Weekly hunting and fishing report

Fly fishing

The Snake River is a good steelhead option, but the Grande Ronde is still not back to a fishable level. The Clearwater is back on the rise and should level off and be fine by the weekend. Swinging intruder or marabou patterns on the Snake with T-10 sink tips has been productive. The Methow is producing steelhead for fly fishermen throwing nymphs, beads and small attractor patterns.

The Spokane River is moving at a good clip, but there are still lots of fishable water. The lower river (below Latah Creek) is dirty but the upper river is okay, as is the stretch from Stateline to Harvard. Silver Bow Fly Shop recommends nymphing with San Juan Worms, Pat’s Rubber Legs and Copper Johns. The lower portion of the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River should be a good option for the weekend.

Salmon and steelhead

Creel surveys and angler reports for the week ending Sunday indicate good success among anglers fishing the Clearwater River in Idaho where 265 anglers reported catching 277 steelhead. On some days, anglers have been taking limits in just a few hours, but the average was a fish every five hours during the seven-day period.

On the North Fork Clearwater, anglers averaged 10 hours per fish during the week ending Sunday. Many large steelhead have been caught, some as long as 37 inches. Fishery managers expect angler success to remain high throughout the Clearwater drainage over the next 3 months.

Anglers are also finding steelhead in the Salmon and Snake rivers, and catch rates are likely to improve as water temperatures rise with the approach of spring.

Chinook fishing remains good but not great on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The salmon seem to be most prevalent at midlake in Carlin, Mica and Loffs bays. Quite a few 10- to 12-pounders have been boated – a lot more than usual – and anglers are anticipating an excellent spring fishery.

Trout and kokanee

Valley White Elephant’s George Orr had a phenomenal day last week, casting PowerBait from shore just down from the swimming area at Seven Bays. Orr said he lost three fish but still had a five-trout limit in about an hour. When he went back on the weekend, bites were few.

Following a slower than normal week of trolling for upper Roosevelt rainbow, some anglers are wondering if the fish are already showing mid-February tendencies and moving toward Grand Coulee Dam. They say there is a definite change occurring. A group of friends (good fishermen all) trolled “all over the place” around Lincoln and were skunked on Monday. Four friends and I fished from shore with pink PowerBait near Hansen Harbor on the same day. We caught 24 beautiful rainbow (I came up a fish short of a limit.)

Most of the positive Lake Roosevelt fishing reports this week came from the water between Spring Canyon and Grand Coulee Dam. The best bite has been on top. One group of anglers noted that “anything worked as long as it was an orange Rapala.” Catches included one really large kokanee, as well as trout and a few of the smaller 13-inch kokes.

Rock Lake is attracting a lot of interest lately. When it is not windy, the parking lot is full of boats. Many Rock Lake anglers are heading to the north end to fish, and then moving slowly south along the west shoreline. Most of the fish lately have been rainbows of about a foot in length.

The Colville Tribe has released almost 100,000 smaller triploids into Rufus Woods Reservoir this year and anglers fishing near Chief Joseph Dam are catching good numbers ranging from 14-24 inches. They also report seeing much larger fish chase their jigs and lures but turn away at the boat.

Fairly consistent kokanee reports come from Lake Chelan, where trollers are finding mostly 12-inch fish between 65-100 feet with some down over 200 feet.

Ice fishing

Fernan Lake ice is getting “iffy” with considerable melting around the shore. The perch bite has been erratic, but most anglers take a small trout or two. Other Idaho Panhandle lakes are also seeing a lot of melting except for those further north like Gambles (big perch but not a lot), Round, Twin (both with 7- to 8-inch perch) and Spirit (kokanee, but not as many as last year).

I have yet to hit Eloika Lake on a good day, and my perch total for four trips is pretty pathetic.

A friend with a MarCum Fish Locator and a lot more staying power than I have usually sees the fishing pick up in the evening. The ice remains stable, but it may take a long step to get on it by the weekend.

It is tough to call the potential of other eastern Washington lakes. Water is showing around the edges of most and a good wind could turn things upside down. Hatch and Williams should fish well for another week, but Silver, Hog Canyon and Fourth of July may not be an option.

Spiny ray

Potholes walleye catch rates continue to be good, although not as hot as two weeks ago. Lind Coulee could be ice free by this weekend, so that will open up some more water.

Walleye success on Lake Roosevelt has been good for 13- to 14-inch fish. Craig Dowdy of YJ Guide Service said the water above Buoy 5 is getting dirty, and if it gets much farther down the Arm, walleye fishing will shut down. He is finding fish in 30-50 feet of water anywhere there’s a flat. He said he suspects there is probably a bite going on at Two Rivers.

Walleye fishing in the Tri-Cities area and upstream in the Snake River is picking up. Anglers are reporting some good days both below and above McNary Dam and in the Snake River below Ice Harbor and Little Goose dams.

Pike fishing on Lake Coeur d’Alene is just getting started in some of the bays. Many still have an ice cover, but Wolf Lodge, Blue Creek and Squaw bays are open.

Other species

Burbot fishing on the Spokane Arm has been on one day, off the next. This should be prime time, but it isn’t. The fish are smaller this year than last, averaging about 3 pounds. If you’ve never fished for these delicious fish on Roosevelt before, your best bet is to book a trip with Craig Dowdy at YJ Guide Service (509) 999-0717.