Living in a region that is so salmon-centric, where the passion for chinook so overwhelms the other species, Sunday’s experience at Merwin Reservoir was surprising.
At 8:45 a.m., the large parking lot at Speelyai Bay boat ramp was completely full with trucks and trailers. The overflow lot was two-thirds full.
All of this interest for kokanee?
Anyone who’s read this column for long knows I’m a big fan of the landlocked sockeye found in Merwin and Yale reservoirs on the North Fork of the Lewis River.
It’s relaxing fishing, which is what the sport is supposed to be about. It’s far from the frenzy of chasing spring chinook in the lower Columbia, which precedes it on the angling calendar.
But most Southwest Washington fishermen lack the zeal for a 12-inch kokanee that they exhibit for a 12-pound chinook. Yet had I been 30 minutes later, I might not have found a parking spot. That’s something I’d never anticipate when kokanee fishing.
But the substantial fleet on Merwin on Sunday left mostly disappointed, because there wasn’t much of a bite.
Kokanee fishing has been fickle this spring at Merwin. It started on schedule in mid-April, with several sources reporting five-fish limits in less than two hours of trolling.
But for the past two weeks, it’s been hit-or-miss, mostly miss. The bite has been decent at daybreak, but then often dies for the day.
In three trips since April 22, just six kokanee have landed in my boat. That’s five rod-days for six fish. Not good.
Sunday’s take was one 12-inch kokanee, plus three missed hits, for a whopping five hours. The pool had been raised a little between Friday and Sunday, and water elevation changes often hurt the bite.
The water temperature is 48 degrees. The coldest I’ve caught kokanee in Merwin is 47 degrees. I’m hoping if we soon see a string warmer days the water temperature will increase and the bite will extend for longer periods.
Merwin drawdown
Some readers have e-mailed to ask if PacifiCorp’s 27-foot drawdown of Merwin in late February flushed kokanee out of the reservoir and will result in sub-par fishing in 2010.
The utility is required by the federal government to test the dam’s spillway gates every five years to make sure they can be opened fully in the event of an emergency.
Frank Shrier, a PacifiCorp biologist, said the spilling at Merwin from the drawdown was a pittance compared to what’s happened during storms in the past four winters.
The gates were opened one at a time, and the spill volume kept to no less than 2,500 cubic feet per second per gate.
“This volume is far less than the 20,000-plus cubic feet per second spills that can occur during the winter of any given year,’’ Shrier said.
PacifiCorp has spilled more than 25,000 cubic feet per second annually for the past four years at some point during winter.
“Given that I don’t think there has been much of an impact on the kokanee fishery for the past four years, I would expect this year’s gate test had less of an impact than that,’’ Shrier said.
In January 2009, the spill exceeded 29,000 cublic feet per second, he added.
Yale report
I think kokanee anglers on Yale will have a decent season this year, with catches ramping up about Memorial Day.
I fished Yale for 90 minutes on April 22 because the west wind at Merwin had whipped the reservoir to a froth. Yale is fishable during west or east winds due to its north-south orientation.
Anyhow, in those 90 minutes, I caught a 10¾-inch kokanee, lost another the same size at the boat, and had third on. Yale’s kokanee rarely top 11 inches, so 10¾ inches is a good size so early in the year.
The water temperature was 45 degrees. To get three encounters with fish so early in the year, in such cold water, bodes well for Yale, I think.
For some reason, Merwin’s kokanee start biting a month to six weeks earlier than their counterparts in Yale, although the reservoirs are almost contiguous.
• Yale Park will be closed for about 45 days after Labor Day while PacifiCorp improves the boat ramp.
Tom Gauntt, a PacifiCorp spokesman, said the right lane on the west side of the boat ramp will be extended about 25 feet farther into the reservoir, which will add three feet of elevation and make launching possible to 20 feet below full pool.
The floating docks will be replaced and one dock will be handicap-accessible. When done, the improved facility will look similar to Speelayai Bay.
Allen Thomas covers outdoor recreation topics for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4555 or al.thomas@columbian.com.
