Hunting & Fishing

Elk

Hopeful hunters will start moving into the Blue Mountains and the Colockum this weekend for the opening next week of bull elk seasons.

Hunters know that Fish and Wildlife Department biologists have predicted fair to poor hunting for the Blues, but the optimists among them will be hoping they’ll be the lucky ones. The bull season opens Wednesday. Permit holders will start hunting Oct. 28.

Elk population in the Blue Mountains still is far below those of the 1980s as the result of poor calf survival. Hunters will see few spike bulls this season.

Biologists think a fairly high percentage of hunters who drew the 70 any-bull permits will tag bulls.

Traditional elk hunting areas like the headwaters of the Touchet and Tucannon rivers, Wenatchee Creek and the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness Area will be the best places to hunt.

Biologists are predicting only 6 percent of tag holders will tag elk in the Blue Mountains this fall.

Hunters who know where there are elk herds in northeast Washington may do well.

Elk hunting in the Colockum probably will be slightly better than in the Blues. The general bull season in the Colockum will open Thursday. Permit holders can start shooting Oct. 29.

Steelhead

Now is the time to fish the Snake River between Ice Harbor Dam and the mouth of the Salmon River and the Grande Ronde River. More than 85,000 steelhead are in the Snake River system. The count at Lower Granite Dam continues to increase by 1,500 to more than 2,000 a day. About 65,000 have been counted at the dam.

The Snake’s temperature is ideal for steelhead fishing. It’s been running at 59 to 61 degrees the last week. The Ronde’s temperature has been dropping fast and ranges from 48 to 52 degrees.

Despite ideal conditions, fishing isn’t good every day and many anglers are still going home skunked. The Idaho Fish and Game Department reported 164 anglers checked along the Snake above Lewiston last weekend averaged 25 hours per steelhead, an average that indicates only fair fishing.

Incidentally, Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission has taken emergency action to restrict steelhead fishing on the Snake to help Idaho protect B-run fish.

Washington anglers no longer can keep steelhead more than 30 inches caught from the Washington-Oregon state line downstream to the Red Wolf Crossing bridge near Clarkston. Idaho anglers also must release steelhead more than 30 inches long.

Idaho biologists expect fewer than 1,500 B-run steelhead to go up the Clearwater River, hardly enough to supply eggs for the Dworshak hatchery.

Even though this year’s run up the Clearwater will be small, enough steelhead enter the lower river for good fishing. Idaho reported that anglers who fished below the Memorial Bridge last weekend averaged 4 hours per steelhead, indicating sensational fishing.

Chinook salmon

This is the last weekend to fish for “upriver bright” chinook salmon in the White Bluffs area of the Columbia River. The popular section between the Old Hanford townsite power lines and Vernita Bridge will close to chinook fishing after Sunday. The Columbia above Vernita Bridge will remain open.

About 67,000 fall chinooks are in the Columbia above McNary Dam. Fishing has been as good as ever, with one of every 10 anglers boating a salmon.

Incidentally, some anglers still don’t know it’s no longer necessary to replace triple hooks with single hooks on lures that sink. The Fish and Wildlife Commission dropped the requirement for this year; consequently, anglers can use such popular lures as the Blue Fox spinners without replacing the triple hooks with single hooks.

Trolling for the chinooks in Lake Coeur d’Alene is picking up, Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop said. He said he and friends had six hits last weekend and boated four, including an 11-pounder. He added that anglers in another boat hooked five. He trolled dodgers and herring and flashers and herring at 50 to 60 feet in the Arrow Point area.

Spiny-rayed species

Pike fishing has been good near the deep weed beds at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Smith said. Several weighing 15 to 21 pounds were caught during the last week.

Upland birds

You can hear a lot of different stories when you talk to people who hunted pheasants and quail last weekend. Some will tell you they think there are as many pheasants this fall as a year ago. Others will say this isn’t the year to hunt the gaudy birds.

For example, wildlife agent Dan Rahn of Moses Lake thinks there are plenty of pheasants in the Othello area and along the lower Crab Creek area for fairly good hunting. His assessment differs from that of some of his colleagues and hunters who couldn’t find birds in the Basin last weekend.

Some scatter-gunners, who hunted parts of Benewah and Nez Perce counties in North Idaho last weekend, were delighted with their hunting. A few shot limits of pheasants and most got at least one rooster. All were surprised because they had been told by Idaho biologists that the pheasant population was small.

The Idaho hunters also said they saw plenty of quail.

The experiences of some hunters indicate there are some areas, particularly where the cover is heavy, where pheasants and quail did well during the nesting season. The birds seem to be scarce in marginal habitat.

Pheasant, quail and partridge hunters apparently averaged less than a half a bird each last weekend, Madonna Luers of the Spokane regional office of the State Fish and Wildlife Department said.

In southeastern Washington, she said, 20 hunters were checked with one pheasant. Biologist Pat Fowler of Walla Walla said he feels the pheasant population is down, but added there are a few “pockets” where survival of chicks was good.

The Ephrata office of the FWD said 67 hunters on the Desert Wildlife Area were checked with 32 pheasants, or nearly a half bird each. In other areas, hunters averaged one fourth bird each. Juvenile birds made up 50 percent of the kill, indicating only mediocre production last spring.

Deer

Luers said 625 hunters were checked at the Deer Park station Sunday with 29 whitetail and nine mule deer bucks for a 6 percent success ratio. Last year’s opening figures: 644 hunters with 50 whitetails and 21 mule deer for an 11 percent success ratio.

Biologists expect hunting to pick up as leaves drop from deciduous trees and colder weather arrives.

Deer hunting was slow in the Okanogan, where 888 hunters were checked with 22 bucks last weekend, compared with 899 hunters with 68 bucks last year.

Waterfowl

Some hunters did well during opening weekend, but most were disappointed. Although there seems to be good numbers of ducks and geese throughout Eastern Washington, the birds didn’t do much flying during the weekend.

Hunters averaged only 1.58 ducks each in the Columbia Basin last weekend, compared with 2.4 birds on the opener last year. Hunting pressure was heavy last weekend.

Biologists feel that hunting won’t pick up until Canadian ducks start arriving next month.

Hunters averaged about one duck each last weekend on the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge near Bonners Ferry, manager Jim Reynolds said.