Hunting & fishing

Trout and kokanee

Anglers who manage to squeak through the shallows and fish the west end of Coffeepot Lake are catching lots of rainbow to 5 pounds throwing practically anything in their tackle boxes. Trolled Flatfish and Shad Rap have been particularly effective.

Liberty Lake was packed last weekend, but some anglers were showing some beautiful catches of browns and rainbow to 20 inches. Downs Lake plants, which are pretty small, are hitting Roostertails.

Rock Lake remains excellent for large rainbow and medium-sized browns, but recent pressure at the public access has slowed that action considerably. Boat anglers are finding lots of fish by casting plugs and spinners against the shoreline.

Sprague Lake fishing is excellent, with 16-inch triploids and 10- to 12-inch rainbow for everyone. At Sprague Lake Resort, Monika Metz reported limits even from shore.

WDFW biologist Jeff Korth reports excellent trout action at Dry Falls Lake. He said yearlings are running 13-15 inches and carryovers 16-20. Korth said Lenore is slow but should pick up soon as spawners disperse.

Curlew Lake is nearly ice free and anglers are doing well on rainbow from boat or dock. Trolling in the far south end (locally called Lake Roberta) has been good. A total of 486,000 net pen trout have been planted at Curlew in the past two years.

The Rufus Woods triploid fishery is still hot. Friends and I trolled the lake last week for quick limits. Roses Lake also continues to be hot for 10- to 15-inch rainbows.

The Clark Fork River has leveled off at about 6,000 cfs but is still fishable. The upper Bitterroot near Darby has also begun to drop, as has the Blackfoot and Rock Creek. The North Fork Coeur d’Alene was running at 1,110 cfs on Thursday but also dropping. Dropping water levels this time of year can produce good fishing.

The Yakima River below the confluence with Teanaway River has been somewhat muddy. Temperatures have significantly cooled over the past week, however, and the river is coming back into shape. The river above the Teanaway confluence remains low with good clarity. Fishing has been consistent with nymphing in the morning and dry fly fishing in the afternoon. Bugs on the water include skwalas, stones, blue wing olive and March brown duns.

It’s not too early to start planning for Washington’s April 26 lowland lake opener. Anglers who will settle for nothing but the best might consider heading to Blue and Park lakes. Rehabilitated in 2006, these Sun Lakes State Park waters south of Coulee City should be in their peak of production for rainbow trout, Korth said.

Salmon and steelhead

More than 1,500 spring chinook salmon fishing boats were counted on the lower Columbia between Hayden Island and Bonneville Dam on Sunday. Anglers in the Gorge were averaging 1.16 spring chinook caught per boat. But that great fishery will be history after Monday. Time to rig up for the fishing upstream.

Boat anglers are catching some spring chinook at Drano Lake and effort is increasing. The first spring chinook of the season was caught at Wind River last weekend.

Fishing on the Columbia River tributaries is going to get better in the weeks ahead, said WDFW biologist Joe Hymer.

“If the fishery on the mainstem is any indication, they should definitely be worth some time on the water,” Hymer said.

Spiny ray

A weekend bass tournament at Potholes Reservoir had most of the fish being caught between the dam and Bird Island. Crankbaits were most effective. Potholes walleye are scarce, as are those in Moses Lake. With the spawn ending, things should pick up soon.

Another weekend bass tournament, this one at Banks Lake, saw 104 teams catch 414 bass – most in shallow water on plastics. First place and more than $5,000 went to the team of Mike Wolsky from Coventon and Dave Henderson from Monroe with a total weight of 16.26 pounds. Walleye action on Banks is coming primarily deep on Gulp Minnows or jig and harness setups tipped with nightcrawlers

Liberty Lake anglers are beginning to catch perch, crappie, bass and bullheads in addition to the nice trout. Reports are the catfish average more than a pound each.

Bass anglers are beginning to catch some nice prespawn smallmouth in the lower Yakima River. These fish will migrate farther upstream over the next few weeks.

Other species

A morning razor clam dig runs today and Sunday at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks. Twin Harbors will be open for three additional days, Monday through Wednesday.

Halibut fishing opened April 10 throughout the Puget Sound region and some nice fish have been coming in. Mutiny and Admiralty bays, as well as Eastern and Partridge banks, usually are the best bets for flatfish early in the season. Halibut fishing is open Thursday through Monday.

This month and next are the best to catch halibut, said Heather Reed, WDFW fish biologist.

“The earlier in the year, the better,” said Reed, who advises anglers to check the tides and go out when there is minimal change.

Sturgeon fishing is heating up below Bonneville Dam and should improve in the days ahead. The same is true on the Snake River and particularly in Hells Canyon.

Hunting

Opening-day turkey hunters in Idaho and Washington had fair success. Many reported locating large flocks of birds, some consisting of primarily toms and jakes. Several successful hunters I spoke with reported stalking rather than calling their bird, but others said the birds came in fast at full strut.

Snow is still blocking access to most forest roads throughout much of northeastern Washington and North Idaho. Even walking on the deep snow can be difficult.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission recently adopted fall hunting rules. They will include expansion of fall turkey hunts to help control increasing turkey populations in eastern Washington and expansion of the mourning dove hunting season from 15 to 30 days, based on an increase in the birds’ population.

(Rich Landers, Outdoors editor, contributed to this report.)