Hunting and Fishing

Fri., July 29, 2005

Alan Liere, Correspondent The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

» A product called Brine 'n' Brite toughens cut herring bait and also brings out the shine. Brewster-area anglers who use it say it is foolproof and extremely effective for salmon. They put their plug-cut herring in a jar with the brine overnight and use the bait right out of the jar.

Overheard

» The IDFW is puzzled by a huge die-off of catfish on Brownlee Reservoir near Weiser. Reports say there are dead fish all over the lake and more in the shallows gasping for air.

Braggin' rights

» In 1978, fishing for chinook salmon in the upper Salmon River ended. Numbers of returning salmon had declined, and in an effort to help save the species, fishing was closed and the chinook declared a protected species. Now there is a season again. Five minutes and three casts after the official opening, Rick Miller of Salmon, Idaho, landed a 34-inch, 16-pound chinook, the first caught in this stretch in 27 years.

Heads up

» Hunters whose names were drawn for controlled hunts for deer, elk, antelope and fall black bear in Idaho must purchase their permit(s) by Monday. Each year, about 8 percent of hunters who draw big game hunts fail to claim their tags. After Monday, unclaimed tags for deer, elk, antelope and fall black bear controlled hunts will go back into a pool for which a second drawing will be held Aug. 25. Hunters have from Aug. 5-15 to apply for the second drawing.

» Applications are still available for the second Idaho Superhunt drawing. Winners will be able to participate in any open hunt(s) they want. On Aug. 15, Fish and Game will draw winners for Superhunts for two deer, two elk, two pronghorn antelope and one moose. Any recipient of one of these tags can hunt in any open hunt they choose for the species they draw, including controlled hunts.

» “The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) new eastern Washington regional headquarters will open for business about a week later than expected to allow final construction to be completed.

» The new office, located at 2315 N. Discovery Place in Spokane Valley, was to have opened last Monday.

» Until the new headquarters is open, telephone calls for the eastern regional office can be directed to the WDFW main headquarters in Olympia at (360) 902-2200.

Salmon and steelhead

Fishing has been good around Wells Dam early and late if the water is moving. Plug-cut herring behind flashers has been the big producer. Dam counts on the upper Columbia show quite a few salmon moving into the area. On Monday, Priest Rapids showed 1,105; Rock Island had 919; Rocky Reach counted 919 and Wells 448.

Fishing has improved at the mouth of the Okanogan River after last Friday’s rain moved the fish up. This should continue for the following weeks as fish are starting to stack instead of running up the Okanogan.

From the Clearwater in Idaho, guide Tim Johnson and a friend fished earlier this week, catching and releasing four steelhead between dawn and 8 a.m. He saw four other fishermen do equally well.

Salmon anglers along most of the Washington coast will be able to fish seven days a week and keep up to two chinook per day beginning today, under a rule change approved by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Slow starts are allowing officials to offer more fishing without risking an early closure. Only Neah Bay, where anglers are nearing 50 percent of their salmon quota, will stay on a five-day schedule.

Through Sunday, Ilwaco anglers had caught 10 percent of their guideline for chinook and 9 percent of their coho quota, even though they averaged more than a salmon per rod. At Westport, they have landed 15 percent of the chinook guideline and 6 percent of the coho target. In LaPush, anglers have taken 23 percent of the chinook total and 6 percent of the coho quota. At Neah Bay, by comparison, fishers have already caught 44 percent of their 4,300-chinook guideline and 47 percent of the 12,667 coho.

Ocean salmon fishing has been generally fair, but catch rates should continue to improve as the season progresses.

“There are a lot of fish out there,” said Jim McBroom of Coho Charters in Westport, “but there is also a lot of bait spread out all over the place.”

Hundreds of boats will converge in the lower Columbia on Monday for the opener at Buoy 10, which runs upriver to the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line. Hundreds more will converge at “Humpy Hollow” in northern Puget Sound, which opens to pink fishing Monday on the waters of Marine Areas 8-1 (Deception Pass/Skagit Bay), 8-2 (Saratoga Passage/Port Gardner – except Port Susan) and 9 (Admiralty Inlet), where anglers can keep two pink salmon in addition to the standard two-fish bag limit.

