Hunting & Fishing
Doves
A report that dove populations are down one-third from last year in Washington isn’t apt to deter many scatter gunners from arising long before dawn to get to their favorite hunting spots by sunup Sunday. Only the likelihood of stormy weather will knock down the usual turnout for the season opener.
Dove seasons in both Washington and Idaho open Sunday. Bag limit is 10 birds a day in both states. Washington’s season will end Sept. 15; Idaho’s will continue through September.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department reported this week the state’s dove population is down 33 percent from last year.
Neither Washington nor Idaho hunters will do much hunting. Only hard-core dove hunters will go out more than once or twice.
Top producing areas in Eastern Washington are the farming areas along Lake Roosevelt in Lincoln County, south and southeastern Spokane County, Snake River breaks and Walla Walla and Yakima farming areas.
Popular areas in North Idaho are farms of Kootenai and Benewah counties, Clearwater and Snake River breaks.
Best shooting, as usual, will be the first 3 or 4 hours after the opening of the season.
Grouse
Hunters won’t know what to expect in grouse country before they start hiking along creeks and in areas where grouse usually can be found early each season.
Washington officials reported this week that ruffed grouse populations are down 20 percent in Eastern Washington and 17 percent in Stevens County, the state’s top ruffed grouse producer.
The officials said a cold, wet spring apparently killed many grouse chicks.
That announcement probably surprised hunters who have been in the woods the last few weeks. Some believe this year’s grouse population is larger than last year’s. Also, they remember mild, dry weather when the grouse nested. Hunters will make their own assessments after a day’s hunting. So will department officials. Because the woods are dry, most grouse are likely to be near water on opening day and until rainstorms soak the woods. Serious grouse hunters will walk along creeks and around springs. Many, as usual, will drive back-country roads until they see grouse, then try for “meat.”
Incidentally, Washington hunters bagged an estimated 114,000 ruffed, 52,000 blue and 3,000 spruce grouse last year.
Idaho hunters don’t turn out in large numbers for the opening of the grouse season. Most wait until the opening of big game seasons, then hunt grouse in conjunction with deer and elk.
Bears
Plenty of bears are available in northeastern Washington for good hunting this season. Biologists expect hunters to find most bears in the high elevation berry patches. This has been a good year for berries in the region.
Some bears, of course, will be killed in orchards and around garbage near houses.
Archery seasons
Bow hunters are in North Idaho’s woods today for the opening of deer and elk archery seasons. Numerous game management units are open for hunting deer with bows and arrows, but only a few for elk.
Washington’s archers will start hunting deer and elk Sunday.
Steelhead
It’s important to know something about water temperatures when you fish for steelhead, especially early each season.
The Snake River’s temperature has been running at 68 to 71 degrees above Asotin the last couple of weeks. However, it’s been nearly 10 degrees colder between the confluence of the Clearwater and the Snake and Lower Granite Dam.
That’s the reason the best steelhead fishing along the Snake is where the two rivers come together and just below the confluence.
Fishing hasn’t been sensational, but it’s a lot better than from Lower Granite to the mouth of the Snake. Steelhead like temperatures in the 50s. Most that have migrated up the Snake and over Lower Granite are staying near the confluence of the rivers because temperatures are more to their liking than temperatures above Asotin.
Some steelhead that eventually will migrate up the Snake, Grande Ronde and Salmon rivers are in the lower Clearwater, where the water temperatures have been several degrees lower than the main Snake.
More than 4,000 steelhead have been counted at Lower Granite since May 31. At least 140,000 have been counted at Bonneville, leading fisheries officials to believe this year’s run could be better than those of the last few years.
Some steelhead have moved up the Columbia. Fishing has been spotty, however, in the Ringold Springs area.
Salmon
Trollers had tough fishing for chinook salmon last weekend and early this week at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Cory Rust of Fins & Feathers at Coeur d’Alene said.
Only a couple big salmon were boated.
Rust said most expect salmon fishing to pick up fast as the fish move toward spawning streams. Best fishing, he said, should be off the mouth of the Coeur d’Alene River the next week or so. That’s where most of the salmon were hooked within the last week.
About 4,000 fall chinook salmon have been counted at McNary Dam. Fishing won’t be fair to good along the Hanford Reach until the count exceeds 25,000, but some anglers already are trying their luck between the Vernita Bridge and Ringold Springs.
Trout
Fishing is slow at nearly all trout lakes in Eastern Washington. However, it’s possible, by fishing early or late, to hook a few trout.
One Spokane fly fisher, for example, hooked several rainbows in the 15-inch class one evening last week at Amber Lake. He said the trout apparently were feeding on immature damselfly nymphs.
Another reported using a fast sinking line to hook a few trout at Dry Falls Lake.
More rewarding are the cutthroat streams in North Idaho. The Coeur d’Alene, St. Joe and Lochsa rivers have been yielding numerous cutthroat, most of them small, but a few in the 15- to 16-inch class.
If the hot weather continues, don’t fish the trout streams during mid-day hours in the Missoula and Helena areas. Fishing can be slow when the sun is shining and temperatures top 90 degrees.
Brian Ramsey, a guide at Grizzly Hackle in Missoula, said the best fishing during the hot weather along Rock Creek and the Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers is from just about sundown to dark.
Kokanee
You can still catch enough huge kokanee at Loon Lake for a meal or two. Joe Haley of the Granite Point Resort said trollers are continuing to average a couple of 18- to 20-inchers a day. Most trollers are letting out five colors of leaded line ahead of dodgers or flashers and maggot-baited lures.
Trollers are continuing to catch large numbers of 7- to 9-inch kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Rust said. Most popular areas are Mica Bay and off Spokane Point.
Male kokanee at Lake Mary Ronan are developing hooked jaws, but they and other kokanee in the lake are still in good shape, Mark Thomas of Camp Tuffit said. Still-fishing was good Monday.
Spiny rays
If you are looking for a lake where you have a chance to catch numerous perch, try Sprague. Mike Mielke of the Sprague Lake Resort said some anglers, fishing in 10 feet of water, have caught 15 to 45 perch in the 8- to 9-inch class.
Northern pike fishing is picking up at Lake Coeur d’Alene. Anglers have had success using Daredevle spoons and spinner baits.
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