FISH WIRE FEATURE: Whitefish provide statewide December options
NEW Dec. 1, 2008 / 3:15 p.m.

AUBURN, Wash. - If you were to rank whitefish in order of popularity for winter fisheries in Washington, they'd fall somewhere below panfish and barely above burbot ... or would they?

Take a stroll down the banks of the middle Green River in December and you’ll likely encounter as many anglers tossing small, maggot-tipped whitefish flies as you will steelheaders drifting yarn for steelhead.

The humble mountain whitefish might not grow to titanic proportions, and they don't carry a lot of glamour. But, like winter steelhead, their spawning instinct kicks in this time of year and they provide plenty of opportunity for a dedicated corps of anglers throughout the state.

Here are some of your better whitefish options:

nGreen River: You’ll see whitefish anglers manning the banks of the Green in all the classic steelhead access spots: Flaming Geyser Park, the Highway 18 bridge area, and at a handful of easy walk-in spots along Green River Road between Kent and Auburn.

Call Auburn Sports & Marine (253-833-1440) for information.

nYakima River: Whitefish season opened Dec. 1 on the Yakima, but flyrodders in search of rainbows were already seeing whitefish in great numbers throughout the Yak by late November.

“They’re everywhere, in good numbers,” confirms Steve Worley at Worley Bugger Fly Co. in Ellensburg. “It’s not too hard to find whitefish this time of the year if you target the right water.”

Whitefish spawning water is spread literally throughout the Yakima, but you’ll find the easiest access from Hanson Ponds in Cle Elum clear through the Yakima Canyon.

If you’re a fly angler, this fishery can be non-stop action using flies with a little flash: size 12-16 Flashback Pheasant Tails and Prince nymphs or Lightning bugs, for example.

nMethow River: Whitefish angling on the Methow River became a lost art when bait was removed from the fishery because of ESA-induced steelhead restrictions, but the Methow is still stuffed with whitefish throughout the winter. The easiest access is off Highway 153, which follows the river from Carlton to Pateros, but you can also find access spots along Twisp-Carlton Road.

Hook restrictions are in affect for the entire fishery: No. 14 single hooks only.

Call Carlton General Store (509-997-8764) through December for information. After that, try Hooked on Toys (509-663-0740) in Wenatchee.

nWenatchee River: Best advice I can offer for prospective Wenatchee River whitefish anglers is to stop off at Hooked on Toys (on Wenatchee Avenue in Wenatchee) and talk to Don Talbot: the guy is a walking whitefish encyclopedia.

The second piece of advice (courtesy of Talbot) is to stop off at the hardware store to find your whitefish-bait-gathering gear: a standard screen like you’d put on your front door. You’ll be using it to screen for hellgrammites, which are – bar none – the best whitefish bait around.

“Get some neoprenes on, find some pea gravel out in the river, and start turning it over for hellgrammites,” Talbot advises. “You can gather about 40 to 50 of them for a day, and you won’t find a better whitefish bait.”

String a single hellgrammite on a No. 14 hook, about 3 feet above a dropper weight, and cast to current edges in the Wenatchee. There are several excellent holes between Leavenworth and Wenatchee, including:

1). The Rock Cut Hole: Located between Leavenworth and Pashatin. Two miles out of Leavenworth on Highway 2, you’ll find a turnout with a sign that says “No Parking”. A little further past the turnout, look for a small, steep side road leading down to the river: that road is your parking spot for your quarter-mile walk into the Rock Cut Hole.

“It’s a very deep hole – about 10 feet – and you have to make a long cast with a minimum of ½ ounce of weight to reach the current line,” Talbot says. “But, if you get your hellgrammite into the current line, you’ll catch as many whitefish as you want.”

2). Monitor Bridge: Fish a slip bobber right off the bridge in Monitor, letting it drift well below the bridge (between 80 and 100 yards) into the most productive big-fish hole (fish reach 18 inches here) on the river.      
-JS