wind river or Drano

Well folks hows the last few days been. Which fishery is better right now, wind or drano, ive been fishing wind the last couple of weeks, and been doing fairly well. Just checking out the the last few days. Thanks fishnbear

Three of my friends fished the Wind on Sat and Sun. On Sat they had 2 fish, Sun zero. It sounded pretty slow overall. Any fish showing up in the Wind channel itself? Thanks for the info.

Just got back from Drano. We got one springer. There were a few fish being picked up. It was my first time in the circuliar combat fishing zone, so I don't have anything to compare it to, sorry....
Just for my curiosity. Does anyone know why skamania county is now kicking people out of the boat launch area at night? I'm assuming to protect against poaching. But it doesn't seem like the best idea (or the safest) to have fishermen camping all over the highway at ever turnoff.

Did the Wind Fri, Sat & Sun, Had 4 on before noon on Fri, Two escaped and two died!!! One fish Sat and one fish Sun. Fri was way better than the weekend. Weather changed!!! And they raised the river 2 feet over night. It really matters. Morning bite...O dark thirty was best. Get to the launch by 4:00 am if you want to be in the water on time!

Heard Drano was comparable...

P.S. Get rid of those joke of a hooks the Mag warts come with and put on a K-15 size treble on. We never lost a fish after that!
And the size did not impart the action...

Bob D

Bob D, I too fished the Wind on Sunday and managed only to get one bite between my buddy and I. We used a variety of wiggle warts (the orange standby, chartreuse, metalics)without much success and all plugs were tuned properly. I'm going back down this weekend and my question is do you or anybody out there have some tips I can use to improve my odds for hookups at this fishery. It seems at the Wind there's some boats that definately know how to hook the fish!!!!

Any help appreciated!

P.S. We finally did pick up one fish yesterday at Drano on a small wiggle wart. Once again the only bite all day.

I fished Friday and Saturday and can say there does not seem to be any good way to be consistant. I had zip on Friday until the afternoon and we changed nothing and finished with 4.

I agree with the hook change we hooked 4 landed four. Saturday we fished from first light until 7 pm and never had a bite.

Its also what you put on your plugs! Experiment and use soap to clean things...
Salmon HATE human scent!!!


Bob D.

Yeah Bob, I tried smelly jelly herring and anchovie, plus shrimp oil, and herring oil. I guess I'm going to have to write it off as bad luck. This is my second year in a row without a bite. Oh well at least the scenery can't be beat!

Fish On!

Hi guys,I was at wind river last night night after work, we were up there from 3:30-8:00 pm,lost one fish and saw ONLY 4 caught.That doesn't there wasn't more caught we didn't see.Compared from the last time I was up there it was dead slow,But there are fish being caught,also I talked to a fish checker and he said that the wind river fish haven't reall showed up yet.I'm hopeing for my days off starting next monday I'll be there for three days,I hope !!!Good Luck,Oh yea there was about 150 boats there.

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Bob Dawson

Ok Guys,
Take this info for what you think it is worth. I was at the Wind and Drano last week with my Dad and posted a pretty dismal (no fish for a little over two days) personal report on another thread on this BB. What I didn't share and will now is the conversation with a couple of local fisherman as my Dad and I were packing up Thursday around noon to come home. The first gentleman (Ken) had two nice fish in the ice chest in the back of his car, we were talking in general and he asked me if I wanted to here his secret, so of course I said why not. He said that there were in his mind three distictive periods on the Wind. During the 0 dark thirty bite he runs nothing but cut plug herring for the first two hours of the morning and never wanders outside of the slot that is just off of the point were all of the bankers are, he is running a three way with a 24" dropper, comes across the shelf were it goes from 12'-14' and drops the herring into that 18'-20' hole over and over. During the middle of the day he runs mag warts like everyone else and then around 6:00 P.M. he goes back to running the herring. The other gentleman from Yakima comfirmed the periods of activities, 0 dark thirty then it slacks off until around noon and then it picks up and stays steady for the rest of the day. His thougts were time on the water will get you your fish, He runs mag warts and has success with plain orange, pink and the chrome with the orange stripe down the back. They both felt the same about the actual Wind River fish not being there yet. They had been taught by other local old timers that the Wind run doesn't really start to show up until around the 10th to the 15th of May. Anyway just thought I would share what I had learned and yes, I will be back to try again next week or the week after. Tight lines, Jeff

Jeff did these old fellows give you this "SECRET" so that you could tell everyone on the internet.

Thanks for the info,Im going down thurs because the middle of the week seems to be alot better fishing. Ive been down there the last 3 weeks and have limeted all 3 times. Jeff that guy told you the right secret, because thats what the guides are doing and so am I. ILL tell you what happens on thurs night. fishnbear

Side Slider,
Considering all of the sharing of information that goes on on this BB and about three other ones that appear here in Washington and Oregon and the amount of pressure that the Wind is getting right now, sharing some inside information with other folks is O.K. by me. If I can help someone do better and they can help me in return, so be it. There are at least 150 other boats there everyday all jockeying for the same position in the limited slots (even though they have expanded the boundries) that the fish hold in. I feel that if I share, other people will share back in the common goal of hooking up more fish, you see that all of the time here. This is the information age. Sorry you see it the way you do.

