For an added bonus, if the kings are lock-jawed, you can always move up to fish the mouth of the Klickitat for coho and summer steelhead.

After passing more dams on their way home, the fish pass through the Hanford Reach area. Phil Motyka of Motyka's Bait and Tackle in Richland, who guided on the Columbia for the better part of 30 years, says that of the three Chinook runs, the summer-run fish are the hardest to catch. "They've just got one thing on their mind," he explained.

Successful tactics change as the fish move upriver, though one thing remains the same. Motyka says you should anchor up and let the fish come to you. If you're on the move, such as back-bouncing lures or herring, he thinks your offering will simply move past the fish too fast. He prefers herring fished off a downrigger. If he's fishing water 35 feet deep or less, he'll set the downrigger at 17 feet. In deeper water, he'll hold it at 27 feet.

Even if the catching is tough, fishing the Hanford Reach is worth the effort. The last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia, the Reach runs 70 miles through a harshly beautiful landscape filled with wildlife, fish and desert vegetation. In 2000, President Clinton designated this fragile, arid eco-region as a national monument, the only such monument operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. When you go, take your binoculars for spotting mule deer, elk, coyotes and bald eagles.

In the Tri-Cities area there are several boat ramps where you can drop your boat for the upriver run, or you can launch at Vernita for the downriver run. There is an unimproved launch at Ringold as well.

Bank anglers can get a shot at these fish from the area around Ringold Springs (see page 53 of the DeLorme Mapping Company's Washington Gazetteer). Most shore anglers toss spinners at the fish heading upriver toward spawning streams.

BREWSTER POOL
The upriver summer Chinook, nearing the end of a 500-mile river odyssey when they reach Pateros and Brewster, head for spawning streams like the Methow at Pateros and the Okanogan at Brewster. Some fish peel off at the Wenatchee and other rivers along the way. Historically, the upriver fish spawned in four rivers: the Columbia, Wenatchee, Okanogan and Similkameen. After the Columbia River hydropower system was completed, they expanded into the Entiat, Chelan and Methow. But before leaving the Columbia to scoot up those rivers, the arriving kings create quite a traffic jam in the Brewster Pool.

Opening day (July 15) of the 2005 season saw 186 boats of all shapes and sizes on the water, with anglers all looking for "a fish that pulls hard and burns your thumb," says Rod Hammonds, a guide with R&R Guide Service. Hammonds says when the season opens, it's a dodger and herring show for fish stacked up behind Chief Joseph Dam. He says the early arriving fish just circle the Brewster Pool, preferring the cooler Columbia water that's running between 56 and 61 degrees to the warmer Okanogan River water.