Fishing Hanford Reach this time of year is considered early, but when Don Talbot invited the NWFR Team to go fish with him for some early action we jumped at the chance. Don told me that he had some spots and techniques that he was confident would get fish for us, and that the fish this year were running big. He was right on both accounts.

This report is for Saturday and Sunday.

Each day Don ran us to a hole that was probably a 5-10 minute circular trolling route. It was a small area that requires some pretty precise boat handling and running of gear. The hole was also very dependent on water release from the dam. Each day Don was able to tell us when the bite was over and it was time to move on to another spot. It was pretty impressive watching him fish this hole. The results were even more impressive. The first day we had a hard time even getting down more than one rod before getting a bite and playing another big chinook. In fact, our first fish on Saturday hit the gear as Don was setting the rod into the rod holder!

After fishing this first hole each day we moved down river to established holes and fished among other boats. I should say on the outer edge, as Don trolls faster than the average boat, and this was giving him more hook-ups than I saw other boats getting. He calls it “water skiing for fish” and he was the only one trolling that fast. The results speak for themselves. Our first day we had eleven hook-ups. We managed to get four in the boat (read = angler lost fish).

Sunday was a tougher day and a tougher bite as a front came through and definitely affected the action. We only saw a couple caught all day. We had several hard earned hits one dandy 20+ pound chinook in the boat.
Hot gear this weekend has been scent bombs filled with tuna and garlic, flashers, and super bait cut plug with a special skirt that Don has been testing.

The fish have some color but cut a beautiful deep red. They will be delicious no doubt on the BBQ! Don has some dates available so give him a call and get in on the action, which he assures us will only be getting better in the weeks ahead. Don Talbot's Fishing

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