Hunting & Fishing

Geese

Those Canada geese that raised their families at scores of lakes and reservoirs in Eastern Washington will be the targets of hunters for six days starting Saturday.

The early hunt, which will end Thursday, will be open to all hunters who have appropriate hunting licenses, plus state and federal waterfowl stamps. The limit in Eastern Washington is three a day and six in possession after the first day.

Hunting should be good the first couple of days of the season. As the geese realize that they’re being targeted, they’ll quickly become wary.

This has been a good nesting year for geese. The birds have brought off broods at nearly all lakes and reservoirs, so many that lake residents have complained that the geese have become nuisances on their property.

Idaho’s early season in Nez Perce County will end Saturday.

Salmon/steelhead

Anglers have been hooking both summer-run and fall-run chinook salmon in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River.

This is the best time to fish for the “upriver bright chinooks in the Hanford Reach. The salmon are still in excellent condition. However, with only a few thousand now in the Columbia above the Tri-Cities, the salmon are somewhat scarce and fishing can be slow.

Anglers’ best chances to hook the fall-run chinooks are in early October, when the run of the “upriver brights peaks. By then, though, the “upriver brights won’t be bright anymore; they will be dark and their flesh won’t be as tasty as it is now.

The summer run chinooks are dark and in mediocre condition.

The Fish and Wildlife Department said that boat fishermen have been hooking large numbers of chinook salmon and steelhead in the pool above Bonneville Dam. The agency suggested that anglers concentrate their efforts at the mouths of Columbia River tributaries.

One of the most popular spots is at the mouth of the Deschutes River.

More than 200,000 steelhead have climbed the Bonneville Dam fish ladders and at least 45,000 have been counted at McNary Dam. With the Snake River cooling fast, the steelhead run up the Snake has increased fairly rapidly. More than 25,000 have been counted at Ice Harbor Dam.

This is a good time to start trolling and backtrolling above and below Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams.

More than 10,000 steelhead are now in the Snake and its tributaries above Lower Granite Dam. Anglers’ boats are plugging the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers. Some fishermen, including fly fishers, are now hooking steelhead along the Snake from Asotin to the mouth of the Grande Ronde and along the lower Ronde.

Although some steelhead have moved up the lower Clearwater, the best fishing for “B-run” fish won’t happen until after mid-October. Expect large numbers of steelhead anglers to move their RVs to the mouth of the Grande Ronde River this month. Shore fishermen will line up along the Snake below the Ronde from about mid-September through October.

Scores of anglers, most of them fly fishers, will camp along the lower Grande Ronde during the first few weeks of the steelhead run. All steelhead hooked along the lower part to the river must be released; consequently, the section doesn’t attract many spin fishermen.

Doves, grouse

For many dove hunters in Eastern Washington, the opening of the year 2000 season was a bust. For others, hunting was good.

Some hunters who have shot limits during the first few hours of past seasons said they drove several hundred miles in Stevens and Lincoln counties and saw very few doves.

Although temperatures dropped below freezing in some areas before the opening of the season, hunters wondered whether the doves had started to gather in big flocks. They figured they would find out this week.

Hunting was good along the Snake River and in the Walla Walla and Yakima areas. However, many hunters said they didn’t see as many doves as they’ve seen the last few years.

Washington’s season will end Sept. 15; Idaho’s continues through September.

As expected, hunters found grouse near springs and small creeks in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. However, the birds may have moved away from the water as the result of rains early this week.

Idaho hunters did fairly well over the weekend, Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop, said. “Most took home a couple of birds,” he said.

Bear/deer/elk hunts

The early buck hunt in the Cascades will get underway Sept. 15. The Fish and Wildlife Department said in a report that hunters should see more big bucks this year than last.

Although the bear hunting season in northeast and southeast Washington opened Tuesday, most bear hunters, as usual, will wait until the first weekend after the opener to hunt.

The most productive area in northeast Washington will be in the high country in northeast Stevens and northwest Pend Oreille counties. Hunters who take stands overlooking huckleberry patches have a good chance of spotting bears.

Smith said that the cool temperatures and periodic rain showers of the last week will encourage North Idaho archers to hunt for deer and elk.

“They’ve got until the end of this month to hunt, he said. “Not very many went out for the opener. I expect a lot of them to be in the woods during the next couple of weeks.”

Trout, Washington

Now is a good time fish the Pillar-Widgeon chain of lakes on the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. The lakes reopened Friday and will be closed at the end of this month.

The Fish and Wildlife Department said that anglers should catch some good-sized rainbows at the walk-in lakes. The lakes include Pillar, Cattail, Gadwall, Hourglass, Lemna, Poacher, Sago, Shoveler, Snipe and Widgeon.

Below normal temperatures have resulted in drops of lake water temperatures throughout Eastern Washington. Fishing has picked up at many lakes, particularly the selective gear and fly fishing-only waters. However, anglers can expect fair to good fishing at many other lakes, including Fishtrap, Badger, Williams, Medical and the cutthroat lakes in the Little Pend Oreille chain.

Sprague Lake continues to yield fairly good rainbows, Mike Mielke, co-owner of the Sprague Lake Resort, said. He suggested anglers fish for trout when the sun is shining and walleyes during cloudy weather.

Trout, Idaho

Hayden Lake is one of the best spots in North Idaho to catch good-sized trout, Smith said. Trollers have been hooking 3- to 7-pound cutt-bows the last week or so.

He recommended anglers troll Rapalas fairly near the surface in the early mornings and late evenings and 30 to 40 feet deep during midday hours.

Cocolalla Lake is a good place to hook 14- to 20-inch rainbows, he said.

The St. Joe River is continuing to provide good fishing for cutthroat trout. It’s now necessary for anglers to find schools of migrating cutthroat and then concentrate on them. The trout are starting to move down to the deep holes.

Spiny rays

One of the largest tiger muskies caught this year at Hauser Lake was boated a few days ago by Steve Evans of Coeur d’Alene. His muskie, caught on a spinner bait, weighed 36 pounds 2 ounces. The record tiger muskie weighed 37 pounds 13 ounces.

Smith said that fishing has been good for both largemouth and smallmouth bass at Lake Coeur d’Alene. He said anglers wanting to catch largemouths should fish in 6 to 8 feet of water in the early mornings and evenings. Popular areas are Cougar, Blue Creek, Mica and Squaw bays.

He suggested smallmouth fishermen use a Carolina rig with 4-inch plastic worm and work their baits in 20 to 30 feet of water out from Tubbs Hill, the outlet of the Spokane River and the shoreline of Beauty Bay.

Pike fishing has been slow, he said.

Kokanee

With kokanee in Lake Coeur d’Alene averaging 14 inches, numerous anglers have been trolling for them, Smith said. Fishing has been fairly good, with most fishermen taking home 10 to 12 kokanee each.

He suggested anglers troll in Beauty and Bennett bays in the north, Powderhorn in the central area and Windy Bay in the south end.

The kokanee are 35 to 45 feet deep. The best way to get down to them, he said, is to use a downrigger.

Trout, Montana

Montana’s trout guides expect excellent fishing along the blue ribbon trout streams that were closed to fishing last month. The streams were reopened earlier this week as the result of periodic rain showers - that ended, apparently for the rest of the year, the extreme fire danger - and dropping water temperatures.

Guides were back on the the Clark Fork, Bitterroot, Blackfoot and Rock Creek at midweek. They reported good fishing and predicted excellent fishing through the rest of this month.

Water temperatures have dropped into the 50s, water levels are low and several species of insects are hatching.