Outdoors - Hunting and Fishing

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008

FISHING: December means steelhead

Anglers old enough to remember will recollect that the first of December once was a seminal date on the fishing calendar.

For the hardiest of hardcore river anglers, defiers of iced up guides, downpours and numbness in fingers and toes, it had a feel similar to the spring opener for trout lakes.

After a month's time off (during the November closure) anglers were permitted back on river banks to begin prospecting for steelhead.

If you weren't a flogger after salmon, it was exhilarating - and not just from the cold weather - to get back on the bank, in a driftboat or jet sled. And most fishers would be out on Dec. 1 even if the steelhead hadn't shown up yet.

Today's fish-through style season structure now requires each of us to find our own impetus or motivation to start prospecting for steelies and not just wait for the grapevine to start humming with rumors of the big sea-run rainbows.

WINDING DOWN, REVVING UP

With salmon runs on the downhill side of the curve now, local streams will be perking up for several gamefish including steelhead, sea-run cutthroat trout and whitefish.

Most eastside Puget Sound rivers not already closed for salmon (chum or coho) will stay open for another month until Dec. 31.

An at least partial exception is the Skagit River, which was closed to the taking chum salmon by emergency rule earlier this month. There may be others that will close because the dogs are not living up to pre-season expectations.

At this time of year, all anglers have to tread carefully both figuratively and for wading fishers, literally.

Spawning dog salmon are conspicuous, especially in upper river reaches and are to be avoided. It is illegal by state law to harass them if they are spawning (digging redds and laying eggs). That is specifically the case if the stream section is closed to their taking such as the North Fork Nooksack.

As mentioned, in Puget Sound rivers this is the time of year when winter-run steelhead begin to make their appearance.

These reaches are open now for winter-runs and other gamefish until the end of February.

Nooksack River (mainstem) - Lummi Nation Boundary upstream to the confluence of the North and South Forks.

North Fork Nooksack - from the confluence upstream to Nooksack Falls (no motorized boats Dec. 1 on).

Middle Fork Nooksack - mouth on North Fork upstream to headwaters (no motorized boats Dec. 1 on).

South Fork Nooksack - confluence with South Fork upstream to Skookum Creek. Closed entirely above Skookum Creek.

Whatcom Creek - mouth upstream to stone bridge in Whatcom Falls Park.

Samish River - Bayview-Edison Road bridge upstream to Hickson bridge (second Samish River bridge on Prairie Road)

Skagit River - the mouth of its north and south forks upstream to Gorge Dam (actually Gorge Powerhouse at Newhalem).

Sauk River - mouth upstream to Whitechuck River.

Cascade River - mouth upstream to headwaters. Selective fishing rules above Rockport-Cascade Road.

LET WILD FISH GO

With the exception of fourteen streams in Washington (mainly on the Olympic Peninsula), hooked wild winter- or summer-run steelhead (those with their adipose fins intact) must be kept in the water unharmed and released quickly.

Also with the exception of a very select few streams, bull trout and Dolly Varden, the native char species found here, also must by statewide or general rule be released.

In most streams, especially with wild or native cutthroat trout (sea-run and resident), the minimum keeper size is set by rule at 14 inches. This rule is designed to protect first-time-spawning cutthroat trout.

KEEPERS BY RULE

On the gamefish menu in streams during the late fall and winter months are hatchery-origin winter-run steelhead (two per day). These keepers must not have an adipose fin and the scar must be healed at the small appendage's normal attachment.

Steelhead are tabbed as part of the daily trout limit as are native char (when legal to keep).

In other words, if you keep a legal char, you may only retain one legal trout or steelhead.

Also, other trout from 14-20 inches are legal to keep. Bull trout or Dolly Varden, if lawful to retain, must be at least 20 inches long to be fully legal in the Skagit.

Whitefish have no minimum size limit and 15 may be kept each day.

LOCAL LAKES GO UNUSED

If rainbow trout will still bite in iced-over eastside lakes, it's likely that cutthroat trout and leftover lunker triploids (rainbows) will still nibble on bait in warmer westside lakes.

However, judging from the empty look most waters have from November to March, lakes are a hard-sell in the off-season here and remarkably, unlike Eastern Washington hook and liners, anglers here are not convinced the challenge of learning winter tactics is worth the discomfort.

In case any of you do, but don't know what's on tap, here's a brief rundown.

Key waters such as Padden, Toad, Cain, Silver, Whatcom, Baker and Ross lakes are closed for the season (until next spring).

And there are fishing restrictions (can't fish from floating watercraft) in place on Terrell, Tennant and Fazon Lakes until the end of January.

But lakes Samish, Canyon, Squalicum, Wiser, Pine and Cedar as well as several others in Whatcom County are still open. Special rules apply on Squalicum (selective gear rule including no bait) and Samish (a 14-inch minimum size limit for cutthroat trout).

Next door in Skagit County, while McMurray, Sixteen, Heart, Vogler, Erie and Shannon are shutdown for the season, lakes Everett, Grandy, Clear, Big, Campbell, Whistle, Pass and several others are still in-bounds for winter stillfishers.

Campbell is well-known for its bass and perch, but cutthroat trout also reside there and it gets a smattering of triploids each year. Clear Lake also gets triploids and cutthroat trout.

Interestingly, coastal cutthroat trout, native to our waters, are active later into the fall and begin shaking off their winter languor as early as mid-February.

SCUTTLEBUTT SAYS

Despite the early-ishness of the calendar date, there are whispers that the first few hatchery-origin steelhead have already been caught in the North Fork Nooksack just below their destination, Kendall Creek Hatchery.

Look for steelies also in lower Whatcom Creek, but probably not at the mouth where chum salmon are dominating.

The Samish River is well below its seasonal flow volume and it lacks its customary muddy concealment, so prospect for steelhead in its deeper pools especially in the lower river.

Whitefish are congregating now in North Fork Nooksack reaches including a popular locale in the hole under the Mosquito Lake Road bridge. Small rocket red wingbobbers or single eggs are usually the ticket for them.

If you decide to prospect local lakes, since trout may not be oriented toward the surface now, try trolling spoons or spinners at depth.

Also if you have some egg skein chunks from a salmon catch or two, especially leftovers from last year, tie in a thumb joint sized chunk in an egg loop and fish it along the bottom of the lake.

If there's a little breeze, movement (of the boat) is good. Bigger trout will likely have staked out and are hunkered down in territories on the bottom near shore and may pick up on the scent wafting through their neighborhood.