The summer-run salmon season here on the upper Columbia River in Central Washington was a dandy this year. I had reports of fish being caught from Wanapum Dam to the mouth of the Okanogan River and the kings this year are running big. There seemed to be two sizes of fish caught. There are jacks that will weight up to 5 of 6 pounds and the bigger fish that are mostly over 20 pounds. I fished with Shane Magnuson of Upper Columbia Guide Services, his buddy Dan and Uncle Skip. We all boated two jacks and three kings on opening day below Wanapum Dam, and three of the kings weighed well over 20 pounds. Super Baits did the jobs for us. I heard of good catches of big kings in the Wenatchee area, too. All in all, the reports indicate that the fishing is much, much better than last year’s opener. More good news is that the river in this area is now open for sockeye. Anglers can take home quite a load of salmon this season. We didn’t know anything about this when we launched at Wanapum early Wednesday morning, so we released the sockeye we caught. Check the department’s web site to figure out how many sockeye, jacks and adults you can keep this season.