Hunting+Fishing
Steelhead and salmon
Steelhead anglers fishing the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake averaged a fish every 16 hours last week. A friend and I, fishing on Monday with guide Rick Hedding of Asotin, kept four fish, released two and had several other bites in six hours. We were hanging purple shrimp under a bobber in 20-24 feet of water. Anglers around us were also landing fish, and Hedding said the bite has been good for quite a while. The bright hatchery fish are 6-8 pounds and the wild fish a little larger.
Chinook salmon are showing up in good numbers again near Brewster. The Pateros area still has been slow.
Dworshak Dam flows have been shut down and the Clearwater is running at only 2,400 cfs – not boatable except below the mill unless a major rain comes. Catch and release steelhead fishing is still good from the bank.
Lower Granite and Lyons Ferry waters are holding a lot of steelhead, and it appears some B-run fish have entered the system. The mouth of the Tucannon was crammed with boats this week. Fishing was good for 6- to 8-pound fish holding in the cooler water.
Washington saltwater anglers are finding an increasing number of coho, likely signaling the arrival of a big push of ocean silvers into Puget Sound.
While the salmon fishery off Sekiu closes Sept. 30, a non-selective fishery for coho and chinook will run Oct. 1-30 in Marine Area 6 (Port Angeles).
Trout
Amber and Badger lakes continue to kick out 14- to 16-inch and larger rainbow and cutthroat on a regular basis, and Williams is still producing nice catches. West Medical and Fishtrap lakes have also been excellent for rainbows, including stocked triploids and broodstock. All these lakes close Sept. 30, except Badger, which shifts to a two-month, catch-and-release season after Sept. 30. Also closing at midnight Sept. 30 are Fan Lake in Pend Oreille County, Liberty Lake in eastern Spokane County, and Downs, Fish and North Silver lakes in southwest Spokane County.
Bass fishing has slowed, but anglers report catching a lot of large rainbow on tube baits at Coffeepot Lake. Banks Lake, not particularly noted for its rainbow fishing, has also yielded some large rainbow this week.
Fish Lake tiger trout running 11-12 inches have been hitting flies near the lily pads. At Badger Lake, anglers trolling flies or Wedding Rings are limiting on cutthroat.
At Waitts Lake, anglers are already bringing in some nice catches of German browns, and it will only get better.
Park Lake in Grant County is turning on for trout ranging 10-15 inches, and Potholes Reservoir is also giving up some large rainbow. Lake Roosevelt has been poor all week.
WDFW fish biologist Bob Jateff said anglers who want to catch a few brook trout should explore some of the open fishing tributaries of the Methow River system.
St. Joe River fishing was slow over the last weekend, possibly because of the large number of anglers on the water. Fishing is from hole to hole with little in between.
The Clark Fork is slow, as is the St. Regis. Rain would improve the fishing. Excellent Trico fishing is reported on the lower Bitterroot River. The water has been low, clear and near calm in many places. Fall streamer fishing is just around the corner on the Missouri.
Spiny ray
It doesn’t take much to turn walleye off in a hurry, but it would be difficult to find a better walleye fishery than Banks Lake. North of Steamboat Rock to the south end remains consistently good, but midlake is productive as well.
Bradbury Flats on Lake Roosevelt has been good at times for robust walleye to 22 inches for anglers trolling spinners. The bite seems to be an all-or-nothing proposition. China Bend has been good at times. Guide Ray Bailey said he had a good walleye day last week fishing the Spokane Arm.
Snake River walleye are an added attraction to the steelhead show around Little Goose Dam this month. Bottom bouncers and spinners are working.
Reports from Potholes Reservoir indicate the walleye bite is picking up for mostly small fish. Smallmouth fishing remains hot. Most are along the face of the dam.
Coffeepot Lake perch to 11 inches are slamming curly-tail jigs. This is a selective fishery (no bait allowed), but there seems to be no problem taking the fish on artificials. Long Lake perch are also on the bite, and Diamond Lake perch can still be found in 25-30 feet of water. This is a good time for perch at Downs and Chapman.
Power Grubs and topwater plugs are enticing Newman Lake bass. Smallmouth are hitting around the submerged island and around docks while largemouth are in the weeds. Largemouth are also hitting well at Loon and Eloika.
Other species
Sturgeon and bass fishing have been good on the Snake in Hells Canyon, said guide Tim Johnson. Clients recently landed one sturgeon a little more than 7 feet and four others more than 6. Lots of sturgeon are coming from the Snake near Lyons Ferry.
Hunting
Hunters out for Idaho’s Saturday chukar opener found birds but not a lot. Friends who shot limits said they saw only twice as many birds as they killed. Quail hunters did a lot better in bushy draws and blackberry thickets off the Snake River.
Washington’s upland bird youth season is Saturday and Sunday. Indications are that this will be a better pheasant season than last, but nothing to write home about. Opportunities for youth will be boosted by releases of 1,200 game farm pheasants at the region’s dozen sites – Sherman Creek in Ferry County; Fishtrap Lake on Lincoln-Spokane county line; John Henley in Whitman County; Willow Bar and Rice Bar in Garfield County; Hartsock in Columbia County; Chief Timothy in Asotin County; and Mill Creek, Wallula, Two Rivers Peninsula, Hollebeke and Lost Island in Walla Walla County.
General pheasant seasons open Oct. 13 in Idaho and Oct. 20 in Washington.
Washington’s quail and partridge seasons open Oct. 6.
The Washington general fall turkey season runs Saturday through Oct. 5 in GMUs 101-124. Early muzzleloader season for deer and elk runs Oct. 6-12 in selected game management units statewide.
(Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this column.)