NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Wallowa County fisherman pulls in a big one
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
UPDATE ON
LOCAL FISHING
WALLOWA LAKE — A
Wallowa County fisherman
who holds the record for the
largest mackinaw caught at
Wallowa Lake recently hooked
another whopper.
He also has had recent
success pulling in kokanee,
and said it appears this will
be a good season for catching
large kokanee at the lake.
It’s been a good start to
the angling season for Mark
Moncrief, a hunting and fish-
ing guide who owns Tri-State
Outfitters south of Enterprise.
In a matter of hours during
a fishing trip at the lake in
late March, Moncrief — who
holds the lake record for a 36.5-
pound mackinaw he reeled in
back in the 1980s, caught a
35.5-pound mackinaw and, he
said, hauled in a 33-pounder a
couple of hours later.
“I do really well from
usually about the first couple
week or weeks in March on,”
he said. “We’ve done good
in February. It depends on
the year. On an average by
mid-March on we’re starting
to do good and consistently
catching. I do really good on
the macks early like that. We
have a really large average on
our fish. Most macks, people
are catching 5- to 12-pound-
ers. Our average here is
Chinook salmon num-
bers are not expected to
be good this year, Kyle
Bratcher, assistant district
fish biologist for the
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, said in a
recent update.
In the report, Bratcher
wrote that Hells Can-
yon opened to spring
fishing April 24, and that
he looks for the fishing
to improve around the
middle of May.
Bratcher also reported
that kokanee fishing
on the Wallowa Lake is
turning in fish that are av-
eraging about 10 inches.
Steelhead fisheries close
on Friday, April 30.
Mark Moncrief/Contributed Photo
Mark Moncrief holds up a 35½-pound mackinaw he caught recently at Wallowa Lake. Moncrief holds the record for the larg-
est mackinaw caught at the lake, one that was just a pound heavier than the one pulled in last month.
They’ll grow an inch a month
after March.”
Most good-sized kokanee,
he said, are anything in excess
of 12 inches, and he said 18
to 20 inches is getting into
trophy-sized fish range.
Business has not slowed
down for Moncrief despite
the pandemic, especially once
restrictions were lifted last
year and he was able to get
15 to 18 (pounds).”
With the kokanee,
Moncrief said there has been
a cycle between smaller fish
sizes but higher numbers, or
larger numbers but smaller
fish.
“Last year, I saw the cycle
swing back to a bigger fish,”
he said. “This year, this early
in the year, I’m catching fish
in excess of 20 inches already.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
SATURDAY
Very warm with
clouds and sun
Warm with clouds
and sunshine
84° 52°
76° 50°
SUNDAY
Mostly sunny;
becoming windier
MONDAY
Clouds and sun
with a shower
back on the water.
“When they opened the
county back up I was just
flooded,” he said. “I think it
was the COVID. They were
just bugging out — a lot of
Washington (and) Idaho
people (were here).”
Moncrief isn’t sure if this
year will be as busy as 2020
was for him, but when the
large kokanee start showing up
Union, Umatilla and Wallowa counties’
search teams certify new team members
By ELLEN MORRIS
BISHOP
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
Mostly cloudy and
breezy
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
69° 45°
67° 42°
70° 44°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
80° 51°
89° 53°
74° 46°
73° 44°
OREGON FORECAST
75° 44°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
62/49
76/49
83/47
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
81/55
Lewiston
76/48
91/54
Astoria
61/50
Pullman
Yakima 86/49
73/47
83/55
Portland
Hermiston
78/50
The Dalles 89/53
Salem
Corvallis
70/43
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
82/50
Eugene
Bend
77/44
84/44
Ontario
83/49
Caldwell
Burns
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
86/48
0.00"
0.08"
0.81"
1.28"
0.51"
3.92"
WINDS (in mph)
79/48
80/40
Today
Fri.
SW 6-12
NW 4-8
WSW 10-20
W 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
80/40
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:46 a.m.
8:00 p.m.
11:51 p.m.
7:34 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
May 3
May 11
May 19
May 26
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 105° in Cotulla, Texas Low 10° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
70s
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80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
SAR team member Jennifer
Harmon.
The newly certified SAR
members bring a variety of
skills to the already robust
organizations, including nurs-
ing and radio communica-
tions, as well as expert skiing
and back-country experience.
“It’s a great organization
of dedicated volunteers,”
Wallowa County SAR Train-
ing Coordinator Jim Akenson
said. “The new members will
make it even better.”
