Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report for Feb. 4

Wed., Feb. 3, 2016

By Alan Liere spokesmanliere@yahoo.com

Tip of the week

To fish for steelhead more effectively from shore, find a good run and mentally partition the water in front of you into five lanes, each about 12 feet wide and running parallel to the bank. Begin working the lane closest to you, making each subsequent cast one lane farther out. Once you run out of lanes, begin cycling through jig colors. If you don’t get a hit after 25 casts and five color cycles, switch your offering type – if you're fishing jigs, switch to beads or Corkies. If this still brings no strikes, try bait. Most anglers have never tried nightcrawlers for steelhead, but they are sometimes more effective than shrimp or roe.

Braggin’ rights

Despite snow and slick roads, intrepid burbot anglers are making early-morning forays to the Porcupine Bay launch on Lake Roosevelt to fish for burbot – some with great success. The early bite has been best, with most fish coming before 10 a.m.

Overheard

State fishery managers expect about 299,000 adult spring chinook to enter the Columbia River this year. The fishery is open now below the Interstate 5 bridge, but it usually doesn't catch fire until March when fishing expands upriver to Bonneville Dam and beyond.

Heads up

Kokanee fishermen, or those who want to give this popular fishery a try for the first time, would benefit from two free seminars Feb. 17 at Town Ford (across from Costco) in East Wenatchee. One is by guide Shane Magnuson, of Upper Columbia Guide Service, on kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan. The other is by guide Austin Moser, of Austin’s Northwest Adventure Guide Service, on kokanee fishing on Lake Roosevelt. Both of these men have kokanee fishing dialed in.

Fly fishing

Streamer fishing has been a good option lately on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene. Silver Bow Fly Shop suggests something flashy with legs and a little weight. The flows are up, so look for pockets near shore. The upper Spokane River has also been decent this past week for streamer fishing. The lower river is muddy.

Steelhead and salmon

The Clearwater River is experiencing excellent winter fishing with guide boats having double-digit days.

Fishing for steelhead in the Wenatchee and Columbia (Rocky Island Dam to Entiat) rivers continues to chug along at a modest pace, but WDFW fish biologist Travis Maitland says there has been relatively low angler participation. Fishing just above Rocky Reach Dam on either side of the Columbia River up to Entiat seems to be the best spot for a chance at a hatchery steelhead. Anglers in this section have been having the most luck using a bobber and jig tipped with a piece of shrimp.

The next two months look promising for steelhead fishing in areas of the Hanford Reach and the Snake River. While often a little spotty, this year’s winter fishery has been better than most and is likely to get even better by late February. The Snake is a little high but the water clarity is still good.

The run of hatchery steelhead is winding down in Westside rivers, but more wild steelhead are arriving each week. Beginning Feb. 16, anglers can choose to retain one wild steelhead per license year from the lower reaches of the following rivers: the Quillayute, Dickey, Bogachiel, Calawah, Sol Duc, Hoh, Clearwater, or Quinault. Those eight rivers are the only waters in Washington where an angler can retain a wild steelhead.

Trout and kokanee

Keller Ferry is still the best bet for Lake Roosevelt kokanee averaging about 18 inches, but some days they’re biting and some days they’re not. Trollers dragging flies, Apexes and hootchies are finding fish spread out from shore on the launch side to the middle of the pool no more than 15 feet down and often much shallower.

Kokanee anglers on Roosevelt are also catching some nice rainbow, but the bite has been better from Lincoln to Hansen Harbor. The reservoir water level was holding steady this week at about 1280 feet, which is 10 feet below normal full pool.

WDFW Northeast District Fish Biologist Bill Baker says Hatch and Williams lakes in the Colville area continue to provide catches of rainbows through the ice. Hatch is the better lake this year, with good catch rates and rainbows up to 20 inches. Williams is not currently producing as well, Baker says, due to competing goldfish and smallmouth bass.

Spiny ray

Fish Lake in the Chelan area still has ice and anglers are catching quite a few perch early, with the bite tapering off after 9 a.m. The fish are larger than last year – 8-9 inches with a few larger ones. Fish Lake has similar conditions to every other lake in eastern Washington and north Idaho that is still fishable– a thin crust on top with water underneath and then 4-5 inches of better ice. Ice conditions are becoming sporadic with weather changes, so anglers need to be very cautious.

Avondale Lake in Idaho is said to have about six feet of water between shore and ice, but if you can get across the gap, the lake still has a pretty solid ice base. Anglers are catching mostly perch, but there are also trout and a large variety of other spiny ray.

Walleye fishing can be slow in winter, but it has been very good so far this winter around Hanford on the Columbia River.

Lake Roosevelt walleye anglers are having some great days around Porcupine Bay followed by a day or two trying to tantalize fish with lockjaw. A lot of anglers are exploring water elsewhere in the Spokane Arm with some success. Blade baits are gaining popularity, but for first locating fish it is hard to beat a trolled Slow Death Hook and nightcrawler. Some are adding a Smile Blade in front.

The bite on the humps at Potholes was slow this week.

Other species

The WDFW has approved a month-long razor clam dig from Thursday through March 10 at Long Beach after marine toxin tests showed the clams are safe to eat. The department approved this extended opening due to the abundance of clams available. The dig is on evening tides.

Last year, I got one burbot report the entire winter, but for the past three weeks this year, there have been multiple reports each week from a variety of Lake Roosevelt destinations. Some anglers are trying night fishing in the traditional spots. It’s not as comfortable as fishing the mornings, but the bite can be very good.

The McNary Pool (also known as Lake Wallula) opened Feb. 1 for retention of one legal-size sturgeon a day. The fishery extends from McNary Dam upstream to Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River and upstream to Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake. Only fish measuring 43-54 inches from their snout to the fork in their tail may be retained, with an annual harvest limit of two fish. Only fish that are going to be kept may be removed from the water.

The same catch and size limits apply to the sturgeon fishery currently under way in the John Day Pool, also known as Lake Umatilla. Anglers have been chiseling away at the 500-fish annual quota for the pool, so don’t wait too long to try it.

Hunting

Hunters may now purchase and submit applications for a 2016 spring black bear hunting permit, applicable to specific areas of western and eastern Washington. To be eligible for a permit, hunters must purchase and submit an application to WDFW by midnight on Feb. 29. To apply for a permit, hunters must purchase a special permit application and a 2016 hunting license that includes bear as a species option. This may be done online at fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov, by phone at (866) 246-9453 or at any license vendor in the state.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com