Alan Liere

Fly Fishing Blue-winged Olives were bringing trout to the surface of the Spokane River in town on Wednesday afternoon.

Fly fishing Anglers looking to fish the St. Joe or Coeur d’Alene rivers have enjoyed open roads and plenty of easy access on both rivers. Fishing has been steady but not spectacular.

Fly fishing The Grande Ronde is loaded with fish now, and with good visibility, fly fishermen are doing well. The Methow is fair. Try egg patterns.

Fly fishing Spokane resident Steve Moss fished Rocky Ford this week, landing five fish in the first 45 minutes beginning at 7:15 a.m. He was throwing a “sparsely tied” No. 6 black marabou leech on a medium-length sproat bend hook. Afterward, he landed several more big trout on a No. 16 scud, followed by more on a small chironomid pattern. Moss said there was only one other angler on the water.

Trout Anglers are having moderate success fishing the lower pens at Rufus Woods with black mirabeau jigs at 25 feet. The edge of the hump west of the pens has also been productive for trollers pulling Rippin’ Minnows and 21/2 colors of leaded line into the current. There have been numerous reports of 8- to 12-pound triploids.

Fly fishing There is not much snow now, even around north Idaho rivers. Persistent fly fishermen are still catching lots of small cutthroat from the North Fork Coeur d’Alene.

Fly fishing Despite cold, slightly roiled water, a few hardy fly fishermen are finding trout that are still looking up on the Big Spokane. If you’d rather drive farther and possibly catch bigger fish, Rocky Ford near Ephrata has had some spectacular days. Small scuds and Stillwater nymphs and small leech patterns are popular.

Salmon and steelhead The North Fork Clearwater has been best for steelhead with a fish per every six angler hours. The Snake is giving up a steelhead every nine hours.

Fly fishing Whitefish angling has improved, particularly on the lower stretches of the North Fork Coeur d’Alene. Copper Johns are a hard fly to beat.

Fly fishing Rocky Ford Creek near Ephrata is a great place to take large rainbow on a fly when other waters have frozen up. The big rainbow there are suckers for small nymphs.

Fly fishing A Tony’s Special fly has been effective recently for enticing large Rufus Woods rainbow. Anglers say they are seeing numerous 8-plus-pound fish cruising the shallows.

Fly fishing Bob Jateff, WDFW district fish biologist from Omak, notes a few Okanogan County lakes open for catch-and-keep rainbow trout fishing on Tuesday. Rat Lake near Brewster, and Big and Little Green lakes near Omak are on a catch-and-release season through Monday, but change to catch-and-keep Tuesday with a daily limit of five trout.

Fly fishing Bead-head nymphs, streamers and the usual midge patterns are accounting for a lot of big trout at Rocky Ford. Sprague and Amber lakes have also been kind to fly fishermen. Sprague is open year-round, but Amber closes at the end of the month.

Fly fishing At Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d’Alene, Josh Seaton said there are still fish to be taken by throwing nymphs or streamers on the St. Joe and the Coeur d’Alene rivers. “You won’t see epic days, but it’ll cure what ails you,” he said.

Fly fishing If you are looking for a late-season fix, trout fishing on the Clark Fork and the Bitterroot is still good. Closer to home, Amber Lake fly fishermen are still smiling, and Sprague Lake casters are still finding monster rainbow.

Salmon and steelhead If you haven’t planned a steelhead trip for this year, you’ll be kicking yourself come spring barbecue time as we’re not likely to see another run of this magnitude soon. This year, 282,210 steelhead have been counted at Lower Granite Dam. The five-year average for this date is 134,764. The Snake and Salmon are giving up approximately one fish kept per eight hours of fishing, The Clearwater is not as good at 11 angler hours per fish.

Fly fishing The Methow’s Miller Hole opened up on Wednesday. This is the easiest piece of the Methow to fish, and just about as close to a sure thing as you can get fly fishing for steelhead.

Fly fishing Several fly fishers were having a heyday catching Lake Roosevelt rainbows this week by launching their float tubes at Hawk Creek. They were using fast-sinking lines and muddler minnows.

Fly fishing Trout fishing on the main Salmon River in Idaho is giving many anglers a lot of fun. The section between Clayton and Stanley is fishing well. A hatch of caddis flies is beginning, so large stimulators are working.

Fly fishing Amber Lake trout are holding deep, though there is a lot of evening activity on the surface. Try a gray Serendipity in front of the launch.

Fly fishing Inland Northwest streams and rivers are fishing well for trout. The Coeur d’Alene, the St. Joe and the Clark Fork are excellent. Start with Mahogany Duns, size 14-16. If it rains, blue winged olives will be bank to bank.

Fly fishing Flows on the Yakima River are low and wading is possible just about anywhere. Dry fly fishing is good.

Fly fishing The Yakima is prime for fly fishing. Brown caddis hatches are beginning to show along with blue wing olives and crane flies.

Trout and kokanee Lenice Lake has been very good for big trout, especially if you can fish around the frequent wind storms. An olive Wooly Bugger works as well as anything.