Hunting+Fishing
Rufus Woods Reservoir near Coulee Dam is still making triploid anglers smile. A few 8- to 16-pounders have been caught, but most are 2-6 pounds and there are a lot of them. Presentations near the bottom bring the most hits. Marabou jigs have been hot lately.
Lake Roosevelt rainbow have not yet provided the excellent fishing of two winters ago. Best success has been in the San Poil Arm at depths less than 20 feet. The pool is high and there is a lot of debris in the water.
The winter lakes opener last Saturday found a few brave (or foolhardy) anglers fishing through the ice at Hog Canyon, and others plying open water from shore farther down the lake. They took an average of three trout per rod.
Anglers at Fourth of July averaged two trout each, generally because most fish were more than 14 inches and limits were reached quickly. Promise-Keepers cast from shore were effective. WDFW fish biologist Chris Donley said fathead minnows have been illegally introduced into the lake and their presence has severely affected overall fish growth. Anglers plying either lake this weekend should find open water. Fourth of July is low, so you won’t be able to launch a boat unless you can carry it.
Steelhead and salmon
The recent heavy rains have blown out the Snake River tributaries, and the Snake itself is somewhat off-color. The Clearwater had leveled off at 4,600 cfs at midweek. Evelyn Kaide of Clearwater Drifters says a few fish are coming in and things should improve further by the weekend.
The fast snowmelt and heavy rains affected the Grande Ronde, too. At Boggan’s Oasis, Bill Vail said to call (509) 256-3372 for conditions before heading down. Water went from 800 cfs to 2,900 cfs in a short time, but Vail said fishing could be decent by Saturday.
Effort was light, but steelhead fishing was fair in the Columbia above John Day Dam and in the John Day Arm last week.
The 2007 preseason forecast for upriver spring chinook on the Columbia was 78,500 fish. The final run size is estimated to be 86,000 fish. Jack counts totaled 20,239, the highest since 2000.
On Lake Coeur d’Alene, chinook salmon are suspended around 85 feet. Try large flashers, green mini squids or helmeted herring.
Spiny ray
Coeur d’Alene pike anglers are picking up a few fish in open water casting smelt under a bobber near Wolf Lodge Bay and Harlow Point. Pike are also providing action on Hayden, Killarney and Black lakes.
Perch anglers on Long Lake near TumTum are finding schools of 8-inch fish. The walleye bite has been quiet everywhere, but a few are reported from the Swawilla vicinity on Lake Roosevelt.
The Idaho Panhandle’s small lakes are mostly ice-free. When hard-water angling begins, however, don’t overlook Cocolalla near Sandpoint where there are a variety of species and perch fishing can be excellent. Access to Cocolalla is primarily limited to the northeast end and the east shoreline. Boat access is available on the northeast end adjacent to the campground.
Other species
The next razor clam digs on Washington beaches run Dec. 21-22 on all beaches except Klaloch, and Dec. 23 at Twin Harbors only.
A few anglers are trying for whitefish near the inlet on Banks Lake. Fishing isn’t hot yet, but is improving.
Burbot (fresh water lingcod) are garnering interest again on Banks. The fish are mostly 3-4 pounds, but a few to 8 pounds have been taken. Try the Devil’s Lake and Barker Canyon areas, or by the inlet. Go deep and bounce the bottom with a heavy silver spoon baited with nightcrawlers or sucker meat.
Since 2003 there has been a significant shift in the wintertime recreational sturgeon harvest from the mainstem Columbia into the Willamette River. The shift may be because of warmer (2-5 degrees Celsius higher) water temperatures in the Willamette during January to March and generally poor smelt runs to the Columbia. As a result, harvest quotas in both the Columbia and Willamette rivers will be lower in 2008.
Hunting
A friend driving to Seattle last weekend said he counted 33 flocks of feeding geese before hitting Moses Lake. But with the weather so erratic, waterfowl have been tough to pattern. During the freeze, hunters did well on running water. Then, things opened up again and the birds dispersed. The northerns are down, but finding them consistently is a challenge. Good numbers of mallards are resting on Potholes, Wanapum and Winchester reserves, said WDFW game biologist Jim Tabor of Moses Lake, but there has been no huge influx. “I can’t explain it,” he said. “There is more corn than ever. “
Geese are another story, and Tabor said there are more than ever. “They stay on Moses Lake during the day and fly out east and southeast to feed.” There also appears to be huge numbers of geese around Cheney and Medical Lake.
Banks is loaded with bluebills, gadwall and widgeon, rafted up with huge flocks of coots in the middle of the lake. There are also a lot of geese in that area.
In Idaho, there are some big flocks of birds on Lake Coeur d’Alene, and the Pend Oreille River has provided excellent shooting at times.
Quail hunting has been excellent in the Columbia Basin with coveys even showing up in the irrigated areas. The fringes of farmland around Othello hold big populations.
Columbia Basin pheasant populations are up some over last year, but the best shooting has been on WDFW Pheasant Enhancement land where birds are released. There are two more releases scheduled for December.
The scarcity of pheasants and gray partridge this year is reflected in the price of skins being sold in fly shops. A prime gray partridge skin is selling for about $25. I can remember years around Rosalia when my season’s take would have paid for a very merry Christmas at those prices.