Hunting+Fishing

Fri., Jan. 12, 2007

Alan Liere Correspondent

Tip of the week

Family Fishing Waters in Idaho are great places to visit. They are easy to access and have plenty of fish. To find local Family Fishing Waters go to: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/

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Braggin' rights

Thanks to a $25,000 donation from Potlatch Corporation, Idaho Fish and Game's indoor shooting range in Lewiston will provide the ideal safe starting place for newcomers to learn and enjoy the shooting sports. Potlatch's donation will help Fish and Game purchase and install a bullet trap system, target returns, shooting bays and sound-reducing wall materials to a partially completed range located next to Fish and Game's Lewiston office.

Overheard

The government of Saskatchewan has rejected a proposal by the Saskatchewan Outfitters Association (SOA) that would have required non-resident hunters to hire a licensed guide or use an unpaid host while hunting waterfowl in the province. Some hope that Alberta will do the same.

Heads up

The Spokane Fly Fishers' annual fly-fishing school begins Feb. 15 and continues each week through March 29. Cost is $100 for adults and $60 for 16 and younger. Classes meet at St. Francis School, 1104 W. Heroy from 7-9 p.m. This class covers all phases of fly-fishing for the beginner or intermediate fly fisher plus local fishing info. Info: Steve Bohrer, 464-1090 or Dan Ferguson, 325-8885 or go to sffishers@comcast.net.

“Whether successful or not during past seasons, Washington deer, elk, bear and turkey hunters are reminded that they must submit their mandatory hunting harvest reports by Jan. 31 to avoid a $10 penalty when purchasing 2007 hunting licenses.

Steelhead

Clearwater River steelhead fishing has been best from Orofino upstream, but is still decent between there and Lenore. I fished a bobber and jig from shore with two friends Tuesday near Lenore, and the guide boat that drifted through our hole had a fish on almost every time. My friends caught a hen steelhead each, but I didn’t.

Snake River steelheading is still slow except right above Lewiston, where anglers are taking a few between the bridges.

Art Viola, WDFW district fish biologist, said steelhead fishing remains slow in the Columbia River from Rocky Reach to Wells Dam. Steelhead fishing in the Brewster/Bridgeport area has slowed over the past few weeks with anglers averaging a fish every 12 hours. The most popular spots are the Pateros area, as well as just above and below Wells Dam.

The Grande Ronde had good color and was running at about 2,000 cfs Thursday and coming down. Fishing should be good through the weekend.

After a month of heavy rain and high water on the West Side, rivers are finally dropping into shape. The weather forecast calls for a string of cold, dry days.

“Steelhead fishing could be spectacular if the forecast holds and the water keeps dropping,” said WDFW fish biologist David Low. “Anglers should be able to find fish anywhere they go.”

The smaller rivers usually drop back into shape the quickest.

Kress Lake near Kalama has not been affected by the high water that is plaguing river steelheaders in southwest Washington. WDFW has planted more than 1,000 excess hatchery steelhead from the Cowlitz River there since late December, and several anglers report doing well.

Trout

Recent weather patterns of deep freezes followed by warm-ups, wind and rain have done nothing to improve ice quality at area lakes. On Jan. 1, Hog Canyon ice was 8 inches thick, but ice on Fourth of July Lake was about 3 inches. Fishing for trout at both lakes has been sporadic, producing good catches at times, including a few 20-inch-plus fish. The ice should be safe this weekend.

Trout fishing has been poor this season on winter-only Williams and Hatch lakes in Stevens County because of growing populations of illegally introduced yellow perch that feed on and outcompete the trout.

Lake Roosevelt’s winter rainbow trout fishery continues to produce. Large net-pen-reared rainbows ranging from 18 to 24 inches are biting well, especially in the lower reservoir from Grand Coulee to Seven Bays. Rufus Woods has been excellent for triploids, but the average size is 3-6 pounds, somewhat smaller than past years. There are still triploids in the teens to be had, however.

