Hunting & Fishing

Fri., Jan. 26, 2007

Alan Liere Correspondent

Tip of the week

Ice fishing has a tendency to slow down late in the season because prolonged periods of snow and ice cause oxygen depletion in warmer water near the bottom where most anglers fish. To improve your chances, move around. Fish will often suspend or move to shallower water.

Braggin' rights

I set a personal winter record this week, banging my head for the sixth time hard enough to draw blood. Included in the carnage were two ice-fishing trips, one pheasant-hunting trip and one kennel cleaning. I've been thinking of taking up crocheting as a cold-weather activity.

Overheard

Ice fishing at Rat Lake near Brewster for 12- to 13-inch rainbow is being described as the best in 20 years. Any trout bait is working.

Heads up

There are a few tickets left for the annual Inland Empire Safari Club fundraiser to be held Feb. 10 at Spokane's Red Lion Hotel. Call Mike Coyle, 466-3899, for information or reservations. Craig Boddington will be the guest of honor. If you're looking for an affordable, exotic hunt for next year, the live auction could be your answer.

“Washington hunters, whether successful or not, must submit their mandatory hunting harvest reports for deer, elk, bear and turkey by Wednesday to avoid a $10 penalty when purchasing 2007 hunting licenses. You can report, either on the phone at (877) 945-3492, or online at http://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov.

“The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has scheduled a public meeting to provide an update on fishery recovery efforts in Lake Pend Oreille. The "State of the Lake" meeting will be from 8 a.m. until noon on Feb. 10 at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave.

Salmon and steelhead

Few people have been fishing the Snake River for steelhead. The mainstem river has been muddy, which usually slows the bite. Steelheading in the Snake River drainage has been fair on the Tucannon River. On the Clearwater, anglers are averaging seven hours per fish. On the North Fork Clearwater, it was 13. The Clearwater is free of ice from the Dworshak hatchery to the mouth, but there is quite a bit of ice upriver to Kooskia.

The Grande Ronde is mostly ice free and the steelhead are biting. It’s mostly a bobber or bait show, but most people are catching fish.

WDFW fish biologist Art Viola of Cashmere reports steelhead fishing is slow on the upper Columbia River near Wenatchee. The same is true near Pateros.

Anglers had harvested 81 steelhead at Ringold as of Sunday. The average for the month is 12.1 hours per fish.

In Southwest Washington, Cowlitz River anglers are still catching early-winter steelhead. The best success has been in Blue Creek, which is open until Wednesday. Since mid-December, WDFW and Tacoma Power have released slightly more than 1,400 excess adult hatchery steelhead in Kress Lake, 553 in South Lewis County Park in Toledo and 63 into Horseshoe Lake in Woodland. Some anglers at Kress Lake have had as many as a dozen hook-ups in one day.

The Kalama River saw the best boating conditions of the year this past week, and boaters were getting one or two hookups per boat. Bank anglers were also doing well, with the upper canyon still producing most of the action.

“We’re in a transition period between early-run hatchery steelhead and late-run stocks, which will build through spring in the Cowlitz and Kalama rivers,” said Joe Hymer, WDFW fish biologist. “Meanwhile, we’re starting to get a few reports of spring chinook returning to the Willamette River, so we should start seeing some springers in the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers before long.”

Hatchery steelhead fishing has been great in the upper Skagit River, said Brett Barkdull, WDFW fish biologist.

“Anglers on the Skagit have been doing really well above the Sauk River,” he said. “The river has come back into shape and the effort has definitely increased.”

Angler effort on the Cascade River has slowed recently and steelheading has been spotty, depending on river conditions.

Saltwater anglers eager to catch salmon will soon have more options. Blackmouth fishing opens Thursday in Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) and on Feb. 16 in marine areas 5 (Sekiu), 6 (East Juan de Fuca Strait), 11 (Tacoma/Vashon) and 12 (Hood Canal).

