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

Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report for Dec. 31

Alan Liere

Fly Fishing

Fly fishermen are seeing good streamer action on Rocky Ford late in the day. At midday, scuds and midge pupas are working. Streamers are also effective on the Spokane River. Silver Bow Fly Shop recommends fishing deep in slow currents with a short strip retrieve, pausing every couple strips.

Salmon and steelhead

Toby Wyatt, guide for Reel Time Fishing in Clarkston, says conditions are prime on the Clearwater River for steelhead and the catch rate per hours fished is excellent. The Grand Ronde River near Boggan’s was fishable on Monday, but there was ice along the edges and with the recent cold snap it could go south in a hurry. The ‘Ronde was dumping slush into the Snake at Heller Bar.

Steelhead fishermen are having luck still near Pateros and Brewster on the Columbia. There have also been some positive reports from Ringold. A jig tipped with shrimp under a bobber is still the most popular offering.

Trout and kokanee

The winter kokanee bite has begun on Lake Chelan and 10-fish limits are being found off Colyar Ledge. The smallest kokes are about 12 inches and the largest have been around 14 inches. The fish are from 50-175 feet deep. Troll just above them at about 1.1 mph. Lake trout are also biting at Chelan, and an occasional small chinook is also a possibility.

My friend, John Petrofski, and his son, Ian, tried Hatch Lake this week. He said they walked out about 30 yards and drilled a hole through four “scant” inches of ice. Two other anglers John described as “slim” were catching trout, but when John (who is not “slim”) heard ice cracking, he and Ian walked gingerly back to the car.

Trout fishermen are taking fast limits of 14- to 16-inch rainbow from Long Lake between Suncrest and the dam. Successful fishermen say the fish aren’t picky at all, but an orange fly tipped with a piece of nightcrawler is hard to beat.

The rainbow bite was fast again this week near Sterling, though no kokanee were reported. Orange flies and pink hootchies were almost equally effective trolled on between one and four colors of leaded line. Kokanee are still being caught at Keller Ferry, as are the smaller rainbow. Flies and hootchies are equally effective there, also, for both species, and trollers are working the water close to shore rather in the middle.

Sprague Lake, Hog Canyon and Fourth of July all have ice, but it is thin and snow-covered and extreme caution is advised. Of the three, Fourth of July will form hard ice the quickest. Waitts Lake was just beginning to ice up on Tuesday. The heavy snow covering area lakes makes it tough to predict the feasibility of ice fishing – ice just doesn’t form very quickly when it is so well-insulated.

It is not likely Rock Lake will get any ice, except in the narrow outlet where bank anglers have been catching a lot of rainbow recently. Fishing should still be good at the edge of the ice. The road through Turnbull to Rock is reported to be “brutal.”

A friend from Moses Lake said there were a few anglers on the ice near Blue Herron Park near the I-90 Bridge this week, and he suspects most of the lake will be fishable by the weekend. He said most of the Potholes dunes area is frozen, and Lind Coulee ice is just beginning to form. He added that ducks and geese appear to have vacated the area.

In Idaho, Avondale Lake has about four inches of good ice and anglers are finding a mixed bag of 8- to 13-inch perch and 10-inch rainbow. Fernan Lake should be ready for ice fishing by the weekend, and it’s a multi-species lake as well. Ice anglers at Cocolalla will soon be catching some large perch. Smaller perch are being taken at Round Lake where the ice was about 3 inches this week – not enough for me.

Spiny ray

Eloika Lake is often the salvation of ice fishermen with cabin fever, but the snow is covering only 2 inches or less of ice. Dropping temperatures in the next few days could make a difference, however. There was no one on the lake on Tuesday and no sign of any activity. Silver Lake didn’t have much snow and was just starting to freeze up in the bay by the launch, but on Wednesday there was still open water visible.

Other species

Banks Lake has whitefish from one end to the other, but the best fishing for the largest fish has been near Coulee City. Jigs and small spoons are effective, but some anglers prefer using maggots or pieces of shrimp. The lake was ice-free at mid-week, but the marina at Coulee City could have solid ice by the weekend. In the past, it has been a popular spot for perch.

Hunting

The Pend Oreille River and Banks Lake are sometimes loaded with ducks this time of year, but for now they are elsewhere. A few goldeyes and redheads are still around, but the mallards have probably headed for the Columbia River, where duck hunting is said to be excellent at Brewster and the Tri-Cities.

Pheasants are more vulnerable now than at any other time of the year, but getting to them can be an ordeal in the heavy snow. I found out on Wednesday that even with snowshoes, you’ll sink 10 inches in the powder. I’m thinking it may be time to start feeding pheasants and quail rather than hunting them.

Mountain lion harvest in parts of southern Idaho is managed by limiting the number of female mountain lions that may be harvested, but males may also be harvested until the female quota is reached. The season runs through March 31, 2016, and at this time, quotas for all units are unfilled. Telephone 1-800-323-4334 to find out the latest information about any closures.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com