Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report

Wed., Oct. 28, 2015

Tip of the week

Local author Paul Quinnett has written another humor book about fishing, this one entitled The Search for the Elusive Trout. It is lavishly illustrated by local artist Deanna Camp. Included in the uproarious humor tales are tasty cocktail recipes appropriate to each species of fish. You can order a copy of the collectible, 1,000-book first edition at www.elusivetrout.com. Delivery takes approximately four weeks.

Braggin’ rights

Ian Petrofski was fishing a fast-moving Pend Oreille River this week when the “snag” at the end of his line turned into a 22-inch largemouth bass. Other Pend Oreille River anglers reported catching mostly smallmouth.

Two sons, a son-in-law, a good friend and I hunted pheasants near Ipswich, South Dakota this week. The overall South Dakota pheasant count is up an amazing 42 percent and the limits came easy, but all the bragging is for the dogs – Otis the springer spaniel, Jill the yellow Lab, and Lucy the Brittany spaniel. They finished up four days of glorious hunting, tired and ragged, but with dozens of birds pointed or flushed and retrieved with none lost.

Heads up

The fall Chinook season will end Saturday on the Clearwater River, a short stretch of the lower Salmon River and in the Snake River, except the section from Cliff Mountain Rapids upstream to Hells Canyon Dam, which closes Nov. 17. The Snake River, from Cliff Mountain Rapids to Hells Canyon Dam, remains open until further notice or Nov. 17.

The waterfowl shooting times listed on pages12 and 14 of the 2015 Idaho Waterfowl Season and Rules brochure contain errors. The correct shooting times can be found at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/hunt/rules/?getPage=66.

Overheard

Idaho Fish and Game has received higher-than-usual reports of game meat spoiling, which is easily preventable with a little preparation. You can get tips at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov

Fly Fishing

The North Fork Coeur d’Alene River remains good, as does the Spokane River. Silver Bow Fly Shop says to try nymphs or dries first and follow with a streamer to entice another strike or two. Flows are nice right now.

If you are looking for a big steelhead, hit the Clearwater. If you are looking for numbers, try the Snake, Grande Ronde, or Methow. Sink-tips and a leech are good choices now.

Salmon and steelhead

Snake River water temperatures have finally dropped to the lower 50s and the fishing is excellent. The Heller Bar area has a lot of steelhead moving through. Side drifting pink yarn balls and pegged pink beads were working this week for guide, Kyle Jones.

The fall steelhead season is in full swing on the Clearwater. Low water is keeping participation low, however, but this also keeps pressure off the fish. Guide Toby Wyatt of Reel Time Charters says his recent average daily catch is close to 10 fish per boat. IDFG expects a decent run to return to the Clearwater which should provide good fishing all the way through March. Info: (208) 790-2128.

On Lake Pateros, steelhead anglers are also side-drifting at around 15 feet with a jig and cured prawn under a float. Fishing has been excellent for steelhead running mostly 3-8 pounds, and the majority of fish have been keepers.

Steelhead fishing near the Pateros on the main stem Columbia and the Methow River is also taking off. Anglers fishing from the docks right in front of Howard’s on the River Hotel are catching fish, and downstream from there near the area known as “The Rock” has also been good. The Methow River is low and clear, but full of fish.

Near Bridgeport, steelhead anglers are also catching some big triploid trout, which they are encouraged to keep. Steelhead fishing has been good near the bridge.

Trout and kokanee

On Rufus Woods Reservoir, anglers are having good luck catching the numerous 2-pound triploids near the first set of net pens. Tube jigs, particularly in white, have been effective drifted just off the bottom.

Lake Roosevelt’s Porcupine Bay produced some big rainbow for several trollers this week. The best bite was early. Roosevelt anglers also did well near Hansen Harbor. Once again, orange Kekeda flies did the damage at 10-15 feet.

Sprague Lake anglers report “dirty water” making trolling difficult, but still fishermen are taking some big ‘bows near the island. The steelhead planted last year are a robust 16 inches. Rock Lake anglers are also catching steelhead but they are about four inches smaller.

WDFW has made its annual fall rainbow trout plant on Roses Lake in Chelan County. The 20,000 new fish run 2 1/2 to the pound.

Spiny ray

Potholes Reservoir anglers bouncing jerkbaits along the riprap by the dam were catching some nice smallmouth as well as a surprising number of walleye this week. Even better success has been found recently at the mouth of Crab Creek along the face of the dunes. The Slow Death setup with a Smile Blade seems to be the most popular. Walleye fishing on Potholes should remain hot until water temperatures dip below 50 degrees.

The fall pike bite on Coeur d’Alene Lake is improving quickly. The fish have consistently been in 6-8 feet of water, hitting bright-colored spinnerbaits.

This is an excellent time to load up on Long Lake perch. Schools of 9-to 10-inch fish are common from Suncrest to TumTum. Stay relatively close to shore and look for weeds in water of 10-20 feet.

Eloika Lake also has a good autumn perch bite, though the fish are smaller than those at Long Lake. A bonus to fishing Eloika is the abundance of bass. Silver Lake, too, has a good perch bite now. They aren’t huge, but they rival those in size and may be a bit more tasty.

Hunting

As predicted, the Idaho big game harvest seems to be shaping up to be very similar to last year, and last year was a good one. Hunters report seeing good numbers of deer and elk, and those harvested appeared to be excellent physical condition.

Washington mule deer season is now closed and the early modern weapon whitetail season ends Friday. The late buck whitetail season begins Nov. 7 and the elk season runs Oct. 31-Nov. 8. This gives big game hunters a unique two-day overlap during which either species may be taken. This does not apply to all units, so check your game regs.

Chukar hunters in both Idaho and Washington are putting in even more miles than usual to bag a few birds. Those having the most success say they are heading straight uphill until they find a flock, and then hunting the rest of the morning at or slightly above that elevation.

With the beginning of the Washington pheasant season, many hunters turn away from their favorite grouse haunts and concentrate on the gaudy ringneck. Reports from the field indicate your chances of putting a bird in the bag would be greater in the grouse woods. Pheasant hunters reported better opening day luck than last year, but the average was still less than one bird per gun. Hunters who did better than this had dogs and reported the birds were holding very tight.

Northern ducks have been typically slow to migrate south and local populations are wising up. Goose hunters in the Columbia Basin are having better overall success field hunting, though those birds, too, are becoming more wary. Waterfowl hunters are hoping for some northern flights by November.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com