Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for Feb. 24

March 23, 2022 Updated Wed., March 23, 2022 at 8:58 p.m.

By Alan Liere For The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

When I was a kid, my mom used to spike my orange juice with cod liver oil. I “accidently” spilled many such glasses, and have avoided the evil-tasting liquid ever since. Recently, however, I discovered you can add some tasty (to fish) scent to your fishing lures by dunking them in cod liver oil.

Heads up

The Spokane Walleye Club welcomes Danny Garrett and Kent Mayer from the Washington State Department of Fisheries, who will present a "State of the Lake” address on the health and vitality of Roosevelt Lake at 7 pm Wednesday in the Wildlife Council building, 6116 N. Market, Spokane. Everyone is welcome.

Washington Hunter’s Education Classes will be offered at the Spokane Rifle Club May 9-14 and June 13-17. To register, go to the WDFW web page and click on Hunter’s Education.

The Spokane Kid’s Fishing Event at Clear Lake will be held at Clear Lake’s Fairchild Air Force Bases recreation area on May 7. It is limited to the first 950 sign-ups, so register now at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing /contests/youth.html.

Back by popular demand, Learn-to-Hunt-and-Fish day camps will be held this summer at the Farragut Shooting Range Center. Idaho youths ages 10-15 seeking a hunter education certificate, will have the opportunity to participate in live fire activities with modern bow hunting equipment and firearms under the instruction and supervision of NRA certified instructors. There will be three Learn-to-Hunt-and-Fish day camps offered this summer. The cost is only $9.75 for four days of personalized instruction and mentoring from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Registration is now open. Dates and links to register are:

June 14-17: https://register-ed.com/events/view/179511

July 12-15: https://register-ed.com/events/view/179512

August 16-19: https://register-ed.com/events/view/179513

If you have questions, contact the Panhandle Regional office at (208) 769-1414 and ask for Volunteer Services Coordinator, Wendy Koons.

Overheard

Following an illegal and very disturbing slaughter of a flock of red-winged blackbirds by someone with a shotgun near Aberdeen, Idaho, IDFG reminds everyone it is both against state and federal laws to kill protected non-game birds with four exceptions: European starlings, Eurasian-collared doves, house sparrows, and rock pigeons. These species are nonnative and can be taken outside city limits year-round with a hunting license.

Fly fishing

The St. Joe River and the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene may offer windows of opportunity between high run-off days. If flows are dropping or stable, look for the usual cold-weather, winter-type water eddies, inside bends, backwater areas, side channels – any location that has depth and relief from the current. Streamers and nymphs will do best.

Amber Lake is finally ice free and fishable. Medical Lake is mostly ice free, as is Coffeepot, where float-tubers are beginning to catch some nice rainbow. Liberty Lake is ice free, and a few big brown trout are still being hooked.

Silver Bow Fly Shop reminds fly fishermen to not forget about the Clark Fork River. It can offer great pre-runoff fishing with midges, BWOs, March browns and skwalas. Rocky Ford is fishing well now and Crab Creek is also an option.

Trout and kokanee

Lake Roosevelt kokanee are spread out through the system. There haven’t been great numbers, but they are biting at times. Anglers note that slower than normal trolling speeds seem to account for the most hits.

There was a small plant of triploid trout made in February at Rufus Woods and more have been released since then. In April, additional releases are planned with the fish averaging 2 pounds, but the biggest releases of the year will occur in May and June.

The growth rate of these fish is phenomenal with some 1½-pound fish reaching 13 pounds in just two years.

Spiny ray

The Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt has cleared up quite a bit. Walleye anglers are finding fish around Porcupine Bay and in the channel upriver from Buoy 1.

Fernan Lake, only a stone’s throw away from Coeur d’Alene city limits, offers anglers the chance to catch perch, crappie, bluegill, bass, channel catfish and rainbow trout. Beginning in early April and ending in October, it is stocked with 25,000-30,000 catchable rainbow trout. A nice thing about Fernan Lake is the number of docks and boat ramps where the lake can be accessed, and the good fishing available even from shore.

The Idaho Panhandle has plenty of lowland lakes, many of which offer great opportunities for shore fishing. Here are a few others to consider:

• Shepherd Lake in Bonner County

• Gamlin Lake in Bonner County

• Round Lake in Bonner County

• Dawson Lake in Boundary County

• Kelso Lake in Bonner County

• Brush Lake in Boundary County

Each of these lakes offers anglers the chance to land a variety of warm-water fish species including largemouth bass, bluegill and perch, and with the exception of Shepherd and Gamble lakes, there are also stocked rainbow trout.

In the Idaho Clearwater region, good kokanee fishing is expected this year on Dworshak Reservoir. With such a large kokanee population, the smallmouth bass will put on weight quickly. Some football-shaped smallmouth over 6 pounds have been caught.

Mann Lake, also in the Clearwater region of Idaho, has catfish, perch, bass, bluegill and rainbow trout. Fishing at Mann Lake is a good option because it hits prime temperatures quickly when things warm up.

Easily accessible and close to Lewiston, Mann was stocked with over 5,400 rainbow trout in March and is typically bolstered with more trout (and, on occasion, channel catfish) sporadically throughout late spring and summer.

At MarDon Resort on Potholes Reservoir, Pete Fisher said the largemouth bite is picking up back in the dunes. Fisher also said the walleye bite is picking up near the state park, but perch, bluegill and crappie are not yet showing.

A friend who fished with Lake Roosevelt Charters this weekend near Hunters on Lake Roosevelt said the boat caught 80 walleye, most eating-size “keepers,” but also some larger fish that were released. He said they were jigging.

Ice is pulling away from the shore a few feet on Curlew Lake, but it’s still winter up there.

At Curlew Lake Resort, Jack Beck said there are still about 6 inches of ice, but he hasn’t seen anyone fishing.

Other species

An early bite for channel catfish is reported in the Palouse River near Lyons Ferry. These early season fish are usually larger than the ones that are abundant in May, but there are a lot fewer of them. Nightcrawlers and cut bait will attract channel cats, but some anglers insist strips of fresh chicken breasts are the most effective.

The Dalles Pool and all adjacent Washington tributaries have closed to the retention of white sturgeon. They remain open for catch-and-release sturgeon fishing.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced the approach of this year’s halibut fishing season, which will kick off April 7 in some Puget Sound areas. The 2022 season is structured similarly to last season except for an earlier start in Marine areas 6–10.

Hunting

The Washington Wildlife Commission has voted to not establish a 2022 spring black bear special permit season. Washington WDFW staff will assess the path forward for offering future spring black bear hunting opportunity, per commission direction.

The decision on the spring bear special permit rule does not impact the 2022 fall black bear general season, which occurs Aug. 1 to Nov. 15.

I heard the first turkey gobble of spring Monday morning. My Brittany pointed a flock of six on the hill above my home on Tuesday. It’s time to be patterning birds and building blinds. The general season in Washington and Idaho begins April 15, but the youth turkey season in Washington runs April 1–7 this year. This extended season is open statewide to all youth under 16 years of age at the time of license purchase. In Idaho, the youth hunt is April 8-14.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com