Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report for Oct. 6

Wed., Oct. 5, 2016

By Alan Liere spokesmanliere@yahoo.com

Tip of the week

Fishing for chinook in the lower Reach of the Ringold area of the Columbia can be tricky because of fluctuating water levels. Generally, low or dropping water will find the fish in the deeper holes. On high or rising water, they will move into shallower travel lanes, but the first few hours after a high water drop are almost unfishable because of the amount of weedy debris in the water.

Braggin’ rights

The recent Casey McKern Pay It Forward foundation’s annual Balls and Chain walleye tournament out of Kettle Falls with 122 anglers in 42 boats was won by the husband and wife team of Mike and Kerri Cook. Team Priddy/Rose and Race/Fiola took second and team Priddy/Renz took third. (The Priddy boys are brothers.) Melissa Link from the Tri-Cities area landed the big fish of the day, a 6.78 pounder, on a homemade pink spinner.

Overheard

Fishing for fall chinook continues through Oct. 15 on the mainstem Columbia River within the stretches from Brewster to Chief Joseph Dam and between Rock Island Dam and Wells Dam. The stretches from Priest Rapids to Rock Island dams, including Wanapum Dam, and from Vernita Bridge to Priest Rapids Dam, are open through Oct. 22.

Although steelhead are coming over Lower Granite Dam at over 2,000 per day, that does not necessarily translate to good fishing at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater. Every year in late September, the Corps raises the water behind Lower Granite causing the confluence waters to become almost stagnant, thus shutting down the bite. The rising water also causes a lot of debris from the banks to float out into the river, making trolling at night particularly difficult. Under these conditions, it is not impossible to catch a steelhead, but those who fish the confluence and lower Clearwater often know that fishing will get much better soon.

The Nez Perce Tribe have had nets out on the Snake between the launch above Lower Granite ad the fish ladders, and this is undoubtedly also affecting the number of fish at the confluence.

Heads up

There have been changes made to the white-tailed deer season in northeastern Washington. Youth, senior, and hunters with disabilities have a four-day season with a bag limit of “any white-tailed deer,” which is different than what is printed in the pamphlet.

The Snohomish River will re-open today through Sunday for coho salmon. Fishing is allowed one hour before sunrise to one hour before sunset.

Fly fishing

Chad Jackson, WDFW Columbia Basin district fish biologist, notes that Rocky Ford Creek in Grant County is a good bet this month for catch-and-release fly-fishing opportunities. Water remains high so access is limited, but hoppers, scuds and the WD-40 are taking a lot of big, beautiful rainbow.

At Desert Fly Anglers in Ephrata, Darc Knoebel says Dry Falls Lake is fishing well. Numbers are not huge, but quality is good. He recommends waterboatman, leech and bloodworm patterns.

Amber and Williams lakes have seen some good dry fly action recently. Most of Amber’s trout are 14-15 inches, but there are enough 20-plus inchers in the lake to provide a good adrenaline rush.

At the Spokane Fly Fishers Wednesday presentation, Molly Semenik will discuss the hundreds of productive, breathtaking Montana rivers and streams that are a little smaller, a little lesser known, and a lot less frequented than the more popular rivers like the Madison and Bighorn. The presentation starts at 7:00 p.m. at the St. Francis School (1104 W. Heroy).

Salmon and steelhead

Chinook anglers launching from Vernita, White Bluffs and Ringold have all had excellent fishing when the water is right. Most of those fish have been weighing in at 15-plus pounds, with some tipping the scales at over 30 pounds, said Paul Hoffarth, regional fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Backtrolling Jumbo Jet divers and tuna-wrapped Flatfish and Kwikfish has been popular. Most of the fish caught recently were from Ringold down river.

Salmon anglers should give the Yakima River a look as fishing for fall chinook and coho has just started to improve. Best bets include the waters from the Grant Avenue Bridge downstream to the I-82 Bridge in Prosser and just downstream of Horn Rapids Dam. Hoffarth says, “The salmon start moving slowly into the Yakima, then all of a sudden they’re stacked like cordwood. I think we’re going to see a dramatic improvement in that fishery in the weeks ahead.”

Anglers can now harvest Ringold Springs hatchery steelhead on the Columbia River from the Highway 395 Bridge at Pasco upstream to the old Hanford town site wooden powerline towers. Only those steelhead marked with both a clipped adipose fin and a clipped right ventral fin can be retained. This is a very dependable fishery, with anglers typically taking 1,000 to 2,000 steelhead each year.

Trout and kokanee

October is the last month – and often a very good time – to fish many of the region’s popular trout-stocked lakes and some rivers and streams. Fall insect hatches are providing trout food, so anglers who mimic that forage can be successful.

This year’s planter Roosevelt rainbow have reached a respectable 14-15 inches and that fishery is once again gaining popularity. The Lincoln area has had positive mentions lately. Anglers report good action on Kekeda flies trolled on leaded line without a dodger.

Douglas County’s Jameson Lake, which has been closed since July 4, re-opened Oct. 1 for another month of fishing.

Spiny ray

Lake Coeur d’Alene has given up some decent-sized northern pike recently, reports Mark Mills of Spokane. He says there are some nice fish available, but the water temperature actually went up a few degrees last week and the big movement of larger fish hasn’t happened yet.

October is a great time to catch walleye below McNary Dam. The fish between Umatilla and Boardman will strike big lures day and night.

Walleye fishing has been slow at popular destinations to the south. Banks, Moses and Potholes are not putting out big numbers, though anglers report a better ratio of larger fish.

Blue and Park lakes in Grant County are scheduled for rehabilitation and the size and bag limits have been suspended. On Blue Lake, the season ends on Oct. 21 and on Park Lake on Oct. 28. Both of the lakes offer very good fishing for yellow perch. Blue Lake has good bank access and there are boat launches on both.

Other species

Most areas of Puget Sound will reopen for recreational crab fishing in October. Areas opening to sport crabbing on Friday include Marine Area 12 and the portion of Marine Area 9 north of the Hood Canal Bridge to a line from Foulweather Bluff to Olele Point. Eight more areas will open to sport crabbing on Oct. 15, including Marine Areas 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-1, 8-2, the remainder of 9, and 10. Crabbing will be allowed seven days a week through Dec. 31.

White sturgeon fishing on the Wanapum and Priest Rapids reservoirs of the Columbia River has been extended through November. The fishery allows daily harvest of up to three white sturgeon between 38 and 72 inches. Removal of these hatchery-origin fish is consistent with ongoing actions to rebuild depressed populations of wild-origin white sturgeon.

Hunting

Just in time for hunting season, the WDFW has lifted restrictions on most department-managed lands in eastern Washington. A few localized restrictions will remain in place, including a campfire ban through Oct. 15 at all WDFW wildlife areas in Benton, Franklin, Yakima, and Kittitas counties and at the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area in Grant and Adams counties through Oct. 31.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere @ yahoo.com