Strong sockeye salmon run expected on Hanford Reach this summer

Planning a mid-summer boat trip on the Hanford Reach?

If so, you might have to arrive at the launch early. Blame some of the craziness on anglers chasing sockeye salmon, a sport fishery that barely existed until a few years ago.

This year’s sockeye run is estimated to be 400,000 fish, or twice the recent 10-year average. Peak numbers, expected to pass through the Hanford Reach in early July, attract local anglers as they migrate upstream to the Wenatchee and Okanogan rivers.

Sockeye have been a food staple of Native Americans in the Columbia River Basin for millennia, but naturalists discovered them in the late 1800s when Barton Evermann of the U.S. Fish Commission reported finding a large and small form of what he called “redfish” — so called because of their spawning color — in a high mountain lake of the Salmon River drainage. Interestingly, Evermann considered the two forms (adult sockeye and kokanee) to be different species.

Sockeye are unique among seagoing trout and salmon in that they require a freshwater lake to complete their life history. Lack of access to lakes in the upper Snake River led to virtual extinction and their listing under the Endangered Species Act in 1991.

A captive broodstock program has kept the Snake River run intact, but numbers continue to be low, with long-term recovery dependent on hatcheries.

Much credit for increased numbers of sockeye in the upper Columbia River goes to collaborative habitat enhancement efforts between British Columbia’s Okanagan Nation Alliance and the Colville Confederated Tribes. For example, natural production of smolts in Lake Osoyoos has increased nearly 30-fold from the historic average since 2006.

Closer to home, the Yakama Nation has implemented a reintroduction program for sockeye salmon in Lake Cle Elum.

Catching them

Sockeye salmon are filter-feeders. This behavior limits their lure-striking tendency and frustrates anglers. Consider that the reported sport catch in 1995 was a paltry six fish.

Over the last few years, however, many anglers have figured out how to catch what is considered to be the finest eating of all Pacific salmon.

A steelhead or lightweight salmon rod can be used for sockeye, which generally run 3 to 4 pounds in size. A standard setup for Reach anglers is a spinner rig off a lead ball dropper. A two-hook outfit, #1 or 1/0, is favored with a shrimp or a small prawn on the top hook. Soak or dust your shrimp in Pautzke’s “BorX O’Fire” or Pro-Cure “Krill” to add scent.

For extra attraction, place a small red corkie, bead or yarn between the two hooks. A common presentation is 3 or 4 small beads and a hot pink or silver Smile Blade above the top hook. For more information on sockeye rigs, go to www.mackslure.com.

The usual setup for slow water is to run your lure on a short leader (12 to 15 inches) behind a single or double “0” dodger. While downriggers are the tool of choice for many anglers, a 4- to 6-ounce banana weight run ahead of a dodger can be equally effective for shallow running sockeye.

The rule of thumb is SLOW trolling, generally about 1 mile per hour, which may require using a bow-mount motor or a windsock. Monitor targets on your sonar and vary lure depth accordingly as weather and light conditions change. The magic depth for presentation can vary several feet from one day to the next.

Where to go

Sockeye tend to travel in small schools and migrate close to shore in the Hanford Reach. Consequently, most local anglers anchor their boat along current seams formed by shoreline points or gravel bars in 8 to 14 feet of water.

Upstream of the Reach, success is improved where sockeye are forced to congregate, such as downstream of Wanapum Dam where boaters compete for position in the “toilet bowl” adjacent to the boat ramp.

The Wells Dam tailrace is also popular. Or travel further upriver to Brewster, off the mouth of the Okanogan River, where you might battle 100 or more boats.

Lake Wenatchee, perhaps the most scenic destination for sockeye anglers, is also expected to open for fishing. The challenge is one public launch and sockeye that hold at depths up to 120 feet deep. While Lake Wenatchee fish may not be mint-bright, they “cut good.” I found them larger than those that return to the Okanogan River system, up to 7 pounds, when I fished there last summer.

Chasing the elusive sockeye can be well worth your time, especially in a year like this when the odds appear to be in your favor.

Dennis Dauble is the author of the award-winning guidebook, "Fishes of the Columbia Basin," and a collection of stories about the fishing experience, "The Barbless Hook."

This story was originally published June 18, 2015 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Strong sockeye salmon run expected on Hanford Reach this summer."