Fishing methods change with gear improvements

Tactics used to catch fall chinook salmon in the Hanford Reach keep evolving.

Fifteen years ago, the primary methods were drifting and jigging dart-type jigs such as Point Wilson Darts, boondogging or back-bouncing eggs, backtrolling deep-diving plugs such as Magnum Wiggle Warts and using downriggers to backtroll plugs and plug-cut herring.

All of these methods and others are still used. But the Jet Diver might be the single most influential fishing tool on the Reach. So many anglers are using this Luhr-Jensen apparatus for getting their plugs down to the mouths of migrating kings, it’s often impossible to effectively drift fish through the popular holes.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, said Don Ostlund, a Spokane angler who used to knock ‘em dead trailing a No. 6 Blue Fox Vibrax spinner upstream from his boat as he drifted downstream.

“I’ve gone to a Jet Diver and a Kwikfish, with good results,” said the Columbia River angling veteran. “It’s more forgiving than a downrigger, where you constantly are adjusting up and down.”

And if one thing’s certain about fishing the reach it’s that nothing is certain. “Anybody who’s fished here for years can tell you the hot lures and techniques change from year to year and even during the season,” Ostlund said. “If somebody’s catching fish and I’m not, I have binoculars and I look to see what they’re doing.”

Jeff Knotts, a Tri-Cities native who’s been fishing and guiding the reach for 25 years, is another convert. “I still fish other ways depending on conditions, but putting a sardine-wrapped K15 Kwikfish behind a Jet Diver is amazingly effective day in and day out,” he said.

A size 50 Jet Diver will dive to 50 feet and work throughout the reach, but size 30 or 40 will move back and forth more and hang up less in shallower water.

Here’s a summary of popular salmon fishing methods on the reach.

Backtrolling: Downriggers are effective for presenting lures and bait on the bottom where chinook hold, especially in boats with two attentive anglers who can adjust depths as the boat slips downstream. However, a high percentage of reach anglers have converted to Jet Divers for backtrolling everything from banana plugs to eggs and herring.

Spinners: In slower flows, a No. 5 or 6 Blue Fox Vibrax spinner can be drift-fished without additional weight. Use an electric motor to keep the boat broadside to the current as you cast upstream and drift down. Choose the lure size that sinks and ticks bottom. Action on the spinner is created even while drifting because water along bottom of a river moves slower than surface water. Expect hang-ups and take plenty of gear.

Natural bait: Some anglers and guides swear by salmon and steelhead eggs. Plug-cut herring is the most commonly used bait.

Plugs: A sardine-wrapped K16 Kwikfish behind a Jet Diver could be the most productive lure on the reach. Magnum Wiggle Warts also are popular. Check alongside the boat and tune any lure to run straight each time you wrap it with bait.

Ask 10 guides and anglers about the best colors for lures and you’ll get 10 answers. “I think the most important thing is to fish the current seams and put something in front of the salmon’s face,” Knotts said. “Some days one color will work better than others, but I have dozens of color options.”