WDFW Weekender Report for October

Anglers may retain legal-size sturgeon Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only until the area quota is met. White sturgeon must measure 38 to 54 inches from their nose to the fork in their tail to meet the legal size limit. The catch limit is one sturgeon per day, with a statewide annual limit of five fish. James said about 2,300 fish are still available for harvest in the mainstem Columbia River under the annual quota for the area.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if the fishery starts out strong," James said. "Sturgeon have moved out of the estuary and have been chasing juvenile shad that are outmigrating past the dam."

Meanwhile, the catch of early stock hatchery coho was decent on the lower Columbia in September, with more late-stock fish scheduled to enter the fishery in October and into November, said Joe Hymer, another WDFW fish biologist. In all, about 98,000 late-run fish are expected this year compared to 188,000 early run fish.

Although the run predicted this year is only about 40 percent the size of last year’s return, Hymer said anglers can still expect at least a month of good fishing. "Last year’s run was above average, but this year’s fishery should still be fairly decent if the forecasts prove out," he said.

The best fishing for bright late-run coho is on the Cowlitz, Klickitat, Kalama and Washougal rivers, Hymer said. The Lewis River also attracts late-run coho, but chinook fishing closes there Oct. 1, as does fishing from floating devices around the salmon hatchery and all fishing above the hatchery. The Kalama River remains closed for chinook retention through the end of the year. The Grays River closes for salmon fishing Oct. 15 to conserve chum salmon but the lower river re-opens in mid-November for late stock hatchery coho and hatchery winter-run steelhead.

As in past years, anglers are required to release any wild coho – which have an intact adipose fin – intercepted on the mainstem Columbia River and its tributaries from the Hood River Bridge downstream. For catch limits and other rules applicable to salmon fisheries on the big river or its tributaries, see the Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet, available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/ .

Although the focus of the salmon fishery switches to coho in October, chinook should continue biting through the month on a number of rivers. The Klickitat River was a hotspot in late September, as was Drano Lake. Fishing will be closed at Drano Lake throughout October from 6 p.m. Tuesdays to 6 p.m. Wednesdays.

Anglers planning to fish for salmon on the Cowlitz River should be aware they may now retain one wild chinook as part of their two-chinook limit on that river. In addition, the daily chinook limit has been increased to two adult chinook salmon on the Columbia River from the mouth of the Lewis River to Bonneville Dam.

For trout, Sept. 30 is the last day to fish Mineral Lake, but Swift Reservoir remains a good bet for rainbows. The area around the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery is also a good bet for hatchery sea-run cutthroats in October. Those aggressive fish averaging a foot or more can be caught on a variety of gear including bait, flies, or lures.

Hunting: New hunting opportunities in October begin with mountain quail and pheasant, then expand to include ducks, geese and the early modern-firearms season for deer. Many of these species benefitted from the mild winter, although the wet spring that followed took a toll on some upland game populations.

Hunting seasons for quail and pheasant open Oct. 2 throughout western Washington, although the availability of those species is fairly limited in the southwest region. Most quail hunting is concentrated on private lands in eastern Klickitat County, where landowner permission is often required to hunt.

While there is some wild production of pheasants, pen-raised birds at formal release sites in Klickitat County and Clark County provide the best hunting prospects. For information about those sites, see http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/pheasant/western/ on the WDFW website.

But for thousands of hunters, "opening day" arrives Oct. 16. That’s when general seasons for ducks and geese – as well as the general modern-firearms season for black-tailed deer – get under way in many areas of southwest Washington.

Goose management areas 3 and 5 open for goose hunting Oct. 16. Area 2A, where written permission is needed to hunt geese, will remain closed until Nov. 13. See the state Migratory Waterfowl and Upland Game pamphlet ( http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations/ ) for more information.

Duck hunters should be aware that the daily limit for scoters and long-tailed ducks in western Washington has been reduced from four to two, and for goldeneye from seven to two. Those changes were adopted by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission last month to address population declines for scoters and reduce potential impacts to long-tailed ducks and goldeneye. Special limits for hen mallard, pintail, redhead, canvasback, harlequin and scaup will remain the same.

Deer hunters should do fairly well this year after the mild winter, said Eric Holman, a WDFW wildlife biologist for District 9. He said deer populations are generally stable in lower-elevation units such as Washougal (GMU 568) and Battle Ground (GMU 564) and in the Klickitat County GMUs. Deer populations also appear to be increasing west of Interstate 5 in District 10, said fellow biologist Pat Miller.

"Black-tailed deer thrive in heavily vegetated habitats and are generally nocturnal in nature," Holman said. "This means successful hunters must be in position early in the morning and carefully hunt near sources of food and in secure cover."

Holman notes that significant changes were made in hunting rules for deer last year, and several new rules will be in effect for elk hunting this year in GMUs 568 (Washougal), 574 (Wind River) and 578 (West Klickitat). For example, taking antlerless elk is now illegal during modern firearms and muzzleloader seasons in all three of those areas. In addition, a three-point antler restriction has been adopted for all general elk hunting seasons in those three areas.

Southwest Washington consistently offers some of the best elk hunting in the state, and this year shouldn’t be any different, Holman said. As with deer, the mild winter should improve prospects for the muzzleloader elk-hunting season that runs Oct. 2-8 in parts of western Washington.

For the fourth year, the St. Helens Land Access Program is working to facilitate additional weekday motorized access for hunters during special elk permit seasons on the Weyerhaeuser St. Helen Tree Farm. Partners include Weyerhaeuser, WDFW and a number of volunteer organizations. To assist this program as a volunteer, see the department’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/volunteer/sainthelens/ .

For more information on hunting rules for big game, check the rules pamphlet, available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations/ .

Wildlife viewing: Birders from throughout the region will converge for Birdfest and Bluegrass 2010 , scheduled Oct. 9-10 at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Sponsored by the Friends of the Refuge, the festival features guided bird walks, kayak trips, children's activities and live bluegrass music. All proceeds go to benefit the refuge, which provides habitat for more than 200 species of birds. For more information, see http://www.ridgefieldfriends.org .

The featured bird at this year’s festival is the dusky Canada goose , a dark-breasted subspecies of the Canada goose that nests in the Copper River Delta and surrounding area in Alaska. Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge was created to provide habitat for dusky Canada geese, which depend on the short grass for foraging. Dusky goose populations have declined in recent years, but duskys can still be seen at Ridgefield NWR, sometimes sporting red neck collars for identification.

Birders interested in learning more about area birds should be aware a few more guided birdwatching hikes will be offered this month at both the Ridgefield and Steigerwald Lake national wildlife refuges. Hikes on the Oaks to Wetlands trail of the Carty unit at Ridgefield will be Oct. 2, and Oct. 30. A final hike on the Gibbons Creek Wildlife Art Trail at Steigerwald Lake is scheduled Oct. 16. All hikes will begin at 8 a.m. and last for several hours. Reservations are required. To reserve a spot, contact Eric Anderson at the Ridgefield refuge at 360-887-4106 or e-mail to Eric_Anderson@fws.gov .

Then again, plenty of birds are on display throughout the region during fall migration. During a recent trip to the Port of Kalama North Property, one birder spotted two Lapland longspurs, three sandhill cranes, a ruffed grouse and six species of warblers (Nashville, orange-crowned, yellow-rumped, black-throated gray, Wilson’s and common yellowthroat). "A lot of birds are on the move," he wrote in a report to the Tweeters birding website.