Trout and kokanee

Lake Roosevelt is dropping. It was at 1,277 feet Thursday, which is about 10 feet down from full pool. Ice is off of most of the bays and boat ramps are useable again. Fishing is reported to be slow.

Fourth of July and Hog Canyon are providing sporadic fishing through the ice. The larger fish (some more than 20 inches) come from Fourth of July, but the greatest numbers come from Hog Canyon. There is plenty of ice on both lakes for safe fishing.

WDFW officer Don Weatherman of Colville has reported anglers catching small rainbows through the ice at Williams Lake in Stevens County.

Ice fishing in Okanogan County is also going well, according to WDFW fish biologist Bob Jateff of Omak. Green Lake near Omak, Davis Lake near Winthrop, and Molson/Sidley Lake near Oroville are all producing catches of rainbow trout in the 10- to 12-inch range.

Fishing for big triploid rainbows on Rufus Woods Lake east of Bridgeport continues to be good from boat or shore. Anglers are catching 2- to 5-pound fish with an occasional 10-pounder and some even larger. A 20-pounder was taken last week on a fly, but Power Bait is still the most popular. New regulations on Rufus Woods allow anglers to retain two trout and two kokanee as part of the daily bag limit.

Spiny ray

Silver Lake in Spokane County has 6 inches of ice, but much is covered by slush. There are a variety of fish in Silver, including some large tiger muskies, but the only things biting at midweek were small perch.

During a recent creel survey in The Dalles Pool, boat anglers averaged nearly a walleye apiece.

“Right now, they’re fattening up before spawning,” said Joe Hymer, WDFW fish biologist.

Anglers should start making some good walleye catches on the upper Columbia.

Ice fishing on Chelan County’s Fish Lake is good for yellow perch and rainbow trout. Ice fishing at Patterson Lake near Winthrop has been slow for perch, but this is more a matter of anglers not locating fish than a shortage of fish. Once perch are located, their schooling tendencies will increase catch rates dramatically.

Ice fishermen at Sprague Lake had sporadic fishing for 12-inch crappie this week. Eloika Lake perch were cooperating at times, particularly early and late, and Coulee City perch have similar on/off patterns.

Ice fishermen in Idaho have a lot of choices. There is good ice on all lakes, although warming weather could create slush on top. For small perch but lots of them, try Cocollala or Upper Twin. For larger, less numerous perch, try Avondale or Fernan. For a look at the entire ice-fishing picture in Idaho, go to the Fish and Game Web site at fishandgame.idaho.gov. Click “fishing,” then regional fishing info,” then scroll down to “ice fishing.”

Other species

Anglers have been taking a few burbot (freshwater lingcod) in Sullivan Lake in Pend Oreille County. The lake isn’t completely iced over, so be cautious. Another spot for burbot is Bead Lake. Ice fishermen under the power lines are catching these tasty fish, as well as an occasional mackinaw to 17 pounds.

Clam diggers may have a good selection of beaches during the first two days of a three-day dig tentatively scheduled in February. Four beaches – Twin Harbors, Long Beach, Mocrocks and Kalaloch – will be open for digging Feb. 16 and 17 between noon and midnight if marine toxin tests are favorable. Twin Harbors will also remain open an additional day, Feb. 18, during the same hours.

Sturgeon angling effort remains light on the lower Columbia but is beginning to increase with the improving weather.

Hunting

Wouldn’t you know it? With the warmer weather, ducks and geese are filtering back into the region just in time to see the season end Sunday evening.

Idaho game commissioners have approved proposed rules for moose that add 50 bull permits and 10 antlerless permits, and modify the moose hunting season framework in a portion of the Panhandle region. The rules also add three new bighorn sheep hunts, reduce permits in Unit 27-1 from 15 to eight, ultimately resulting in two additional bighorn sheep permits statewide. The adopted rules also cut nine mountain goat permits, closed hunts in Units 27-3 and 30 and added two permits in Unit 67 and two in a new hunt in Unit 27-5.