10/7/08 What’s happening

Good time for brights in Hanford Reach …

For salmon anglers, right now is the peak time for fishing for upriver brights in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, and a transition time as well. The fall chinook are moving from the good-eating stage right into the good-fishing stage.

“The irony is the later in the run it gets, the more territorial they get and the more they bite, but the quality of the fish (in dinner-table terms) deteriorates,” says Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Perry Harvester.

With the cooler weather and precipitation, salmon bound for the tributaries should be on the move, which means fishing for late coho on the Klickitat River should be getting good for the rest of the year. The Yakima River remains open for fall chinook and coho (but not steelhead) through Oct. 22 in the lower stretch, from Richland to the Prosser Dam, but the stretch of the Yakima River abutting the Yakama Reservation from Granger to the Sunnyside (Parker) Dam is closed to nontribal anglers.

… and for steelhead farther up the river

Hatchery steelhead fisheries opened Saturday on the upper Columbia, Methow and Okanogan rivers, with the Similkameen River set to open Nov. 15.

In each of those fisheries, anglers will have a daily limit of two hatchery (adipose-fin-clipped) steelhead measuring at least 20 inches in length. A robust run of wild and hatchery steelhead led to the fishery, which will be a popular draw to anglers around the state both because of the fight in the fish and the eating quality of the steelhead, which will remain high through the winter because they won’t spawn until next spring

Steelhead with an intact adipose fin, and those bearing an anchor tag, must be immediately released unharmed without being removed from the water.

Elk-hunting rules the focus of meeting

State wildlife officials will attend a public meeting next week in Packwood to discuss proposed changes in elk-hunting rules to help control crop damage and other problems caused by foraging elk in the Cowlitz River Valley.

The 5 p.m. Oct. 17 meeting at the Packwood Community Hall will focus on two proposals, one of which would create a new special-permit hunting area one mile from either side of U.S. Highway 12 from Morton to Packwood.  The other would allow hunting of cow elk — rather than just branch-antler bulls — during the general hunting season in the Davis Lake Valley.

“These changes are being proposed primarily as a way to reduce property damage and other elk-related problems in the area,” said Department of Fish and Wildlife regional wildlife manager Sandra Jonker.  “Hunters would undoubtedly take some additional elk, but these proposals aren’t designed to reduce the overall size of the herd.  The main goal is to haze animals away from people’s property, and hunters can help do that.”

Good forage in the valleys below the hills of the Gifford Pinchot National Forests has drawn large numbers of elk into the area, especially during hard winters. Local no-shooting zones would remain in place and not be affected by the department’s proposals, Jonker said.

Shorebirds in unusual locations

In what appears to be a late shorebird migration, the migrants are being found in unusual locations. The flooded pastures along Island Road held stilt sandpiper, pectoral sandpiper and a flock of long-billed dowitchers, while Olden Road held killdeer, greater yellowlegs, and pectoral sandpiper.

A small wetland south of the Costco gas station is also becoming a magnet for migrants. Close views of killdeer, greater yellowlegs, least sandpiper and Wilson’s snipe were all noted there this week.

Birders on an Indian summer day hike along the Pacific Crest Trail north of Fog City enjoyed great views of migrating raptors including turkey vulture, osprey, bald eagle, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper’s hawk, northern goshawk, red-tailed hawk, golden eagle and American kestrel. Imitating the squeak of a mouse gave them the extra thrill of having both a red-tailed hawk and a northern goshawk investigating the sound from just a few yards over their heads. They also noted a purple finch feasting on mountain ash berries at timberline.

A Konnowac Pass resident reports swarms of violet-green swallows flying over their place this week. They also noted American pipits, Wilson’s snipe, yellow-rumped warbler, Wilson’s warbler, orange-crowned warblers and a Stellar’s jay.

Yard/feeder reports this week included mountain chickadee, spotted towhee, dark-eyed junco, white-crowned sparrow, pine siskin, American goldfinch and, along Mieras Road, four western bluebirds foraging in the bushes. In Terrace Heights a probable Anna’s hummingbird was observed.

Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 248-1963.

— Kerry L. Turley

AROUND AND ABOUT

HATCHERY VANDALISM: The Kalama Falls Hatchery will have trouble meeting its goal for fall chinook production because of apparent vandalism, according to a story in the Longview Daily News. Someone turned off water flowing into a tank holding adult fall chinook the night of Sept. 18. By the time hatchery workers discovered the problem the next morning, 531 fish had died. Hatchery manager Aaron Roberts said the hatchery “probably won’t” reach its goal is 3,700 returning fall chinook as a result.

COUGAR DEADLINE: Washington hunters interested in assisting the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) with public-safety cougar removals have until Oct. 17 to apply for special permits. Permit applicants must have a valid state big game hunting license, with cougar as a species option, and must own cougar-tracking dogs.

FOREST ADVISORS MEET: The Yakima and Eastern Washington Cascades Provincial Advisory Committees will meet at 9 a.m. Oct. 23 at the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest headquarters in Wenatchee (215 Melody Lane).

ON THE CALENDAR

TODAY: The Cascadians’ Tuesday hikers meet at 8 a.m. at the 40th Ave. Bi-Mart parking lot for a hike to Shoe Lake, a 7-mile round trip with 2,100 feet of elevation gain. Next Tuesday: Milakwa Lake, a 9-mile hike with 2,200 feet of elevation gain.

TONIGHT: The Trails and Wilderness Interest Group will meet at 7 p.m. at the Naches Ranger Station, with participants parking in the back and using the rear entrance. It’s an open agenda.

THURSDAY: The Cascadians’ Pokies will do the “Zillah apple pie walk.” For information, call Jeanne Crawford 966-8608.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY: The Cascadians’ weekend hikes will be the Skyline Trail at Mount Rainier (7 miles, 2,000 feet of elevation gain) on Saturday, and Peggy’s Pond (advanced) on Sunday. For meeting time and place on either hike, call Maurine Peck at 453-4244.