Dave Graybill: The Fishin' Magician

Fishing pressure on the Brewster Pool has fallen off and I am hearing that the catch rate is down.

I had my best day for the boat ever, landing 11 sockeye, so go figure. What is more important to anglers is to be aware that there may be a closure to sockeye fishing on the Columbia River, as early as Monday of next week.

There has been a very high loss of fish, maybe as much as half the run, due to the extremely warm water temperatures in the river. So anglers need to keep any eye out for an announcement from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

From what I understand this doesn't impact the fishing for summer-run Chinook salmon on the Columbia River. There are abundant numbers of kings in the upper Columbia and particularly the Brewster Pool.

Fishing should be excellent for those who plan to participate in the Brewster Salmon Derby coming up on July 31 through Aug. 2.

Anglers that are interested in walleye fishing should know that Potholes Reservoir continues to produce consistent good catches of walleye and are finding lots of them in the over 20-inch category.