Slider,

You & Sal.Head have hit on a thing that has been around for as long as fishing, whether th share fishing info and "secrets". Now it's an issue with the net info age. I figure that many fishermen are by human nature greedy and hypocritical when it comes to info. They want others to give them info but don't want to turn around and help someone else. If that successful fisherman gave out some info to a stranger (Sal.Head) then it was NOT a secret!!! If info was given to a partner with a pre agreement to keep it mum then that IS a secret that should be kept. As far as some readers like you Slider that dis someone for giving out fishing info to the public you have your head in the sand or up your a** because there is NOTHING wrong with helping less opportunistic fishermen to learn to better enjoy some success. If you think spreading info publicly isn't "cool" that's your opinion and your problem. If you have discovered a secret and want to keep it to yourself that's perfectly fine. Bottom line is that most serious fishermen & hunters want all the secrets to themselves if possible and it's an ingrained mentality that is understandable and fine. But make no mistake it is based on selfish greed, ego, & even arrogance. There is no right or wrong here, except when the selfish put down someone for helping others learn. ..shtick

[This message has been edited by Fishtick (edited 05-03-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Fishtick (edited 05-03-2000).]

Lighten up Side Slider. It's not as though the man gave away your secret fishing spot.

Salmon Head, When the generous local said that he "drops the herring into the 20' hole" is that a mooch or a troll through the slot and is he hugging the bottom, midway, or topwater?

Slider, this bulleting board is about sportfishermen info, questions, and general unity! The more success sportfishermen have on the water means more money to local economies and a bigger say when it comes to the politics of salmon in this state! United we stand divided we fall!

Slider,

Chill out. This isn't anybody's secret slot. Anybody on the water paying attention to their depth finders or just watching other boats can see that slot. We were constantly keeping an eye on boats that had their nets out more than ours. We'd end up following them or trying to keep their speed and counting how many pulls they let out the Warts. To say there's any real secrets in a fishery with over 100 boats in a confined area is silly. Now brine secrets are another matter...

Bruce

Bobber Down,
Troll through and drop it to the bottom of the hole. Try to mooch here and there might be a riot with you in the middle!!! One thing I will say about the crowd at the Wind at least all are trolling one direction, unlike my favorite spot Pt. Defiance where trollers are going every which way with the moochers mixed in for target practice.

Sal.Head,

Are we talking about the same place? I've been there several times this year and it's still almost like it was before they expanded it with a ton of boats going every which way. ..shtick

Last week when we were there everybody was trolling in a pretty organized fashion parallel to the shore and turning around in about the same places. It was some fun when you had boats passing along side you on both sides within 4-6 ft. of your boat in the opposite direction you were and the east wind blowing about 20-25 MPH, but nobody was trolling sideways across from everyone else. Compared to the slag pile at Pt. D on a August or September weekend with the moochers thrown in it was a piece o' cake!!!

The pressure is still great even though the area is expanded. This is really only the case when the bites on first thing. After the bite slacks off the boats seem to spread. But yes when its on they still like the "point"and everyone wants in. Overall though pretty organized trolling. Headed back tonight!!!

Bob D

The fishing was great for the two of us today. We had 7 hook ups and 4 fish. We had 3 fish by 6:15 am, and didnt get the 4th till 3pm. Alot of boats had 2 to 3 fish along side of them. We even saw alot of fish caught by the bankies. Plugs, red prawns really worked well today. fishnbear

fishnbear,
Were you runnin plugs or the prawns?? Did you brine your own or buy them already cured?? Do you know if there is a place local to buy pre cured prawns??? I've been looking for the prawns Reel Truth said (Marcy Brand) he uses but haven't been able to locate them here in Oly. Thanks in advance. Tight lines, Jeff

I have never been down that way. I would like to plan a trip down there but I will be on the bank. What are the bankies using to catch these beauties? What time should I be there to get a spot on the bank? Thanks for the help!

Brian,
When we were down there all of the bankers were throwin orange mag warts, we did see them catch a couple. As far as when to get there I would say before sunrise, probably NLT 4:30 or 5:00 to get a spot on "the point". Good luck and tight lines, Jeff.

salhead I found those prawns at gi joes or auburn sports & marine, you can also buy them at stevenson store, we caught them on both about a 50 50 split. As for bankie gear orange mags or #5 blue fox spinners,I seen them caught on both, mags in the morn & spinners in the afternoon. Hopefully this will help you guys GOODLUCK fishnbear

I'd check the regs before I used a blue fox spinner on the Wind River. There is a Non-Bouyant lure restiction in effect, which to me would mean that it would be Illegal to use a spinner on the Wind.

Someone please correct me if I am mistaken on that.

Tight Lines!

Non-bouyant lure restriction only applies to the size and type of the hook on the non-bouyant lure. The hook must be a single hook and the gap of the hook no greater than 3/4" from the point to the shank.This is listed in the "definitions" section of the regs.

Brian...Plan on getting there as early as you can. Last time I went down, The Bankers were camping out to get a good spot. Orange Warts seem to be the most popular. I had some fairly good luck with blu/chrome Wart.

Just got back from 4 days on the Wind. I fished Tue, Wed, Thur, and Friday. First of all won't do Friday again...inexperience shows up makes for tougher boat manuevering. 4 fish Tuesday, 4 on Wed. 2 on thursday and 2 on Friday. If you miss the morning bite you miss your best chance. Best morning bite was at the point where all the bank guys are...afternoon best bite was at the far end on the flat.