Weekly hunting and fishing report

Thu., March 5, 2015

By Alan Liere spokesmanliere@yahoo.com

Tip of the week

If you like to use attractants on lures, you might want to consider Fishsticks Lure Enhancer, which comes in a tube like Chapstick. It rolls on, doesn’t melt and eliminates the mess of liquid attractants. Info: fishstickslureenhancer.com

Overheard

• Caspian terns nesting on Goose Island in Potholes Reservoir have annually consumed an average of 15.7 percent of steelhead smolts and 2.5 percent of the spring chinook smolts out-migrating from the upper Columbia River, but a new non-lethal “dissuasion” strategy employed last year persuaded all but three pairs of Caspian terns from attempting to nest on the island. Goose Island tern predation on steelhead was reduced to only 2.9 percent in 2014 and the chinook take dropped to 0.3 percent.

• A 3-foot-long adipose-clipped adult springer was counted at Bonneville Dam last week – the first of the spring season. If projections are accurate, it will be followed by more than 232,000 others, the sixth-highest return since 1980. Upriver spring Chinook typically reach peak abundance at Bonneville Dam in late April or early May but hold off on spawning until early fall.

Heads up

On Saturday, Burke Lake in the Quincy Wildlife Area will be the site of the Tagged Trout Derby sponsored by the Quincy Valley Tourism Association. One of the tagged trout released into Burke will be worth $2,000 and another worth $1,000. There are other tagged fish in the lake worth $100 each and prizes for biggest fish and heaviest stringer in both adult and youth divisions. Register today on line at quincyvalleytourism.org.

Fly fishing

Amber Lake had an excellent opener on Sunday. One angler fishing a black leech out of a pontoon boat said he caught more than 30 trout.

The Grande Ronde has been excellent around Boggan’s Oasis. There are a lot of fish in the river. Nymphing stones and eggs has been the ticket.

The Spokane River closes March 15. In the meantime, go with streamers. The water is high but fishable.

Salmon and steelhead

Corkies and yarn are a good bet on the Grande Ronde River. A fair number of 3- to 6-pound hatchery steelhead are in the mix, but there have been a few topping 12 pounds. Good steelhead reports are still coming out of the Clearwater River near Orofino.

Areas that will continue to be open for steelhead angling until further notice include: Mainstem Columbia River from Rock Island Dam to 400 feet below Chief Joseph Dam; Entiat River from the mouth to approximately half mile upstream; Methow River from the mouth to the upstream boundary of Heckendorn Park and from Highway 20 Bridge in Winthrop to the confluence of the Chewuch River; Similkameen River from the mouth to 400 feet below Enloe Dam; Okanogan River from the mouth to the Highway 97 Bridge in Oroville. Keep an eye on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife news releases regarding the Methow as it could close at any time.

The Wind River and Drano Lake open for salmon fishing March 16, with a daily limit two hatchery chinook, or two hatchery steelhead, or one of each. Some of the best catch rates of the season are often recorded in March near the Ringold Springs Hatchery, said Paul Hoffarth, WDFW fish biologist.

Fisheries for hatchery steelhead are open through March on the Snake River and on the Columbia River downstream from the wooden powerline towers at the Old Hanford town site. Steelhead fishing is not permitted anywhere on the Yakima River.

Trout and kokanee

Liberty Lake was crowded on Sunday, but fishing wasn’t good. Friends who fished Amber on Sunday with barbless single-hook Hotshots and white tube jigs, however, said they were shocked at how large some of the fish were. A few nice rainbow but no macks were reported at Deer Lake.

Trolling the west side along the cliffs, Rock Lake anglers are catching big browns (15-20 inches) as well as rainbow running about 16 inches.

The six Tucannon River impoundments on WDFW’s Wooten Wildlife Area in Columbia County produced good fishing Sunday for catchables and jumbos. These lakes will be stocked throughout the spring. Fishing in the Columbia Basin lakes was excellent on the Sunday opener.

Quincy, Martha and Caliche lakes were three of the best for 11- to 13-inch yearling rainbows and winter-carryovers up to 20 inches. Burke Lake gave up some nice-sized carryovers and Dusty Lake fished well for 14- to 20-inch trout.

Lenice and Nunnally lakes, on the Crab Creek Wildlife Area just east of Beverly in south Grant County, fished well for trout ranging in size from 14 to 20 inches. Fishing opportunities still exist at the four winter trout lakes in Eastern Washington – Hatch and Williams in Stevens County, Hog Canyon and Fourth of July. Recent reports from Fourth of July indicate there is still good fishing from shore at about midlake on the east side.

Eric Anderson, a WDFW fish biologist based in Yakima, said WDFW will stock 20 lakes and ponds open year-round in Yakima, Kittitas, Franklin and Benton counties with thousands of “catchable size” rainbows, along with hundreds of jumbo trout weighing 1 to 1 ½ pounds apiece. As of this writing, five lakes had been stocked. For more information, see the regional trout stocking report on the department’s website.

Trout fishing on Lake Roosevelt has slowed down, with the best success coming the closer you get to Grand Coulee Dam. Last week, a friend fished three times from shore near Hanson Harbor, catching fast limits twice but getting only one the third day. That said, kokanee fishing was better this week near Spring Canyon, and the trout, too, seemed less fickle across the lake from the launch.

Anglers with small boats were launching at Coffeepot on the Sunday opener and experiencing phenomenal fishing for 16- to 17-inch rainbow. Trolled Wooly Buggers near the surface were effective.

Long Lake is still murky but the trout fishing is excellent all the way to Long Lake Dam. The fish are running 14-15 inches. Trolled walleye spinners baited with nightcrawlers account for a lot of fish. The only public launch open is at Fort Spokane.

There were no good reports from Sprague Lake this week. Evidently, the fish are again waiting for warmer weather.

Lake Chelan kokanee have provided consistent fishing. The fish are running 12-16 inches. Try near Mitchell Creek and Twenty-five Mile Creek. Pink and orange hootchies behind dodgers have been good. Tip the hooks with white or pink-dyed corn.

Hayden Lake kokanee averaging a foot are biting again.

Spiny ray

Perch anglers in Moses Lake were still doing well by the I-90 Bridge this week, but they are taking smaller fish than last week. The walleye bite on Moses has been fair. On Potholes, trollers are catching a lot of decent-sized walleyes trolling a slow death hook behind a bottom bouncer.

Paul Hoffarth, WDFW fish biologist, reminds anglers that some of the year’s biggest walleye are caught from the Columbia in the spring. These fish are preparing to spawn and are nearing their highest weight of the year, he said. Walleye are routinely caught above McNary Dam in Lake Wallula, including the lower Snake River and the Hanford Reach.

Walleye fishermen say fishing has been tough in the Spokane Arm where the water is clearing some. A few keeper-sized fish are being caught.

Eloika Lake was still about 20 percent ice-covered last weekend and the water was 39 degrees. Bass fishermen were marking fish but not catching them.

Barker Flats on Banks Lake has been good for walleye anglers trolling in 35 feet of water with slow death hooks baited with nightcrawlers. A smile blade makes the rig even more effective. Keepers are still scarce as most of the fish are a shade less than 16 inches.

Other species

Sturgeon fishing is limited to catch-and-release in the Bonneville Pool, but anglers can keep one legal-size fish per day in The Dalles and John Day pools until annual harvest guidelines have been met. March is also the time the sturgeon bite generally begins on the Snake River close to Lower Granite Dam.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com