Fly fishing

Rocky Ford Creek has been fishing well for 2- to 5-pound trout. Scuds on a dropper have been effective. Other quality waters such as Lenice and Nunnally are also fishing well.

Nymphers and those swinging flies are doing well on the Grande Ronde. Try a Super Prince or an October Caddis.

Salmon and steelhead

Steelhead action on the Clearwater was slow last week, with anglers averaging a fish every 14 hours. This year saw some of the best ocean conditions in a long time, and the fish are in extremely good condition. On the North Fork Clearwater, anglers averaged a fish every eight hours. On the Snake downstream from the Salmon, the average was six. Upstream to the dam, it was seven hours per fish. A friend who fished from shore at Wawawai this week said he was the only bank angler on the river. He had one take-down in 10 hours and caught a wild hen steelhead.

The Grande Ronde is running higher these days and the steelhead are moving upriver from Heller Bar, where the action has slowed.

Fishing for steelhead has been off in the Pateros- Bridgeport area because of the unseasonably warm water. The recent cool weather and rain should stir things up again.

The Snake River at Little Goose Dam has also been slow this week for steelhead. It is fair near the hatchery, where a few salmon (which must be released) are making things more interesting. The Tucannon River has been good, but a lot of the fish are stacked up at the mouth waiting out the salmon spawn and needing some rain to get them moving.

Steelhead angling is picking up for boat anglers in the Columbia River above the John Day Dam. It remains fair for boat anglers.

Trout

Sprague Lake is booting out so many trout, one angler said, “I haven’t had fishing like this since I was a kid in the ’70s.” Whether fishing the east or the west end, expect to catch limits of rainbow up to 19 inches and averaging 16. Anything seems to work.

Trolling dark-colored No. 2 or 4 Wooly Bugger and Leech pattern flies in dark colors in the top 3 feet of water has been effective in the lower end of Rufus Woods Reservoir for triploid rainbows. Casting spinners, spoons and jigs to the shoreline is also effective. Keep changing. There are too many fish to keep pounding away with something that isn’t working.

Rock Lake may have slowed, but fishing for big browns and rainbows is still good. Go deep for browns, but stay near the surface for rainbow. The north end has been particularly good for trollers.

Lake Roosevelt is becoming more consistent for anglers trolling Muddlers behind 50 feet of mono and a 3/0 dodger. The Keller area has been hot, but anglers pulling Rapalas on the surface in the early morning have had some luck near Hawk Creek.

All the Pend Oreille Lake mackinaw fishermen in one weekend would make a pretty small crowd these days, but those who can keep their hootchies and U-20 Flatfish within 6 inches of the bottom in 120 feet of water are catching “money fish” every time out. Spokane’s Brian Stauffacher recently fished Pend Oreille near Hope, Idaho, catching one 7-pounder and eight 1-pounders.

Spiny ray

Last weekend’s Frostbite Bass Tournament on Banks Lake yielded 25.8 pounds for the first-place team of Phil Johnson and Thayne Hatch, a mixed bag of smallmouth and largemouth. The big fish of 4.14 pounds was caught by the team of Neal Clark and Jeff Slippy.

Walleye fishing at Rufus, Banks and Roosevelt has been good and consistent, but a lot of the fish are small. On the Snake, some larger walleye are being caught from Texas Rapids up.

Potholes Reservoir is giving up a lot of perch and some smallmouth but few walleye. A good place for perch is a hump of sand between Crab Creek and Goose Island.

On the Lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam, a handful of boat anglers sampled in the Camas-Washougal area averaged nearly two walleye kept per rod.

Hunting

Reports from the Moses Lake area indicate lots of local geese as well as some big flocks of migrants. Friends in Alberta, where I hunted geese in September, tell me it has been warm there and the birds are just starting to move.

In the Moses Lake WDFW office, regional biologist Matt Mondo said a partial waterfowl survey completed Wednesday counted few mallards but lots of widgeon, gadwall and teal, which are spread out over a large area in several counties. Cold weather will not only concentrate these birds but chase others out of Canada. He said weather conditions are shaping up nicely for a good weekend.

I hunted a winter wheat field near West Medical Lake with two friends Wednesday and saw hundreds of geese. We had 12 honkers on the ground by 7:30 a.m. but didn’t see a duck.

Pheasants, which were scarce for many gunners on opening weekend, seem to have affected a resurrection in the Palouse now that it has cooled off. Some hunters who were skunked on the opener report averaging two birds a day. The consensus is that there are a lot fewer birds than last year, which was poor.

Chukar hunters are walking a lot of miles for precious few opportunities, and the birds taken are mostly adults. Quail are taking up the slack across Idaho and Washington.

Late-season deer hunters are complaining about a lack of bucks. Local taxidermists indicate only a fraction of last year’s heads coming in, but they concede this may have as much to do with the economy as anything.