Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for April 21

April 20, 2022 Updated Wed., April 20, 2022 at 8 p.m.

By Alan Liere For The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Trout that are feeding near the surface may be boat shy, so positioning your gear away from the boat is a good idea. While some anglers use side planers while trolling, the Double D Dodger has a unique action and setup that allows the angler to move trolling gear away from the boat. The graphic on the face of the dodger indicates which hole to attach the mainline in order to create a dodging action that moves gear away from either port or starboard sides of the boat.

Braggin’ rights

My friends, George and Steve Kueber, from Killam, Alberta sprung for Washington non-resident alien hunting licenses and turkey tags and drove the nearly 600 miles from their homes to hunt turkeys with me. Tuesday morning, George was rewarded with a limb-hanger tom with a 10-inch beard and spurs nearly two inches long. George has killed several massive whitetail, moose and elk near his home, and said the 22-pound turkey provided more nervous excitement than many of his big game hunts as it put on a 20-minute show, fanning and drumming before coming into range. Steve and I are still hunting.

Heads up

The Kid’s Fishing Event at the Fairchild AFB Clear Lake Recreation Area will be Saturday, May 7 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. You must register your child by Friday, either online or by visiting the WDFW office at N. Discovery Place in Spokane Valley. It costs $10 per child and checks are payable to Inland Northwest Wildlife Council.

The Spokane Walleye club will have two presentations at their next meeting. The first will be mapping the various landmarks anglers use to efficiently increase their catch rate on the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt. Maps will be provided. The second presentation details various methods using electronic methods to secure your boat and gear in this time of increasing crime. The meetings is at the N.W. Wildlife Council building at 6116 N. Market street, Spokane, starting at 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome, member or not.

Idaho Fish and Game has updated its fall hunting season in response to two disease outbreaks and new legislation that affected some seasons and rules. You can see the 2022 Idaho Big Game Seasons and Rules online, and the printed booklets will be at license and tag vendors and Fish and Game regional offices later this month.

Overheard

The Liberty Lake launch has a ‘Pack it in Pack it out’ sign and offers no other way for boaters and other anglers to dispose of their trash. Unfortunately, the sign isn’t having the desired effect as the area is strewn with garbage. People who live nearby wonder why an ongoing weekly trash removal program that works to address the loose trash as well as bathroom cleanliness can’t be instigated as property taxes in the area are high enough to justify the fix.

Evidently my one day of razor clamming in March was the only day the clams weren’t showing. A friend has been digging assorted beaches on assorted days and doing very well on what he says are “the biggest razor clams I have seen in many years of digging.” The day he called me, he said he had dug a 20-clam limit in 20 minutes in a patch of beach no bigger than a pickup truck.

Fly fishing

McDowell and Bailey lakes open to fly fishing Saturday and are expected to fish well this year.

The St. Joe River has fished well recently. Silver Bow Fly Shop said there has been some good March brown fishing in the afternoon following streamer fishing in the morning. You can go as high as Packsaddle above Avery. The upper stretches of most rivers won’t be worth fishing until sometime in May.

Trout and kokanee

The Washington lowland lakes fishing opener is Saturday. Top prospects in District 1 are Cedar, Starvation and Rocky, but Waitts Lake, which is open all year, should also fish well, as should Jumpoff Joe. Sherry, Mudgett and Rigby lakes received sizable plants. In District 2, West Medical, Clear and Fishtrap will probably be good, but Badger may be better with plenty of carryovers and some good-sized kokanee.

Chelan Lake kokanee are deep and beginning to move to the lower basin. A good place to start is out from the red roofs area. The fish aren’t in big schools yet, but they are bigger this year. The best depth seems to be between 70 and 80 feet, and mornings have seen the most success.

Spiny ray

Walleye anglers have had good luck recently at Rufus Woods and the Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt. Jigging and bottom-bouncing have been equally productive. On Roosevelt, some big walleye and smallmouth have been included as part of the catch.

There were lots of walleye, smallmouth bass and some big rainbow turned in at the recent Banks Lake Triple Fish Challenge. Banks Lake fishing for all species has improved considerably in the past two weeks.

Moses Lake is a great place to start bass fishing. There are miles of shoreline and lots of docks to cast to on Moses Lake. Fish should be in prespawn mode and not yet on their beds. They will be staging soon, though, and catching will ramp up considerably.

Braving the elements on Eloika Lake, a friend had a good day of crappie fishing with his two children on Monday, catching 40-some fish in two hours. He said most of the fish were over the 9-inch legal size limit. Crappie are also beginning to show in shallow water in other lowland lakes like Sacheen, Newman, Fernan, Hayden and Hauser.

Salmon and steelhead

Spring chinook salmon will be open on the Snake River as described:

Location A: Open Tuesdays and Fridays only, beginning May 3 until further notice. Location B: Open Wednesdays and Thursdays only, beginning May 4 until further notice. Location A is below Little Goose Dam from the Texas Rapids boat launch to the fishing restriction boundary below Little Goose Dam. This zone includes both shores and the rock and concrete area between the juvenile bypass return pipe and Little Goose Dam along the south shoreline of the facility including the walkway area locally known as “the Wall” in front of the juvenile collection facility. Location B is below Ice Harbor Dam from the southbound Highway 12 Bridge near Pasco upstream about 7 miles to the fishing restriction boundary below Ice Harbor Dam.

Hunting

Although turkey hunting has been puzzling for me this spring, several friends have done well. I’m hearing few gobbles, and birds that normally visit my pasture north of Spokane have not appeared. I’m blaming the unsettled weather, and with over five weeks left in the season, I’m optimistic things will turn around.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved the 2022-23 migratory game bird seasons during its April 14 conference call. Notable changes include duck seasons closing on Jan. 31 for a majority of the state, Canada goose bag limits increasing from four to five geese and sandhill crane tags increasing in all but one area

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com