Hunting + Fishing

Salmon and steelhead

The salmon bite is over at the mouth of the Okanogan, so you will need to start fishing upriver. New fish are headed to Bridgeport and are also filling the holes down river from Wells Dam. Herring and dodgers will catch fish the remainder of the season, but bright-colored plugs will become popular as the fish become more aggressive. Rod Hammons of R&R Guide Service in Brewster suggested stepping up to 30-pound leaders as the season goes on. Chinook teeth get longer and can cut smaller line.

This could be a record adult chinook catch for August on the lower Columbia mainstem. Fishing pressure is up more than 300 percent from the same time last year, and angler success has improved now that the salmon are moving upstream The record – 5,100 fish – was established in 2002. Best catches were in the Woodland area. Several fish in the 40-pound range were observed.

On the Cowlitz River, boat anglers from the I-5 Bridge downstream are catching a mixture of fall chinook, coho, summer run steelhead and sea run cutthroat.

Drano Lake boat anglers are catching some fall chinook, coho and steelhead, as they are on the White Salmon River.

At Buoy 10, fishing for chinook is poor. At the ports of Chinook and Ilwaco during the weekend, boat anglers averaged a chinook per every 80 rods. Coho fishing was a little better with a fish per every 14.5 rods. In 2005, anglers averaged nearly a chinook per every three rods and a coho per every seven rods during the same period.

Hanford Reach effort was up for the week, but no chinook were caught during creel surveys. Weather was warm again and water temperature is still holding in the high 60s.

The Lower Granite Dam daily steelhead count on Sunday was 108 fish. The total count was 2,528. Last year at this time, twice that many had been counted. Clearwater River anglers are averaging 25 hours per fish caught. Water was 52 degrees and clear.

Trout and kokanee

Cool nights have heated up the afternoon trout fishing on the Clark Fork River. Small hoppers are working for fly fishers, but the best action has been on hecubas and mahoganies, according to Brooks Sanford of Clark Fork Trout and Tackle in St. Regis.

St. Joe River fishing pressure subsided this week, a trend that’s going to change starting today. After the Labor Day weekend, however, the crowds will vanish, leaving the true believers with some of the best fishing of the year. October caddis already are showing on the river. Hoppers still work, and a little black ant pattern has been effective all summer, Sanford said.

Two friends and I fished the northeast end of Deer Lake about 200 yards to the right of the narrows this week, catching 12 rainbow trout after dark in 36 feet of water. Four of them (but none of mine) were between 19 and 21 inches. The others were a fat, healthy 12-13 inches. Worms on Glo Hooks seemed to work best, but Power Bait also enticed bites.

Lake Coeur d’Alene has been good to Spokane angler Dale Moffat this season. He has taken limits or near limits of big kokanee in the vicinity of Powderhorn Bay and Pugh Point, trolling maggots behind a flasher at a depth of 35 feet. A slow speed is important – 1.2 mph.

Loon Lake kokes continue to please night still-fishers. A few of the fish have lost some of their glimmer, but they are still high quality – if somewhat on the small side.

Lake Roosevelt net pen trout averaging 13 inches are biting readily from Seven Bays down, but there are some big ones coming in. The team of Rick Cunningham and Brent Cheney weighed in a lunker of 7.57 pounds during the recent Two Rivers Derby. Total weight winners were Tim and Luann Campbell with 28.73 pounds for two days. Two other teams in the 80-team event came within a pound of the winning weight.

At Curlew Lake Resort, Sandy Beck said trout fishermen can’t do anything wrong this year. Most fish are 18-24 inches, coming on the troll. Curlew would be a good destination for a trout/grouse combo trip.

Spiny ray

Smallmouth anglers on Lake Chelan are throwing topwaters at rocky shorelines early, then jigging later in the morning for good catches. The same technique should work at any of the many area waters holding smallmouth.

Perch fishing has picked up in area waters. Loon, Deer, Waitts, Long, Newman and Chapman are good bets.

Hunting

Black bear hunting opens Tuesday in Washington’s northeastern Game Management Units 101-117. Steve Zender, WDFW northeast district wildlife biologist, reported good populations, although bears may be widely dispersed and tougher to hunt because of an abundance of food.

Fall hunting starts today in both Idaho and Washington, with seasons for mourning doves and forest grouse as well as cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares.

In Idaho only, the seasons for sage grouse, quail and partridge begin Sept. 16, and early fall general turkey hunts begin Sept. 15. A separate permit is required for hunting sage and sharp-tailed grouse. Turkey hunters will also need tags.

“Hunting grouse is like playing the stock market,” Zender said. “Stick with it.”

The wet spring most likely reduced brood sizes, but it also encouraged the growth of succulent plants like dandelions and clover. For ruffs, look for cool places in the bottoms. For blues, walk the sparsely-treed ridges up high. Zender said we haven’t had a banner grouse year in a long time, but last year was fair and this year should be at least as good. There will always be areas where the birds are abundant.

Mourning doves haven’t flocked up, but shootable numbers will be found in the usual wheatland south of Spokane, in the Columbia Basin, around the hop fields in Yakima and along the Snake River in Washington and Idaho.

Archery hunts for both deer and elk began Wednesday in select units in Idaho. In Washington, the archery season for deer begins today in many units, and elk are open to archers on Sept. 8. Check your game regs for details.

The Washington early goose season runs Sept. 9-10 in management areas 4 and 5. There will be a youth hunt for waterfowl and upland birds Sept. 23-24. The general waterfowl and deer seasons begins Oct. 14, and the general upland season Oct. 21.

(Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this column.)