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Typical July: hot fishing expected; shooting enjoyed

by Garnet Wilson<br>Special to Herald
| July 30, 2011 3:00 AM

MOSES LAKE - Our normal Columbia Basin summer warmwater fishery is heating up. But don't forget salmon fishing on the Columbia River, which is a fairly new event. Read on.

From Fish and Wildlife:

Anglers have been catching an assortment of trout and chinook salmon around the region, while warmwater fishing is finally heating up after a slow start to traditional summer weather.

The Columbia's Basin big three are for good for walleye and largemouth and smallmouth bass at this time are Moses Lake, Banks Lake, and Potholes Reservoir.

All three year-round-open waters also have populations of bluegill, crappie and yellow perch that can produce good catches through the summer.

With the late run-off this year, these big waterways are still at or near high pool, which has slowed normal shoreline action at some reservoirs, such as Potholes.

Evergreen Reservoir on the Quincy Wildlife Area in Grant County is another good July fishery in the Basin, with walleye, largemouth bass, bluegill and other species.

Lower Goose Lake, one of the Seep lakes south of Potholes Reservoir, has a good crappie and bluegill fishery. For crappie, Lower Goose has a minimum size of nine inches and a daily catch limit of 10 fish. It also has a restriction that only five bluegill over six inches can be kept, although there is no daily limit on smaller fish.

Hutchinson and Shiner lakes, on the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge seven miles north of Othello in Adams County, should be heating up this month for largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie and perch.

Meanwhile, fishing for spring chinook salmon on the Icicle River should continue to be good as more fish move through the system. The season continues on the Icicle through July 31, from the closure signs located 800 feet upstream of the mouth to 500 feet downstream of the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Barrier Dam. The daily limit is three salmon, with a minimum size of 12 inches. A night closure is in effect.

Ephrata Sportsmen's Association

The new Fiver-stand shooting course is set up and running, and has proven quite popular. Come out and take a look, try your hand at those birds, rabbits and wiley squirrels. This course is open on Sunday's at noon. The cost is $5 per round and you do not need to be a member of the association to participate.

Do not use the 450-yard range when stunt planes fly

No one can be in the 450 bay while the stunt planes are flying. Dates include July 19-31, Aug 30-31 and Sept 1-7. The 450-range is for shooting 200 yards to 450 yards only. Steel targets are provided in this bay. These are appropriate for use by most rifles except for the largest calibers and any armor piercing ammo.

This long-range shooting area is an eye-opening shooting area. If you know of anyone who claims to be able to shoot and hit the target consistently at 400-plus yards, take them to this 450-yard range and test their skill.

There are other ranges for 25, 50 and 100 yard shooting.

Trap: Open to the public Sunday at 1p.m. Skeet: Open to the public Thursday at 6p.m.

The next meeting of the club will be held in the clubhouse at the range, August 11th 2011 6:30 pm.

Sockeye retention allowed in several places

Anglers will be able to retain adult sockeye salmon in the mainstem Columbia River above Priest Rapids Dam, including the Okanogan and Similkameen Rivers, and Lake Osoyoos.

The daily limit is four sockeye, with a minimum size 12 inches. All coho and steelhead must be released.

Effective dates and locations include: through Oct. 15, Columbia River from Hwy 395 Bridge at Pasco to Wells Dam. Anti-snagging and night closure in effect for Rocky Reach Dam to Turtle Rock; through Aug. 31, Columbia River from Wells Dam to Hwy 173 Bridge in Brewster; through Oct. 15, Columbia River from Hwy 173 Bridge in Brewster to Hwy 17 Bridge in Bridgeport.

Now through Oct 15, Okanogan River from the mouth to Hwy 97 Bridge immediately upstream of mouth. Anti-snagging and night closure in effect.

Other rules are in effect for the Okanogan River, Similkameen River and Lake Osoyoos. Check the fishing regulations.

This action is being enacted because sockeye salmon returns above Priest Rapids Dam are predicted to be well in excess of needs for wild fish escapement to the spawning grounds.

All sockeye and chinook with a floy tag attached must be released. These fish are essential to ongoing studies being conducted by the Yakama Indian Tribe and by Fish and Wildlife.

Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Endorsement required for ALL sockeye fisheries.

Another wolf pack confirmed

Washington's fifth gray wolf pack has been confirmed in northeast Stevens County. Watch this column and Dennis' weekly outdoors column for more information about Washington's wolf packs.

Lake Cle Elum and Cooper Lake kokanee size limit adopted

Fish and Wildlife has adopted a maximum size limit of 14 inches total length for retention of kokanee, which are landlocked sockeye salmon in Cle Elum Lake and Cooper Lake. The rule is effective immediately through Oct. 31.

The Yakama Nation and Fish and Wildlife are continuing the pilot study for reintroduction of anadromous sockeye salmon in the upper Cle Elum Basin that began in 2009. This year approximately 3,000 adult sockeye salmon trapped at Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River have been released into Lake Cle Elum.

An additional 500 sockeye have been transported to Cooper Lake near Salmon La Sac. The outlet of Cooper Lake, known as Cooper River, flows into the Cle Elum River upstream from Lake Cle Elum.

A percentage of the fish will be released with radio-tags so they can be tracked to understand their pre-spawning behavior and their actions when they migrate into the upper Cle Elum River and upper Cooper River to select spawning habitat later this fall.

Very few, if any, anadromous sockeye will be smaller than 16 inches, and few landlocked kokanee are greater than 12 inches; therefore, a 14-inch size threshold will allow the kokanee fisheries in both lakes to proceed this summer without inadvertently harvesting valuable sockeye dedicated to the reintroduction effort.

The kokanee daily limit in Lake Cle Elum remains the same at 16 kokanee. The daily limit for trout, including kokanee, remains five fish in Cooper Lake.