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Fall Upriver Brights of the Hanford Reach
by Mike Carey, October 05, 2002
Fall Upriver Brights of the Hanford Reach
By Mike Carey
October 5-6,2002
Every year I read about the great fishing at Hanford. Chinook ranging from 30-50 pounds being caught left and right. Chinook fishing getting better every year. And every year I think "maybe next year - I really need to check out this fishery". Then I read about the boat launch at Vernita Bridge being a 4 wheel drive launch and I hesitate. Don't want to get stuck. Don't want to watch my truck get swept away in the raging Columbia. So many fears waking one up at night. But this year was different. This year I had a new truck. With 4 wheel drive. So I pulled out my map, peppered guide Anton Jones with questions, and set out to see what Hanford was really all about.
The first thing I learned as I investigated further was that Hanford is not "further". In fact, Hanford is pretty darn "nearer". From my home in Redmond it was 175 miles, about a 3 hour drive to the Vernita bridge. That's almost a day trip in my book! Then another pleasant surprise. When Carl "Easy Limits" and I arrived, we found a large open camping area. Plenty of room to spread out, and no camping or boat launch fees (except you need an access sticker). What could be better than that? How about this: the boat launch isn't that bad. Not terribly steep, although, it is gravelly. You may get stuck without 4 wheel drive. But there will be lots of anglers help to get you out. And you may hear an earful about it. Because the fishermen and women want to get on the water. Why? Because the stories are true - Hanford is a great place to fish!
We fished Saturday and Sunday from daybreak to 4 pm Saturday and till 11am Sunday. There are a variety of techniques to target these fish. We settled on the method most people were using - downriggers to get your offering down to within 5-15 feet off the bottom. I will confess to being anxious about using downriggers in the river. I have had my boat turn backside to river current and have seen how quickly it is possible to get sucked under. So the idea of getting a downrigger ball snagged on the bottom and having my boat do a 180 and then deep six was not too appealing. So next to each downrigger I placed a wire cutters. Carl was given specific orders to cut the cable if we got snagged and turned. Wise advice for anyone using this technique. Worries aside, using downriggers is a great way to go. We fished the first hole above the boat launch, called the King Hole.
With a name like that it should be good, right? Well, 50 or so other boatloads of anglers seemed to agree. But don't worry as there is plenty of room and we never had any close calls. Everyone tended to either hold their position or slowly back troll down the hole. We started fishing in 30 feet of water at the top of the hole.
, Lures of choice include Kwickfish (most popular)
cut-plug herring, and spin-n-glows. Probably some other lures as well but those are the main ones.
Saturday, 8am. The line to get our boat in took 45 minutes. Wish I had dragged myself out of the sleeping bag sooner. No matter. Within 5 minutes of putting out my sardine wrapped Kwickfish the rod released from the downrigger clip and I was into my first Hanford Reach King! Way Cool! The fish put up a good effort but was solidly hooked and wasn't going anywhere but our net. Carl pulled the 12 pound buck in after a short but spirited battle. Fish in the boat, skunk out. What a great way to start the weekend! The fish was caught in 30 feet of water with the DR at 25 feet and a good 45 degree angle on the ball. So he was definitely suspended. Back in the water went our gear, and 15 minutes later my rod again released to the pull of our second fish. This one was a bit smaller at 11 pounds. Not the 30-40 pound fish I had been expecting, but who's complaining?
Around us we saw several other people playing fish during this time. There was a definite 8am bite going on. At 10am the action was dying down so I suggested to Carl we make the 8 mile or so run up to the Priest Rapids dam and see what it looked like. We wanted to explore the river on Saturday a bit since Sunday would be a half day. The run took longer than expected, but when we arrived we found another cluster of boats with their downriggers out. So we joined them, fishing an area off of some rocky shoreline structure, 40-55 feet deep. We pounded the water for two hours and saw only one fish caught among us. At noon we decide to work our way back downriver to the boat launch. Carl decided to troll plugs while I used a diver and spin-n-glow with eggs. It was a sunny, warm afternoon and a great drift back home. We even managed to pick up a jack chinook on the way down.
That evening Carl and I enjoyed grilled steaks and the stark beauty of a desert sunset, followed by a sky full of stars. The atmosphere at the camping area was that of a light-hearted, relaxed group of anglers enjoying unspoiled land and vast empty spaces. If you're a fan of Eastern Washington you will like this place. But if you don't like the desert, don't bother coming here!
Sunday we managed to hit the boat ramp earlier and by 7am our gear was working the King Hole again. Once more the 8am bite started around us. We fished our kwickfish and bid our time. Around 9am Carl's rod slammed down and it was "fish on!". This fish had some weight and spunk to it. After a good battle I netted a solid 16.7 pound hen.
She was actually "bright", as bright as a fish can be after traveling 300 miles up the Columbia. A little while later I caught a 6 pound buck and released another jack. We called it a day at 11am. Total for the trip: 6 chinook, including 2 jacks. As Carl remarked, "anytime you can catch 6 chinook in two days I'd call that good fishing". I would have to agree with him, pretty good fishing in my book. I'm looking forward to returning and adding a few 30-40 pound kings into the catch next time.
