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

Weekly hunting and fishing report

Fly fishing

Silver Bow Fly Shop says all rivers are in a transition state. Late-summer tactics like hopper/dropper rigs will still work, but fall patterns like Mahoganies, BWOs and October Caddis are picking up steam. Nymphing and streamer tactics are effective on cooler mornings. The Clark Fork and Kootenai are good fall choices with larger fish.

The North Fork Coeur d’Alene River is low, but the fishing has been pretty good. Small mayfly patterns work best there, as well as on the St. Joe and Kelly Creek.

Double nymph rigs and streamers work well on the Spokane River.

The small nymph game is good on the Yakima. If you’d rather fish dries, go for it, as the trout are putting on the feed bag and a number of techniques are effective. Fishing dry droppers or swinging October Caddis Pupa or streamers can be good.

Grande Ronde steelhead have been cooperative for fly fishermen. There are good numbers of fish in the upper river. The Clearwater River is low and steelhead are pretty easy to find. Good numbers have passed Lower Granite, so don’t ignore the Snake River either.

Salmon and steelhead

Bobber and shrimp fishermen on the Snake River are finding fair steelhead fishing from shore, both at the mouth of the Clearwater and farther up river. Trollers are taking some chinook. There are still good numbers of fish crossing Lower Granite, but the fishing has been difficult at times.

Anglers fishing off the wall at Little Goose are catching a few steelhead and chinook and those throwing bobber and shrimp are having some success above the dam. Mooching with Nordic jigs has been effective near the hatchery. The Tucannon River is giving up a few unclipped steelhead.

The Columbia River Gorge has been fair for steelhead and Chinook salmon. Anglers are also picking up chinook off the mouth of the White Salmon and Klickitat rivers and steelhead in the Klickitat proper. Hanford, Vernita Bridge and the White Bluffs at Hanford have been decent but not great for salmon. A friend who spent a week at Wells Dam said he caught 40 chinook between 18-25 pounds and more than a dozen 6- to 8-pound steelhead, but none of his fish was clipped. He kept one jack for the whole trip.

Trout and kokanee

Washington anglers have another month to fish most of the lakes that are not open year-round. Exceptions are lakes such as Fishtrap, Fish and Downs that closed Wednesday, as well as many lakes in Grant County. Williams and Badger are open with no limits through Oct. 25.

Amber Lake is open for catch-and-release fishing only. Friends fishing there this week said tiny Hot Shots in metallic green got them some big rainbow and beautiful cutthroat.

At Deer Lake in Stevens County, the trout bite is decent for 15-inch rainbow. It’s still possible to catch kokanee at Loon. The Deer Lake public launch is low so anglers are putting in at Deer Lake Resort. Sacheen Lake is good for trout but better for spiny ray.

Waitts Lake rainbow 11-13 inches are biting trolled flies. A friend said brown trout taken there this week were “mushy.” Waitts is open through February.

A report from a trout fisherman at Rock Lake indicated the steelhead planted there this spring were so numerous he couldn’t get down to the larger rainbow and browns.

Lake Coeur d’Alene kokanee are running about 9 inches and are finally attracting some angler attention. The north end of the lake has been excellent.

In the Idaho Panhandle, Lake Fernan will have received a fall plant of 1,800 catchable rainbow by Saturday. The algae is finally gone. Spicer and Post Falls Park ponds will be stocked with 1,000 catchables between Monday and Oct. 9.

Spiny ray

Northern pike in Lake Coeur d’Alene are still hitting spinnerbaits in less than 10 feet of water. Fishing has not been fast as the fish are scattered, but a few pike more than 15 pounds have been taken recently. Pike and bass fishing has been fair at Hayden Lake.

Banks Lake remains excellent for walleye. Almost every report mentions a Slow Death rig with a nightcrawler and a Smile Blade behind a bottom bouncer. A good place to start is south of Steamboat Rock. Concentrate on the 15- to 25-foot depths. Some 13-inch perch have also been taken.

Silver Lake largemouth are not quite as easy as they were two weeks ago, but a few 5-pounders have been taken each week. Some huge tiger muskies have been spotted recently, although none has been reported caught. For lots of small perch, Silver is the place to go.

Potholes walleye have been consistent. A 1.5–1.8 mph troll with spinners or Slow Death rigs and nightcrawlers will find fish in 10-20 feet of water. Anglers using this setup are also catching catfish and big perch. I talked to a friend while he was on the water Tuesday, and he said the “teenage fish” – 13-15 inches – were biting all day. Smallmouth bass are also active at Potholes.

Moses Lake has also been excellent for small walleye and some anglers are finding concentrations of keeper-size crappie.

Other species

The entire Washington coast is open for sport crabbing after elevated levels of domoic acid forced the WDFW to close the crab fisheries this summer.

Hunting

Turkey hunters in Eastern Washington have through Oct. 16 to shoot their fall bird. Wednesday morning I chased two dozen out of my garden. The birds were in a flock of 20 and seemed unconcerned that a tall angry man was tossing rocks and shouting at them.

Idaho’s youth pheasant season opens statewide Saturday and runs through Oct. 9 for all licensed hunters 15 or younger. The week-long hunt opens a half hour before sunrise in Area 1, 2 and 3; except on the C.J. Strike, Fort Boise, Montour, Niagara Springs, Payette River and Sterling wildlife management areas, where shooting hours begin at 10 a.m.

The WDFW is seeking public comments through Oct. 31 on a draft plan to guide management of the state’s mule deer populations. Key objectives in the plan include maintaining stable mule deer opportunities for hunters and wildlife watchers. It also covers strategies for reducing damage caused by deer to crops and personal property. The plan is available online for review at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/ mule_deer/. A public meeting is scheduled for Oct. 15 from 7-9 p.m. at Center Place Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place in Spokane Valley.

Contact Alan Liere at

<em>spokesmanliere@yahoo.com