“Fish Lake in north central Washington is frozen with about 5 inches of hard ice but also a foot of slush on top,” said district fish biologist Art Viola. “For those brave enough to venture out, fishing has been very good for both yellow perch and rainbow trout. The ice on Roses and Antelone lakes is thin and dangerous.”

Bob Jateff, WDFW Okanogan district fish biologist, said winter ice fishing in the Okanogan has been pretty good, with recent colder temperatures providing adequate ice cover for anglers.

“Little and Big Green lakes in the Omak area, Rat Lake near Brewster, and Davis Lake near Winthrop are all producing catches of rainbow trout,” he said. “Anglers can expect to catch fish in the 10- to 12-inch range at these lakes.”

Spiny ray

Anglers are catching some perch and crappie at Eloika Lake in north Spokane County and at Sprague Lake on the Lincoln-Adams county line. Patrolling officers recently reported “sketchy” ice at Sprague Lake access areas, but changing conditions could make for decent ice fishing. The ice at Waitts Lake is good, but it seems more trout than perch are being caught.

Five friends and I fished through the ice for perch at the Coulee City boat basin Monday. Three of us took fast limits of good-sized fish the week before, but this time we sorted through hundreds of 5-inchers to find fewer than 50 worth filleting.

Rufus Woods seems to have the best walleye fishing around. Trout anglers are picking up the occasional walleye on trolled plugs and Slinky/nightcrawler combos.

Patterson Lake in the Winthrop area opened Jan. 1 to ice fishing for yellow perch. The season will run through March 15 and there is a plowed-out WDFW access site at the lake with a toilet. Anglers can expect to catch perch in the 8- to 9-inch range, along with some rainbow trout.

Other species

Twin Harbors Beach will be open for evening razor clam digging Jan. 19-21 if marine toxin tests show the clams are safe to eat. As with previous digs this season, digging is allowed only during the hours between noon and midnight. Twin Harbors Beach has more razor clams available for harvest than any other state beach, said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the WDFW.

The Columbia River sturgeon fishery has reopened up to McNary Dam, although most of the action has been in The Dalles Pool, said Brad James, WDFW fish biologist. Eighteen boat anglers reported catching six legal-size fish and releasing one more in a weeklong creel survey that ended Sunday, he said. Four boat anglers fishing the Bonneville Pool caught one legal-size fish and five sublegals that week.

“Most sturgeon are out of the estuary and have moved upriver at this time of year,” James said. “Fishing will improve throughout the river in the next few months as the water warms up and sturgeon redistribute themselves.”

Some of the best river and stream fishing is for whitefish, and many rivers in Idaho and Washington are loaded. An exception would be the Wenatchee River, which is not fishing well. Besides the better-known waters like the Clearwater, Clark Fork and Methow, check out the Bumping, Naches, Tieton and Yakima rivers and the Columbia River between Vantage and Priest Rapids Dam. Whitefish are relatively easily caught on maggots or sparsely tied artificial flies and small lures fished along the bottom of deep pools.

Hunting

Duck and goose hunting continues through Jan. 28. Opportunities for geese in Lincoln, Spokane and Walla Walla counties include the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday. Opportunities will be extended after Jan. 21 from the usual Saturday-Sunday-Wednesday-only season to every day.

There are a lot of waterfowl, particularly geese, rafted on the Snake River near Clarkston and Lewiston and upriver from Asotin. A fair number of ducks are rafted in the Central Ferry area.

Duck hunters are doing well on the Wells pool of the Columbia River. Beau Patterson, WDFW district wildlife biologist, recently checked three hunters coming off the water, each with a limit of seven ducks, including widgeon, gadwall, canvasback, redhead, greater and lesser scaup and ruddy duck. A lot of geese are rafted on Banks Lake, and there are good numbers on Rock Lake in Whitman County.

I hunted the sand dunes area of Potholes Reservoir Jan. 4 and 5 with friends/guides Gary Russell and Rob Harbin of Quackers Guide Service. We shot only five mallards on Jan. 4, but on Jan. 5, in practically the same spot, we decoyed several large flocks and killed 21 mallards. Go figure.

Pheasant, quail, and partridge hunting runs through Monday in Washington.