Hunting and Fishing

Salmon and steelhead

Snake River steelhead counts continue to increase in southeast Washington as the fishing season progresses toward the traditional best catch rates of late fall and winter. The Lower Grande Ronde and Walla Walla rivers, and the Snake River tributaries, are best bets with catch rates nearly 6 hours per fish. As many fall chinook salmon as steelhead have recently been caught, and WDFW district fish biologist Glen Mendel reminds steelheaders that all salmon caught on the Snake River must be released unharmed. Mendel also notes there is no fishing within 400 feet of the fish ladder on the Snake River at Lyons Ferry Hatchery.

Steelhead fishing from Rocky Reach Dam to Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River, and on the Methow and Okanogan rivers, has been slow but should pick up soon.

The upper part of the Hanford Reach on the Columbia River (Old Hanford townsite wooden power line towers upstream to Vernita Bridge) closed Oct. 22, but fishing for salmon and hatchery steelhead continues in the lower half of the Hanford Reach between the Highway 395 bridge at Pasco and the wooden power line towers.

Volunteers from Tri-State Steelheaders will return more than 300 spring Chinook salmon carcasses to southeast Washington’s Tucannon River today. The dead fish provide food for aquatic insects and other stream life that in turn are consumed by juvenile fish.

Methow Rover steelheaders have been drifting leech and egg patterns under strike indicators to catch their fish. With the rainfall of last week there are a lot of fresh fish in the river.

Chinook ranging 3-8 pounds are hitting mini-squid and flashers on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The fish are being found at 80-100 feet.

Trout

If you want to catch a big bull trout, start getting your gear together. Fish up to 10 pounds are coming off of downriggers or weighted leaded line on Koocanusa, said Randi Burch at Koocanusa Resort and Marina (Info: 406-293-7474). Lyman plugs, broken back Rapalas, and Apex spoons are most consistent. To fish for bull trout in Montana, you must first get a license and then apply for a bull trout catch card. You can get your license or download catch card forms online at http://fwp.state.mt.us/. The season runs to March 1, and by February, the fish are getting thick and heavy.

Bull trout up to 20 pounds are “biting like crazy” on Kootenay Lake, British Columbia. Unlike those in Koocanusa, these are hitting big flies right on top. Some large Gerard rainbow are also showing now. Info: Balfour Gill and Gift (250-229-2113).

Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service reports combination catches of naturally reproduced rainbows as well as triploid rainbows out of the lower end of Rufus Woods Reservoir. They also say lake trout fishing for 2-6 pound fish remains strong in the lower basin of Lake Chelan. Info: (866) 360-1523.

Some nice rainbow are coming from Moses Lake. Roosevelt, too, is still giving up lots of 2-5-poumd fish, and 16-20 inchers are being taken off the Sprague Lake Resort dock.

Spiny ray

“Now is the perfect time for Coeur d’Alene pike and bass,” said Jeff Smith at Fins and Feathers. Quite a few pike between 10 and 15 pounds are hitting spinnerbaits and big plugs. Smith said many anglers mistakenly assume they must go deeper at this time of year, but that the fish are feeding aggressively in 8-12 feet of water in areas where the weeds have not died back.

Largemouth, too, are picking up 6-10-inch worms and large lizards “in the wood” on Coeur d’Alene and the Chain Lakes. The St. Joe area and Chatcolet have been particularly good.

Other species

The WDFW has announced tentative evening razor clam digs Nov. 11-13 at Long Beach, Mocrocks, Copalis and Twin Harbors, contingent on the results of marine toxin tests.

With the prospect of being able to continue keeping their catch Thursdays through Saturdays through the end of the year, anglers are focusing on sturgeon in the lower Columbia River. Fishing has been excellent and effort high. The best location continues to be the Columbia River gorge below Bonneville Dam.

A large whitefish fishery at Vernita Bar is under way.

Waterfowl

The latest lower Columbia Basin duck and goose counts are up compared to last year, with concentrations of waterfowl along the Columbia River at the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge. Overall, waterfowl hunting should be good in the Tri-Cities area during the next week.

Anglers and hunters on the Columbia near Vernita Bridge report “lots of new ducks” in the area. Cold, snowy weather in Canada is pushing these early migrants into Washington and Idaho. Resident Canada goose numbers are still high and provide good opportunity in open areas along the Snake River. Gary Russell of Quackers Guide Service in Moses Lake reports “fantastic” duck hunting last weekend on Winchester Wasteway.

Upland birds

Pheasant hunting has been fair in brushy covers south of Spokane. Hunters in areas such as Steptoe, Ewan, Colfax, and Winona report lots of cover but lots of hunters, too. As always, there will be pockets where populations are excellent, but overall, numbers are down over last year. St. John game biologist Joe McCanna says there are not a lot of young birds this year because of the wet spring. Those that did make it are still barely colored and the wild carryovers are escaping into CRP land. Quail and gray partridge numbers are average most places, but excellent just south of Spokane.

Quail are abundant in the lower Yakima and mid-Columbia valleys. Pheasant numbers there, however, appear to be down from previous seasons.

Big game

The modern firearm elk season in Eastern Washington runs Friday through Nov. 7, while the West Side season runs Nov. 6-14. Even though the Blue Mountains units in the southeast (145-154 and 162-186) are the only ones with a spike bull-only restriction, they still remain the best bet in this region for elk hunters. WDFW district wildlife biologist Pat Fowler of Walla Walla said hunters with antlerless elk permits in Unit 175–Lick Creek should find excellent hunting.

Deer hunting continues in northeast units up to the elk opener, and a check station last Sunday revealed about 12 percent of the hunters bagged deer, mostly whitetail bucks. The Almota unit had a particularly high harvest.

Youth and disabled hunters in Units 105-124 can continue to hunt antlerless-only whitetails through the elk season (Friday through Nov. 7). Overall, the deer harvest has been a little lower this year than last, possibly because of the dispersal of animals following the greening rains of autumn. There was also a significant die-off this year in the Hangman Valley area, and last year between Spangle and Cheney, in the Pine Creek area, and south of Dusty.

David Volsen of WDFW said many mule deer still in velvet were seen by hunters or checked at game stations in units 136 and 139, and a few in 142. The Department is not certain if this is caused by a hormonal shift or disease, but they seek hunter reports.