Hunting & Fishing
Goose hunting
A fairly high percentage of sportsmen who hunted geese during Washington’s special six-day season apparently did exceptionally well.
Although only a few hundred hunters went after the geese, the majority apparently bagged birds. Many killed limits of three a day.
The season was open daily from last Saturday until today, but most waterfowl clubs limited hunting to Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. Few club members turned out.
The Fish and Wildlife Commission set the special early season after the Fish and Wildlife Service authorized long seasons for the states.
The regular goose season opens Oct. 11. The limit will be four Canada Geese a day and eight in possession after the first day. Regular duck season for both Idaho and Washington opens Oct. 4.
Salmon
A high percentage of anglers who fished off charter boats last weekend in the Buoy 10 area caught limits of chinook and coho salmon.
A spokesperson for Pacific Salmon Charters said most of those who fished off that firm’s boat caught limits. About half the salmon were big chinooks en route to the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River.
The chinook run in the Buoy 10 area out of Ilwaco is peaking now.
The lower Columbia River near the mouth of the Deschutes River and in Drano Lake, a backwater of the Columbia, are other good places to fish for chinook salmon.
For Spokane and North Idaho anglers, the drive to the mouth of the Deschutes is considerably shorter than the drive to Ilwaco. Anglers can expect plenty of competition just below the Deschutes. At times, there are as many as 50 boats anchored just off the Deschutes mouth. And Drano Lake nearly always is jammed with fishermen. Boats are so close to one another a fisherman sometimes can reach out and touch another boat.
Several Spokane-area anglers caught chinook salmon in the Hanford Reach last weekend. The count over McNary Dam is still small, but should be building fast.
More than 122,000 fall chinooks have climbed the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam, but only 16,000 had arrived at McNary early this week.
Some are continuing to troll for chinooks at Lake Coeur d’Alene, but many, disappointed after spending several days trying to hook salmon during the fall chinook derby, have decided there are too few mature salmon in the lake.
Most of the mature fish have migrated up the streams to spawn.
The few still fishing for chinooks are after immature fish 16 to 18 inches long.
Steelhead
More than 205,000 steelhead have been counted at Bonneville Dam, making this year’s run one of the biggest in several years.
Because of a temperature block, the steelhead are not moving fast up the Columbia River system. Only 38,000 had been counted at McNary earlier this week and only 12,000 had been counted at Lower Granite.
The confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers at Clarkston and the lower Clearwater are the best places to fish for steelhead in the region, but fishing success dropped dramatically after the Corps of Engineers started cutting down releases of water from the Dworshak Dam, said Jay Poe of Hells Canyon Sports at Clarkston.
Fishing has been so slow, he said, anglers wonder what happened to the fish. They’re not above Asotin in good numbers and fishing has been poor at the mouth of the Grande Ronde.
The Clearwater’s temperature is several degrees cooler than the Snake’s at Asotin. Thousands of steelhead are expected to stay in the confluence and the lower Clearwater until the Snake’s temperature drops a few degrees.
Steelheaders are fishing above and below Lower Monumental and Little Goose dams and in the vicinity of the Lyons Ferry hatchery, as well as in the Ringold Springs area of the Columbia River.
Big-game hunting
Archers are continuing to hunt deer and elk in both Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Some game management units already have been closed, but most units that opened at the end of August or Sept. 1 will not close until the end of this month.
Hunters have killed a lot of bears in northeastern Washington since the season opened Sept. 1, according to wildlife agent Tim Hood of Kettle Falls. However, there are still lots of bears in the region.
Bear hunters are not likely to find the animals concentrated in huckleberry patches when the season opens in North Idaho on Monday. The huckleberry crop has been a poor one this year and bears are looking for food in abandoned apple and pear orchards, on chokecherry bushes and even in dumps. The animals are plentiful, but dense, and high vegetation will hamper hunters’ visibility.
It will be tough hunting for those who go after mule deer bucks in the Cascades starting Monday. Trails haven’t been maintained in areas where hunters can take bucks with a minimum of three points on each side. Many trails are impassable, Forest Service officials say.
Grouse, doves
Washington’s dove season continues through Monday, but Idaho’s will not close until Sept. 30.
A hunter’s best chances of bagging a few doves are along the Snake and Columbia rivers. Most doves that were hatched in northern Washington and Idaho have moved south.
As usual, there will be doves along the Snake well into October.
Hood said ruffed grouse are plentiful in Stevens County, but hunting them is extremely difficult. Heavy rains last spring have made vegetation heavy and tall in typical grouse habitat.
It’s necessary for a hunter to have a good dog to get the grouse to flush out of the heavy cover, Hood said.
Many give up hunting the cover and road hunt, not a good way to bag grouse when most of the birds are near water.
Trout, Washington
Trout fishing is starting to pick up at numerous Eastern Washington lakes. Main reason: Water temperatures have been dropping as the result of long, cool nights.
Good bets are the selective fishery and fly fishing-only lakes, such as Amber in Spokane County and Bayley and Browns in Stevens County, as well as Lenore, Lenice and Nunnally in the Columbia Basin and Chopaka in Okanogan County.
The small cutthroat lakes in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille also are good bets. Marshall, Yocum and the Skookums still have good numbers of trout.
Spiny rays
Now is a good time to catch perch at Sprague Lake. Mike Mielke, co-owner of the Sprague Lake Resort, said anglers have been catching large numbers of good-sized perch by using yellow or white jigs baited with worms.
When an angler starts catching small perch, he said, he should move until he finds a school of the 8- to 11-inchers.
Some fishermen have caught rainbows to 5 pounds, he said. Fishing has been good during midday hours as the result of the cooling of the water.
Lake Coeur d’Alene is starting to produce good bass and pike fishing, Steve Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop said.
“This is the time of year when fishing for the spiny ray fish gets good for a month or so,” he said. “The fish move into water that’s 12 feet or less deep.”
Pike fishermen have been using 9- to 10-inch plugs to catch the bigger fish, he said.
Numerous Panhandle lakes, including Hayden, Hauser and the Twins, are also starting to produce good bass fishing, he said.
Trout, Idaho
North Idaho’s major cutthroat streams are still making anglers happy.
Fishing was excellent last weekend along the St. Joe River, especially in the catch-and-release section. Fishing pressure has dropped from the summertime highs.
The Lochsa is in prime condition and yielding 12- to 17-inch cutthroat. With water temperatures dropping fast, cutthroat will be moving down out of the headwaters, so anglers should plan to fish the mid-section rather than the stretch nearest the Montana border.
Kelly Creek and its major tributary, Cayuse Creek, also are good choices as long as the water temperatures aren’t too low. Priest continues to be the most consistent trout lake in North Idaho.
Trout, Montana
Anglers planning to fish the Clark Fork River from St. Regis to Missoula should have plenty of Trico and hopper patterns.
Chris McCabe of the Grizzly Hackle Shop at Missoula said Trico mayflies have been hatching from 9 to noon daily and hoppers start falling into the water after the sun warms the cover alongside the river.
The Tricos are small and fly fishers should have them tied in sizes 20 and 22, he said.
Hoppers are taking trout along the Bitterroot, Blackfoot and Rock Creek, he said.
“Some October caddis have been popping out along Rock Creek,” he said.
Fishing has been slow along the Missouri River. Some Spokane fly fishers reported catching only one or two trout during several days of fishing.
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