped way off," Mendel said. "The Corps of Engineers is spilling large amounts of water at the dam and that has created a major back eddy and lots of current that has reduced catch rates and angler efforts. Until the runoff is substantially reduced, I don't expect much as far as catch or angler effort in this fishery." With warmer weather comes fishing for the "warmwater" species that spawn at this time in lakes throughout the region. Largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and yellow perch are hitting at Spokane County's Bonnie, Chapman, Clear, Downs, Eloika, Long, Newman, and Silver lakes. Sprague Lake, on the Lincoln-Adams county line, is also a good bet for a mixed bag of warmwater species and rainbow trout. If the fish aren't biting, but you have an idea or two about how to improve fishing, consider attending one of the region's two public meetings this month on development of next year's fishing regulations: in Dayton on June 17, 6 p.m. at the Department of Transportation Office Conference Room, 529 W. Main St., and in Spokane on June 19, 6 p.m., North Spokane County Public Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Road.

• Wildlife viewing: Eastern Washington is full of baby wildlife now, from spotted deer fawns to gangly goslings. These wild youngsters are fun to look at but should not be approached and never picked up and removed from the wild. Protective parent animals are almost always nearby, so what may look like an "abandoned" baby can mean trouble. Taking wildlife into captivity is against the law and truly orphaned or injured animals should be handled only by state licensed wildlife rehabilitators. Baby wildlife to be enjoyed from afar right now include common loon chicks at Ferry and Swan lakes in Ferry County. These lakes lie about nine to 10 miles southwest of Republic in the Scatter Creek drainage. WDFW Wildlife Biologist Steve Zender also reports that another pair of adult loons has been spotted at Long Lake in the same area, but no chicks are evident there. Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area in Lincoln County is the scene of many mule deer does with newly-born fawns and killdeer pairs with newly-hatched chicks. Area Manager Juli Anderson warns visitors to be wary of rattlesnakes, which are also out and about in good numbers now. Birdwatchers throughout the region are reporting "fair-weather" migrants like black-headed grosbeaks, lazuli buntings, kingbirds, flycatchers, and phoebes. One birder in the Williams Lake Road area of Stevens County even reported a mockingbird.

North Central Washington:

• Fishing: Fishing continues to be slow and spotty on the Icicle River in Chelan County, where a special spring chinook salmon season runs through July 31 in that portion from 500 feet downstream of the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery rack to the mouth at the Wenatchee River. WDFW Regional Fish Program Manager Joe Foster says there are lots of Chinook in the Wenatchee but they've been slow to come into the Icicle. Rainbow trout fishing has been very good in the region's selective gear restricted waters, like Lenice and Nunally lakes and Rocky Ford Creek in Grant County. All of Okanogan County's trout lakes have also been good, Foster said, except for Blue Lake, which needs to be rehabilitated. Ell Lake, southeast of Tonasket, and Chopaka Lake, north of Loomis, are among those producing well. Fish Lake, northeast of Conconully, has also been good but actually more for largemouth bass than trout. Douglas County's Grimes Lake is giving up two to four-pound Lahontan cutthroat trout. If the fish aren't biting, but you have an idea or two about how to improve fishing, consider attending the region's public meeting June 19 in Wenatchee on development of next year's fishing regulations; the meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Chelan County Public Utilities District (PUD) office at the corner of Fifth and Wenatchee Avenue.

• Wildlife viewing: Northcentral Washington is full of baby wildlife now, from spotted deer fawns to gangly goslings. These wild youngsters are fun to look at but should not be approached and never picked up and removed from the wild. Protective parent animals are almost always nearby, so what may look like an "abandoned" baby can mean trouble. Taking wildlife into captivity is against the law and truly orphaned or injured animals should be handled only by state licensed wildlife rehabilitators. Wildlife families to be enjoyed from afar right now in the Columbia Basin include a host of birds from the ground-nesting burrowing owls of the shrub-steppe, to the avocets, curlews, phalaropes, and other shorebirds of the wetlands. Black bear cubs, coyote pups, and mule deer fawns are being sighted throughout the region.

