Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report for Oct. 13

Wed., Oct. 12, 2016

Alan Liere

Tip of the week

Steelhead anglers are missing a bet by not trying wacky-rigged plastics. A pink or orange “bass worm” will often outfish the more traditional lures.

Braggin’ rights

Two friends and I beat an Alberta snow storm home last week with three-day possession limits of specklebelly geese. We saw a lot of pintail ducks but opted not to shoot any because they were uncolored and scrawny. The early snowfall up north should bode well for Washington and Idaho waterfowlers.

Overheard

The size of the chinook salmon run on the Columbia River has been downgraded on four consecutive weeks. The latest downgrade brought the run estimate to just over 713,000 fish, down from the preseason forecast of 960,000 fish.
The Technical Advisory Committee now estimates 40,500 of the big-bodied B-run steelhead that return mostly to the Clearwater River will make it at least as far as Bonneville Dam. If those fish experience average survival, about 28,350 will make it to Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River. “I think this will be one of the bigger returns to the Clearwater in the last couple of years,” said Alan Byrne, an Idaho Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist.

Heads up

In response to a wildfire that burned about 75 percent of the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area near Idaho Falls, Idaho, Fish and Game is offering special controlled hunts with 500 antlerless deer tags and 500 antlerless elk tags to be sold on a first-come, first-served basis at 10 a.m. (Mountain Time) on Thursday.

Fly fishing

The Spokane River is a good place to be mornings or evenings with a box full of soft hackles when the caddis are hatching.

Insect hatches are not taking place all day long, so waiting until it warms up is not a bad idea. The Coeur d’Alene River has seen a lot of pressure this season, so go small and use fluorocarbon, or make the drive to the St. Joe River where the trout have seen less fisherman activity.

Silver Bow Fly Shop says the North Fork Clearwater/Kelly Creek area is still experiencing good to great fishing but there is some light snow in the pass. Four-wheel drive is recommended.

Salmon and steelhead

The catch-and-keep steelhead season on Idaho’s Clearwater River begins on Saturday, and judging by the number of fish caught during the current catch-and-release season, the fishing should be excellent. There are quite a few big B-runs being taken.

Cooler water temperatures and increased flow are sending more fish up the Grande Ronde River. It’s not lights-out fishing to be sure, but anglers who put in their time will get a fish or two.

Excellent action on both steelhead and chinook is reported in the Heller Bar area by anglers side-drifting eggs. Recently, approximately half the fish have been unclipped and must be released.

The 2016 fall chinook run past McNary Dam has peaked, and there appears to a lot of fish stacked up through the Hanford Reach below Priest Rapids Dam. Boats are averaging a chinook every 14 angler hours. When the Super Bait or Kwik Fish bite ends, it is often possible to catch a chinook by dunking eggs on bottom in the deeper holes. Some new fish have pushed into the area with the recent rains, and with more rain in the forecast, anglers are hoping the push will continue.

Effective immediately through Nov. 30, six chinook salmon from Priest Rapids Dam to 400 feet below Chief Joseph Dam may be retained each day, whether clipped or unclipped. Only three of these can be adult fish. Chinook salmon with a one-quarter-inch diameter hole punched in the upper lobe of the tail fin must be released.

The Snohomish River, the Skykomish River downstream of the Wallace River and the Wallace River are now open for coho salmon through Oct. 31.

Trout and kokanee

The rainbow bite on Lake Roosevelt appears to have begun in earnest. Trollers dragging flies and Rippin’ Minnows in the top 15 feet of water have been limiting in a few hours on fish running mostly 17-18 inches.

Rock Lake rainbow trout have been cooperative, and you don’t need to run the length of the lake to find fish. Fish running mostly 14-16 inches are wiling biters on the south end. Most anglers are throwing spoons and small plugs.

A good trout bite is reported at Clear Lake this week, with anglers trolling along the cliffs catching limits of rainbow and browns up to 16 inches. Clear is open through the end of October.

Waitts Lake remains a fairly predictable trout fishery. The smaller rainbow are still suspended at roughly 15 feet, and larger rainbow and browns are deeper. A trolled fly and worm with or without a dodger will get the job done.

Spiny ray

Lake Spokane is producing a lot of large perch from 15-20 feet of water, and the cooling water has reinvigorated the trout bite. Drop a worm or small jig just outside the weed beds. Most of the trout are roughly 16 inches in length.

Walleye fishing has been very good below Wells Dam with quite a few fish over 20 inches taken.

Lake Coeur d’Alene water temperatures dropped into the high 50s recently, and the northern pike bite picked up substantially. Mark Mills of Spokane fished the lake with a friend last week, and the duo accounted for 14 pike with nine of them measuring 30 inches or better. Bright colored glide baits accounted for the majority of fish which were in 4-10 feet of water on the weed edges.

Other species

The first Washington fall razor clam opening runs Friday through Sunday at Copalis, Mocrocks and Twin Harbors, and Monday through Wednesday at Twin Harbors only. Digging will be allowed only on evening tides. Long Beach will remain closed to clam digging due to test results that show domoic acid levels that exceed the amount deemed safe under state health standards

Hunting

One of Washington’s most popular hunting seasons will get underway on Saturday when hunters with modern firearms will go looking for deer. “Deer hunting opportunities should be good in many parts of the state,” said Jerry Nelson, WDFW deer and elk manager. The area between Colville and Northport will probably be best. The early whitetail season runs through Oct. 25 in some units and Oct. 28 in others, and mule deer are open through Oct. 25 with a three-point minimum in select areas.

Washington hunters age 65 and over, disabled and youth may shoot any whitetail deer through Oct. 28 in GMU 124, but in units 101, 105, 108, 111, 113, 117 and 121, either-sex hunts for those groups are open only Oct. 20-23.

Washington hunters will also take to the field for ducks and geese on Saturday. “We expect another strong season,” said WDFW waterfowl manager Kyle Spragens. The Washington duck season runs through Wednesday, then resumes Oct. 22 and remains open through Jan. 29, 2017.

The Washington goose season in Management Area 3 is Saturday through Oct. 27 and Nov. 5 through Jan. 29. In Area 4, the season begins Saturday and is open on every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday with a few extra days during holidays through Jan. 16 and then every day Jan. 23-29. The Area 5 season runs Saturday through Monday and every day Oct. 22 through Jan. 29. There are exceptions for dusky Canadas and Brant, so check your regulations.

The general any-weapon hunts for deer began on Monday in many parts of Idaho. Most waterfowl seasons are either already open or open Saturday. Unit 1, which borders Canada, surrounds Priest Lake, and extends to Pend Oreille Lake, is loaded with whitetail. Mule deer season there opens Nov. 1, and tags are available over the counter. The most public deer land in Idaho is probably in remote Unit 4A, where the deer grow big and rarely see a human.

The early fall turkey season in Washington continues through Oct. 31 in GMUs 101-142. Birds have been plentiful.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere @ yahoo.com