Hunting+Fishing
Trout and kokanee
Rufus Woods Reservoir has my number. Another trip, this time to the far end near Bridgeport where a friend and I fished two days near Chief Joseph Dam, resulted in two bites and two 17-inch rainbow which didn’t appear to be triploids. No one near the dam did well from shore last weekend, though fishing had been excellent the day before.
A friend fishing near the Rufus Woods net pens last Saturday said he caught a 5- and an 8-pound triploid, one on a silver sinking Rapala and the other on a broken-back gold Rapala. His party also landed a brown trout and four 18- to 20-inch rainbows on the same type of plug.
Trout anglers on Lake Roosevelt in the Spring Canyon area are having decent trolling for 18-inch rainbow – if they use planer boards. The trout are near the surface, and standard trolling techniques seem to spook the fish. A few nice kokanee (to 22 inches) have been taken using the same planer board technique and small Rapalas.
The lower basin of Lake Chelan has been good for small macks, but Anton Jones at Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service in Chelan said that the first three weeks of March last year produced as many mackinaw more than 20 pounds as the other months combined.
The Columbia County lakes off the Tucannon River provided fair to good trout action last weekend on the opener. These lakes will improve as the weather warms.
Ice at Amber Lake was drawn away from shore a few inches at the launch last week, but a solid 10 inches 50 feet out. Downs Lake ice was unsafe. Coffeepot Lake is still frozen, though the ice may not be thick enough by today to safely support anglers. The road into Hog Canyon is still blocked off at the first gate – a healthy walk from the water. At Fourth of July, anglers were fishing both the open water that began at the bend in the lake and on ice. The launch area is still iced in.
Ice at Deer was still thick and solid on the Saturday opener. Several anglers were on the lake, but success was minimal. At Roses Lake near Chelan, the ice is rotten and unsafe to ice fish. There will be excellent rainbow fishing available when fishing resumes in open water.
By the second day of the opener, most of the desert lakes but Quincy in the Columbia Basin had lost enough ice to be fishable. At Burke, most of the rainbow were 13-14 inches and the flesh bright red. A few fish to 4 pounds were taken. Fly fishermen were doing well on 14- to 20-inch Dusty Lake trout, and happy anglers were leaving Upper Caliche with full stringers. Worms and marshmallows seemed to be the bait of choice there. Everyone caught fish at Martha Lake on Saturday, and it didn’t seem to matter what they used. Things slowed down Sunday.
Lenice and Nunnally lakes were ice-free but windy last weekend and fishing trips were short. The average catch at Lenice was less than one fish each, but they were mostly 17- to 21-inch rainbow and brown trout. The average catch at Nunnally was 4.5 fish, mostly 17-to 21-inch rainbows. Lenore Lake, which has Lahontan cutthroat trout and is catch-and-release at this time, was 80 percent ice-covered on the opener.
Rock Lake is still kicking out rainbows and browns to trollers and spin-casters. Winds have been a problem.
The Yakima River is fishing well, both in the lower canyon below Ellensburg and on the upper waters in the Cle Elum area, said Jim Gallagher at the Yakima River Fly Shop. Color and flow are excellent for drifting or wading, with temperatures in the low 40s. Fish are being taken on the surface in the canyon section of the river on skwala stone adults. A size-14 pheasant tail was the fly of choice on the upper Yakima. Info: (509) 929-1357.
Pend Oreille mackinaw anglers are at least paying for their gas with the $15-per-fish bounty. Action has been fair to good around the islands in the Hope area for trollers pulling a dodger and hootchie setup.
Steelhead and salmon
Steelhead anglers in the Clearwater system are averaging 13-15 hours per fish. Snake River fish are also more difficult to catch, though there have been some good reports from the Grande Ronde.
Starting March 16, the spring chinook fishery on the Columbia will begin upriver from the west power lines on Hayden Island, buoyed by a preseason forecast that calls for a strong return of upriver fish. The Wind River and Drano Lake also open for spring chinook fishing March 16. Fishery managers are expecting 269,300 chinook salmon to return to the Columbia River and its tributaries above Bonneville Dam, the third-largest run since 1977. That compares to just 86,230 fish last year.
Spiny ray
The entire Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt could be clear of ice by Saturday. Anglers have caught a lot of small fish upriver from Porcupine Bay and also above Split Rock.
Potholes Reservoir is breaking up and boat anglers are able to get through to spots in the Crab Creek Channel. Lind Coulee is fishable, but the water is muddy, there is a lot of debris, and it’s still pretty cold (37 degrees) for a good walleye bite. Moses Lake is beginning to break up near the bridges.
Banks Lake was frozen clear across last Sunday when I returned from Rufus Woods. A friend and I fished through 10 inches of ice in the Coulee City Boat Basin but could not catch a perch more than 6 inches.
Boat anglers in Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day Pools are catching walleyes. Bank anglers are getting some in The Dalles Pool.
Other species
Twin Harbors will be open for razor clam digging today through Wednesday, but Long Beach will open this weekend only. The digs will open on evening tides today and Saturday, then switch to morning tides Sunday through Wednesday.