Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for Feb. 14

Fly fishing

Mini Leeches, which were irresistible to the big Rocky Ford rainbow earlier in the year, have been replace by scuds as the go-to fly, but the fishing can still be excellent for big rainbows.

Whether you’re hitting the Spokane or the North Fork Coeur d’Alene, Silver Bow Fly Shop said nymphing with an indicator in a slower back eddy is the way to go. The Spokane has been pretty good considering the cold.

Ice Fishing

A friend and I fished the north end of Curlew Lake this week, finding good ice and a decent bite – for my friend. For the day, I caught four 9- to 10-inch perch; he caught 33. We were fishing 4 feet apart with the same tackle. Two anglers who arrived three hours after us had about 50 perch on the ice when we left at 4 p.m. One of them emailed me later and said the fillets from his 30 fish weighed 3 pounds. Other late arrivals reported the State Park bite was nonexistent.

Silver Lake had a lone angler on the ice of the bay by the launch last week, but there was still open water by the road and down the lake there were geese sitting where open water had recently skimmed over.

Reports have trickled in from Diamond Lake perch fishermen who say they are getting fish and the size is good. Brown and rainbow trout are often included in the bag, and some of these are more than 20 inches. A perch tournament on the lake Saturday in blizzard conditions had 116 hardy participants and a good number of perch and brown trout were iced. I drove up to Diamond on Monday and found the public access roped off with deep snow down to the water. But assuming you can find a place to park, it isn’t a long walk to the ice.

Bear Lake, just off Highway 2 heading north toward Riverside, is for juveniles 15 and under, those with disabilities and a reduced license fee and seniors. Accompanying adults are also allowed to fish with the juveniles and disabled. Bear Lake is multispecies with perch, bass, sunfish, catfish and trout. The road is usually plowed to the parking area, and from there it is about 200 yards to the lake. Bear Lake depths vary greatly, so move around until you find where the fish are biting.

I fished at Eloika Lake this week with a friend, but there wasn’t much action. Still, we caught six bass, a sunfish and an unbelievable (for Eloika) perch stretching just more than 11 inches long. There are worse ways so spend a sparkling winter day.

There’s not much room to park at the public access, but if you can get on Bead Lake in Pend Oreille County, you’ll have a good chance of jigging up a big burbot or an even bigger lake trout through the ice under the power lines. There have been reports of lakers pushing 20 pounds. The best burbot bite has come after dark.

Fernan is up and running with 4 inches of ice. The perch bite hasn’t been particularly fast, but the ones caught are a decent size.

Spirit Lake anglers out of Bronze Bay say the ice is a solid 4 inches. Although a lot of kokanee are showing on the graphs, the bite had not materialized as of Wednesday.

Idaho’s Mirror Lake has yielded limits of 8- to 10-inch suspended kokanee to anglers jigging in 60 feet of water.

Blue Lake (north of Priest River) has good ice and a decent perch bite. Average size is 8 inches.

Some of the Idaho Chain Lakes don’t have as much ice as they should considering the frigid temperatures. Rose Lake has 3 inches, but it’s not solid. Benewah has only been frozen for a week. Cave Lake has 4 inches and Black Lake has 3.

Trout and kokanee

Trout fishing on Lake Roosevelt is still poor, but more kokanee are showing compared to last year. Fishing for kokanee and rainbow should improve when the reservoir drops. It has remained unusually high for the last three weeks and is at 1,275 feet above sea level.

Steelhead and salmon

Idaho’s Clearwater River continues to kick out some huge steelhead. The late-winter run is making its way into the river, and there is another 1 1/2 months to take advantage.

Spiny ray

Lake Roosevelt is better for walleye than trout recently. The main lake downstream of Fort Spokane has been productive.

Other species

Razor clam diggers can return to various ocean beaches for a seven-day opening on evening tides beginning Friday. The dig extends over a long weekend and provides a Sunday digging opportunity at Long Beach, one of only a couple openings on that beach this year. More information is available on WDFW’s razor clam webpage at wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/razorclams/.

Hunting

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has adopted new rules for moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat for the 2019-20 hunting seasons. Statewide, the new rules included a reduction in the number of moose tags available to hunters, an increase of two bighorn sheep tags and decrease of four mountain goat tags. The new rules booklets will be out in mid-March and online (idfg.idaho.gov/rules) prior to that.

The application period for Idaho moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat controlled hunts runs from April 1-30. The earliest controlled moose hunt seasons begin at the end of August, as do the majority of those for bighorn sheep and all of those for mountain goat. Applicants are reminded Fish and Game will not be accepting mail-in applications for the controlled hunts. Hunters may apply at any hunting and fishing license vendor or Fish and Game office; with a credit card by calling (800) 554-8685; or online. A 2019 Idaho hunting license is required to apply. New fees for application are $16.75 for residents and $41.75 for nonresidents.

Hunters hoping to participate in an Idaho spring controlled turkey hunt have the rest of the month to apply. The application period runs through March 1. Hunters may apply at any hunting and fishing license vendor or Fish and Game office; with a credit card by calling (800) 554-8685; or online (idfg.huntfishidaho.net/login). A 2019 Idaho hunting license is required to apply.