Weekly hunting and fishing report

Fly fishing

The whitefish season is open on the stretch of the Little Spokane River from Highway 291 upstream to West Branch. Bouncing a beadhead nymph or pheasant tail is probably the best approach for tempting them. Most area streams in Washington and Idaho have a run of whitefish in the fall and winter. The Spokane River is probably the best fly fishing option for trout. The lower end has provided some decent streamer fishing on sink tips in the slower pools.

Salmon and steelhead

Despite a strong run of “B” run Steelhead, the Clearwater provided mediocre fishing last week because of stained water. Now that the river has cleared, steelhead waiting to enter the system should be moving en masse from the Snake River.

At Pateros, the areas known as The Rocks and The Point have been giving up a few steelhead recently. The action at times can be good, but it hasn’t been consistent.

The blackmouth salmon season has started off strong in central Puget Sound. Marine areas 7, 8-1, 8-2 and 10 are open for hatchery chinook salmon fishing throughout the month.

Steelhead fishing on the Upper Columbia River continues to be productive. The mainstem Columbia River from Rock Island Dam to 400 feet below Chief Joseph Dam and portions of several tributaries (Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow, Okanogan, Similkameen rivers) are fishing fairly well.

Catch rates for hatchery steelhead have picked up in the Hanford Reach. Paul Hoffarth, a district fish biologist for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said fishing should remain productive through March as steelhead mill around waiting for the spring spawn.

An additional stretch of the Hanford Reach has opened to fishing for hatchery steelhead. Anglers can retain up to two hatchery steelhead from the Vernita Bridge upstream to Priest Rapids Dam. Selective gear rules are in effect in this area, although the use of bait is allowed. The area is scheduled to remain open through the winter months. 

Trout and kokanee

Perch pattern Rapalas and flies have been hammering Lake Roosevelt rainbow throughout the system. A trolling speed of 2.0-2.5 mph and dropping the presentation to somewhere between 15 and 25 feet is working best. Excellent reports came this week from Gifford, Seven Bays, Hawk Creek, Keller, Sterling Point and the mouth of the Spokane. Most fish are around 15 inches, but a five-fish limit will typically also have one more than 18 inches.

Four winter lakes in Eastern Washington opened Monday to trout fishing. Hatch Lake, southeast of Colville in Stevens County, is frozen and has an abundance of rainbow trout ranging between 12-16 inches. Williams Lake, also near Colville, is still mostly open water and anglers have been fishing from shore. Catches have been fair.

Hog Canyon Lake had one ice fisherman when I checked it on the opener. Ice at the launch appeared to be about 4 inches thick, but that does not necessarily reflect the thickness down the lake where the lone angler had ventured about 50 feet from shore.

Fourth of July was a different story on the opener. The parking lot was full of vehicles. The narrows had ice extending from the shore, out 10 feet and was unfishable from shore. The East side from the narrows to the first bay was ice free and the west shore had ice extending from the shore to the beginning of first bay. Everyone appeared to be catching fish from shore – many more than 14 inches. Anglers should be aware of the special regulations in effect on both Hog Canyon and Fourth of July lakes: no minimum size, daily limit of five fish, but no more than two fish more than 14 inches may be retained.

Three lakes in Okanogan County opened for catch and keep trout fishing Monday. They are Rat Lake near Brewster and Big and Little Green lakes near Omak. All three provide good angling throughout the winter months, whether in open water (as they mostly are) or iced-over later in the season. The rainbow are mostly 10-12 inches.

Fish and Roses lakes in Chelan County are not safely iced over. When they are, Roses Lake should be good for trout and Fish Lake for perch.

Spiny ray

Eloika Lake is not quite ready for ice fishing. On Monday, there was some water at the public access and the parking lot at Jerry’s Landing was chained off. When the ice is good and the parking lot has been cleared of late summer’s wind storm aftermath, it will reopen.

Anglers launching at Texas Rapids on the Snake River near Starbuck are catching a few nice walleye by trolling deep diving crankbaits.

Other species

A week-long razor clam opening began Wednesday and runs through Tuesday. The clams are large and the crowds are small. WDFW has proposed another dig Dec. 19-23.

Hunting

WDFW’s online Hunt by Reservation program includes seven new private properties in Grant County open to hunting, with more to come in other game management units in coming weeks. The properties are Adams Road x Road 6.5; Road H x Road 4; Road I North of I-90 No. 1; Road I North of I-90 No. 2; Road I x Rd 5; Road Q x Road 2; and Road O x Road 5.

All properties in Grant County open to waterfowl and upland game hunters are part of the department’s Columbia Basin Cropland Hunting Access Initiative (CHAI), formerly known as the Corn Stubble Retention Program. One group of up to four hunters will be allowed to access the sites at a time on CHAI sites, which are open for reservations at 8 a.m., 14 days prior to hunt dates. For more information, contact WDFW’s Northcentral Region office at (509) 754-4624.

Large numbers of ducks arrived from the north in early November and have provided good hunting throughout the Yakima region. Canada geese are also in good supply and an estimated 25,000 snow geese have returned to Benton County near Paterson this year, said Don Kraege, WDFW waterfowl manager.