Hunting, Fishing and Clam Digging - November's a PrimeTime

Fall in Washington State is a great time for sports lovers. Whether your bag is fishing, hunting or digging clams now is the time to get out and enjoy the scenery along with your sport. I'm not into hunting, but I sure like fishing and digging for clams. This is the time of year all sports folks enjoy are rolled into one.

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Fishing our Waters

Like to fish for steelhead?

More than 630,000 steelhead were counted at the Bonneville Dam this year, the highest ever recorded. And hatchery steelhead fishing season is now open at the Hanford Reach, in the Okanogan River and the Similkameen River. State hatchery fish managers say the steelhead, estimated up to 11,000 marked, are on their way to the Hanford Reach right now.

Your limit is two marked fish steelhead a day. You can tell marked from unmarked by the scar left when the adipose or ventral fin was removed at the hatchery. Unmarked fish must be returned to the water.

How about chum salmon?

Salmon fishing season is still going strong, especially upstream on the Cowlitz at the mouth of the Toutle. Fish are pouring in, according to Don Glazer of Barrier Dam Campground. Fish are also showing up on the Chehalis, Lewis, Kalama, Klickitat and Satsop rivers. Kennedy creek is full of chum. And out on the coast lots of salmon and some winter-run steelhead are in Olympic Peninsula rivers. The Sol Duc and Hoh river report the highest catches.

Blackmouth and chum are making their way up Hood Canal. Tribal fisheries are netting near the Hoodsport hatcheries Tuesdays and Thursdays this month.

Don't' forget sturgeon fishing.

Sturgeon season catches in the Columbia River are increasing. Check out the area near Vancouver. Better catches seem to be below the Bonneville Dam right now.

Fly fishing figures in the equation, too.

Have you seen A River Runs Through It? I love the fly fishing scenes. Around Puget Sound chums are the take in our estuaries. Don't miss Kennedy Creek or sea-run cutthroat in the Deschutes River.

I like trout.

Our western Washington lakes are good places to catch them, though eastern Washington lakes sport the biggest fish. If you're a trout lover and live in Pierce, Thurston or Mason counties, Spanaway Lake is a good place for catching rainbow trout, along with Offut Lake near Tenino. Mason county's lakes are fair this time of year.

Hunting Bucks

I'm not a hunter but I have to say I do like eating venison; it's tasty. We used to have it made into spicy sausage and hamburger when we were young and poor and depended on a catch for food.

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