A WEEK, ALBEIT a rainy one, was enough for the Dungeness River to recharge and return to a more normal flow for this point in the fall.
Last Saturday night’s deluge is fun to see in graphical form: a nearly vertical spike from a discharge of around 85 cubic feet/per second to just under 600.
And with the rise in river flows, the Dungeness River has opened back up to recreational anglers from the mouth to Gray Wolf River at Dungeness Forks Campground.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife and tribal co-managers shuttered the fishery last Friday because of concerns about not meeting escapement needs for hatchery coho.
But river levels have returned to normal “allowing for sufficient upstream passage of coho such that the department expects to achieve egg-take goals at the hatchery.”
The daily limit is four hatchery coho and the salmon season runs through Nov. 30.
Fly Fishers meet
Avid fly fisherman/photographer David McCoy will discuss how to take good underwater photos of trophy fish at Monday’s meeting of the Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishers.
The group will meet at the Campfire USA Clubhouse in Webster Park, 614 E. Fourth St., in Port Angeles, at 6 p.m. Monday.
McCoy’s work, featuring photos from our neck of the woods, plus outings to locations such as New Zealand and Honduras, can be seen at davemccoyphotography.com.
He’ll also answer fish photography questions.
For more information, contact Charles Whitney at 360-457-2799.
Trout on the take
Shaking off a recent trip to the dentist, Quilcene’s Ward Norden, a former fisheries biologist and owner of Snapper Tackle Co., dropped by the Lake Leland fishing pier Thursday.
“The water is 50 degrees and the trout remain actively feeding,” Norden said. “I watched one angler land a very fat 14-inch rainbow using Power Bait. The lake’s tasty yellow perch are likely to remain active as well for the moment.
“One of the anglers on the pier asked me when the trout go into winter inactive mode and I told him ‘as soon as the weather temperature dips much below 45 degrees.’ At that statement another one of the pier anglers reminisced about catching a large trout from a small hole in the ice next to the pier when the lake froze last winter.
“The other anglers at the pier all agreed that when the winter doldrums set in soon, getting one bite in three hours is normal.”
Norden also heard a few rumors that recreational anglers who fish Lake Leland would stand to benefit from if true, so I hope to have a little more on that potential good news in this space in a future column.
Chum running
The annual chum run is about to hit the Hood Canal in full force, providing opportunities for shore anglers near Hoodsport.
“I have not heard any reports yet about chum salmon arriving down in Hoodsport for shore anglers, but the many commercial fishers in Hood Canal can’t be wrong,” Norden said. “With all the commercial fishers about, it might be advisable to save the gas needed for chinook fishing until the netting season is over about Thanksgiving. Hood Canal is open for chinook fishing through next April.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
