Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for March 1

Fly fishing

On March 8, Silver Bow Fly Shop is combining the Spokane River Fundraiser with the International Fly Fishing Film Festival at the Garland Theater. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and the show starts at 7:00 p.m. In partnership with Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited, they hope to raise money to improve signs along the Spokane River to help anglers understand the rules and regulations. The event will have an excellent list of top quality raffles, and the IF4 Films are different from the F3T Films shown earlier this month. All money raised from the raffles, and a limited run of Spokane River shirts, will go to SFTU in support of the redband trout. Cost is $14 at the Silver Bow Fly Shop (cash or card), online, or at door if still available.

Salmon and steelhead

Anglers are already catching a few spring chinook in the lower Columbia below the Interstate 5 Bridge, but the bulk of the run hasn’t arrived yet. According to the preseason forecast, approximately 248,500 spring chinook salmon will return to the Columbia River this year – an increase of 20 percent from 2017. There will be a 38-day fishing season below Bonneville Dam from today through April 7. The fishery will be open to both boat and bank anglers from Buoy 10 to Beacon Rock, and to bank anglers only upriver to the dam.

Open water lake fishing

Trout fishing from shore is said to be very good now from the turnouts downstream of Tum Tum. A lot of these fish are 16 inches and better.

Two friends and I fished from shore near Hansen Harbor on Lake Roosevelt this week for limits of chunky rainbow. None were over 17 inches, but they seemed larger because of their girth. We threw orange Power Bait 2-3-feet below a heavy sliding sinker into water that was probably 10-15-feet deep. Keep a little slack in your line, and when it straightens out, set the hook.

Lake Roosevelt Charters says the walleye bite south of Hunters sometimes picks up around noon and is on and off until 4:00 pm. Fish have been from 110 to 130 feet deep with vertical jigging taking most. Info: 206-471-8036. Some nice walleye catches have also been reported from Banks Lake

The Columbia County trout lakes near the Last Resort on the Tucannon River, are mostly ice free and have been stocked with catchables and jumbos for today’s opener. This includes Deer, Watson, Rainbow and Big Four. Of these, Rainbow is the only lake not yet stocked with Jumbos. Curl Lake will not open until May 15. Anglers who are fishing Blue and Spring lakes, which are open year-round and have also been stocked, are doing very well already. Info: The Last Resort (509) 843-1556.

Chelan Lake kokanee fishing has been hot and cold, but trollers who locate pods of fish are limiting on 12-14-inch fish. Anglers say a lot of the kokes are not showing on their graphs, which would indicate they are up high.

Rock Lake has been good to trollers dragging orange and orange and perch Old Goat Lures along the edges. They are catching three times as many rainbows as browns. A good trolling speed would be between 2 and 2.5 mph. The water is high, making launching easier, but I still wouldn’t try it without a 4x4. Rock has also been good from shore for anglers using corn-colored Power Bait.

Ice fishing Washington

Ice fishing at Waitts Lake has been better than usual this winter, but the lake is now closed and won’t reopen until the general season begins April 28.

Liberty, Deer, Downs, Medical, Amber and Coffeepot lakes also open today. Last year, anglers were fishing open water on the opener, but this year, they’ll probably need an ice auger, and that may not even be an option because of wind and unsafe ice. Amber, a selective gear catch and release lake, has ice. Coffeepot is also a selective gear with a one-trout over 18-inch limit. The ice is iffy. Same for Downs Lake, scheduled for 5,000 catchable rainbow. Medical Lake is selective gear with a two-trout over 14-inch limit. Deer has rainbow and mackinaw besides its panfish, and the ice there appears to be pretty good. Liberty has rainbow and browns as well as spiny ray; it also has a lot of ice that doesn’t look safe.

A friend who fished Eloika this week reported only a couple small perch. The ice is about 8 inches thick, but only a couple inches are clear.

The annual opener of the Quincy Wildlife Area lakes is today. The lakes were nearly free of ice three weeks ago, but District 5 biologist, Mike Schmuck, says there is now ice on a few, and most are not safe to walk on. He suggests anglers call the Region 2 office (509) 754-4624 for ice updates.

Martha and Upper Caliche Lakes are usually the top producers on opening day in the Quincy Wildlife area with near limit catches of good-size fish. As of February 27, Martha Lake was 30 percent ice covered. Both of these lakes received 2,000 fall catchables in 2017. Martha Lake will receive another 4,000 this spring, while Upper Caliche will receive another 2,000.

Lenice and Nunnally Lakes should fish well for trout in the 14–16 inch range, with some up to 20 inches. Quincy and Burke Lakes should also continue to fish well and will have a lot of open water. Although small perch are abundant in Burke, anglers can expect good numbers of 11–13 inch trout, It will receive another 2,000 catchables in May. Quincy Lake, which also receives fingerlings, will receive 3,000 catchables this May. Other lakes to consider include Lenore, Dusty, Crystal, Upper and Lower Spring, Cup and Cliff.

Ice fishing Idaho

Avondale has about 7 inches of ice, some hard, some cloudy, with no open water around the edges. Ice fishermen are once again catching perch as well as a few bass and sunfish.

Fernan Lake ice does not look good. There is open water in the middle. On Saturday, though people were on the ice just out from the first boat launch.

Kokanee fishermen are finding fish at Spirit Lake. Lower Twin, too is seeing some kokanee action. The Honeysuckle side of Hayden Lake has ice, but it wasn’t very thick last week.

Kokanee and trout have been biting at Mirror Lake where the ice is about 9 inches thick. The kokanee are hanging at about 50 feet. Access on Mirror is limited to four or five spots on the north end.