Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report
Fly Fishing
Rocky Ford is loaded with big rainbow trout. Catching will remain good in the cold weather if you can keep the ice out of the guides. Scuds are working best.
The Grande Ronde was free of ice at Boggan’s Oasis last week but it began icing up this week and was no longer floatable on Tuesday. The Shumaker area also had ice. But with moderating weather towards the end of the week, anything could happen. It is advisable to call ahead to Boggan’s Oasis before making the long drive, (509) 256-3372.
I spoke with a fly fisherman throwing streamers near the Rock Lake public access on Tuesday. He caught numerous rainbow and browns up to 14 inches, as well as quite a few 12-inch steelhead. Thirty yards down the bank, bait fishermen were also doing well.
Salmon and steelhead
The Gene Fink Winter Chinook Derby is Saturday and Sunday on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Registration is available right up to kick-off at Fins and Feathers.
Steelhead fishing should improve at Pateros and Bridgeport as water temperatures continue to cool, but some of the best fishing will be on the Wenatchee and Entiat rivers when they get even colder. The Wenatchee has good access to many prime fishing areas.
Catch rates for hatchery steelhead have picked up in the Hanford Reach, where bank and boat anglers are working the slots and seams. In the early morning, steelhead often lie in as little as five feet of water, but can be found as deep as 20 feet late in the day. Bank anglers tend to work the seams close to shore, working progressively deeper throughout the day.
Trout and kokanee
All of the newly-opened winter trout lakes – Hog Canyon and Fourth of July to the south, Williams and Hatch to the north – have ice that will dictate fishing methods. The launches at Hog Canyon and Fourth of July are too frozen to allow boat access, but there is open water that can be reached by casting from shore. It is possible that Williams and Hatch may even have enough cover for ice fishing. Randy Osborne, Washington Department of Fish and central district fish biologist in Spokane, says anglers can expect 10- to 24-inch rainbows at Fourth of July and 11- to 14-inch fish at Hog Canyon. Avoid blocking gates and pack out your trash. Hatch Lake has rainbows in the 12- to 16-inch range. Williams Lake may not be as productive and remains ice-free longer, but it usually gets a boost of nice-sized hatchery fish in the fall. Both lakes have a five-trout daily catch limit with no size restriction.
Lake Roosevelt has been mostly good for rainbow and kokanee. Fort Spokane down to “A” Rock, Lincoln north, Keller and Seven Bays all had good reports this week, but the Keller area has been best for kokanee. The fish have all been at about 15 feet down over deeper water and the best bite has been before noon. Bank anglers are getting rainbow between Gifford and Daisy.
WDFW fish technician Aulin Smith of Electric City reports that trout are biting on Banks Lake. “It’s a little slow for shore anglers,” Smith said. “But rainbows around 20 inches are taking power bait and marshmallow-worm combos. Some boat anglers have done much better trolling, but you have to get your gear as far from the boat as you can.”
Three lakes in Okanogan County opened for catch-and-keep trout fishing on Dec. 1. Rat Lake near Brewster, and Big and Little Green lakes near Omak, switched from a catch-and-release regulation to a five-trout daily catch limit. These fisheries provide good angling throughout the winter months for 10- to 12-inch rainbows, either as open water as they mostly are now, or iced-over later in the season.
Spiny ray
Moses Lake perch have been biting near the I-90 Bridge in 20 feet of water. Anglers using worms just off the bottom are filling their 25-fish limits once they find a school. The perch are nice-sized (9-12 inches) but they don’t have the girth they will have in March when they are ready to spawn.
Another week of cold weather and Eloika Lake may be ready for the first hard-water anglers of the winter season. The lake can be excellent at times for 7- to 9-inch perch, but it is the variety of species that makes the lake so appealing. In one morning, it is conceivable that a single angler could catch eight or more different species.
Lake Coeur d’Alene is dropping each day. Northern pike are still cooperating, but they are staying close to weed beds and those are now in only five feet of water. Glide baits are working.
Other species
The recreational crab fishing season in Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) will reopen for December, joining the rest of Puget Sound already open to late-season crabbing. Unlike on Washington’s coast, marine toxins have not been an issue in Puget Sound crab.
Dec. 1 marked the opening of the whitefish season on the Little Spokane River between Hwy. 291 upstream to the West Branch tributary. Whitefish gear rules apply here – one single-point hook, maximum hook size 14 ( 3/16-inch point to shank). The Yakima and Naches rivers are also open to whitefish fishing now.
Hunting
WDFW Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area Manager Juli Anderson reports that upland game bird populations are looking good at the Lincoln County area this year. She reminds bird hunters to positively identify birds before shooting to avoid taking a protected sharp-tailed or sage grouse.
A friend and I hunted pheasants Tuesday near Winona. We didn’t see a lot of birds, but those we did see held tight and the three shots we had were “gimmes.” What we did see were a lot of ducks and geese. At times, there were so many geese in the air above us I was reminded of my autumn hunt in Alberta, Canada. Ponds and slow-moving rivers are frozen, so available loafing spots are at a premium. Good shooting should be available anywhere there is open water, as the northern birds have definitely moved in.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com