Weekly hunting and fishing report
Fly fishing
Lake Roosevelt doesn’t get much pressure from the fly fishing community, but a few hardy anglers are testing their cold water tolerance and stamina in float tubes. A recent report indicated an Egg Sucking Black Bugger brought a couple of fish to the net in the vicinity of 7-Bays.
The North Fork Coeur d’Alene is back to fishable shape and streamer fishing has been good. Water clarity is more than 3 feet.
The Yakima River is getting back into shape. Fishing hasn’t been fast, but there are some big trout on the prowl.
The St. Joe is fishable for the first time in a long time. It’s still somewhat high, but there are plenty of pockets of soft water close to shore.
Salmon and steelhead
The Grande Ronde, still a little high and cloudy, is on the drop and bright jigs and Corkies are taking fish. The Snake and Clearwater are also on the drop, and back-trollers and the bobber and bait crowd are taking quite a few steelhead. The Clearwater, particularly, has been good. The Methow River is high but fishable.
The Middle Fork to the North Fork Salmon River has seen excellent catch rates recently.
Trout and kokanee
Sprague Lake is getting a lot of attention. Trollers report catching fast limits along the south shoreline. Two friends who fished there last Saturday said they trolled dark Needlefish and were surprised at how many of their bites came in only 3 feet of water. Two of their 10 fish were the big carryover rainbow and the other eight were steelhead of 12-14 inches.
Fourth of July Lake has thawed and it is possible to launch a small boat. There are still plenty of big rainbow in the lake and they should be cruising the shorelines.
It has been difficult to find the sure-fire lure for Lake Roosevelt rainbow this week. Bank fishing with PowerBait or marshmallows and nightcrawlers has often been better than trolling. A few decent reports came from the vicinity of Plum Point. Trollers dragging worm-tipped Kekeda flies were doing best.
Rock Lake is still somewhat cloudy, but it is fishable at this time. The bite has been slow.
The Columbia near Northport has good color and is giving up a few large brookies, some rainbow and even a few cutthroat, but when the water drops the fishing shuts down.
Hayden Lake kokanee can be found from the surface down to 55 feet. Mini hootchies in firetiger or green have been good for fish averaging 12 inches.
Limits of kokanee have been fairly common on Lake Chelan around Colyar Ledge. The 12- to 16-inch fish have been most prevalent in middle depths but can be as deep as 200 feet.
Spiny ray
Silver Lake is ice-free. With the warming water, the crappie bite should begin early this year. Try the stick-ups across from the public launch and to the right. On a visit to Silver on Tuesday (without a fishing rod), I saw two large tiger muskie finning under the dock at the launch.
Eloika Lake has open water on the south end and there were boats out last weekend. From Jerry’s Landing north, there is still ice.
Walleye fishing on Potholes Reservoir can be dismal to lights-out, depending on who you talk to and what day they were fishing. The fish seemed to be scattered, so trolling is sometimes the best option. Most walleye fishermen say that even on a slow day, the perch bite helps pass the time. A friend who fished Potholes last Sunday with about 50 other boats said he caught no walleyes but did keep a half dozen 11- to 13-inch perch. Soda Lake near Potholes is down about 30 feet and walleye fishing has been slow. The perch bite is better.
Perch and nice size trout are being caught by the I-90 bridge on Moses Lake. Jigging spinners and worms on the bottom is effective. Some of the perch are 14 inches long.
Roosevelt anglers in the Spokane Arm near Porcupine Bay say they are marking lots of fish but can’t always get them to bite. The water is muddy.
The walleye bite is on at Banks Lake and anglers are also catching some big perch. The walleye are in 35-50 feet of water, looking for a slow presentation.
Hunting
Washington hunters may purchase and submit applications for a 2015 spring black bear hunting permit. To be eligible for a permit, they must purchase and submit an application to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife by midnight Feb. 28. Permit winners will receive notification in the mail no later than March 31. To apply for a permit, hunters must purchase a special permit application and a 2015 hunting license that includes bear as a species option. Hunting licenses, bear transport tags and bear permit applications may be purchased by phone at (866) 246-9453 or at any license vendor in the state.
Any Idaho resident new to hunting must first complete a hunter education, but the classes fill up quickly. Fish and Game recommends people start looking for a course close to home as soon as they make the decision to take their first hunting trip in Idaho. Courses are available in all regions throughout the spring and summer. The earlier people sign up, the better. To sign up for hunter education, and to learn more about the program, go to fishandgame.idaho.gov/public
To find a Hunters Education course in Washington, go to wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/huntered
/classes/basic/php.
Several classes are being offered this spring in Spokane and the Spokane Valley, but these will also fill up quickly.