November 14-27, 2001

Contact: Margaret Ainscough, (360) 902-2408

Fishers who venture out in November's blustery weather may be rewarded with bountiful hatchery steelhead, chum salmon or razor clams.

Hatchery steelhead are strong on the Columbia River, and summer-run fishing should improve dramatically on other westside waters as levels recede after the recent downpours, and building numbers of winter-run fish enter the river systems. On the lower Columbia, good returns of hatchery winter steelhead are expected, as indicated by last year's jack populations and this year's strong summer steelhead runs. On the eastside, hatchery steelhead seasons recently opened to excellent catches in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River and the Okanogan River. The Similkameen River in Okanogan County opens Nov. 15 and is also expected to have good catch rates on the big fish.

The rains are likely to bring some hot chum fishing in many northern Puget Sound streams, as well as in marine terminal area fisheries at Hoodsport on Hood Canal and Kennedy Creek in southern Puget Sound.

Ocean conditions that may have helped create this year's healthy steelhead and salmon returns, also may be responsible for unusually good razor clam opportunities on ocean beaches.

Meanwhile, wildlife viewers are rewarded now with good displays of buck deer as the rutting season gets under way.

And late season archery and muzzleloader hunts are coming up Nov. 21.

Here's more information on current recreational opportunities around the state:

North Puget Sound:

• Fishing: The blackmouth fishery in northern Puget Sound's marine waters continues through the end of November. Boat checks from area ramps during the first two weeks of the season showed decent numbers of blackmouth were getting picked up between Everett and Edmonds in Marine Areas 8-2, 9, and 10. The fish were averaging between five and seven pounds, with several healthy 10-pound-plus fish reported. Blackmouth aren't the only salmon being caught in saltwater, as there are still coho salmon taking the bait in marine areas. Mid-November's heavy rains should entice most of the coho from marine waters into the rivers and to the spawning grounds. The rain should also trigger heavier concentrations of chum salmon into the rivers. The Puget Sound chum run, which was been updated to around one million fish, should be strong through the Thanksgiving holiday, and reports are trickling in of monster chums – some pushing 20 pounds – in streams throughout western Washington. The Snohomish River system might be the best bet for northern Puget Sound anglers. Or for a more challenging outing, try fishing for chum from your favorite beach with a small whole herring with a four- or five-foot leader and a large bobber. With the receding river levels look for good fishing for summer-run steelhead, which are ganging up at the rearing sites. The big rain could also trigger an influx of winter-run steelhead into northern Puget Sound streams. Crab fishing is under way throughout northern Puget Sound, and recreational crabbers will have to compete with commercial fishers in just about every area, except for the waters near Everett, where the commercial fishery has ended for the time being. Head toward Saratoga Passage, Port Susan or Port Gardiner for commercial-free recreational crabbing opportunities.

• Hunting: Duck and goose seasons continue throughout the region, and success rates should improve as the region settles into a typical rainy, windy November weather pattern. Deer hunting is winding down, with much of the region closed for the season. GMU's 407, 410, and 454 are open for late buck hunting – check the WDFW's Big Game Hunting Seasons and Rules pamphlet for detailed information. Pheasant releases are continuing at a number of sites, including the Lake Terrell, Skagit, Snoqualmie and Whidbey Island sites. Non-toxic shot is required at all pheasant release sites.

• Wildlife viewing: There are reports of some trumpeter swans starting to show up in scattered locations of the Skagit River valley, but nothing like the large numbers of the big birds that eventually will arrive to overwinter in the area. But as long as you're up that far north, check out the wide variety of birds as they migrate through the region, including lapland longspurs, which are being sighted in the Blaine and Bellingham areas. Also, check exposed gravel bars in the larger rivers for a variety of birds feeding on spawned salmon carcasses. From common crows, to ravens and bald eagles, spawned salmon carcases provide vital nutrition for a number of birds, plus mammals and even other fish.

Olympic Peninsula/South Sound:

• Fishing: Clam diggers hit coastal beaches this week for the second round of razor clam openings during the fall season. Four beaches opened for digging Nov. 13 from noon to midnight, and will also be open on the same schedule Nov. 15, Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. Those beaches include Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks. Kalaloch is also scheduled to open Nov. 17 along with the others. Dan Ayres, WDFW shellfish biologist, said digging should be good all four days and during other openings scheduled through the end of the year. "The same ocean conditions that produced the huge salmon returns this year have also produced an abundance of razor clams on most beaches," said Ayres, who recommends that clammers start digging about an hour before low tide for best results. He also reminds prospective clam diggers that they must have a valid 2001 shellfish/seaweed license, combination license or two-day license to harvest shellfish. Meanwhile, chum salmon are now entering many small streams in south Puget Sound; fishing has been good around the WDFW hatchery at Hoodsport and the intertidal areas of Kennedy Creek, McLane Creek and other small tributaries. For coho salmon, the Chehalis River near Cosmopolis is producing some whoppers, with numerous fish over 20 pounds reported in recent days. Blackmouth are showing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca around Sekiu and fishing has been fair from Port Angeles to Tacoma.

