Hunting and Fishing

Fri., Dec. 30, 2005

Alan Liere, Correspondent The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

» Keep your eye on the wind when fishing Lake Roosevelt. When it blows consistently in one direction, rainbows are stacked along the shoreline where plankton are being massed.

Overheard

» Perch fishing in open water has been good in Winchester Wasteway between Ephrata and Quincy out Road 5, also known as White Trails Road.

Braggin' rights

» Shooting a rooster or two has been a tough go lately for most bird hunters, but Dick Hemore of MarDon shot a limit of wild, long-tailed birds west of the resort using a bolt-action .410 on Tuesday morning.

Heads up

» Spring steelhead fishing opens Sunday in Idaho. Limits are three per day, nine in possession and 20 per season. A 2006 fishing license and a steelhead permit, both now available, are required.

Successful or not, Washington hunters must file reports of their hunting activities by Jan. 31 for each 2005 black bear, deer, elk or turkey tag purchased. Under a new rule, those who miss the activity report deadline must pay a $10 penalty before they can purchase a 2006 hunting license. Reports submitted by Jan. 10 will be entered into a drawing for one of nine deer or elk special hunting permits for the 2006 season. You can report by calling (877) 945-3492, or by the Internet at http://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov.

Salmon and steelhead

The Clearwater has been running high, but the ice is gone from Orofino on down, and it should be turning on when the rain stops, said Larry Barrett at IDFG. He has had some good fishing above Lewiston drifting shrimp and Corkies. Bobber fishermen also report decent fishing on the Snake near Wawawai even though Idaho Power is bouncing the level.

The Grande Ronde was fishable at midweek. The water was up and clarity was about 2 feet. The Ronde should provide excellent steelheading in the weeks to come as long as it doesn’t mud up. Call Bill Vail at Boggan’s Oasis, (509) 256-3372, for conditions.

Coeur d’Alene Lake chinook are still hitting helmeted herring in 90-100 feet of water. The fish aren’t large, but there appears to be a lot of them.

Winter-run hatchery steelhead are moving up Northwest rivers. The Bogachiel, Quillayute and lower Hoh rivers are giving up good numbers of fish, and other steelhead fisheries are coming alive now that the rains have come. Chum salmon fishing in the Nisqually River is hitting its stride and generally remains strong until at least mid-January. Nisqually chum enter the river much brighter than most and are prized for smoking. A green Corky with yarn on an incoming tide is a good approach. Nets are in the river from noon Sunday to noon Wednesday, so anglers might want to avoid those days.

Trout

Winter Lakes, Hog Canyon, Fourth of July and Williams still had a good, solid 7 inches of ice at midweek, though there was standing water on the ice that made it look ominous. A check of Fourth of July found about two dozen anglers, and on Hog Canyon there were a dozen. Fishing wasn’t as fast as it had been two weeks earlier, but enough trout were cooperating to keep things interesting. Angling at all lakes has been best in the morning. Some smaller trout are showing.

Waitts Lake ice is marginal, said Gary Roach at Waitts Lake Resort. If it firms up, there should be enough browns and rainbow to make things interesting.

At the Silver Bow Fly Shop, Sean Visintainer reported Rocky Ford has been good with rainbows up to 10 pounds hitting streamers. He has had success throwing anything with a lot of movement to it.

The Rufus Woods triploid bite has been strong. Both trollers and bait casters are netting fish to 18 pounds. Lake Roosevelt is almost at full pool. Rainbow fishing can be inconsistent but has been good overall, with trollers making nice catches on broken back Rapalas and small perch flies. There has been a lot of activity in the San Poil arm of late. The arm is open from the mouth to the log boom area, which is quite a ways up the river. The remainder of the arm closes Sunday.

The ice is pulling away from the beaches on some of the small Idaho lakes such as Hayden, Avondale, Spirit, Twin and Hauser. IDFG fish biologist Mark Liter said conditions are too unpredictable to recommend venturing forth.

Spiny ray

Eloika Lake was deserted Christmas Day, but the ice, though sloppy with standing rainwater, was solid. There was considerable open water near the creek that enters the lake near the public access, but it was possible to step out onto solid ice about 40 feet south of there by the public toilets.

In Moses Lake, Mike Graham at Mike’s Bait and Tackle said buckets of perch have been taken near the I-90 Bridge. On Wednesday, anglers were able to fish open water. The Alder Street Fill has also provided good open-water perch fishing.

Potholes Reservoir is free of ice except for the dunes area, and all launches are useable. Walleye fishing has been good off the face of the dunes and near MarDon Resort. Lind Coulee is frozen.

Other species

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved a new three-year management policy for Columbia River sturgeon that maintains annual catch guidelines at current levels while providing additional protection for spawning fish. The new policy caps the annual catch of white sturgeon by Washington’s non-tribal fisheries at 40,000 fish, the same level in effect since 1997.

The underappreciated whitefish is common in most regional streams and can grow to 22 inches. They are active all winter and can provide excellent cold-weather fishing. The Clearwater River below Kooskia, the Selway, Lochsa and North Fork Clearwater rivers all have excellent populations of this sporty fish, as does the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene. Most anglers fish with small, wet bead head flies just off the bottom in riffle areas for the best results. In those waters where bait is allowed, many anglers tip their flies with a maggot or piece of nightcrawler.

Clam digs begin today and run through Sunday at five beaches – Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch. Two of them, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks, will offer a fourth evening of digging this Monday. Digging is allowed from noon until midnight. The year-end clam opening marks the last of a series of digs that began in October. So far, diggers have averaged about 13 clams per trip. WDFW will announce additional openings in 2006 after shellfish managers complete an analysis of the number of clams still available for harvest.

The recreational smelt fishery on the Columbia River will open around the clock starting New Year’s Day, but expectations of a poor run will restrict fishing opportunities on the river’s tributaries. Smelt dipping on the Cowlitz River will be limited to Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Jan. 7 to March 31. The daily catch limit is 10 pounds per person. All other tributaries to the Columbia River will remain closed to smelt fishing until further notice.

Idaho hunting

There are still big concentrations of ducks and geese on the southern end of Coeur d’Alene. The season is open through Jan. 20 in the northern and eastern parts of the state and through Jan. 27 in the southwest. Canvasbacks are closed. Quail season remains open through Saturday in the western and northern parts of the state. The seasons on chukar and gray partridge remain open through Jan. 15 or Jan. 31 in some areas. Anyone so inclined can hunt crows through Jan. 31. The season on cottontails is open through Feb. 28, and on snowshoe hares through March 31. A valid 2006 hunting license will be required on Sunday.

Washington hunting

The Washington waterfowl season runs through Jan. 29 except for canvasbacks, which are closed. Chukar, gray partridge, quail and pheasant remain open through Jan. 16. Forest grouse close after Saturday, but crows are open until Jan. 31 and rabbits through March 15. Licenses are good though March 31.

Waterfowl are filtering back into the region as the weather warms and ponds open. There is a lot of standing water in the scablands south of town. Find the right one and you could experience the best duck shooting of the year. A huge flock of mallards wanted badly to land on Hog Canyon Lake while I was ice fishing this week, and further south, I saw ducks in the air around Fourth of July.

Pheasant hunting is about as tough as it gets. There are lots of birds, but they have some legs on them. With luck, another good snowstorm will slow them down.