Hunting and Fishing

Fri., Nov. 11, 2005

The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

» While butchering my late-season whitetail buck this week, I discovered that a deer is a whole lot easier to skin if you hang it head up. Also, a chainsaw makes quick work of removing the meatless portion of the lower legs.

Overheard

» Dworshak Reservoir in Idaho is nearly devoid of fishermen this time of year, but some anglers are having excellent luck on 14- to 16-inch rainbow and some smaller cutthroat by fishing the creek mouths.

Braggin' rights

» Valley White Elephant's John Kallas just returned from a striped bass expedition with Coeur d'Alene Lake kokanee angler Jim Hough on Oklahoma's Lake Texoma, 90 miles north of Dallas. Both anglers reported phenomenal fishing with surface lures on fish to 13 pounds, with few fewer than 20 inches. Hough complained that Kallas was in all the pictures because his proclivity for "headless" photos made him a better subject than photographer.

Heads up

“If you have a desire to get involved and help Idaho wildlife, consider becoming a volunteer for the IDFG. According to the 2004 IDFG Annual Volunteer Program Summary Report, in 2004 there were 4,252 Fish and Game volunteers in Idaho that donated approximately 61,180 hours of time. Wherever you live in the state, and whatever your interest may be, there are opportunities for you to invest your time. Visit the volunteer page on the IDFG website at http://fishandgame. idaho.gov/ cms/about/volunteer/

“Given the continuing occurrence of avian influenza in domestic poultry and some wild birds in Asia and Europe, there has been some concern recently about the possibility of bird flu being found in the United States. Avian influenza strain H5N1 is not known to occur in America or elsewhere in North America. None of the avian influenza viruses found in wild birds in North America has been associated with mortality or morbidity in any wild bird species. Furthermore, the virus lacks the ability to efficiently transmit between people. While it is impossible to completely discount the introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza strain H5N1, it is unlikely. In the United States there is no recognized public health risk associated with wild bird contact, but basic hygiene is always recommended when handling any wild animals or carcasses. Hunters should not kill obviously sick or ill birds. They should wear latex or rubber gloves when processing birds, frequently wash hands and implements during processing of birds and cleanup, practice proper food storage and preparation, and cook birds thoroughly prior to consumption.

Salmon and steelhead

It appears that most of the steelhead coming this way have already passed Bonneville, with the run surpassing last year’s by a couple of thousand. At Lower Granite, 255 fish were counted on Monday with almost 150,000 fish in the system.

IDFG anadromous fish biologist Larry Barrett said steelhead catch rates are higher on the Snake River system than last year at this time. He noted that the fish have been moving, but with the colder weather, they will start congregating in deeper holes. Clearwater anglers were putting in 16 hours per fish last week with B-run fish showing. On the Snake, the average was 9 hours, and on the Salmon, 13. Lighted lures at night have been effective on the Snake, and daylight anglers report success on Wiggle Warts. If you’re a fly fisherman, dark-colored streamers are working best.

The Methow has been slow for steelhead anglers this week, but at Boggan’s Oasis on the Grande Ronde River, Bill Vail said steelhead anglers, particularly pluggers and drifters, are doing well. The river is running at 800 cfs and is a clear 40 degrees. Vail said the fish are a good pound larger than what the river usually produces.

Grays River from the Highway 4 Bridge to the mouth opens to fishing for hatchery steelhead beginning Tuesday. Coho anglers are doing fairly well on Cowlitz Falls Reservoir, and the Lewis River has also seen limited coho success.

Trout and kokanee

Trolling for Lake Roosevelt’s big rainbow trout should improve with cooler, wetter weather, but the action has been sporadic. Anglers trolling out of Fort Spokane earlier this week reported graphing many fish but not catching many. Others have done well while trolling muddlers in the vicinity of Hawk Creek. Those netted are a robust 18-20 inches. Many of Roosevelt’s rainbow are tagged, so when tags and information about catches are returned, fish biologists can learn more about their distribution and growth. To encourage tag returns, cash prizes are available from the Lake Roosevelt Fisheries Evaluation Program, which conducts twice-a-year drawings among tag returns. Funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, the program recently awarded $1,300 in prizes to 22 anglers who had caught tagged trout and returned the tags from April through September. The next drawing will be April 1 for tag returns made now through then. For more information, call Eastern Washington University Fisheries Research Lab, 359-7498.

The Big Spokane River from Upriver Dam to the Monroe Stree Bridge is a close, overlooked fishery for big rainbow and browns, said Doug Holcomb at Northside Fishing. With gas prices the way they are, the possibility of catching a 6-pound fish in downtown Spokane is intriguing.

Another nearby trout angling possibility is Waitts Lake in Stevens County, where rainbow and browns are still on the bite. A number of brood rainbows were dumped in Waitts recently, but they probably haven’t had time enough to firm up.

Mackinaw anglers in such lakes as Chelan, Priest and Pend Oreille are having good success jigging for spawning fish, and Rufus Woods should heat up now that the early winter weather is in and the weeds are out.

Spiny ray

Walleye fishing has slowed down on Roosevelt. Near Northport and China Bend, anglers report catching a few small fish on jigs, but November should be a good time to pull spinners in somewhere between 20-30 feet of water in the bays.

Other species

The second razor clam digs of the fall start Saturday at five ocean beaches. Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch beaches will all be open to razor clam digging between noon and midnight Saturday through Monday. A fourth evening of digging is scheduled Tuesday at Twin Harbors and Mocrocks.

Hunting

Deer hunting in Idaho has been good, and those who purchased whitetail tags have several more weeks of the rut left in their season. In Washington, too, late-season whitetail hunters are seeing bucks that have lost some of their wariness as they pursue hot does. The success rate in northeastern units is running close to 20 percent, which includes anterless deer taken on special permits. Game check stations for monitoring chronic wasting disease will be in operation Saturday at Chattaroy and Sunday at Deer Park. WDFW associate biologist Dana Base said no chronic wasting disease has been detected in any whitetail tested, and the last serious outbreak of blue tongue in northeastern units was in 1999.

Upland bird hunting in Idaho and Washington has been good, and the promise of snow should make it better. There are good numbers of chukars in the Snake and Salmon river canyons. On a Monday hunt, I found Palouse pheasants to be extremely wild, and even the four coveys of gray partridge flushed got up at marginal shotgun range.

According to WDFW sources, the ruffed grouse population is a little higher than last year, but still not good. They feel the recent mild winters have had a detrimental effect, as heavy snow provides roosting cover and recharges ground moisture. Spruce grouse are maintaining their populations, but blue grouse, too, are way down from the 1970s and ‘80s. The grouse season runs through December. On a more positive note, valley quail are being found in northern areas that have never seen populations of these birds.

There are a lot of new pintails in the Moses Lake region, but you can only take one a day, and northern mallards are just trickling in. Moses Lake wildlife biologist Jim Tabor noted that free-lance hunters are competing with “some fairly elite hunting clubs” in the area that have flooded standing corn that is concentrating birds. Tabor also said that common reed grass is choking off parts of Winchester Wasteway, but that the first three miles or so still get a lot of boat traffic and duck action.

Stratford Lake lesser Canadas are beginning to leave the reserve for the Tri-Cities, where most of them will winter. As the weather gets colder, you’re most likely to find them in the high-protein grass and winter wheat fields.

Having heard reports of 600-bird days above Owyhee Reservoir in southern Oregon, I’m heading south this weekend for three days of chukar hunting. I hope I’m still able to walk by this time next week.