Matt Liere’s fish and game report for March 9

Fly fishing

Most fly fishing waters are still running high and swift, but the St. Joe and North Fork Coeur d’Alene are beginning to turnaround in the lower stretches. Skwalla and streamer patterns may be your best bet in the pools and slower currents.

Salmon and steelhead

Fisheries for hatchery steelhead in the Columbia River and in the Snake River are open through March 31. The daily limit is two hatchery steelhead in the Columbia River and three hatchery steelhead in the Snake River. The Columbia River is closed to fishing for steelhead upstream of the wooden powerline towers at the Old Hanford town site.

Anglers participating in the Spring Steelhead Derby on the Grande Ronde have through March 25 to land a winning fish. Bill Vail at Boggan’s Oasis says the bite is on, with participants landing an average of two to four fish per day. Flow rates are hovering around 4,000 cfs with good visibility, providing ample opportunity to beat the current leader’s 9.8-pound steely. For information, visit boggans.com.

The Clearwater is high, but the fishing is “absolutely wonderful,” according to Bart Jarrett of Northwest Fishing Guide Service, and should remain that way through the month. The water has some color to it, but hasn’t tempered the action. Limits of steelhead, running 12-16 pounds, have been the norm for a couple of weeks. On your own, switch bait setups often until you find the best strike combination for the given day, or give Bart a call at (208) 790-2277 to book a last-minute, guided trip.

Open water fishing

The March 1 opener came and went, leaving most of the lakes iced over and far from open. Current conditions will likely prevent much of the scheduled stocking if the weather continues to remain below average temperatures. But as WDFW central district fish biologist Randy Osborne says, “A lot can change in a short time in this area.”

Sprague Lake is still iced up, but Scott Haugen of Four Seasons Campground says once the docks go in, fisherman looking for variety, including big rainbows, steelhead and largemouth bass, should consider giving Sprague some attention. Check out Scott’s website at fourseasonscampground.com for information and tempting photos of springtime possibilities.

Friends launching out of Lake Roosevelt’s Seven Bays on Saturday reported decent walleye action early, but dwindled significantly as the winds picked up. They were most successful dragging, not bouncing, grub-bodied jigs in various colors. They recorded a respectable 18-inch catch average, but admitted being envious of the lengthy 6-pounder that came aboard one of the neighboring boats. The launch was in good shape, despite declining water levels forecasted to drop another 10 feet to 1,255 by March 12.

Trout fishing the banks of Lake Roosevelt has been good to anglers floating Power Bait just off the bottom, with most fish coming in between 15-18 inches. Boaters trolling pink flashers and hoochies in 30 feet of water west of Keller launch have had mild success on both trout and kokanee.

Kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan continues to be excellent. Anglers working the Mitchell Creek area have been hammering 10- to 14-inch fish trolling dodgers and spinners tipped with corn or maggots 50-120 feet down. Adjust depths as the action slows to find schools that may have broken up and scattered.

This time of year pike fishermen on Lake Coeur d’Alene begin catching big fish throwing bait from shore. Ice around the edges has prevented this lately, but things are changing and some of the bays are becoming accessible.

Ice fishing

Most of the regional lakes still have ice, but ice conditions change rapidly, so caution is advised should you decide to venture out. Reports of fishing success have been diminishing, though, perhaps making the risk/gain assessment a little easier.

Dedicated fishermen still willing to try their luck may find decent perch fishing at Curlew and Eloika Lakes, although the pace varies day-to-day. Swedish Pimples tipped with maggots, fish eyes or nightcrawler is usually enough to tempt a few 8-inchers out of the hole. Friends fishing Eloika on Tuesday kept at it for several hours, managing only 12 perch between them. The occasional bass kept it interesting, as did an unconfirmed account of an 11-inch monster perch caught near the east end.

Other species

The WDFW approved a weeklong razor clam dig that began March 7 for three ocean beaches after toxin tests confirmed the clams were safe to eat. Twin Harbors beach will be open the entire week, during which Copalis and Mocrocks beaches will each be open for two of those days. Although Twin Harbors beach wasn’t part of the original schedule, Dan Ayres, WDFW’s coastal shellfish manager announced that toxin levels consistently met state health standards, allowing the opening and additional days of digging. Info: WDFW’s website wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/ razorclams/current.html

Hunting

Deer and elk hunters have until March 31 to enter their names into the drawing for one of 8,500 multiple-season deer tags and 1,000 multiple season elk tags. Winners will be eligible to purchase a special tag allowing them to participate in archery and muzzleloader, as well as modern firearm general hunting seasons for deer or elk in 2017. The deadline is July 31.

Tags can be used only during general seasons and in game management units open during a modern firearm, muzzleloader, or archery general season. Hunters can apply only once for each species and are limited to harvesting one deer or elk. A multiple season application can be purchased from authorized license dealers, online at fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov, or by calling (866) 246-9453. The application costs $7.10 for residents; $110.50 for nonresidents.