Hunting+Fishing

A few sheets of ice still cluttered Coffeepot Lake on Wednesday when the fishing season opened on many, but not all, of the Eastern Washington’s trout lakes. The handful of anglers who made the drive found fair fishing for 14- to 16-inch rainbows. Water levels were reported to be only somewhat higher than last year, with no boat access to the lower lake. Coffeepot is scheduled to be planted in mid-April.

Closer to Cheney, Amber Lake was ice-free for the opener, but the few anglers there were not inclined to come to shore with their fish (or no fish) reports.

Grant County fish biologist Jeff Korth reported a less-than-spectacular opener at the Desert Lakes. Though all were mostly ice-free, attendance was slight. Quincy and Burke lakes provided the best fishing, with anglers averaging 2.4 and 3.1 rainbow each, respectively. Upper Caliche evidently had poor fingerling survival, and though 85 percent of the fish caught were 16- to 19-inch carryovers, there weren’t many taken.

Dusty Lake, a quality water in Grant County, produced 4-5 fish up to 22 inches long per angler on the opener. Lenice gave up about three fish per angler, mostly 16-18 inches. Lenore cutthroat were 18-20 inches. Nunally had few anglers and no fish checked. In April, Nunally and/or Lenice are scheduled for plants of 1,000 rainbow of 1.5 pounds each.

Six of seven Tucannon impoundments in the Wooten Wildlife Area were ice-free and stocked for the opener, and the fishing has been good, reported Jim MacArthur at The Last Resort in Columbia County. The exception is Big4, a fly-only lake, which should be stocked this week. Spinners, Power Bait and worms worked well, and fly fishermen found success using olive and black wooly buggers and leeches. Traffic delays for logging in the area were short. Info: (509) 843-1556.

Ice still covers most Idaho Panhandle lakes from Coeur d’Alene north. There may still be hard-water fishing at Twin, Cocallala, Round, Mirror and Gambel, but Fernan, which thawed completely and then refroze, will probably not be safe.

Guide Ray Bailey, who had one 11-fish day and others almost as good, owned Rufus Woods Lake last week. Included in the usual catch of triploids were two native fish – 13- and 16-pounders. Bailey said Rufus is the hottest thing going, but he doesn’t expect the action to last much longer.

Banks Lake rainbow are cruising the shorelines and the fishing is good, though many are in dark spawning colors. A few dark rainbows are showing at Roosevelt, but for the most part, the 15- to 18-inch fish are chrome bright.

I fished Roosevelt from shore Wednesday with friends near Hansen Harbor and saw only 10 rainbow landed by seven anglers in six hours. Meanwhile, Spokane angler Dale Moffat was trolling Spring Canyon, Swawilla Basin and Crescent Bay. Moffat said his party of three eventually caught nine rainbow, but most of those came when they finally gave up on trolling and fished from shore at Crescent Bay. Roosevelt rainbow and walleye are suffering from lockjaw.

Lake Trout fishing has been excellent on Chelan, with the lower basin giving up 2- to 6-pound fish to U-20 Fatfish and K lures trolled at 1.2 knots per hour.

Salmon and steelhead

Chinook, most running 3-6 pounds, are still biting consistently from the surface to 25 feet, reported Jeff Smith at Fins and Feathers in Coeur d’Alene. Helmeted herring is most effective, but Pro King Flutter Spoons and Berkley plugs also work.

The best steelhead action is on the Grande Ronde. Most fish are still in good shape, but you’d better call ahead before heading down. The river has lately had everything from ice to mud, but the fact that fish are coming in regardless indicates they are thick in the river. When optimum conditions arrive, it will be lights out. Info: Bill Vail at Boggan’s Oasis, (509) 256-3372.

The 2006 total forecast of 464,600 Columbia River fall chinook is similar to the recent 10-year average return. Upriver brights should have a particularly strong return, slightly greater than recent 10-year average.

Bonneville Pool boat anglers are catching some steelheed, and bank anglers are taking a few on the John Day Pool. The Dalles Pool boat anglers are averaging nearly 1.4 steelhead per rod.

Spiny ray

Lake Coeur d’ Alene’s water level should go up this weekend, taking the rest of the ice off the bays. Rising water in March traditionally marks the beginning of the CdA pike bite.

Perch are biting at Banks Lake, but the hot ice fishing on the south end is over because of the deteriorating cap. Walleye fishing has been good at Rufus. Other reports aren’t so good.

Potholes and Moses Lake are nearly ice-free, but the walleye fishing hasn’t yet kicked into gear. The I-90 Bridge area is still producing perch, and good fishing can be had on Winchester Wasteway near the Road 5 bridge.

At the Feb. 19 Walleyes Unlimited meeting in Yakima, fish biologists cited scientific evidence that anglers catch approximately 3 percent of the walleye in a body of water each year. Steve Jackson and Bruce Boulden of the WDFW Warm Water Division said 90 percent of all bass caught are released.

Eloika Lake has consistently produced dozens of small perch and a few large bass for late-season ice anglers. Eloika’s ice was a solid 9 inches last Sunday, so it could still be fine despite the rain and warmer weather, although expect open water around the edges.

Lake Roosevelt apparently is loaded with small walleye. WDFW is raising the limit on May 1 to eight with no minimum size. Why, then, if we do not need more small walleye in the impoundment, do most walleye anglers have such an aversion to keeping the big females? Biologically, it doesn’t seem to make sense. Perhaps the “don’t-kill-the-egg-layer” mentality was necessary at one time. Is it now?

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