Fishing: Casting lines for chinook, halibut is hot

Halibut and chinook salmon are the hot topic this week on the saltwater fishing scene.

"The good news is we've had some adult chinook starting to show up in catches along the shoreline from Columbia Beach [at Clinton] up through Saratoga Passage with some in the high 20-pound range," said Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett. "The bad news is most have had their fins on, which you can't keep."

Only hatchery chinook, those with a missing adipose fin, may be kept in Marine Catch Areas 8-1 and 8-2, which are open through April 30. More than likely these are early mature kings destined to the Tulalip area and Skagit River.

The tides and weather this past week weren't conducive for halibut fishing, but it should be better in the coming days.

"The halibut fishing is quite a bit different compared to last year when the fish were concentrated at Mutiny and Admiralty bays," said John Martinis, owner of John's Sporting Goods in Everett. "We've seen about the same amount of fish caught this year, but they are scattered everywhere like Dallas, Partridge and McArthur banks."

Martinis and fishing partner Ernie Clayton caught 100- and 45-pound halibut using whole herring at Partridge Bank last week.

Other good halibut holes include Hein Bank, Smith Island, Eastern Bank, Fort Casey off Whidbey Island, Coyote Bank, Middle Bank, and off Port Angeles at the Humps, Rock Pile and Green Point.

Top spots of the week

1. Trout, walleye and bass in statewide lakes: "Trout fishing at some of the year-round lakes like Blackman's, Ballinger, Silver [in Everett] and Flowing has been fairly decent," said Mike Chamberlain at Ted's Sports Center in Lynnwood. "The bass guys are getting some fish out of Lake Washington, and Lone [on Whidbey Island] and Pass [near Deception Pass] have offered some fair trout fishing."

East of the Cascades, the Seep Lakes below the Potholes Reservoir, and Lenice and Nunnally lakes have been fair for trout. Walleye action has drawn some attention at Banks and Rufus Woods lakes.

Other lakes worth trying for trout are Green, Mayfield, Lacamas, Roesiger, Angle, Meridian and Spectacle.

2. Steelhead and spring chinook in Western Washington rivers: "There are some spring chinook and steelhead showing up in Lower Columbia tributaries," said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "We had our first reported spring chinook catch at the Wind River on Monday."

Places in the Cowlitz to try for steelhead are Blue Creek and Mission Bar.

On the Oregon side, spring chinook fishing has been on and off in the Willamette. Slow in the White Salmon, Klickitat and Drano Lake.

In the Puget Sound region, the Sauk River has been fairly decent for steelhead catch and release, but was high and unfishable of late.

On the North Coast, steelhead fishing slowed down but is still fair at times in the Calawah and Bogachiel. Better for spring chinook than steelhead in the Soleduck.

3. Sturgeon, walleye and bass in the Columbia River: "The sturgeon bite has picked up in the Gorge, and an Oregon [Fish and Wildlife] check showed about one legal sturgeon kept per boat," Hymer said.

The Bonneville and The Dalles pools were fair to good for walleye, and the John Day Pool was fair for bass.

Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com.