by Dave Graybill, March 11, 2014
I had a great time at the Quincy Valley Tourism Association’s 4th Annual Tagged Trout Derby at Burke and Quincy lakes. There were 377 anglers registered for the event this year, and more tagged trout were caught than ever before. I also took a road trip with my wife Eileen to see what the Columbia River looks like with the drawdown imposed by the crack discovered in Wanapum Dam.
As you may know, there were tagged trout planted in both Quincy and Burke lakes for the derby this year. This doubled the odds of people catching a cash prize winning fish. A total of six tagged trout were turned in to the weigh in station, I can’t remember more than two being taken in earlier derbies. One of the fish turned out to be worth $1,000.00. Neil Humphries of Ellensburg was the lucky angler, and he caught it on a Super Duper on his first cast of the day. There were five other lucky anglers and the QVTA paid each of them $100.00 this year. Also, if an angler catches a tagged trout between now and June 1st, take it to the Quincy of Chamber of Commerce office. If it is one of the trout that would have been worth $2,000.00, the QVTA will cut you a check for $500.00!
In the Adult Division, David Hauch took 1st place for biggest fish, with a trout weighing 4.86 pounds. Biggest Catch Weight was won by Armando Gonzales with a stringer weighing 8.55 pounds. In the Youth Division, the biggest fish, weighing 4.1 pounds, was caught by Isaiah Alegria. The Biggest Catch Weight was won by Andre Garcia with a stringer weighing 5.2 pounds. Each of these anglers won $50.00.
The weather was great for the derby. The skies were cloudy, but there was no wind and no rain. The majority of the fish caught in both Burke and Quincy lakes were 11 inches and about a third of a pound. These were the result of fry plants made last fall. There are still a very good number of trout from 15 to 18 inches, and also many weighing 5 to 7 pounds still in the lake. These were planted by the QVTA to spice the action for their derby. Once again they did a great job organizing the derby and running the weigh station. Everyone is looking forward to next year’s event.
As most of you are aware there was a two-inch, horizontal crack discovered in one of the 65-foot spillways at Wanapum Dam. The spillway incident was downgraded from a “developing failure” to a “non-failure emergency” when the drawdown of the Columbia River stabilized the fracture. The fracture was reduced by nearly 1.75 inches. The damaged section of the spillway monolith is now stable as a result of the drawdown. The spillway consists of multiple, independent structural sections that support the spillway gates. In a worst case scenario, if one of the two spillway gates failed, the remaining spillway gates and the powerhouse would remain intact. After drawing down the level of the water behind Wanapum Dam, if two of the dam’s 12 spillway sections failed now, the amount of water that would flow through the spillway sections is 100,000 cubic feet per second. This amount of water is significantly less than under normal operations, and would be within the range of average river flow, approximately 120,000 cubic feet per second.
Anglers are of course concerned about fish passage at Wanapum Dam. Grant County PUD is actively studying options to safely pass adult and juvenile salmon and steelhead past the dam if the current drawdown of the Wanapum reservoir continues into the migration season. Adult passage begins in April and continues into mid November. Juvenile salmon and steelhead begin to move downstream around the third week in April. In the event that the water remains low into the migration season, options to provide upstream passage include modifications to the existing Wanapum Dam fish ladders as well as the potential to trap and haul fish via trucks around the reservoir. At current levels, the Wanapum Dam Fish Bypass would be operational, allowing juvenile salmon and steelhead to safely pass over the dam.
I want to remind everyone that the Wanapum reservoir shoreline is closed to all but authorized PUD personnel. Chelan County PUD has also requested that the public stay off the shorelines below Rocky Reach and Rock Island dams. The river banks and mud flats are extremely unstable and have proven to be a safety hazard. All boat launches on the Wanapum reservoir are closed. I would advise anglers to stay off the water from below Rocky Reach Dam down stream through Wanapum reservoir. There are now hazards to boating in the river that would not be an issue at normal levels.
My wife Eileen and I drove down the Columbia to Wanapum Dam and a bit further downstream to see what the river looked like. We were both amazed at the number of large rocks, reefs and sandbars that are not normally visible. I will posting some photos on my web site and Facebook pages to share what we both saw. Please do stay off the water and the shorelines and mud flats.
When I was in the Tri-Cities last week the big news was that a new state record walleye had been caught. This has been confirmed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. John Grubenhoff of Pasco was the lucky angler who landed the monster, which weighed 20.32 pounds. It was 35.50 inches long and had a girth of 22.75 inches. He was trolling a Rapala J-13 lure six feet behind a 2 ounce bottom walker. He was going upstream in 22 feet of water when the fish hit.
When I was checking my mail at the Post Office after returning home from the Tri-Cities, and who was knocking on my window but Shane Magnuson, of Upper Columbia Guide Services. He was really pumped. The day before he had taken clients out on the Columbia at Pateros and wound up with six keepers. They got these fish so fast that he decided to take them all to Chelan and fish for kokanee. They had 12 fish in the cooler when they quit. Not a bad day. He got his fish deep near the Yacht Club. The fish ranged in size from about 12 inches to 16 inches. There are still some very large kokanee being taken at Chelan, but smaller fish are showing up as well this year.
I made a swing through the lakes prior to last weekend and found only Quincy Lake to be mostly covered with ice. Burke Lake was 80 percent clear of ice, with only the very east end ice covered and a few large patches at the west end.
When I made my swing I was able to take a look at Stan Coffin, Quincy, Burke, Dusty and Martha lakes. Stan Coffin is the first lake you pass on your way into the Quincy Wildlife Area, off White Trail Road. Stan Coffin is a spiny ray lake, with good numbers of largemouth bass, which must be released. There are also some nice catfish in the lake. Burke and Quincy are trout lakes under state wide rules and a five fish limit. The lakes are planted with fry in the fall and the fish are usually 11 inches or better by the spring opener, with some carryovers of 15 inches. There is very good bank access on both of these lakes. Dusty Lake is a quality lake that is very popular with fly fishers. There is a one fish limit on Dusty. Trout to over 20 inches are taken regularly. Martha Lake, which is east of George, always surprises me. It is a trout lake, and although narrow and shallow produces some very large rainbow on the opener every year. It also usually produces the highest number of limit catches every year. I didn’t get a chance to get to Upper Caliche last week, but I was told that it was completely ice free. This lake typically produces good catches of trout averaging 11 inches.
A couple of other lakes that opened on March 1st are Lake Lenore, near Soap Lake, and Lenice near Beverly. Lake Lenore is a Lahontan cutthroat lake, with some large fish available. You must release all fish on Lenore, which is a selective fishery lake, until June 1st, and then you can keep one fish. Lake Lenice is a quality lake, very popular with fly fishers, under selective fishery rules, and a one fish limit.
We’ve got some great weather coming up and some great walleye, trout and kokanee fishing going on. Hope to see you on the water!FishingMagician.com