Hunting & Fishing

Trout, Washington

Most Spokane area trout anglers almost certainly will spend their winter fishing hours at Fourth of July Lake south of Sprague. The reliable, 4-mile-long lake churned out numerous limits of big rainbows on opening day on Friday and over the weekend.

On the other hand, Hog Canyon Lake, popular with many anglers because the rainbows have always been much better tasting than those in Fourth of July, proved to be a bust. No anglers were checked with fish on opening day and the few who have fished it since then have been disappointed.

Fish biologist Bob Peck said Fourth of July attracted the biggest crowd of anglers he had ever seen on a weekday opening. He counted 111 vehicles on the big parking lot at 10 a.m. At that time, he said, anglers were leaving with limits and other fishers were arriving.

Nearly all fishers were pleased. Exceptions were those who were ticketed for killing more than two rainbows longer than 14 inches. The limit at winter lakes, including Fourth of July, is five a day, only two of which can be over 14 inches. Numerous fishers ignored the regulation and had to pay a big fine.

Only a few 11-inch rainbows were caught on opening day and over the weekend. Nearly all the trout were 16 to 21 inches long and most of them were in excellent condition.

Ice blocked the launching of boats at the primary launch area. However, the lake was ice-free a hundred yards out from the launch, so anglers drove out on the narrow road beyond the main launch and put in their cartop and pontoon boats and their float tubes. The upper lake was ice-free to the narrows. The lower end of the lake also was ice-free.

Peck had said before the winter lakes were opened that there might have been a die-off at Hog Canyon. He and another Fish and Wildlife Department official couldn’t catch a trout while test fishing a few days before the opening.

On opening day, he said, a few anglers showed up, but none could catch a fish. Except for the upper end, the lake was iced over with as much as 5 inches in the center of the lake.

Thin ice hampered anglers at Williams and Hatch lakes in the Colville area, biologist Curt Vail said. Some anglers were able to launch boats from the road at Williams and fish through slush. They caught some 11- to 16-inch rainbows. Hatch was covered with thin ice and no one fished it. Nearly all the rainbows in Hatch, which was treated with rotenone last year, are only about 10 inches long.

Four Okanogan County lakes also were opened. They are Green and Lower Green, five miles northwest of Omak, 9- to 14-inch rainbows; Little Twin, two miles south of Winthrop, 11- to 16-inch rainbows, and Rat, five miles north of Brewster, also 11 to 16 inches.

As usual, some anglers continued to fish for good-sized rainbows at Roosevelt and Moses lakes and the Potholes Reservoir.

Spiny rays

Perch fishermen are continuing to catch fish at Moses Lake and the Potholes Reservoir. Sprague Lake is freezing over, but anglers are still hooking small crappies.

Waterfowl

With some exceptions, duck hunters saw few birds over their decoys during the last week. Calm, sometimes foggy and mild weather in Eastern Washington and North Idaho enabled birds to leave their sanctuaries during shooting hours and feed in fields at night.

Flocks of several hundred to thousands of ducks rafted up on big water, especially the sanctuaries off limits to hunters, reminding hunters that the northern ducks are in the Inland Northwest in large numbers but don’t feel the urge to feed during mid-day hours.

Goose hunting was better than duck hunting. Veteran goose hunters, who set up decoys in harvested grain fields where they knew the big birds had been feeding, took home limits.

Most of the ponds and small potholes are ice-covered and ducks and geese are spending their days on big water. If the big lakes and reservoirs remain free and if snow doesn’t cover the harvested grain fields, the birds will stay in the region.

Hunters keep hoping for windy days to force the birds to move to small lakes that still have open water. And maybe some sleet and light snow would help matters.

Some hunters have had good luck on ducks and geese in the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop, reported.

He said they’ve been setting out decoys on the outer edges of ice at Chatcolet. The water is so low, he said, hunters should use a boat with a shallow draft so they can get around.

