by John Kruse, April 11, 2021

Spring turkey hunting, a reopened state park observatory and hot fishing for non-salmon species in the Columbia River dominate the news this week.

PUBLIC LAND TURKEY HUNTING OPTIONS -

The general opener for the spring turkey season is April 15th. Traditionally, the best region to hunt is in Northeast Washington but Southeast Washington around the Blue Mountains and Klickitat County in South Central Washington also offer good options. Some of the best turkey hunting in our state is found on private lands but if you haven’t secured permission to hunt a gobbler on private property, you’ll want to give public land hunting a try.

When it comes to public lands National Forests and Bureau of Land Management lands can be a good choice as well as Washington State Wildlife Areas. As far as wildlife areas go there are several good bets for turkey hunters. In Northeastern Washington the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports the “LeClerc Creek and Rustlers Gulch Wildlife areas usually have a good number of gobblers as well as the Sherman Creek Wildlife Area, where winter closure gates on the Bisbee Mountain and Trout Lake roads on the Sherman Creek Wildlife Area re-opened April 1st.”

Heading to Southeast Washington the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area in the corner of the state as well as the Asotin State and W.T. Wooten Wildlife Areas bordering the Blue Mountains are worth hunting as is the Soda Springs Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area west of Goldendale. Whatever public land you choose to hunt, try to get there a day or two prior to the opener to pattern the birds and be in your spot to intercept them as they come down off their roosts in the morning.

GOLDENDALE OBSERVATORY REOPENS –

Washington State Parks is reopening the Goldendale Observatory, perhaps their most unique park, on April 24th. Don’t drop in on a whim expecting to see the night skies through the new Newtonian Telescope with a 24.5- inch mirror lens though. Covid pandemic restrictions mean reduced opportunities until we move out of Phase 3. For now, there are tours of the newly upgraded facility and the chance to view the sun through the observatory’s solar telescopes from 2 to 4 PM each weekend. You will have to register online through the park website for one of these visits and can do so at https://parks.state.wa.us/512/Goldendale-Observatory

MID-COLUMBIA FISHING HOT –

The hottest fishing in the Pacific Northwest right now may well be in the John Day Pool of the Columbia River between Rufus and Umatilla where the walleye and bass bite is on. WDFW creel checkers recently interviewed anglers in 68 boats who had caught 246 walleye and some 25 percent of them were released. Anglers in 13 boats fishing with 25 rods did even better going after bass. They caught 166 bass (that’s over 6.5 bass a rod), with some 90 percent of those fish, primarily smallmouth bass, turned back into the water. Suffice it to say it’s definitely a good time to go fishing in this part of the Columbia but watch the wind, it does tend to kick up in the afternoons and makes boat fishing very tough.

John Kruse – www.northwesternoutdoors.com and www.americaoutdoorsradio.com


PHOTOS:

1. The Goldendale Observatory – Photo courtesy Washington State Parks