Hunting & Fishing

Salmon

Numerous Eastern Washington anglers will fish for spring chinook salmon at Drano Lake and along Columbia River tributaries above Bonneville Dam this weekend.

Seasons for the lake, which is part of the Little White Salmon River, and the Wind, White Salmon and Klickitat rivers opened early this week. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is predicting fishermen will catch nearly 6,500 salmon during the seasons.

Most popular area, as usual, is expected to be Drano. Boat traffic will be so dense anglers will be able to reach out and touch boats on either side of them. When chinooks hit lures, lines become tangled.

Seasons and daily limits for the areas: Wind, April 1-May 31, two salmon; Drano, April 1-May 1, two salmon or hatchery steelhead; White Salmon, April 1-July 31, one salmon; and Klickitat, April 2-May 31, one salmon or hatchery steelhead.

The Ringold hatchery area of the Columbia River won’t open to salmon fishing until May 1 and will end July 31; limit is two salmon. Fishing will be permitted only on the hatchery side of the river.

Icicle Creek will be open daily from May 8 through May 31 from the mouth to the Leavenworth hatchery; limit, one salmon or hatchery steelhead. From June 1 to June 30, the daily limit is one salmon.

If you don’t want to drive 300 miles to fish the streams that opened this week, you might try trolling Lake Coeur d’Alene. Steve Smith of the Fins & Feathers at Coeur d’Alene said chinook salmon fishing hasn’t been red hot, but the few who fished during the last week did fairly well, averaging one to two salmon per boat.

It was too windy Saturday for fishing and most anglers celebrated Easter on Sunday; consequently, not many boats were on the water. However, Smith said fishing was fairly good Thursday and Friday.

The salmon range from 5 to 15 pounds. They’re near the surface, so anglers troll helmeted herring or Rapalas from just under the surface down to 30 feet.

Turkeys

Hunters who have been scouting wild turkey country have been impressed the last couple of weeks by the large number of birds they’ve seen.

It’s apparent the harsh winter didn’t cut too deeply into turkey flocks, even in areas where 3 to 4 feet of snow covered turkey domain. Somehow, turkeys found enough food to survive.

When I scouted a couple of areas in north Stevens County with a friend last weekend, I was surprised to see large numbers of birds. One big gobbler, surprised when my friend and I appeared, fluffed out his feathers so he would look big and threatening for the benefit of his hens. However, when I raised my camera to take his picture, his feathers flattened and he and his harem took off in the timber.

The people with whom we talked said there were turkeys everywhere.

Most wild turkey flocks are on private property, but there are plenty of birds on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land for those who don’t have permission to hunt.

I’ve seen several big turkey flocks in Idaho’s Panhandle while driving to and from lakes I fished. And friends tell me they’ve seen numerous big flocks in the foothills of the Blue Mountains.

Washington’s season opens April 15. Idaho has several seasons starting this month.

Trout, Washington

The closing of the winter lakes Monday ended fishing for many until the opening of the general season April 26. Most Spokane-area anglers won’t make the long drive to Columbia Basin lakes the next three weeks.

Except for a few lakes and reservoirs, trout fishing in the Basin will be sensational until the general opener.

One lake to explore is Warden south of the Lind Coulee. Mike Meseberg of the Mar-Don Resort said a few anglers have hooked brown trout to 5 pounds by trolling plugs. The perch-scale Shad Rap has been one of the most productive lures.

One troller, he said, caught a five-fish limit of big browns trolling plugs. Only a few rainbows have shown up in catches at Warden.

A few year-round lakes between the Wardens and the refuge will produce fair to good fishing. Among the best will be Susan and Katey. The selective fishery lakes may provide fairly good fishing. However, those who have fished Lenice, Merry and Nunnally the last two weeks say they’ve seen few yearling rainbows. They’re hoping the survival rate of trout released last spring was good, but they’re keeping their fingers crossed. Outsized chironomids soon should start hatching at Lenice, Merry and Nunnally. When they do, the big trout will go on feeding binges.

Meseberg said a few anglers, fishing from shore at the resort, have caught large rainbows. He said the 60,000-plus rainbows in the net pens are 8.7 inches long and will be released late this month or in early May.

Lenore, a selective fishery lake southwest of Coulee City, is ice-free, but the water is still cold. Small, black chironomid pupa patterns should take some of the giant Lahontan cutthroat.

Steelhead

The Snake River and its tributaries were high and muddy earlier this week, but could be clear enough for fair to good fishing by this weekend, Jay Poe, owner of Hells Canyon Sports at Clarkston, said.

Fishing was excellent along the Grande Ronde before rains and warm weather caused the stream to rise and turn muddy, he said. There are lots of steelhead to be caught and anglers will cast lures from Bogan’s to the Washington-Oregon line if the river is clear enough for the fish to see the bait and lures.

When the Snake clears, he said, most anglers probably will concentrate their efforts just below and above the mouth of the Ronde.

Despite murky water, fishing was fairly good along the upper Clearwater and its South Fork last weekend, the Idaho Fish and Game Department reported. Anglers averaged 12 hours per fish along the upper river and 17 hours along the South Fork.

Parts of the Salmon River produced good fishing. Averages: Middle Fork to South Fork, 7 hours; North Fork to the Lemhi, 6 hours. Those who fished the Little Salmon averaged 15 hours.

Spiny-rays

Only a few anglers fished Sprague Lake last weekend, Monika Metz, coowner of the Sprague Lake Resort, reported. The water is still too high for good fishing, she added.

Meseberg said anglers have been catching some walleyes in the Crab Creek channel of the Potholes Reservoir, the Lind Coulee and at Soda lake. Best fishing has been at Soda, where fishermen are trolling spinners baited with nightcrawlers.

At least one five-fish limit of walleyes more than 18 inches long has been taken at Soda, Meseberg said.

Anglers are starting to catch crappies at Idaho’s Fernan, Black and Anderson lakes, Smith said.

Pike fishing is slowly improving at Lake Coeur d’Alene and the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River.

Trout, Idaho

Most productive spot in the Panhandle is Fernan Lake, Smith said. Anglers have been taking limits of rainbows by trolling and still-fishing.

Strong winds have been keeping trollers off Lake Pend Oreille, where fishermen have been hooking mackinaw trout. Smith said fishing for the macks isn’t consistent; it can be good for a day or so and then poor.

, DataTimes