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Big chinook expected back to Vernita this fall
Washington fishing map feature
By Leroy Ledeboer
Fishing and Hunting News
But as we head into the 2003 season at Vernita, with over 300,000 expected to make this season's watery trek, savvy veterans are literally chomping at the bit. Don't go there expecting to have miles of river all to yourself, especially on weekends, but this is big water, capable of accommodating lots of boats. Vernita 10
For the newcomer, maybe the best place to start is just above the Vernita Bridge. There's one primitive launch right there, another about a half mile upriver, both adequate spots to drop your boat, as long as you have a good 4-wheel-drive rig when it's time to make your exit at the end of the day. That one right at the bridge is called the King Hole, because it's big, deep and at times loaded with kings. In the deepest parts, up to 60 feet, you'll need to have a downrigger to get down to the fish, but other parts are maybe 25 feet, where a good diver will get your plugs or baits to the right depths The hole that starts about 1½ miles above the bridge, almost to the power lines, and tails out right at that second launch is another good one and relatively easy to fish. Then you have a dandy big one from just above the power lines to where the river makes a right turn. By around the first of October, this hole seems to always hold fish because it's bed is made up of little river rock, making it a natural spawning ground. Plus, it's mostly 15 to 20-foot water along that whole stretch, so your diving plugs and Jet Divers will get you down to the chinook. These are a few of the most accessible holes in the Vernita area, and consequently the ones that get the most angling pressure. In fact, it will be a rare day this season when you won't be able to quickly spot the most productive waters by looking for other boats.
Movin' on up Further upriver, you have the Cable Box Hole on the west side of the river. This is about a mile-long trough, running 20 to 30 feet deep, and the much deeper Lava Hole, again on the west side, about 11½ miles below the dam. "These are excellent spots," Martin said. "That Lava Hole can be loaded especially late in the season, and because it's so deep, it's a good place to use heavy jigs, such as Nordics and Crippled Herring. I'd use a minimum of 2 ounces, even heavier when the current demands it." There's even an upriver launch, off a winding dirt road a few miles below the dam, but low-water days, such as Sundays when power generation is lighter so less water is coming through the turbines, can make this launch unusable and these upriver holes tougher to reach. Downward spiral If you head downriver from the Vernita Bridge, Martin recommends hitting the Pipe Hole, another big slot that starts out at about 30 feet, then deepens to as much as 50 right in front of a big pipe that juts out towards the water on the Hanford side of the river. This one is just above the first mothballed nuclear reactor, so you won't miss it. "I really like the long slot just below Coyote Rapids too," Martin adds, "but here again I hate to recommend it to newcomers, especially the guys with prop boats. t has some big boulders, which, particularly on a low-water day, could be treacherous if you don't know the water and aren't careful. "If you do want to fish that lower part, anything below Coyote Rapids, I'd recommend launching down at White Bluffs, where there's an actual concrete launch, with a fine king hole right in front of it, or you can go over by the bluffs and find several nice slots that hold chinook." Vernita rigging Whether you use a FlatFish or a Kwikfish with a herring, anchovy or sardine wrap, a diving plug such as a Magnum Wiggle Wart, or cut-plug or whole herring behind a diver, a real key is to get deep into every hole. Suspended chinook are always out there, but by and large they're travelers, not strikers. It's that bottom layer of fish, resting up, that provides 90 percent of the action. "Yeah, and back-troll really slow," Martin advises, "just enough so you can see by the shoreline you're very gradually moving downriver. Get your lure or bait in a chinook's face and keep it there 'til he's mad enough to hammer it!"
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Copyright © 2007 Last Modified 8-21-07
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