• Hunting: Jack Smith, regional WDFW wildlife manager, has a good feeling about this month's extended buck season. On a recent outing to test his rifle, a buck wandered out of the trees not more than 20 yards from where he was sighting his scope. "There are definitely a lot of deer this year," Smith said. And he's not just speaking from his own experience. Of the 40 bucks collared for identification in the region before the early season, only five collars have been returned at check stations. Area hunters will have an opportunity to find the other 35 – and plenty of other deer besides – when the late season gets under way Nov. 15 for modern firearms and Nov. 21 for archers and muzzleloaders. Hunters with modern firearms just finished their late season for elk, but archers and muzzleloaders will get their chance from Nov. 21 through Dec. 8. Best bets for deer include the Vail, Skookumchuck, Satsop, Capital Peak and Wynoochee areas. But to find the spot that's right for you, Smith recommends checking the 2000 Game Harvest Report on the WDFW website, which lists success ratios, conditions and other factors of note. "Each hunter has a different experience in mind and that report can help him or her find the right one," Smith said. Duck hunting is improving, especially on Willapa Bay, but recent rain is starting to move the birds inland to areas like the Chehalis Valley, Smith said. WDFW has cooperative agreements with a number of property owners in the valley, who post their lands with signs announcing "Free to Hunt" or "Hunting By Permission Only." Follow those directions and you just might go home with your limit. Pheasant hunting continues through Nov. 30 and Smith said he just received a report that hunters at Hunter Farms Release Site are average 1½ birds per outing. But make sure you follow the bag limit, there and elsewhere, because recent violations have prompted extra attention by enforcement officers.

• Wildlife viewing: The orcas that have been jetting around Puget Sound for the past three weeks on the trail of chum salmon have moved north, with two pods recently spotted off Victoria, B.C. Folks along the U.S. side of the Strait might want to keep their eyes pealed because one or more of the three orca pods could show up off Port Townsend or Seiku without a moment's notice. "Orcas often cover up to 75 miles a day, so it's hard to tell where they'll show up next," said Ken Balcomb at the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor. Two newborns have been confirmed in the past month, traveling with pods L and K. Meanwhile, off the Washington coast, gray whales are just beginning to arrive from their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas. WDFW Biologist Steve Jeffries said he recently spotted two grays along the coast during a flight from the Columbia River to the Lyre River. Jeffries said he doesn't expect to see the grays arrive in great numbers until December or January, but it's not too early to start looking. If you should happen to find a dead or injured whale of any kind on the beach, Balcomb with the Center for Whale Research asks that you call his office at (360) 378-5835 immediately so researchers can determine the cause of death. Gray whale populations have stabilized, but the area's orca population has declined over the past decade from 99 animals to 80 and researchers want to know why. Most South Sound chum salmon runs appear healthy this year and the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail off Highway 101 between Olympia and Shelton is a good place to watch them spawn. Built just last year by the South Sound Salmon Enhancement Group on land owned by the Taylor Shellfish Co,. the trail is open to the public between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Dec. 2 on weekends. Weekday school field trips may be arranged by calling (360)754-6464. To get there from Highway 101, turn west at mile post 356 onto the Old Olympic Highway. Travel eight-tenths of a mile, then turn west onto an unnamed gravel road marked with the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail sign.

Southwest Washington:

