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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for Jan. 17

Fly fishing

Streamer fishing is still worth trying on the Spokane River, but nymphing has been most consistent.

Good fishing reports are coming in from Rocky Ford. Small scuds have been mentioned the most.

Ice fishing

Friends who fished Hatch this week said the ice and fishing were good. They were using either a 2-inch Gulp grub in white on a drop shot hook or a white crappie jig and meal worm. The trout were 14-15 inches long.

There have been anglers on Jump-Off Joe this week. A report on Monday said the ice was just more than 3 inches thick.

Another report Wednesday said it was 6 inches thick, but the fishing was poor. Sacheen and Diamond have ice also, but no reports on fishing success. Eloika Lake ice has been “moaning” and popping the last few days, which indicates it is freezing, but as of Wednesday, there were no fishermen on the lake and there was a lot of open water in front of the public access. The upcoming warming trend will likely further compromise ice fishing possibilities.

Farther north, Gillette Lake ice is OK, but fishing has been slow. A few suspended trout are being caught, but not many perch. Coffin Lake has been good for perch and trout. It is in the hills 16 miles east of Colville in the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge, about 3 miles south of the Little Pend Oreille chain lakes where Gillette is located.

January is usually the best month for ice fishing at Curlew Lake. Some anglers have come off the ice with more than a hundred of the 9- to 12-inch perch. The most easily accessed spot is straight out from the State Park boat launch in 30-40 feet of water.

Upper Twin in Idaho has 3-4 inches of clear ice. Round Lake has 3 inches. Bonner Lake near Bonners Ferry in North Idaho was planted with burbot a few years back and is open to fishing. Anglers who tried there recently said the fish were only about a foot long. The lake has 5 inches of ice.

Also in Idaho, Blue Lake (north of Priest Lake) has about 5 inches of clear ice all the way across but lots of slush on top. Fishing for panfish has been decent, mostly 8-inch perch. Kelso has 5-6 inches of ice. Trout fishing has been fair. Freeman Lake (in Bonner County, 6.3 miles from Priest River) has good ice in places, but there are also spots where the ice is only 3-4 inches thick. Anglers there are catching lots of 8- to 10-inch perch as well as some nice-sized trout.

Trout and kokanee

I thought my poor fishing luck on Roosevelt last Friday was an anomaly, but several other anglers reported a slow to nonexistent bite this week. Two friends and I trolled about five hours out of Lincoln and caught only four clipped rainbow. The last fish of the day came as we were reeling in to go home and it was already dead as it had engulfed all three lures without our knowledge of a bite – a small Rapala, a Muddler minnow fly and an Apex. A friend who fished near Lincoln on Tuesday said his party had three kokanee on and landed one small one. He also couldn’t find the trout. The one decent Lake Roosevelt fishing report came from Spring Canyon.

Pend Oreille Lake continues to give up some large rainbow for anglers trolling near the surface.

Other species

The next round of evening razor clam digs on evening tides will run today through Monday at various ocean beaches, including the first opening of the season at Kalaloch.

The upcoming dig is approved on the following beaches, dates, and evening low tides:

Thursday – 3:39 p.m.; 0.4 feet; Twin Harbors; Friday – 4:30 p.m.; -0.4 feet; Twin Harbors; Saturday – 5:18 p.m.; -1.1 feet; Twin Harbors, Mocrocks, Kalaloch; Sunday – 6:05 p.m.; -1.6 feet; Twin Harbors, Copalis, Kalaloch; Monday – 6:51 p.m.; -1.8 feet; Twin Harbors, Mocrocks, Kalaloch

WDFW has also tentatively scheduled a dig Feb. 1-3 pending the results of marine toxin tests.

Hunting

My bird hunting season ended with a bit of a whimper on Sunday with a 250-mile round trip, a four-hour walk for quail, no shots fired, one charley horse and a lost Brittany. The replacement battery I had ordered for her collar had not arrived as promised, and my efforts to hunt her without an electronic connection made it impossible to know where she was in the tall sage. Fortunately, she was eventually located on point 300 yards from me, too close to the busy highway for comfort. I called it a day, put her on leash and headed back to the truck.

A friend who hunted pheasants Tuesday near Winona said he saw may birds, but they were extremely wild and he returned home empty-handed. The Washington upland bird season ends Monday. Waterfowl remain open through Jan. 28.

The application period for Idaho spring controlled black bear hunts kicked off on Tuesday and runs through Feb. 15. Applications for the spring turkey controlled hunts will be accepted from Feb. through March 1. Under new rules, Fish and Game will not be accepting mail-in applications for the controlled hunts. Hunters may apply at any hunting and fishing license vendor or Fish and Game office; with a credit card by calling (800) 554-8685; or idfg.idaho.gov/tag/controlled-hunt.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@ yahoo.com