Hunting+Fishing

Steelhead and salmon

“The Idaho catch-and-keep season (for hatchery steelhead) opened on the Clearwater River downstream of the Memorial Bridge (about river mile 2 at Lewiston) on Aug. 1 and opened on the Snake and Salmon rivers on Saturday. The catch-and-keep season on the Clearwater River upstream of the Memorial Bridge will begin on Oct. 15, not Sept. 1 as previously reported.

In Washingotn, guide Ray Bailey of Wilbur reported good steelhead fishing below Lower Granite Dam.

He said he was a little surprised last weekend, however, because though four of the fish were the usual 14- to 20-pounders, his party also caught three fish that weighed less than 5 pounds each. Bailey was also surprised to catch two large chinook, which are no longer open on the Snake.

Wells Dam chinook are not exactly jumping in the boat, but the fishing remains steady for those working at it. A lot of jacks are being caught.

Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) has reopened to retention of chinook, coho and pink salmon and is scheduled to continue through Sept. 30. Farther north, salmon fishing in marine areas 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay) is scheduled to continue through Sept. 15, and through Sept. 16 in Marine Area 2 (Westport-Ocean Shores). A big bunch of coho moved into the Buoy 10 area during the first weekend in September and more are entering the estuary every day.

Wind River anglers are catching fall chinook and coho. Large numbers of unmarked coho (which have to be released) have been reported. Drano Lake anglers are catching fall chinook and steelhead. On the White Salmon River, fall chinook, coho and steelhead are showing. Early morning has been reported best for chinook at all locations.

Trout and kokanee

Fly-fishing for cutthroats on the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers is being described as spectacular. Try hopper patterns with ant droppers, beetles and ant flies during the day and caddis flies in the evenings.

Montana will lift fishing restrictions and other recreational closures on all of Rock Creek, east of Missoula, beginning Saturday.

Loon Lake kokanee are losing some of their shine, but they continue to bite and should make good table fare through September. The trout bite is good. Deep and Waitts lakes in Stevens County and Curlew Lake in Ferry County have also been good for trout fishing recently.

WDFW enforcement sergeant Dan Rahn of Spokane reported trout fishing along the Little Spokane River from Chattaroy to Elk has been good. Check regulations carefully.

On Lake Pend Oreille, lake trout fishing has been good around Hope, including Warren, Cottage and Pearl islands.

Mackinaw fishing on Lake Chelan has been tough, said guide Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad’s Guide Service. Macks are in a seasonal transition as they prepare to spawn. They are stacked up in front of the State Park, but they are reluctant to bite.

Dworkshak Reservoir kokanee anglers are still reporting catches upriver of Grandad. The fish are at 60-70 feet. Ramps at Bruce’s Eddy, Dent and Dworshak State Park are useable. Trout fishing on the North Fork Clearwater, Lochsa and Selway keeps improving.

Spiny ray

On Lake Coeur d’Alene, fishing has been good for smallmouth and largemouth and fair for northern pike. There are even a few crappie showing. Crappie and smallmouth fishing on Hayden Lake has been good, and anglers on Thompson and Benewah lakes are finding success.

The Spokane River is low, but smallmouth bass fishermen are doing well on the upper river to the state line, which is a catch-and-release section.

Loon Lake perch are biting throughout the day on the east side in about 28 feet of water. The bite has also picked up at Long Lake.

Other species

Channel cats running 4-8 pounds are biting well between the grain elevators and the mouth of the Tucannon, near Lyons Ferry. The area around the hatchery is also good.

Eight areas of Puget Sound closed to crab fishing Monday. Crab fishing is scheduled to remain open in marine areas 7E and 7N (east and north of the San Juan Islands) Wednesdays through Saturdays each week through Sept. 29. Three other marine areas – 4 and 5 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and 13 in southern Puget Sound – are scheduled to remain open daily through Jan. 2.

A one-day halibut fishery is set for Sept. 15 in Marine Area 1 out of Ilwaco.

Hunting

The Eastern Washington early goose season is Saturday and Sunday. The youth hunting season for duck and coot runs Sept. 22-23, and is open to hunters younger than 16.

Idaho sage grouse and chukar seasons will open Sept. 15. There are two key changes to sage grouse regulations. Because of fires, the season east of the Bruneau River in Owyhee County has been closed. The western part of Owyhee County, however, will be open. The area north of the Snake River, including all areas open to sage grouse hunting in Elmore, Camas, Jerome, Gooding, Lincoln, Minidoka and Blaine counties, will be open for a week.

As always, doves are where you find them. Hunting with friends and family near Reardan last Saturday and Sunday produced limits for everyone, but other friends hunting just a few miles west saw few birds. Saturday’s hunt at the edge of a stubble field was over in an hour. On Sunday, we had to move several hundred yards to a creek bottom before we finally got shooting at midmorning.

Hot, dry weather with fewer insects probably led to the poor survival rate of chukar chicks that showed up in the Aug. 30 aerial count near Brownlee Reservoir.

The Brownlee count found only 42 birds per square mile average. Last year the count was 858, and the 10-year average is 1,412 birds. No survey will be conducted this year in the Clearwater Region where a massive wildfire burned through the survey area.

Washington archery elk season opens Saturday and runs to Sept. 21. Late archery elk hunts in most eastern units begin Nov. 20. Archery whitetail deer season, which began Saturday, runs until Sept. 30. The late archery deer season in most eastern units opens Nov. 20.

(Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this column.)