Alan Liere: Hunting+Fishing
Salmon and steelhead
The hottest steelhead fishing of the week has been the mouth of the Tucannon River near Lyons Ferry. Fishing with bobber and shrimp, Denny Merritt, who helps his folks run the Lyons Ferry Marina, took a quick limit this week and said he saw at least 20 other fish brought to net. He noted that steelhead are also starting to show near Little Goose Dam.
A lot of steelhead have moved into the Grande Ronde, said Bill Vail at Boggan’s Oasis, but fishing is only fair. He said fly fishermen are having a tougher time than pluggers or bait anglers. The river was running at 700 cfs Wednesday with a temperature of 47 degrees.
Steelhead anglers are hoping for rain to make the fish more active. There has been a lot of pressure at the confluence of the Clearwater, where a furious bite is followed by hours of inactivity. Snake River steelheaders are averaging a fish every 13 hours.
Idaho Fish biologist Larry Barrett describes the Snake as consistently slow, but noted there are a lot of steelhead in the water. The same is true of the Salmon River, which blew out Tuesday and was still running somewhat muddy on Thursday. Barrett’s team recently checked 180 lower Clearwater anglers with eight fish kept. At Riggins, 135 anglers had five fish.
The mainstem Columbia River reopened today to the retention of chinook salmon from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to Bonneville Dam. Although the peak of the run has passed, biologists are still counting 700 to 1,000 chinook salmon moving through the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam each day.
Chinook fishing on Lake Coeur d’Alene remains good, but the trout bounties offered at Pend Oreille have adversely affected angler turnout.
Trout and kokanee
On Rufus Woods Reservoir, the fall bite is picking up steam. Anglers are catching lots of 12- to 16-inch rainbow and some triploids. A local angler caught a 17-pounder last week.
A few jumbo kokanee are being taken right above Chief Joseph Dam near the barrel line. Anglers should fish from the surface to 30 feet.
Kokanee fishermen at Loon Lake say the fish are still biting.
In an ongoing effort aimed at restoring the Coeur d’Alene kokanee fishery quickly, Idaho Department of Fish and Game is proposing a limit of six kokanee and chinook salmon combined in Coeur d’Alene Lake for 2007.
Lake Roosevelt rainbow are starting to hit with more regularity near Swawilla, the Goat Farm, Keller and the mouth of the San Poil. Dark Muddler Minnows trolled at 10-20 feet are working well. The fish will continue to move up in the water column as the weather worsens.
Lake Chelan mackinaw fishing has been good in the lower basin. Guide Anton Jones said the fish are in depths of 215-250 feet. Most fish have been 2-5 pounds.
At the Silver Bow Fly Shop, Sean Visintainer has actively fished Idaho and Montana waters. With the exception of Kelly Creek, which is good, most waters are decent. He had success on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene, the Clark Fork and the St. Joe, mainly by throwing nymphs early in the day and mahoganies later. He had an excellent excursion for “steelhead-sized trout” on the Columbia near Northport, fishing with Justin Hotchkiss of Far North Charters. Info: (360) 481-4521.
Spiny ray
The 2006 Federation Scholarship Tournament on Banks Lake last weekend attracted 46 teams All caught smallmouth, and the winning weight was 27.8 pounds.
At Coulee Playland Resort, Dave Altier said a lot of largemouth were also caught and released. Most were taken in shallow water on top-water plugs and dark plastics.
Perch have been harder to find at Banks this week. The mouth of Devil’s Lake has been best. Moses Lake perch are “on and off” near the I-90 Bridge.
Walleye fishing has been good in Rufus Woods, with most being caught on jigs at the edge of eddies. Roosevelt and Banks are giving up a few, but the action has slowed from a couple of weeks ago.
Coeur d’Alene pike fishing is picking up and should be good by the end of the month.
Hunting
From the breaks of the Yakima River, to the west side of the Columbia near Vantage, to the breaks of the Snake, Washington chukar hunters all had similar opening-day stories – huntable numbers of birds, but nothing like they had hoped. All reports indicate the chukars are high and feeding on newly sprouted grasses. The population is definitely down from last year.
Quail and gray partridge hunters are finding fair numbers of birds on the fringes of wheat land, but the brushy draws and steep terrain along the Snake have frustrated some.
The regular deer season opened Tuesday in most regions of Idaho. In some areas, a regular deer tag allows hunters to take either mule deer or white-tailed deer. A white-tailed deer tag allows hunter to take only a whitetail.
Idaho’s pheasant season begins Saturday in Area 1 (the Panhandle). Brood numbers there were down during the early summer counts.
Washington’s general deer season opens Saturday with optimistic reports from Fish and Wildlife personnel. District biologist Steve Zender of Chewelah said this season should be similar to the last two years. Substantial numbers of yearling bucks are evident in the counties north of Spokane.
The general Washington waterfowl season begins Saturday with good prospects for duck and goose, particularly in the Columbia Basin.
At Fins and Feathers in Coeur d’Alene, Jeff Smith said duck hunting in the chain lakes has been poor.