South Central Washington:

• Fishing: WDFW Fish Biologist Jim Cummins reports that few anglers are fishing rivers and streams because of high flows from snowmelt. "Although the Yakima was producing well for rainbow trout anglers in the catch and release section," Cummins said, "temperatures in the 90's have resulted in high, colored water and fishing won't be good until flows recede." Cummins said creel census on the Naches indicates the same: few anglers fishing with most waiting until the river flows recede. Cummins reminds anglers that a new catch-and-release regulation is in effect on the Naches from the confluence with the Tieton, upriver about 10 ½ miles to Rattlesnake Creek, and that a creel census will be conducted this summer to evaluate that new regulation. Lost Lake, off the Stampede Pass road holds some nice eastern brook trout and smaller kokanee. The lake is lightly fished because the fish are known to be difficult to catch, Cummins said, but patient anglers can be rewarded. Cooper Lake holds small kokanee and nice brown trout. Kokanee fishing should be heating up at Bumping, Rimrock, Kachess and Keechelus lakes. These big reservoirs are unpredictable, Cummins said, but usually provide fishing for kokanee as well as cutthroat trout and an occasional rainbow throughout the summer. Bumping may be the best bet, he said, but Kachess also gets good reports. WDFW Fish Biologist Eric Anderson suggests fishing Leech and Dog Lakes in Yakima County after each receives a special planting of triploid rainbow trout the week of June 16. Leech will get 1,070 and Dog will get 1,600 of these sterile fish that run about 15-17 inches and weigh up to two pounds. Leech Lake is a fly-fishing-only water with special gear and catch limit restrictions; check the Sport Rules Fishing pamphlet for details. WDFW biologists recently completed sampling at Leech Lake to evaluate the over-winter survival of triploid rainbow planted last year. Although insufficient fish were captured to make a population estimate, the fish appear to be present in good numbers, and have grown about two inches since they were planted last year. Biologists hope these big rainbows will become predatory on the abundant eastern brook trout, resulting in both larger eastern brook and trophy-sized rainbow. Other lakes that have been recently planted with catchable size trout include: in Yakima County, Clear, Lost, Rotary and Wenas lakes, and Tieton Ranger and Tims ponds; in Kittitas County, Fio Rito and Lavender lakes and the Easton ponds. Anderson said Clear Lake has been particularly good with catch limits from anglers fishing from the shore or by boat common. Chartuese power bait or worms are effective from shore. Trolled spinners are effective from boats. If the fish aren't biting, but you have an idea or two about how to improve fishing, consider attending one of the region's two public meetings this month on development of next year's fishing regulations: in Ellensburg on June 14, 7 p.m., Yakima River Fly Fishers meeting at the Ellensburg Inn, 1700 Canyon Road; and in Kennewick on June 24, 7 p.m., at the Columbia Basin Bass Club meeting at Benton County Public Utilities District (PUD) Building, Highway 395 at 10th Street.

• Wildlife viewing: Southcentral Washington is full of baby wildlife now, from spotted deer fawns to gangly goslings. These wild youngsters are fun to look at but should not be approached and never picked up and removed from the wild. Protective parent animals are almost always nearby, so what may look like an "abandoned" baby can mean trouble. Taking wildlife into captivity is against the law and truly orphaned or injured animals should be handled only by state licensed wildlife rehabilitators. Baby wildlife to be enjoyed from afar right now include the osprey chicks in a nest near the Yakima River between the Selah exits off Interstate 82. Flights of white pelicans continue to be enjoyed throughout the Yakima Valley. Birdwatchers throughout the region say it's time to keep your ears and eyes open as there are all kinds of "fair-weather" species not seen during much of the rest of the year, including bobolinks, long-billed curlews, American dippers, Bullock's orioles, American redstarts, and western wood peewees.