• Fishing: It's sturgeon season, and the best fishing has been in the Columbia Gorge below Bonneville Dam, according to Joe Hymer, WDFW fish biologist in Vancouver. Anglers there have been averaging about one legal-size fish per boat. Some fish are also being caught off the shore just below the dam. Another good area for sturgeon is the Columbia River between Vancouver and Kalama, where catches last week were averaging half a legal-size fish per boat. The good fishing "kind of bounces around–one week it's good at Vancouver and the next week at Woodland or Kalama," Hymer notes. The next couple of weeks should see more hatchery winter steelhead beginning to show, and steelheading should begin to build steam by Thanksgiving. The number-one producer in the state is the Cowlitz River, where more than a half million steelhead smolts are planted annually. The Elochoman, Kalama, Washougal and east and north forks of the Lewis River are also good spots, says Hymer. Last winter's good jack returns, along with good summer steelhead returns on the Columbia earlier this year, could bode well for winter steelhead prospects, Hymer notes. Although late stock hatchery coho are probably past their peak, there are still some bright fish around, and prospects are especially good in the Cowlitz River. Through Nov. 8, over 20,000 adult hatchery coho had returned to the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. Large numbers of coho are being trucked into the Upper Cowlitz River near Packwood and the Tilton and Cispus rivers as well as Lake Scanewa. Other areas to try for hatchery coho include the Elochoman, Kalama, Klickitat, and Washougal rivers. Beginning last Saturday (Nov. 10), up to six adult hatchery coho may be retained on the Washougal River. In the lakes, recent hatchery cutthroat trout plants mean new opportunities for anglers in Battle Ground Lake and at Icehouse Lake near the Bridge of the Gods. Nice size fish about 12- to 14-inches long are available. Trout anglers also should try the lower Cowlitz for hatchery sea-run cutthroat.

• Hunting: Hunters can look forward to the opening of goose hunting Nov. 21, with five days of hunting added to the season in Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties. With the change, hunting can now take place Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays until Jan. 31 in (Goose Management Area 2-A), except for Christmas and New Year's Day. Hunt hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge has a separate schedule, with goose hunting on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays only. Late muzzleloader and archery deer and elk seasons get under way Nov. 21. The opening weekend of the westside modern firearm elk season Nov. 3-4 saw mild weather and lots of activity around the Trout Lake area. Several elk were reported taken from the Lewis River Game Management Unit. WDFW staff checked 84 hunters with eight elk in the Winston Creek unit (GMU 520). In GMU 572 light hunter pressure and low harvest was reported.

• Wildlife viewing: Late October saw an influx of tundra swans to the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Washougal. A snow goose and great egrets also have been present in the refuge. A barrow's goldeneye, a bufflehead and a northern shrike also were spotted recently by birders. Meanwhile, recently created wetland areas near the slough road on the north side of the Julia Butler Hansen Whitetail Deer Refuge near Cathlamet are expected to enhance shorebird and waterfowl viewing in the area.

Eastern Washington:

• Fishing: Lake Roosevelt rainbow trout fishing has been very good, reports Jim Meskan of WDFW's Lake Roosvelt monitoring team. Boat anglers are catching 14-to 16-inch fish with occasional 18- to 20-inchers, Meskan says, from Kettle Falls south to Gifford, in bays and off shore points. About one fish in ten caught is a tagged red-band rainbow and anglers are encouraged to return the tags to collection boxes at Kettle Falls Marina and at landings at Evans and the Colville River. Eastern Washington University (EWU) and WDFW are studying the fish, which are believed to be the area's native strain of rainbow. If reservoir water levels remain high, Meskan says, the good rainbow fishing should continue through the year. An occasional 20-inch-plus walleye is also being caught in Lake Roosevelt. EWU electroshocking in the Sherman Creek cove of the reservoir is turning up minimal numbers of kokanee so far, and mostly two-year-old jacks. But WDFW Biologist Casey Baldwin, who heads up the monitoring team, notes that the kokanee fishery should come on later this month. Snake River steelheading continues to be spotty, with the best catch rates in the Grand Ronde, Tucannon and other tributaries.

• Hunting: Late buck white-tailed deer modern firearm hunting continues through Nov. 19 in northeast units and through Nov. 18 in the central district units. There's no shortage of deer throughout the region, but rain or snow would help hunters move through the woods and track animals. Archery and muzzleloader deer hunters will have another chance when their hunting re-opens in several units Nov. 21. Upland game bird hunting continues and pheasant hunters will get one more boost from the last game-farm-raised rooster releases before Thanksgiving.

• Wildlife viewing: Now is the time for deer watchers, photographers, and artists to be afield and on the lookout for whitetail bucks in full-fledged rutting behavior. Look for "scrapes" near small trees off obvious deer trails in the woods and along streamsides; these are both patches of tree bark worn off from bucks polishing their antlers and practicing battle, and patches of ground pawed away and marked with scent. Position yourself quietly and discreetly nearby and wait for the most close-up views of buck deer that you'll get all year. Preoccupied with finding does to breed and challenging other bucks, these normally wary animals are now relatively visible. (They're less wary about roads, too, so motorists should be even more alert than ever in deer country.) Bundle up for a wait in the frosty November air (including hunter orange clothing since seasons are open in some areas), take your binoculars and telephoto lens if the deer aren't so close-up, and enjoy one of Washington's most beautiful animals during one of the most colorful times of the year.

