Hunting + fishing
Fly fishing
Flows on the Yakima River are low and wading is possible just about anywhere. Dry fly fishing is good.
The Coeur d’Alene River is picking up. Hoppers, ants and beetles all are good throughout the day with smaller caddis coming off in the evenings. In the morning, look for spruce moths along with the caddis.
The St. Joe continues to fish well. Trout are still eating hoppers and ants. Smaller caddis and mayflies are coming off in the evenings and on cloudy days.
Idaho rivers such as the Lochsa, the North Fork of the Clearwater and the Selway are producing good fly fishing, with the North Fork Clearwater especially productive. Try hopper imitations.
Trout and kokanee
Williams and Badger continue to produce better trout fishing than most other lakes, with the exception of Sprague, which just gets better as the water cools.
Fish Lake remains fairly consistent with anglers taking tiger trout and some big brookies. WDFW fish biologist Chris Donley said there are still a few 10-pound tiger trout in Fish.
On Lake Roosevelt, the trout bite near Split Rock, Lincoln and Whitestone has been good for fish averaging 15 inches. Smaller kokanee are also showing near Whitestone. With the Two Rivers trout tournament running this weekend, contestants will seek the larger carryover fish that will put them in the money.
Coeur d’Alene kokanee are recovering nicely, so much so that the season will remain open throughout the year. Most of the fish are 8-10 inches long. The kokanee limit will remain at six fish, but an increase in the limit will be considered next spring.
Lake Pend Oreille waters have cooled a little and small mackinaw are being caught near the mouth of Bottle Bay on a dodger and fly.
Steelhead and salmon
Steelhead are beginning to stack up at the mouths of tributaries such as the Clearwater, Grande Ronde and Salmon. The catch-and-release section of the Grande Ronde, between the mouth and the County Road Bridge, should have fish by this weekend.
The confluence of the Clearwater should be good this weekend for steelhead, and there will also be a number of chinook in the mix. More than 430 adults and nearly 850 jacks passed Lower Granite on Wednesday.
Steelhead anglers are still finding good fishing near Lewiston, despite the 69-degree water temperature. Fishing generally picks up when water temps get below 66 degrees. Eggs or shrimp are popular.
At Darver Tackle in Starbuck, Verna Foley said there are plenty of fish in the Snake, but they are moving through quickly because of the warm water. Success off “The Wall” at Little Goose Dam has been sporadic, but the steelhead caught are the large B-run fish heading for the Clearwater. The store is opening at 5 a.m.
Paul Hoffarth, WDFW fish biologist in Yakima, said the Yakima River had low effort and no salmon catch last week.
Starting Wednesday, the salmon fishery east of Buoy 13 in Grays Harbor (Marine Area 2-2) will be open seven days a week through Nov. 30, while a portion of the La Push fishery will be open daily Sept. 26 through Oct. 11.
Fall kings are hitting on the Columbia River in the White Bluffs region and a few are showing below Wanapum Dam at the mouth of Crab Creek. Thousands of these chinook have moved over McNary Dam and are showing up in good numbers even in the Wenatchee stretch of the Columbia.
Anglers report a lot of chinook rolling near Hanford Reach though catch rates so far are low. A few steelhead are being taken. Estimated harvest for the week was 70 adult chinook and 47 jacks. Boats averaged a little less than one-half chinook per boat.
Salmon anglers report hot fishing for kings and silvers north of the Astoria Bridge. Flashers with either spinners or gaudy flies do the damage.
Spiny ray
Anglers throwing spinner baits and bucktails off the deep weed lines are doing well on Pend Oreille River northern pike. Many are in the 7-pound range, but there have been reports of fish twice that big. Friend Len Kutkey said he and his son-in-law recently caught nine nice largemouth, five more than 4 pounds, as well as some smallmouth and a half dozen pike to 28 inches. They were fishing near River’s Bend, throwing a white spinnerbait with a purple curlytail grub added.
The Mar Don dock on Potholes Reservoir has been a good spot to pick up good-sized perch and a few keeper crappie. Try a mini-jig tipped with worm, maggot or perch meat.
Bass fishing, particularly for largemouth, is starting to pick up on Coeur d’Alene Lake and the Chain Lakes. Several 8- to 9-pound bass have been caught in the past two weeks, and several 4- to 6-pounders as well. Plastic lizards have been effective.
Pike are showing again in the Coeur d’Alene River, but fishing has slowed in the Chain Lakes.
Other species
The northern pikeminnow rewards program ends for the year on Sept. 27. Nearly 5,400 fish were turned in this week.
Sturgeon anglers are catching keeper-size fish above Little Goose Dam. Below the dam, fishing has been slow.
Hunting
Tuesday marks the opening of the traditional 10-day “high buck hunt” for modern firearm and muzzleloader hunters in the Alpine Lakes, Glacier Peak, Pasayten and Henry Jackson Wilderness areas, and in the Lake Chelan Recreation Area. A three-antler point minimum is in effect.
The Idaho fall general turkey season begins Tuesday, and seasons for sage grouse, quail, chukar and gray partridge begin Sept. 19. The sharp-tailed grouse season begins Oct. 1.
Idaho’s wolf hunt will continue as planned. It opened in the Lolo and Sawtooth wolf zones Sept. 1. It opens Tuesday in the Selway and Middle Fork zones, and Oct. 1 in the rest of the state. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula denied a preliminary injunction that would have returned the wolf to federal endangered species protection. Idaho will continue to manage wolves according to its approved wolf population management plan.