States Offer Anglers The Ultimate Lure

If not the perfect time to introduce a friend to fishing, at least this weekend will be the cheapest opportunity.

Fishing licenses will not be required for free-fishing days in Idaho and Washington.

And people who live in low-lying areas might not have to travel. Some rivers are coming right to your doorstep.

Idaho will waive the license requirement on Saturday. Washington and Oregon will double the pleasure by offering free fishing on Saturday and Sunday.

Montana does not participate with the 44 states that offer free fishing in the observance of National Fishing Week.

A week of drizzle hasn’t helped lower the water levels plaguing the region’s lakes and streams.

Swollen rivers won’t offer decent fishing this weekend. Some tributaries in Idaho do not open for fishing until July 1 anyway.

If you plan to take advantage of the weekend fishing special, head for a lake, such as West Medical near Cheney or Hauser in North Idaho.

All other fishing rules will apply on the free-fishing days, including tackle requirements, catch limits, size restrictions, season closures and species protection.

Volunteers will be on hand to help new anglers at several loosely organized events throughout the region. Extra trout have been stocked to assure that participants get a chance to hook a fish.

North Idaho has the most ambitious schedule, with six clinics. New anglers can cast for stocked rainbows while learning angling skills.

The first clinic will run Saturday from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. at Ponderosa Springs Golf Course in Coeur d’Alene.

Other clinics are scheduled Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon, at Mullan Fish Hatchery, Round Lake State Park, Bonners Ferry Lions Club Pond, Clark Fork Fish Hatchery and Anderson Ranch Pond, five miles south of St. Maries on Highway 3.

A few rods will be available, but anglers who can bring their own equipment are encouraged to do so.

In Washington, organized events are sponsored by the Forest Service: Rainbow Lake along the Tucannon River, Saturday, 8 a.m.- noon. Contact Pomeroy Ranger District, (509) 843-1891.

West Evans Pond near Clarkston, Sunday, 8 a.m.-noon. Contact Pomeroy Ranger District.

South Skookum Lake, Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Contact Newport Ranger District, (509) 447-7300.

Another fishing event for kids is set for June 14 at Big Meadow Lake west of Ione, 8 a.m.-noon, sponsored by the Sullivan Lake Ranger District, (509) 446-7500. The free-fishing attraction will have passed for adults, but resident kids under 15 years old can catch trout for free anytime a season is open in Washington.

Dampened hopes: While fish tend to thrive with incessant rain, pheasant chicks do not.

Going into this spring, biologists were optimistic that the tide had changed after nearly a decade of lean years for Washington pheasant hunters.

Last year’s pheasant harvest increased 43 percent statewide from 1995, according to preliminary figures from the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department. The biggest increases ranged from 75 percent to 165 percent in the state’s best pheasant areas of Columbia, Garfield, Walla Walla and Whitman counties.

“The historic cycle is for upland bird populations to peak just after the turn of the decade,” said Dave Ware, Washington fish and Wildlife Department upland game bird manager. “That didn’t happen in 1991 and 1992 because of the drought,” he said. But with better grass growth and a good number of birds surviving from last year, the stage is set for a great statewide peak of pheasants, chukars and quail by 2001, he said.

The key will be the spring hatch, which peaks in early June. “You need to put a big umbrella over Eastern Washington this week,” Ware said.

I want to be optimistic. But it just occurred to me that I haven’t turned on my yard sprinklers for two weeks.

You can contact Rich Landers by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5508.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review