Fish & Feathers So many fish, so little time

Published 9:16 am Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Holy mackerel, isn’t it the truth: so many, and not enough time to take advantage of every opportunity! Fish are busting out all over, and many of them are big boys. By the Astoria Bridge, a 33-pounder was caught by Steve Griffis, son of Bob Griffis of Ocean Park. In the ocean, a 25-pound upriver bright by reeled in by “Polly–wog” Knowles. It’s happening all over the river — the bite has been hot.

In the ocean, the albacore are not to be outdone. Last week, the charter boat Katie Marie picked up 78 long-fins by 11:30 a.m., using mostly live bait.

This past week, the charter boat Shake n’ Bake ran 30 miles offshore, sat down on the first jumpers they saw, and put 20 tuna in the boat, including one on a fly rod. For those of you who spend a lot of time on the tuna grounds, you may want to bring along a fly rod and give it a try. There can be no bigger thrill than hooking a silver bullet on a fly rod. It’s something not many fishermen get a chance to do.

On day one of the Tuna Challenge, the Shake n’ Bake ran about 36 miles out, stopped to check out some birds and within a couple of minutes had fish boiling all around the boat. By 11:30 a.m., the 42-foot boat was stuffed with albacore and headed back to the dock.

That’s the way it has been for charter and recreational boat alike. At times, seas have rather nasty, so check that weather! The southwest wind has been causing some problems for boaters. This past Sunday, northwest winds were about 14 knots with gusts as high as 21.

The upcoming offshore forecast for this Thursday is winds 20-30 knots, seas 8 to 12 feet.

Some Yakima tributaries are closed until further notice:

• Williams Creek and all tributaries.

• Swauk Creek and all tributaries upstream of Williams Creek.

• American River

• Little Naches River

• Teanaway River, including West, Middle and North forks.

Most of these waters do not benefit from cold-water releases from U.S. Bureau of Reclamation storage reservoirs. These select waters receive significant summer fishing effort that would subject hooked fish to handling stress, injury or death directly related to elevated water temperatures combined with record low in-stream water flow conditions.

Ron Malast can be reached at 665-3573 or raiders7777@centurylink.net.