North Central Washington:

• Fishing: Steelhead fishing on the Okanogan River is very good, reports WDFW fish biologist Heather Bartlett. Among anglers Bartlett checked when the new season opened on Nov. 6 about half caught at least one of the two hatchery fish allowed per day. "The fish are really nice, too, " Bartlett said, "and I encourage people to take advantage of this opportunity on the Okanogan, and on the Similkameen River starting Nov. 15. " WDFW opened steelhead fishing on the Okanogan and will open fishing on the Similkameen because the large numbers of marked hatchery steelhead trout are returning to the rivers. The portion of the Okanogan from Zosel Dam downstream to a quarter mile below the railroad trestle is closed. The Similkameen is open from the mouth to 400 feet below Enloe Dam. Only hatchery steelhead, distinguished by clipped adipose or ventral fins, can be kept. Anglers must release all wild steelhead, any steelhead with a radio-tag wire in its mouth, or steelhead with a disk tag near the dorsal fin. The season runs through March 31, except for that part of the Okanogan from Highway 97 bridge at Omak to 500 feet above the mouth of Omak Creek, which will close Feb. 16. In the Columbia Basin, Potholes Reservoir water level is rising rapidly as Moses Lake is lowered to winter levels, and big rainbow trout and walleye are showing in catches. Largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing has also been good at Potholes.

• Hunting: Waterfowl hunting has been fair to good throughout the Columbia Basin, with duck limits recently taken by hunters in the Seep Lakes area below O'Sullivan Dam. Upland game bird hunting continues and pheasant hunters will get one more boost from the last game-farm-raised rooster releases before Thanksgiving. Archery deer hunters will be afield again Nov. 21 in some units; mule deer are limited to bucks with at least three antler points.

• Wildlife viewing: Now is the time for deer watchers, photographers, and artists to be afield and on the lookout for bucks in full-fledged rutting behavior. Look for "scrapes" near small trees off obvious deer trails in the woods and along streamsides; these are both patches of tree bark worn off from bucks polishing their antlers and practicing battle, and patches of ground pawed away and marked with scent. Position yourself quietly and discreetly nearby and wait for the most close-up views of buck deer that you'll get all year. Preoccupied with finding does to breed and challenging other bucks, these normally wary animals are now relatively visible. (They're less wary about roads, too, so motorists should be even more alert than ever in deer country.) Bundle up for a wait in the frosty November air (including hunter orange clothing since seasons are open in some areas), take your binoculars and telephoto lens if the deer aren't so close-up, and enjoy one of Washington's most beautiful animals during one of the most colorful times of the year.

South Central Washington:

• Fishing: Steelhead fishing is going great guns on the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River where a special hatchery-fish-only season opened on Nov. 6.The season, which runs through March 31, was opened because of the large return of these beautiful big fish. It's a two-hatchery-steelhead per day limit on the stretch from the Highway 395 bridge at Pasco to the Old Hanford townsite wooden power line towers upstream of the Ringold Hatchery. Only hatchery steelhead, distinguished by clipped adipose or ventral fins, can be kept. Anglers must release all wild steelhead, any steelhead with a radio-tag wire in its mouth, or steelhead with a disk tag near the dorsal fin. The Hanford Reach's chinook salmon season continues through the end of the year, but most catches of pre-spawn fish have already been made.

• Hunting: Upland game bird hunting continues and pheasant hunters will get one more boost from the last game-farm-raised rooster releases before Thanksgiving. Archery and muzzleoader mule deer hunters will be afield again Nov. 21 in a few units for bucks with at least three antler points.

• Wildlife viewing: Now is the time for deer watchers, photographers, and artists to be afield and on the lookout for bucks in full-fledged rutting behavior. Look for "scrapes" near small trees off obvious deer trails in the woods and along streamsides; these are both patches of tree bark worn off from bucks polishing their antlers and practicing battle, and patches of ground pawed away and marked with scent. Position yourself quietly and discreetly nearby and wait for the most close-up views of buck deer that you'll get all year. Preoccupied with finding does to breed and challenging other bucks, these normally wary animals are now relatively visible. (They're less wary about roads, too, so motorists should be even more alert than ever in deer country.) Bundle up for a wait in the frosty November air (including hunter orange clothing since seasons are open in some areas), take your binoculars and telephoto lens if the deer aren't so close-up, and enjoy one of Washington's most beautiful animals during one of the most colorful times of the year.