by Dave Graybill, July 01, 2003

(Editor Note: This is taken from a Special Report to members that I wrote last season. The conditions may be different this year, but the information on how to approach the Upper Columbia will still be very helpful.)



What I will spend some time on in this report is what I have learned about the salmon fishing in our region on the Columbia River. This always creates a lot of excitement, and hoards of anglers hit the river for the opening day. There are probably as many or more fish in the river as there were this same time last year, but fishing is off the pace. This year there are some special circumstances that are making the fishing less than spectacular.

What anglers are dealing with this year are very heavy flows. I mean currents that most haven’t experienced in this area of the river in July. The high snow pack and delayed run off continues to play havoc with anglers on both small and large streams. This will continue for some time, too.

What this means on the Columbia is that only the very experienced should even venture out below the dams. This is where the salmon are typically concentrated, and flows are such that boat handling is a real challenge. Getting the gear out is one thing, and fighting and landing a fish is another in these conditions. Boat handling is pretty much a two-person job right now, and you’d better have the right people on board even at that. There are days at Wells Dam that anglers can’t even get out of the launch bay, due to big rollers coming through, and there have been times when there are boulders that have rolled across the entrance.

This is a big reason why the numbers of anglers that appeared at the mouth of the Okanogan River last Tuesday was astounding. My buddy at the Triangle Texaco told me that he counted 140 boats there, and estimated that about seventy kings were boated. This stands out above the fishing in the vicinity of Wenatchee at the same time. I believe the count was eighty-six anglers and one fish!

Until things settle down considerably, anglers will want to consider fishing at the mouth of the Okanogan. There is good reason for this area attracting the number of anglers that it does. One is that it is an area that holds a huge number of fish. It is the end of the line for many. There are some that head up the Methow, and some that go all they way through the Okanogan and up the Sinlehekin. The main reason that anglers will be heading here right now is that there is essentially no current. It is like fishing in a lake. When conditions are like they are at the other known Chinook areas, this is a very good option. I did get a chance to fish there for a few hours on Sunday afternoon, and I’ll pass along what I learned.

One of the things that I learned about the salmon fishery in this area last year that seems to be holding true this season, is that it is primarily an early morning fishery. I’m not saying that you can’t catch a fish at other times of the day, but the odds are definitely not as good.

The only times I have personally got to fish this area is in the afternoon, and not only did I not ever put a fish in the boat, I didn’t see many other anglers have any success either. Last Sunday I saw just one salmon boated, and that was at about 7:30 p.m. This was about the time I saw the first signs of activity on the water here. We go on the water at about four, and it wasn’t till after seven that I saw the first fish even roll. In the last hour we probably saw a dozen or so fish roll on the surface in the area we were fishing. We saw no signs of fish before that.

Last year, the two other times I was out in this spot, the number of fish I saw boated I could count on one hand. That’s a total for both trips! I did talk to anglers when I was launching or taking out, and many had either limited or nearly so that morning. They had nothing for their efforts in the evening.

The fishing here at the mouth of the Okanogan isn’t what it was last season either. There were maybe a dozen other boats fishing here this past Sunday, compared to 140 on opening day. Two things are obvious. Evening isn’t the time to be there. Fishing will get better!

There are many thousands of fish hanging out here now, and many thousands more on the way. As these fish settle in and get territorial, the bite will improve.

I must say that the photos I saw at the Triangle Texaco of the fish that have been taken so far are very impressive. There were a couple in the 30-pound class on the wall here, and what’s even more impressive is that they are mostly dollar-bright.

If you would like to try your luck fishing for kings in this area of the Columbia, here are some pointers.

You’ll want to launch in Brewster. The launch is a really good one, with a large dock and all, and there is a fair amount of parking adjacent to the launch. There is parking just a very short walk away if this lot fills. There is no fee to launch here, and the paved, improved launch has a nice long dock, too. To find the launch, turn at the corner in the town of Brewster where you see the Chevron station that has a McDonald’s inside. The Chevron is also where you can get your Catch Record Card if you haven’t yet. For an early start I would get one before you head up here, though. I don’t think the station opens until six in the morning.