The Washougal and the Wind River open to fishing for salmon Monday. Drano Lake anglers are averaging a steelhead per rod. White Salmon River anglers are catching steelhead and some chinook.

Unfortunately, the return of sockeye salmon to Lake Wenatchee is not strong enough to allow a summer recreational fishery in the lake, said the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Trout and kokanee

Summer heat is driving anglers higher and fish deeper. The north end of the region includes many small, deep lakes at higher elevation with somewhat cooler air temperatures that make for more comfortable fishing.

“But you still need to fish very early in the day or late in the evening,” said WDFW district fish biologist Curt Vail of Colville.

Vail noted that at this time of year, some of the best fishing is at night when the skies are clear and there’s a full moon, which will next be around Aug. 5.

Meadow Lake in Stevens County is a good bet now. Anglers were recently reeling in 12- to 16-inch rainbows there. Davis Lake in Ferry County and Yocum Lake in Pend Oreille County are both producing nice cutthroat trout. Summit Lake in Stevens County has nice rainbows, and Elbow Lake just to the west has eastern brook.

For catch-and-release fishing, it’s hard to beat Starvation Lake near the Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge, southeast of Colville. A recent fishing derby at Starvation reported rainbows up to a pound and a half. Also on refuge, Bayley Lake is another option for catch-and-release fishing. The lake is open to fly-fishing only.

Although not at high elevation, Waitts Lake in southern Stevens County is a good spot to catch rainbows and brown trout in the evening.

In Idaho, Dworshak Reservoir is dropping a foot a day, but all boat ramps are still useable. The best kokanee fishing is up-reservoir above the Dent launch. Coeur d’Alene kokes are hanging at around 40 feet, and Loon Lake kokes are in the 30- to 35-foot range. Trollers and night still-fishermen are still doing well.

Fly-fishing is “pretty good” on the St. Joe and the Clark Fork, according to Sean Visintainer at Silver Bow Fly Shop in Liberty Lake. San Juan Worms fished 4 feet under a big dry fly have taken trout. The Coeur d’Alene is tough, he said, because of the number of floaters and the warm water. Fish early and late.

Spiny ray

Now is the time to check out weed edges along the flats for Roosevelt walleye. The flat across from the Spokane mouth down toward Seven Bays has been good. Bottom bouncers and large spinner blades are working. Don’t get hung up on one spot, though – keep moving.

The Spokane Arm is still kicking out a lot of fish. Nothing particularly large is showing, but you can still get a limit of eaters by pulling a spinner over the weed beds or across the weed lines.

In the Kettle Falls area, walleye are coming from the location in front of Bradbury Beach, the Fenders area under the bridge and just above it, at Osborne Bay, and at the mouth of the Colville River. Evenings are best with crawler-tipped jigs, but trolling plugs or spinners is also effective, especially along the east bank.

In Moses Lake, Mike Graham of Mike’s Bait and Tackle said walleye and bass are “not hitting hot and heavy,” but early-morning anglers are still taking fish. He said the north end of the lake is “pretty green.” On Potholes, anglers are fishing the humps for walleye.

Other species

Albacore tuna within 45 miles of shore are exciting Westport anglers these days. The bottom fishing for rock bass has also been excellent, and a lot of lingcod are being taken.

Charter boat anglers out of the ports of Chinook and Ilwaco averaged just less than a sturgeon each last week, while private boaters averaged about a quarter fish per rod. At Deep River and Knappton ramps, boat anglers averaged a half legal per rod.

Hunting

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has approved putting men and women returning from active military duty at the front of the line for depredation hunts.

The change in policy is a response to Idaho military members who are involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fish and Game has been asked to provide opportunity for those returning to Idaho after the general hunting season. The new policy will give priority to hunters returning from active military duty in any armed conflict, regardless of when they apply.