Sloughs and small lakes in North Idaho are frozen and the birds have moved to the bigger lakes.

Steelhead

The Snake River and its tributaries were low and clear this week, but the water temperatures were low, ranging from the high 30s to the low 40s.

Many anglers are fishing bait under bobbers or are drifting bait on the bottom. However, some are still trolling and back-trolling wobbling lures behind their boats.

Fishing was fair to good along the lower Snake, the Tucannon, the Clearwater, the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake and the lower Grande Ronde River.

Jim Koch, owner of Hells Canyon Tours, said friends who fished the lower Clearwater last weekend hooked four and brought one to the boat. He also said some fishermen have been hooking steelhead at the mouth of the Grande Ronde.

Steelhead fishing ranged from terrific along the lower Tucannon to extremely low near Little Goose Dam the week ended Sunday, fishery biologist Joe Bumgarner reported.

Hours per fish at various locations: Ice Harbor Dam, 27 hours; Lower Monumental, 20; Tucannon, 2; Little Goose, 71; Snake (boat anglers), 4; Snake (shore), 12, and Grande Ronde, Bogan’s and Oregon section, 8.

Upland birds

Wild pheasants seem to be settling down as the result of a big drop in hunting pressure and the absence of deer hunters in or near pheasant habitat.

The only pheasant hunters out during recent days have been those who have good dogs and are willing to hike long hours, some of them in steep country, to bag a rooster or two.

While hunting the Snake River breaks last weekend with my son, John, I saw only two other hunters, both with good dogs. One of the hunters had three roosters and was hiking toward his car to drive home. The other, a young man, hunted a creek bottom and soon was jumping roosters.

The pheasants, not nearly as skittish as they had been two weeks earlier, held tight in heavy cover. My son and I quit at 2 p.m. and headed home with five roosters.

One of the problems of hunting upland birds, as well as waterfowl, in December can be fog. Fog sometimes kept me driving at about 45 miles an hour, just fast enough to keep someone from hitting me and slow enough to prevent an accident in case a driver ahead of me was traveling 30 to 40 miles an hour.

The roads also can be icy, even though there hasn’t been a recent snowfall. Fog deposits moisture on roads and the moisture freezes.

Not many hunters seem to be going after partridges and quail. I’ve seen only a few quail hunters, even though this is an excellent year to hunt quail.

Salmon

The last chinook salmon derby of the year will be held Friday through Sunday at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Smith said. Cash prizes, the amount dependent on the number of entries, will be awarded to the winners.

He said that a chinook in the 12to 13-pound range likely will win the top cash prize. It’s also likely, he said, that the first prize for the biggest chinook will be $600 to $700.

Smith said the salmon fishing has been good lately. Although most of the salmon are near the bottom, trollers have caught them throughout the water column the last week or so.

Smith recommended that anglers fish either minisquids behind flashers, herring behind dodgers or straight helmeted herring near Carlin and Rockford bays in the south or Bennett Bay in the north end.

Most of the salmon are 6 to 10 pounds, but a few weigh only 2 to 3 pounds.

Trout, Idaho

Several lakes and the Spokane River in North Idaho have been yielding fairly good fishing, Smith said.

Anglers fishing from shore have been catching 16- to 20-inch rainbows at Cocolalla Lake, he said. Most are fishing salmon eggs, worms or other bait under bobbers. Once in a while, a fisherman catches a brown trout.

The rainbows in Fernan aren’t as big, but they’re worth fishing for, he said. Some of the fastest action is from shore off points.

The mackinaw trout in Priest Lake are taking bait and lures in deep water, Smith said. Anglers can launch boats at the Priest Lake Marina and troll Cavanaugh Bay, off 8-Mile Island or around the Twin Islands.

Glow Flatfish and Kwikfish plugs have been effective. So have herring behind dodgers.

Some shore fishermen have been catching 2- to 3-pound rainbows along the Spokane River from Post Falls to the state line, he said.