When you launch you’ll run a couple miles up river, passing under the bridge that is the southern boundary for the fishing zone here. When you run up toward the mouth of the Okanogan, you will most likely see other boats and this will help you determine where to drop your gear. There are some things to know, though.

The mouth of the Okanogan is a delta, and the actual river channel location is deceiving. The instinct is to run right up to where you can best determine is where the main flow of the Okanogan runs into the Columbia. However, that’s not where the main channel is. If you run a straight line down the Okanogan River mouth to the Columbia, you find three to five feet of water choked with weeds. There are several bars and false channels in this area, too. They will snag your line, foul your prop and hang up you downrigger ball.

The main channel actually follows the west shore of the Columbia. This is where the fish are, in many cases, too. There are fish milling about throughout this very large bay. They will travel up to the base of Chief Joseph Dam. They will wander up the mouth of the Methow and the Okanogan, and then come back and join the large schools off the mouth again. This will go on for months.

What I found to be the best strategy is to run over to the west shore, about a half-mile below the mouth, and look for about forty feet of water. You will find forty feet surprisingly close to shore. There is water forty to sixty feet deep a couple of hundred yards from the shore here. I have motored all around this area, and although I marked fish in lots of different spots. The best concentrations were in this area. I also found that most boats tended to crowd there way up to the top end of where this channel starts. Not that many were working the mid to bottom end of the channel, and I found good concentrations of fish here.

The majority of anglers will be fishing herring. They will either hang it from their downriggers, or put it behind some kind of diver to get it down. Most also put a dodger ahead of their bait. Eileen and I did have one good hit on Sunday, and it was on a cut-plug herring.

If you are not practiced in cutting herring, you may want to get some of the devices that you slide a herring into, by the head, and then keep the bait in place with a toothpick. Some people call them Herring Helmets or Herring Aids. They will impart an action or roll to the bait, and they also help keep the bait in good shape. Some come with the hooks and for others you’ll need to get the double-hook leaders for salmon fishing.

Many anglers that fish for Chinook on the Columbia prefer to troll or back troll plugs. I know anglers that swear by the Magnum Wiggle Wart. Others like the very large versions of the Flatfish (size M-2) or Quik Fish, in the same relative size. There are a range of other plugs out there, such as the Hot Shot and Hot N Tot that also claim a lot of salmon each season.

The main thing to have along with you when you fish the mouth of the Okanogan is patience. I haven’t experienced the morning bite here yet, and I’ll bet its exciting, but for the most part you are going to be putting around, listening to the sound of your trolling motor and the tall tales of your fishing buddies.

You are also going to have to be patient with other boaters. There is no obvious pattern to where anglers are going out here. They are just wandering around, hoping to put their baits in front of a hungry fish. You have to be on the lookout all the time. Just when you think that you have established a nice line that will take you to the top of your run, another boat will be heading your direction, cross wise to your path.

Just try not to do the same to them. Give everyone ample room, especially when a fish is on. Try not to follow to closely either. When you’re a hundred feet behind the boat ahead of you, you are right over their baits, and driving fish away.

If you don’t have a boat, or are not really confident about going out after kings, you may want to give Rod Hammons a call. You can reach him at (509) 689-2849. He has a great reputation as a guide, and can not only give you a good shot at some fish, but show you the ropes so you can do well yourself.

I haven’t given up on the mouth of the Okanogan River, although it hasn’t treated me very well. I have always got at least one good hit here, and I guess it’s like golf. That’s all it takes to make me want to come back again. To be fair to the fishery, I need to get there when it’s happening sometime, too. You know, at the break of day, or even before for that matter.

What’s really exciting is that the prospect for catching Chinook this season is just getting started. It got off to a slightly better start last year, and the water conditions were much better. The projection remains to exceed last year’s number of fish. There is some talk that there may be twice as many salmon returning to the Columbia this season.

One of my goals for this season is to have Eileen experience the thrill of catching a king salmon. I wouldn’t mind putting a few in the box myself. I don’t know about you, but that’s something to look forward to!