Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Sept. 26, 2024

Fly fishing

Besides providing the tip of the week, Kenyon at Silver Bow Fly Shop had a lot of positive things to say about overall fly fishing on the Spokane River. He said fishing has been steadily improving as better flows have spread the fish around, making them more active and willing to chase a fly. The midday hours into the evening have been much more consistent, so there is no need to get on the water early. Trout have been loving the dry fly lately, and chubbies, October Caddis or any midsize terrestrial have brought fish to the surface.

The North Fork of the Clearwater and Kelly Creek have been fishing well, but there are still a lot of fishermen on these waters. Local lakes are getting good again.

Trout and kokanee

Trout averaging 16 inches have been biting near Split Rock on Lake Roosevelt. Troll Apex or Old Goat lures in the top 30 feet. Fish will not go down to hit a bait, so if you aren’t sure where they are, err on the side of fishing too shallow.

Brown trout are biting at Fish Lake near Lake Wenatchee. Antilon Lake, above Manson, also has a lot of brown trout that can be caught from shore. Kastmaster lures are popular. Omak Lake’s big Lahontan cutthroat are hitting trolled Flatfish.

Trout fishermen have only a few more days to fish Badger, Williams (in Spokane County), Fishtrap, Fish, Coffeepot, Downs and Fan lakes, all which close after Friday, as do a lot of Grant County lakes. Several other lakes remain open through Oct. 31. Of these, Clear and Liberty near Spokane offer some of the best late-season trout fishing and the largemouth bass bite has been good.

Some of the biggest trout in Idaho will soon start hitting in Lake Pend Oreille as the Kamloops start moving toward the surface. A Frisky Jenny fly behind a flasher remains the go-to offering for fish up to 30 pounds.

Most of the adult kokanee have migrated out of Dworshak Reservoir to spawn, but trout fishing at creek mouths is picking up as it usually does this time of year. On Coeur d’Alene Lake, the 8- to 9-inch kokanee are getting red, but there are a lot of them and the flesh remains firm.

Salmon and steelhead

The best salmon fishing on the Hanford Reach is beginning. The area near Vernita Bridge remains the most popular place. The best bite has been at around 20 feet on trolled Super Baits.

The Lower Columbia has been good for chinook salmon, and a friend reported taking some 30-plus-pound fish when the Buoy 10 fishery resumed.

Spiny ray

Lake Roosevelt walleye anglers are having good luck with Smile Blades and nightcrawlers over the sandy bottoms at Colville, Bradbury and Outhouse flats. The same gear and technique are working for Potholes Reservoir walleye.

Other species

Northern pike fishing has been good in Lake Coeur d’Alene. There have been reports of several 12- to 15-pound fish landed. Spinner baits will do well for a couple of more weeks, then switch to crank baits or large spoon like the Dardevle or Red-eyed Wiggler. Broken back Rapalas are also good. Look for pike cabbage, a type of curly leaf plant that grows at depths of 4 to 15 feet.

Channel catfish are stocked each year in Cocolalla, Fernan, Hauser, Jewel, Rose Smith, Blue (Bonner County) and Dawson lakes in Idaho. Fernan has been particularly good for anglers fishing along the easily accessible shoreline and the docks.

Hunting

The fall, either-sex turkey season in Washington and Idaho has been good for hunters. There is an excellent crop of young birds.

Mourning doves are mostly gone in the Spokane area, but a nephew who lives in the Sunnyside/Yakima area said there are still a lot of doves there.

Idaho chukar season opened Saturday. A lot of prime spots north of Steck Park in the Weiser area have burned, however, as well thousands of acres north of Emmett. This has concentrated hunters in other spots, and competition is high. They report taking a lot of gray partridge. Hunting in the nonburned country has been excellent. Closer to home, hunters are finding scattered flocks of birds in Idaho’s Hells Canyon. Washington chukar and gray partridge hunting does not open until Oct. 5. Oregon opens Oct. 12, but nearly 650,000 acres of prime chukar habitat have burned this summer.

Statewide, Idaho youth ages 17 years and younger with an Idaho hunting license can participate in the youth-only pheasant hunt from Oct. 5-11 across the state. Youth must be accompanied by a licensed adult 18 years or older, but they do not need an Upland Game Bird Permit.

Idaho’s Hunting Passport is a component of Fish and Game’s mentored hunting program. It allows any first-time hunter, resident or nonresident, age 8 and older to try hunting for one year with an adult mentor without first having to complete an Idaho hunter education course.

In the Idaho Panhandle, resident hunters ages 18 and older can begin hunting pheasant on Oct. 12 and can continue doing so until Dec. 31.

Nonresident hunters can begin hunting on Oct. 17. Pheasant will be stocked at two locations in the Panhandle: Boundary-Smith Creek WMA and the Lane Marsh parcel on Coeur d’Alene River WMA.

Approximately 50 pheasants will be stocked weekly at each WMA beginning Tuesday and ending the week of Dec. 17.

In Eastern Washington, the general pheasant season runs Oct. 19 to Jan. 20.

The general duck season begins Oct. 12, runs through Oct. 20, is closed for two days and resumes Oct. 23.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com.