Hunting+Fishing

Salmon and steelhead

The first steelhead fishery on the Wenatchee River since 1997 will be opened Saturday, along with anxiously anticipated steelheading on the Methow and Okanogan rivers.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the openers Thursday afternoon after getting approval from federal authorities.

Another selective fishery for hatchery steelhead also will start Saturday on the upper Columbia River from Wells Dam upstream to the Highway 17 Bridge at Bridgeport.

In the Snake River drainage southeast district, the best steelhead catch rates recently measured are in the stretches of the mainstem river from Lower Granite Dam to above the Interstate bridge at Clarkston. Anglers were spending from a little more than six to almost nine hours per steelhead caught.

The confluence has been phenomenal at times. The stretches between Lower Monumental to Little Goose dams and from the Oregon state line to the mouth of the Walla Walla River were averaging between 17 and 18 hours of angling effort per steelhead caught.

WDFW district fish biologist Bob Jateff of Omak reported that anglers are still catching summer chinook salmon on the Columbia River near the state park in Bridgeport. Chinook fishing within the area above Wells Dam on the Columbia will continue until Oct. 15.

No reports of angler success are coming from Drano Lake. Drano is scheduled to be closed to all fishing 6 p.m. Tuesdays to 6 p.m. Wednesdays during tribal fisheries in October.

Chinook effort picked up this past week on the Yakima River. As of Sunday, 49 adults and 51 jacks have been harvested. Anglers averaged 18.5 hours per fish caught.

Hanford Reach was a surprise this week with 265 adult chinook and 97 jacks caught compared to 204 adult and 21 jacks in 2006. Anglers averaged 1 fish for every 2 rods or 1 fish for every 13.4 pole hours.

Trout and kokanee

Lake Roosevelt trout are moving up in the water column although still hanging in the 30-foot range. Trollers are beginning to take fish, particularly downstream of Lincoln.

Fishing isn’t fast, but small mackinaw are hitting dodger/hootchie offerings at Lake Pend Oreille. Most fish are 120-170 feet.

Fly fishing is fair on the St. Joe. Fish have been most active in the afternoon.

In Montana, the Clark Fork has received a lot of rain this week. Afternoon dry fly fishing has been best. The lower Bitterroot has been excellent, as has the Blackfoot. The Missouri River is in good shape and the next cold snap should kick the baetis in. Fall streamer fishing is just around the corner. Rock Creek is again accessible following the fire closure. Fishing should be good.

Trout in the region’s many lakes are much more active with cooler weather. Curt Vail, WDFW northeast district fish biologist of Colville, said cutthroat waters are especially good now. He suggests lakes such as Browns, Frater, Halfmoon, Marshall, Muskegon, Mystic, No-Name, Petit and Yocum in Pend Oreille County; Deep in Stevens County; and Davis and Long in Ferry County. Some of these lakes have special regulations, so read the pamphlet carefully.

Vail also noted that McDowell Lake should be good for rainbows and Starvation Lake’s triploid rainbow fry plants should be of good size.

Many Spokane-area lakes, including Badger, Williams and West Medical, are closed for the season.

Rock Lake south of Cheney is a good fall fishery for brown trout. Amber Lake is open to catch-and-release trout fishing through November.

Jameson Lake in Douglas County, which has been closed since July 4, re-opened for a month of rainbow trout fishing. Prospects are good for rainbows in two age classes – this year’s plants up to 11 inches and winter carryovers to 15 inches.

Spiny ray

Smallmouth bass are putting on a show at most multispecies lakes and reservoirs in the region. Particularly good catches are reported from Liberty and Long.

The tiger musky bite at Silver Lake has slowed down with the cooler weather, but anglers fishing slow and deep are catching the toothy fish. Curlew and Newman have produced a few big musky recently. Good smallmouth action is reported near the I-90 Bridge on Moses Lake. A few walleye are also showing. Potholes Reservoir is also good for smallmouth, but the walleye never did hit their stride this year. The recent MarDon Dock Tournament produced lots of small crappie, perch and bluegill as well as a few trout.

Walleye angling is still good on Banks Lake. Bottom bouncing with crawlers has been most effective.

Other species

Sturgeon fishing continues to be productive from the Wauna power lines upstream to Bonneville Dam, where the fishery is scheduled to remain open seven days per week through the end of the year.

Hunting

Based on what I saw during a recent waterfowl-hunting trip in eastern Alberta, it appears duck hunters in Washington and Idaho are in for a banner year. I have been going to the same area for 15 years and have never seen the numbers of local ducks I saw on this trip. Some populations are up as much as 30 percent.

The Idaho youth pheasant hunt is Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is the opener for North Idaho waterfowling.

The Washington general season for partridge and quail opens Saturday. Although no specific surveys are conducted for these species, numbers appear to be average to good.

Washington muzzleloaders hunting deer and elk will go afield Saturday through Oct. 12 before making way for the general firearms season for deer, which begins Oct. 13. General seasons also will begin for ducks and geese Oct. 13.

(Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this column.)