Hunting & Fishing
Waterfowl
Eastern Washington’s long waterfowl season will end Sunday with a lot of bangs, mostly in the Columbia Basin.
Hundreds of the small lakes and potholes will be covered with ice, but the big lakes and reservoirs are still virtually ice free and ducks and geese by the thousands rest on the water and feed in harvested grain fields and winter wheat.
Although most of the birds are still in the northern Basin, enough are along the Columbia River above Ringold Springs for fair to good shooting these final days.
Because most small waters are ice covered, hunters will concentrate on such spots as the Potholes Reservoir, Moses Lake and Lake Roosevelt, and in the fields adjacent to the birds’ resting places.
Thousands of geese have been flying off Lake Roosevelt daily to feed in fields in Lincoln County. However, hunting pressure has been light the last few weeks.
Most goose hunters have been concentrating on fields in Grant, Adams and Franklin counties.
Most hunters who lease prime waters in the Spokane region and the Columbia Basin are competing with freelancers for places to hunt ducks. Their spots are ice covered.
Consequently, there may be a lot of competition this weekend for relatively few ice-free spots and could provide excellent hunting.
The Potholes Reservoir and its wasteways, as well as the Columbia River in the Ringold Springs area, likely will be swarming with duck hunters Saturday and Sunday.
Ice fishing
If sub-freezing temperatures continue, anglers soon will be back on the ice at numerous Eastern Washington and North Idaho lakes.
Ice was thick enough a couple of weeks ago to support anglers safely. However, mild temperatures and rains made it unsafe 10 days ago.
The ice may not be 4 inches thick this weekend, but it could be trusted by next week. As usual, some anglers will trust ice if it’s only a couple of inches thick.
Trout, Washington
Hog Canyon and Fourth of July lakes will be good bets for rainbow trout when the ice is 4 or more inches thick.
Although fishing was slow at Hog Canyon when the ice was thick enough to support anglers safely, it could be fair to good the next couple of weeks.
Some fishermen have been wondering whether there’s been a die-off at Hog Canyon. They fished when the ice was clear and the trout could see them through the ice. Fishing was poor.
Fourth of July Lake still has a big population of rainbows ranging from 10 to 22 inches. A high percentage is more than 14 inches.
Because there are so many big rainbows in Fourth of July and so few under 14 inches, most anglers have had to be content with two fish a day. It’s illegal to kill more than two trout 14 inches or longer.
Anglers have been trolling lures at Lake Roosevelt, but fishing has been slow. Most of the rainbows caught are small, running 11 to 14 inches long. Trollers have caught only a few kokanee.
Trout, Idaho
Priest Lake is the place to go to catch lots of mackinaw trout, Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene said. Most of the macks that anglers catch are small, but some in the 20- to 30-pound class have been boated the last week.
Cory Rust of Coeur d’Alene caught a 30-pounder and Ron Reno of Hayden Lake a 25-pounder.
Smith recommended anglers troll 120 to 140 feet deep from Mack Alley across sand flats to the west side of the lake. Productive lures are Lyman plugs, dodgers and Hootchies with bait and T-50 glow Flatfish.
“A fisherman can expect to catch a half dozen a day,” Smith said.
Spiny rayed species
When the ice is safe at Sprague Lake, you may hook enough perch, crappies and bluegills for a few meals.
Ice fishermen did exceptionally well during the brief period when the ice was in good condition. Some caught 40 to 50 fish in a few hours.
One angler came off the ice with 20 perch 10 to 12 inches long. However, most of the perch being caught are too small to keep.
Bluegills are not as plentiful as they were three or four years ago, but there are enough in the 7- to 10-inch class for fair fishing.
Like perch, most crappies are small, but anglers caught a dozen or so in the 8-inch-plus class.
The walleye population is big and fishermen should start hooking a few keepers through the ice. Minimum size is 18 inches.
Anglers are hoping ice will be thick enough this weekend at North Idaho’s lakes for safe ice fishing.
Smith said Hayden and Killarney lakes will be dotted with fishermen as soon as they can trust the ice.
They will be after northern pike. Smith said fishing should be “fabulous.” Most of the pike in Hayden are 3 to 6 pounds, while those in Killarney are 2 to 4 pounds.
Smith said most ice fishermen will attach smelt or herring to treble hooks under tip-ups. He recommended anglers use Nos. 4 and 6 treble hooks and set the hooks as soon as pike take the bait.
He said top perch lakes should be Hauser, where the perch are 8 to 10 inches long; Rose, 7-10 inches; and Round, 6-9 inches.
Steelhead
If the Clearwater River is clear enough for steelhead to see lures, it may produce fair to good fishing this weekend. The river was high and muddy earlier this week.
Anglers averaged 11 hours per fish last Saturday, but the lower river muddied up early this week.
Most productive spot has been the North Fork below Dworshak Dam, but fishing was slow last weekend, with anglers averaging 15 hours per fish. The Fork was extremely high.
Fishing pressure along the Snake from Lower Granite to the mouth of the Grande Ronde has been relatively light in recent weeks. Many Idaho anglers who had been fishing the Snake started fishing the Clearwater Jan. 1, when they could start keeping steelhead.
Fishing was excellent along tributaries to lower Snake River during the week ending Sunday. Fisheries biologist Art Viola reported 12 anglers averaged 6.3 hours per fish along the Walla Walla; 45 averaged 4.6 hours along the Touchet; and 57 averaged 6.7 hours along the Tucannon.
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