Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for Feb. 24
Open water fishing
Walleye fishing on Lake Roosevelt has been perplexing, as spots that hold good numbers one day are devoid of fish the next. Most fish are being caught from Buoy 1 downriver. If fishing above Buoy 5, keep your boat in the channel or you’re likely to find yourself stuck on a sandbar.
Even rainbow trout have been sometimes difficult to find on Lake Roosevelt and trollers report catching smaller trout around Sterling. As the reservoir continues to drop, bank fishing will become more popular in places like Spring Canyon, Keller, Lincoln, Jones Bay, Hawk Creek and Fort Spokane.
Triploid rainbow fishing on Rufus Woods Reservoir has been fair. Bait casters are taking some hefty fish near the second set of net pens and trollers are finding success along the “can line” of Chief Joseph Dam.
Ice fishing, Washington
This is the time of year when ice can leave a lake quickly, but with our current cold snap, hard water anglers will find more options than usual for the last week of February and the first week of March.
Tuesday marks the opening of the Tucannon River impoundments in Columbia County, but though the lakes were free of ice last week, it remains to be seen if they stay that way. These lakes were scheduled to be planted before the opener, but ice may push that back. For current conditions, call The Last Resort at 843-1556.
Fourth of July and Hog Canyon lakes in Spokane County are open until the end of March. Fourth of July usually breaks up first.
Amber Lake in Spokane County opens Tuesday for catch-and-release until the general fishing season opener in late April. Anglers can expect to catch cutthroat and rainbow, but it may be an ice fishing event for a while. Also opening close to Spokane on Tuesday are Liberty, Deer, Medical and Downs, all of which have ice.
Coffeepot Lake in Lincoln County is another Tuesday opening, but it, too, is ice-covered. There are some big rainbow in Coffeepot, as well as perch, bass and bullheads. Coffeepot is a selective gear lake.
The small lakes in Grant County scheduled to open Tuesday have ice, as do Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir. Quincy Lake will be good. Also open are the Upper and Lower Caliche lakes, Cascade, Chrystal, Cup, Dry Falls, Dusty, Lenice, Lenore, Martha, Merry, Nunnally and Spring. Crystal, Cup and Spring lakes have been the most consistent over the years, and Martha and Upper Caliche are usually top producers in the spring. Dry Falls has large rainbow and browns. Ice fishing may be a possibility for all lakes on the Tuesday opener.
Dusty, a hike-in lake, offers good numbers of large rainbows and some that are huge. It also has tiger trout and brown trout. It is a selective gear fishery with a limit of one fish over 18 inches.
Lenice and Nunnally lakes have triploid rainbow and a few brown and tiger trout. Selective fishing regulations are in effect on both lakes. Lake Lenore has a lot of cutthroat and many of them are over 4 pounds. A lot of prespawn Lahontan cutthroat will be caught on the north end of the lake if the ice is gone. From March through May, it is a selective gear lake.
Sacheen Lake remains one of the best spots in Eastern Washington besides Curlew for decent-sized perch, but you probably won’t find them in the first big bay from the public access. Fishing has been generally slower recently.
There has been quite a bit of fishing activity at the bottom end of Banks Lake and also near Coulee Playland at the top end. Ice at these locations looks good, but there are areas of open water elsewhere. Most of the recent effort has been for big lake whitefish, though a friend fishing for these also caught some walleye.
Anglers are still catching good numbers of fish on iced-up lakes in the northern part of the Okanogan. Patterson Lake, Near Winthrop, is producing rainbow trout and perch.
Anglers fishing Bonaparte Lake (east of Tonasket) are catching brook trout and kokanee. Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee, is still seeing decent ice fishing for perch and trout.
Ice fishing, Idaho
Bronze Bay on Spirit Lake has seen a few kokanee caught but has not been nearly as productive as in years past.
There is no parking at the boat launch, but anglers are parking on the road and making a short walk to the water. The kokes are generally small.
Granite Lake has good ice, and at times the trout bite is good. When it turns off, however, there is usually a long wait before the bite resumes. Blue Lake has 14 inches of hard ice and a similar bite to that on Granite.
The recent cold temperatures will probably not do much for ice conditions on Priest Lake, particularly on the south end. Cavanaugh Bay has ice, but it doesn’t look good. The northern bays could be better. Fishing for mackinaw has been fair there at times.
Other species
WDFW has confirmed the next round of razor clam digging can proceed as planned from Saturday through March 4. State shellfish managers have also tentatively scheduled 25 razor clam digs on ocean beaches in March and April.
“After some great fall and winter razor clamming, we still have plenty of harvestable clams ready to go for some equally great digging during spring low tides,” said Dan Ayres, the WDFW coastal shellfish manager. “Diggers can expect abundant populations of nice-sized clams on all beaches.” From March 21 and into April, digs will be on morning low tides.
Shellfish and seafood enthusiasts can start making plans to attend the Ocean Shores Razor Clam and Seafood Festival on March 18-20, and the Long Beach Razor Clam Festival on April 16-17.
These two long-running events celebrate the unique contribution of razor clams to Washington’s culture and coastal communities.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com