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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Salmon and steelhead

The Spokesman-Review

Idaho and Washington steelhead are still being caught in the Snake River tributaries, but the quality of flesh has deteriorated considerably. On the Grande Ronde, guide Rick Hedding said there are still a lot of fish in the river from the bridge to Cottonwood Creek, some still showing light pink flesh. He also noted that the mouth of the Imnaha still holds a good number of fish, but that there is nothing from Cottonwood Creek to the state line.

Warning: Construction is closing the Snake River road upstream from Asotin starting at 7:30 a.m. weekdays and preventing access to Heller Bar area except at noon and late in the day.

The Klickitat and White Salmon rivers open to chinook fishing Saturday. On the Klickitat, fishing will be limited to three days per week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays – through May 31 with a bag limit of one hatchery chinook or steelhead per day. The lower section of the White Salmon River will remain open through June 30 from the markers on the east and west shores to the powerhouse. The upper section will be open Saturday through June 15 from the powerhouse to 400 feet downstream from Northwestern (Condit) Dam.

Wind River and Drano are getting little pressure.

The Ringold-area steelhead fishery (Highway 395 Bridge to old Hanford Townsite) will close after today except to bank anglers, who will be permitted to fish for steelhead through April 15. Fishing must be confined to the area along the shoreline located near the Ringold Springs Hatchery. There will not be a Spring Chinook fishery at Ringold this year.

As of Wednesday, only eight chinook had passed Bonneville Dam. There is a persistent rumor that WDFW may soon cut off the springer season on the lower Columbia.

Trout

In Okanogan County, several rainbow trout-stocked lakes open to catch-and-release fishing Saturday – Davis, Little Twin and Campbell in the Winthrop area, Little Green in the Omak area, and Rat in the Brewster area. WDFW district fish biologist Bob Jateff reminds anglers that all of these lakes are under selective-gear rules and anglers should check with locals before traveling to them since some will likely still be partially frozen on Saturday. Big Green, near Omak, is another lake that opens Saturday for catch-and-release, but because of a fall 2005 rehabilitation treatment, it will not be re-stocked with trout until May. Spectacle Lake, northwest of Tonasket, which opened March 1, will receive 35,000 catchable-size rainbows by the first week of April. Spectacle will also receive 1,000 1- to 2-pound triploid rainbows in April. Jateff said Spectacle, which normally closes July 31, will have a new closing date of Sept. 30 starting this year.

MarDon Resort will release 50,000 net pen trout on April 7 and there will be free dock fishing from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. All children must be supervised and wearing a life jacket. In the Potholes Recreation Area many lakes located on the National Wildlife Refuge will open Saturday. The Pillar Widgeon Chain, located just south of Soda Lake, has many small lakes providing walk-in bank fishing for trout. The Hampton Lakes also open Saturday.

Idaho’s Pend Oreille Lake is still cold for optimum rainbow fishing, said Kurt Artner at Pend Oreille Charters (208-610-8540), but one or two in excess of 20 pounds are landed each week.

Kootenay Lake in British Columbia has provided some excellent Dolly Varden fishing in recent weeks, and the rainbow bite is also picking up. Big fish are still hitting hardware such as Bill Norman plugs, as the water is only 41 degrees. When it gets to 50 degrees, bucktails on the surface will be the lure of choice. Kootenay has a Dolly Derby April 14-16 sponsored by Woodbury Resort, and a Rainbow Derby May 20-22 sponsored by Balfour Gill and Gift. Info: (250) 229-2113.

On Wednesday, the Clark Fork was running at 3910 cfs at the St. Regis gauge, but dropping. Nymphing has been consistent. Hatches include skwalas, midges and baetis.

Spiny ray

On the lower Columbia near Tri-Cities, guide Kurt Sonderman said a series of cold fronts and low pressure has made walleye fishing tough with the fish deep and scattered. Better fishing for both walleye and smallmouth is reported on Bonneville, John Day and The Dalles Pools, with The Dalles best for walleye and John Day best for smallmouth.

Small perch are abundant off the Alder Street Bridge in Moses Lake this week, and also in the Winchester Canal near Quincy. Sloughs and ponds off the Wasteway are starting to give up largemouth bass as their temperatures are 5-12 degrees higher than the Wasteway.

With Moses Lake finally being filled, it should just be a few weeks until the walleye bite turns on. A few bass are being taken in shallow water at Potholes Reservoir.

The Snake River is running about 50,000 cfs, so a few pockets for bass and some sturgeon fishing are about all that is available there. Knowledgeable anglers are taking some big smallmouth.

The Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt closes after today. Best fishing has been near and above Porcupine Bay, with fish in 9-22 feet of water.

The temperature at Rufus Woods is about 39 degrees and walleye have cooperated some with anglers this week.

Other species

Saltwater anglers will soon have a chance to hook a halibut. The season begins April 9 in Puget Sound. Fishing is open five days a week, Thursday through Monday, with a daily limit of one halibut and no minimum-size restriction. Best bets for catching a big flatfish in April are marine areas 6, 9 and 13, said Michele Culver, a WDFW fish biologist.

Catfishing is picking up at the mouth of the Palouse River, said Verna Foley at Darver Tackle in Starbuck, Wash.

Hunting

A youth spring turkey season for Washington and Idaho hunters younger than 16 is set for April 8-9. Cold weather could keep toms from henning up before the April 15 general opener, as they did last spring.

Cold weather also is likely to leave snow plugging some forest access roads that were open by mid-April last year.

(Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this column.)