Hunting+Fishing: Trout/kokanee

Hog Canyon and Fourth of July ice has firmed up and some anglers are taking limits. At Hog Canyon, that usually means five fish, but at Fourth of July, the first two are often more than 14 inches and you’re done. Bait and lures with some green in them seem to be doing well.

This week, two angling friends were skunked at Rufus Woods. Other than those, all reports have been positive with multifish days the rule from the Seaton Grove launch clear to Chief Joseph Dam.

Anglers were finding their Rock Lake rainbows and browns deeper than usual. There has been a good bite on the north side of the lake two miles from the launch at 30 feet. Use a Rippin Minnow or Kokanee Killers tipped with worm and troll fast.

Lake Roosevelt rainbow averaging 20 inches are beginning to cooperate with trollers dragging F-7 silver and black Shad Raps or large flies just under the surface. The Hunters area has been good, as has the Whitestone area.

Roses Lake near Manson is a good year-round trout fishery. Roses is providing some decent fishing for hard-water anglers.

Terry Allan’s Fishing Guide Service in Chelan (509-687-3084) says mackinaw fishing on the big lake is excellent. Allan said most of the fish are 3-4 pounds, but a 14-pounder came in this week. While many Chelan Lake anglers troll, Allan prefers jigging.

Steelhead and salmon

At Boggan’s Oasis on the Grande Ronde, Bill Vail said now is the best steelhead fishing they’ve had since last year. Corkies are most popular, but fly-fishermen are also taking fish. The Grande Ronde is running at 1,100 cfs.

Steelhead anglers on the Clearwater are taking a few fish, especially near Orofino. A 20-pounder and a 14-pounder were landed this week by combat fishermen on the North Fork below Dworshak Dam.

The Methow is freezing over, but steelheading near the docks at Pateros remains productive. The Brewster/Bridgeport area has been fair.

Fishing off the wall at Little Goose Dam has been good at times, but the little Tucannon River is more consistent.

Coeur d’Alene chinook trollers are finding fish at depths of 75-100 feet. The usual hoochies or herring are most effective for salmon averaging 5 pounds.

Spiny ray

Eloika Lake produced about a dozen perch as well as a few bass, a large crappie, several sunfish and a grass pickerel for a friend and me one morning this week – not fast fishing by Eloika standards, to be sure. Ice is a solid 5 inches.

Anglers have yet to venture onto Newman Lake in any numbers, though the ice appears to be thick enough to be safe.

Newman, a multispecies lake east of Spokane, is known primarily for its big bass and tiger muskies, but there are some respectable rainbow in the lake, too.

The boat basin at Coulee City has some ice, but it will probably take another week of cold weather to firm it up, said Gordon Steinmetz at Big Wallys on Banks Lake. The boat basin is a popular winter destination for big perch.

Boat anglers are still dragging a few walleye from Potholes Reservoir and Lind Coulee. A few have also come from the small patch of open water under the I-90 Bridge at Moses Lake. This is strictly a bank fishing show.

Near Coeur d’Alene, Twin, Upper Twin, Kelso, Fernan and Granite have ice and are seeing some hard-water anglers. Of these, the ice at Upper Twin is probably the best. Upper Twin perch are small but numerous. It’s a great place to take the kids.

Other species

Though they can be fickle, whitefish have saved many a winter’s day fishing trip. Normally, whitefish begin to school up in January and February, but there have been a few reports of decent angling on the Kettle River.

Fresh water lingcod (burbot) are providing night ice fishing action on both Bead Lake near Newport and Palmer Lake near Oroville.

Bead and Palmer have produced the largest burbot caught in Washington waters

Hunting

For Idaho hunters and anglers itching to get out in the field or to wet a line, several opportunities are available. The pheasant season in Areas 1 and 3 is open through Monday. The forest grouse season also is open statewide through Monday. Seasons for bobwhite and California quail in Area 2 are open through Jan. 31. Chukar and gray partridge seasons are open statewide through Jan. 31.

In Washington, forest grouse close Monday, but pheasants, chukar and quail remain open until Jan. 21. Ducks are open until Jan. 27. Geese in Management Area 4 are open Saturday, Sunday and New Year’s Day, then weekends and Wednesdays until Jan. 21 when they are open daily until the Jan. 27 closure.

Cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hare remain open until March 15.

Veteran waterfowler Don Gulliford of Spokane reported that though there are huge stands of corn in the Columbia Basin, particularly between Vantage and Othello, there are few ducks.

Gulliford said that a hunt just below Crescent Bar on the Wanapum Pool recently yielded easy limits of mallards

Guide Gary Russell of Moses Lake said duck hunting has been feast or famine, though he is still seeing big flocks of teal on Potholes. He said geese are numerous, but they are “field-bouncing,” making it difficult to find any sure-thing hunts.

Like all of us, he is hoping for mild weather to bring mallards back up from the Columbia River.

Good numbers of divers such as goldeneyes are using the Pend Oreille River. They are also prevalent on Long Lake (Lake Spokane), though access is extremely limited.

Coyote hunters are finding song-dogs in fields south and west of Spokane. Firs are prime. There appear to be large numbers east of Moses Lake and west of Dodson Road.