I was driving through the Columbia gorge today and was close to the wind river. I used to have access to a killer hole below a falls on private property. the spring salmon fishing was epic!

the last 10 years I have not been very frequent to this property. so I've been abit outa the loop.

some of you might know of a prime fishing access that was in the lower/mid section that was offered to a property owner with a high priced access key. these keys would cost in excess of $250 for the spring season. this key would open the gate. this key option was the system for 10 years I think.

I stopped by the old man's house today. he's 88 now so I talked with his health care old relative. after 10 mins of conversation she dropped a bit of a bomb on me, she informed me that the guy who would sell the keys, no longer does that. she said he now just gives exclusive property access to the injuns...

WTF!!!!

this just ruins any and all sport options up river. anybody who has ever hiked into bowels of the Wind r. knows that even with a dip net it would be very easy dipping's.



my theory is the injuns just out bid the whiteman key sales.

The land you refer to is owned by Lonna St. Martin. And it's likely that she was the person you spoke with. She is a Tribal member. The land is not Tribal land, it's private, but it is owned by a Tribal member.

Back in the early 2000's, Lonna let anyone go across her land to access the lower part of the Wind River (e.g., the Bobber Hole), which is just upstream from where the Tribes set their hoop nets. However, the crowds got too big. That's what happens when 30,000 spring Chinook return to the Wind River as they did in 2001. So she posted the land, and locked the gate. She sold the keys to whoever she wanted. Not sure the price since I never got any. I just stopped going there. Some guys really like going upstream to some of the holes below the falls, as you mentioned.

However, I've fished the lower Wind River the last couple years. I just park up the hill, and walk down to the Bobber Hole. If you do that, you are not trespassing on private land. Just don't go upstream too far.

Not sure why Lonna no longer lets anglers up there, but the sheer number of anglers probably has alot to do with it. And, it's her land. My sense is that she would allow the Tribal folks to go up there, but not sure why they would. The hoop nets at the lower end will catch alot of fish without hiking up into the canyon, and then back down again, with fish.

3700 post here....and its a negative tone, sorry!!!!!!

The is happening more and more.....as people from other areas move to Washington State and lands become available for purchase, sold then either fenced off or posted.

More and more people go to the areas still open....some times these areas can get ugly.

Its been years since I fished the mouth of the Wind River, in a boat, round and round the boats went.....had to stay far enough from the shore, as bank anglers were casting towards the boats. I knew about the upriver canyon but chose to "not go there".

Its only to get worse in areas with access.....pay to fish, pay to have a key, or just know the land owner. Boats aren't the complete answer, as more and more are sold, then to the river they go.....ho, ho, ho away 50+ drift boats go, or sleds running in the lower reaches of rivers.

No easy answer...oh I guess ocean fishing might draw more people?????

I'm just more than a bit pissed the access was given to the INJUNS!!!

Injuns or whomever.....closed is closed.....major battles on some of the access to rivers that flow into Willapa Bay. Land owners, that own land in tide water, want only select people to have access to the waters "with hatchery fish returning".

Public funds to raise hatchery fish, then bankies have no access to them, not saying "what's right or wrong", just another on going battle.

Brewer.....guess the answer MIGHT BE.......buy the land, then you can do what you want.

Access was not given to the Tribes. They already had it. The landowner never excluded Tribal folks from fishing there. She likely excluded recreational anglers because of the sheer numbers of folks going there. Plus, the area near the Bobber Hole is owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Tribal In-lieu fishing site. It's maintained as mitigation for the loss of Tribal fishing sites along the Columbia River that disappeared when Bonneville Dam was built (1938). So the Tribal folks were there a long time before recreational anglers were.

There is something else I should mention.......

Last time I talked with Lonna, she and I were standing on the border of her property on the Wind River (about 10 years ago). She was hopping mad because a local timber company was in the process of bulldozing their way across her property to access a stand of timber they owned. They had a bulldozer, a skidder, and a couple pick-up trucks that plowed their way across her land, unannounced and without her permission. They proceeded to plow a rough road across her property just so they could access some of their timber. It was her land, but there was no notice, and no permission was ever granted. I watched them do it. I was appalled. I still am.

Notice that it was NOT the Tribes who were trespassing across her land, tearing it up, and disrespecting her rights as a landowner. It was a local timber company.

Remember that recreational anglers are overwhelmingly white males (such as me). So were the folks driving those machines across her land. I know it's wrong to assume guilt-by-association. But I can see her point. So if you're upset because the Tribal folks retain access to the lower Wind River while some of us are denied, put yourself in her shoes. I don't like it either but I understand her concern.

I highly doubt this has anything to do with a logging companies actions.

this lonna can't be the same property owner. I've never heard of anybody fishing the area i'm talking about dealing with a woman.

The Indians do not have key access on the East side. They do walk in at times at night. Lonna has not been involved in the sale of the keys for years. Dan gets the money from the keys but does not handle the sale. This year was a bust. The Indains have found a loop hole that allows them to stretch their hoop nets across the entire river. I suspect with the extreme low water it was easy for them to take a large part of the run. The fish that made through the lower river are not holding. Hatchery made it quota over the weekend. This years pit tag return over the bonneville was the best since 2002 but in river fishing was terrible. Last year Indians had a gill net at coffer dam area and across river at lower bobber hole.

Two years ago, I walked into the Bobber Hole in late May, and saw a hoop net stretched across the river. I took several pics on my cell phone, not knowing whether the net was legal or not. I immediately went back to my truck and called the game warden. They showed up fairly quickly, but the net was gone by the time they got down to the river. If what you say is correct, I'm really surprised they can block off the entire river with a hoop net. I can see why fishing has been a bust.

The other possibility is that Wind River Chinook routinely stray to the Little White Salmon Hatchery, a few miles upstream. Nobody seems to know why, but alot of Wind River spring Chinook go there, instead of up the Wind River. So even though the PIT tag detection's indicate alot of Wind River Chinook going over BON, they bypass the Wind, and go up to Drano Lake and into the Little White Salmon NFH.

305 wind river pit tags went over the bonneville dam, 9 were jacks. 25 have been counted at the little white salmon hatchery, 21 at the carson hatchery and 10 went over the dalles. The pit tag reader at shiperd falls not working so unkown how many made it to that point. 249 are unaccounted for. 1 in 39 smolts are marked with pit tags on the wind. I have fished it since 2001 this is my worst year next to 2013 with only 1 fish each. Wish something could be done to assure Indians only took a 50 percent share from the Wind river.

I doubt the injuns in this day and age understand the term 50%.

They understand "Winchester Model 1873"
Apparently they just forgot.