The new cohort brings
the total number of Wallowa
County SAR volunteers to
about 50, he said.
“That’s pretty extraordi-
nary for a small community,”
Akenson said.
IN BRIEF
Bill aims to help forewarn
police of deaf driver during
traffic stops
SALEM — A deaf driver is pulled over by
the police. The officer approaches the car.
The driver doesn’t respond to commands.
The situation escalates, sometimes with fatal
results. It’s something deaf people worry about.
“They are scared to communicate with law
enforcement officers because they are worried
they would be shot in case they ‘act’ as if they
are not listening to the police officers’ instruc-
tions,” said Steven Brown, vice president of
Oregon Association of the Deaf.
The Oregon Senate unanimously passed
a bill on Monday, April 26, to keep such situ-
ations from developing. It was earlier passed
by the House, also unanimously. It allows a
person who is deaf or hard of hearing to have
that noted on their vehicle’s registration and on
their driver’s license.
“The intent behind the measure is to provide
law enforcement with this information before
they come in contact with an individual who
is deaf or hard of hearing,” Lindsay Baker,
assistant director of the Oregon Department of
Transportation, testified in support of the bill.
If Gov. Kate Brown signs the bill into law,
law enforcement officers would be able to
learn — before walking up to the vehicle —
that a driver is deaf as they run the license plate
through their database.
high
low
SALEM — People who move to Oregon
from another state would not have to demon-
strate knowledge of their new state’s traffic laws
in order to get a driver’s license under a bill on
its way to the governor’s desk after final Senate
passage on Monday, April 26.
It’s part of an effort to help the Oregon DMV
clear out a backlog of paperwork that’s the result
of measures the agency took last year to slow
the spread of COVID-19 among its customers
and employees.
The DMV said it administers about 100,000
such tests a year, and waiving the requirement
would free up appointment slots at its field
offices.
Currently, an appointment is required to
conduct in-person business at the DMV.
Eight states, including Oregon, require
someone with a valid out-of-state license to
take a knowledge test to transfer their licenses,
according to testimony from DMV Adminis-
trator Amy Joyce.
House Bill 2137 would also extend a grace
period for drivers with expired licenses or vehi-
cle registrations. It would allow the use of such
documents for up to six months after the expi-
ration date.
The current grace period for expired docu-
ments ends April 30. The bill would extend it
through the end of 2021.
— Associated Press and The Oregonian
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LA GRANDE — The
search and rescue teams from
Union, Umatilla and Wallowa
counties gained almost 25
newly certified members
recently following two week-
ends of training and practice
held in La Grande and at the
Mount Emily Recreation Area.
Wallowa County Sheriff’s
Search and Rescue gained 11
new team members and the
Union County and Umatilla
County sheriffs collectively
added more than a dozen to
its certified teams. All SAR
members are volunteers.
The training, led by Union
County SAR Coordinator Nick
Vora, included instruction
and practice in basic survival,
map reading and navigating,
knot tying, communications,
tracking and understanding
the behavior of people who
were lost. The field exercises
included demonstrations of
search techniques and team
coordination during rescues.
Experienced volunteers
from Union, Umatilla and
Wallowa counties’ SAR units
provided instruction and
coaching for the training.
“The instructors all are
a wealth of knowledge and
this is an amazing team. I
am proud to be a part of it,”
said new Wallowa County
PRECIPITATION
John Day
82/47
76°
42°
68°
42°
91° (1939) 28° (1935)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
73/43
0.00"
0.22"
1.08"
3.56"
5.06"
5.04"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 78/47
77/46
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
84/52
84/49
72°
41°
66°
42°
95° (1926) 24° (1907)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
73/48
Aberdeen
76/49
79/54
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
74/52
at Wallowa Lake, more people
make their way to the water to
try and hook a big one.
“I don’t know if it’ll be as
busy as last year, but the word
is getting out about these big
fish,” he said.
This spring, Moncrief not
only has had a solid run of
catching large fish, but he and
his clients are pulling them in
in large numbers.
“I had two clients out (from)
California. With three of us
fishing we boated 62 kokan-
ees,” he said, though he noted
he personally releases almost
all his catches now.
Catching big kokanee, by
the way, is not just a trait of his
— it runs in his family. The
second-biggest kokanee pulled
in, in the world was one he said
his daughter, Shelby, caught at
Wallowa Lake 10 years ago —
a 27-inch, 9.5-pound whopper.
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