Odds are you won’t spend much time fishing over Christmas weekend. But if you can sneak away for a few hours, there is a clear-cut place to try for steelhead.
“The Cowlitz River is easily the No. 1 place to fish right now,” said Mike Chamberlain of Ted’s Sports Center in Lynnwood.
Tracey Borsom of Fish Country Inc. in Ethel recommends side drifting with eggs or shrimp or running divers with bait. From the bank, she recommends using sand shrimp, corky and yarn, jig and bobber, or worms.
RIVERS
Columbia: Fish below the Bonneville Dam for winter-run steelhead and sturgeon. The sturgeon bites have been light. This is the second-to-last weekend that the section downstream from the dam to the Wauna powerlines will be open for sturgeon fishing.
Kalama: Winter- and summer-run steelhead are biting.
Lewis: Those having the best luck are fishing near the salmon hatchery.
Skykomish: Steelhead fishing has been good, Chamberlain said.
SALT WATER
Tacoma: The fishing has been fair of late, with anglers catching fish ranging from 4 to 10 pounds. Point Defiance Boathouse Marina staffers recommend trolling with flashers and spoons near the boathouse, the grain elevators or the clay banks. Moochers and jiggers also have produced results. Crabbing has been fair. Squid fishing has been light.
South Sound: Zittel’s Johnson Point Marina reports that fishing has been slow but that crabbing is pretty good.
North Sound: Fishing has been slow, but squid fishing has been solid near Seattle and Edmonds.
LAKES
American: David Anderson of Bill’s Boathouse says anglers haven’t been coming out and that he doesn’t expect to see any this weekend.
Spanaway: Bud Herlitzka of the Spanaway Park Boat House says fishing has been pretty good off the dock using worms and marshmallows. Boat anglers are still doing well. The action seems to be best at the south end of the lake. Herlitzka recommends fishing from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Mayfield: Trout fishing is still pretty good.
Riffe: Anglers are starting to catch some small cohos.
Sammamish: Anglers are catching cutthroat as big as 20 inches.
Washington: Cutthroat fishing is slow.
Rufus Woods: Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad’s Family Guide Service says jig fishing for triploid rainbow trout on Rufus Woods Reservoir is the best option in the Chelan area. Jones recommends Pautzke’s Fire Bait and patience.
Chelan: Trolling the lower basin of Lake Chelan is a good way to catch mackinaw and an occasional chinook, Jones said. He suggests using Mack’s Lures Cha Cha Squidder.
Craig Hill, staff writer blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure
