Salmon fishing heats up at Brewster Pool

FISHING — Game On! for sockeye and chinook anglers on the upper Columbia River near Brewster.

Apparently the Okanogan River has finally warmed up enough to form a thermal barrier that’s slowing the migrating salmon from entering the river and racing upstream toward spawning areas.

“Here it is guys!,” Jerrod Gibbons of Okanogan Valley Guide Service reported minutes ago. “Brewster is flat out fish awesome! Sockeye are there and the kings are stacking. Limits on sockeye the past two days and a total 20 kings to the boat.”

He said his clients limited and were back at the docks by 10 a.m. on Monday and by 8 a.m. today.

Fishing was slow when the season opened earlier this month as the sockeye were in travel mode. That scenario pleased fisheries managers who held off the opening to make sure enough sockeye got upstream toward spawning areas to make up for last year’s terrible returns .

Now that plenty of fish are heading into Canada where they will spawn a new generation, it’s time to HARVEST the surplus.  Fish on.