Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Jan. 9, 2025

Thu., Jan. 9, 2025

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

The biggest outdoor show in Eastern Washington, the Tri-Cities Sportsmen Show, runs Jan. 24-25 in Pasco at the HAPO Center in Pasco. The show is packed with exhibitors that interest outdoor enthusiasts, and there are lots of activities for the kids. Next is the Washington Sportsmen’s Show and Sportfishing Boat Show at the Fair Grounds in Puyallup. This is a huge show with many exhibitors and seminars. It runs from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2.

Heads up: The Molson Ice Fishing Derby will be on Saturday, Jan. 18 with fishing on Sidley Lake. Registration can be done online through the Oroville (Washington) Chamber of Commerce website. You can also register at the event starting at 7 a.m. on the day of the derby. Breakfast will be served at the Molson Grange Hall, and a lunch provided by Sitzmark after the 1 p.m. weigh-in. Hot chocolate will be available on the lake while you’re fishing.

You can buy your 2025-26 Washington hunting and angling license products today by visiting myWDFW.com, calling 360-902-2464, or going to a license dealer near you. New this year is a 2.9% fee that will apply to credit and debit card purchases made through WDFW over the phone or when ordering online through the licensing system. You can avoid this fee by buying licensing products from WDFW in person or by purchasing through a license dealer that does not charge a credit card processing fee.

The deadline for reporting Washington big game and turkey hunting activity is Jan. 31. Report by this date to avoid a $10 administrative fee when you purchase your 2025/2026 license.

Overheard: Long Lake (Lake Spokane) is dropping at 1 foot a day, headed for the 14-foot drop typical in winter. Boat launches are quickly becoming unusable.

Fly fishing

Guides and friends from the Silver Bow Fly Shop did well on the Spokane River recently, reporting consistent action on nymph rigs. Flows are a good bit above average for this time of year, so fish will be pushed closer into the banks and tucked into any soft water refuge they can find. Look for inside bends, current breaks off willows and back eddies to locate fish. Nymph rigs and streamers will be reliable through the next couple of months.

The Coeur d’Alene River is still a decent winter fishing option. Streamer fishing has been best for some nice cutthroat, but nymph rigs can also be good.

Trout and kokanee

Lake Roosevelt trout action has been consistent for trollers dragging hoochies or flies. Fishing in the Hunters area has been good.

Long Lake rainbow are running 2 to 3 pounds and fishing has been good. A friend who lives on the lake had good success recently fishing off his dock using pieces of hotdogs for bait. I have never heard of a trout eating a hotdog, but my friend said it was cheaper than Power Bait and stayed on the hook. If trolling Long Lake, the best fishing will probably be the farther you go toward the dam. Orange is the go-to color. Stay in the top 10 feet.

Triploid fishing on Rufus Woods Reservoir has been slower this year than last, but some big fish have been caught recently. A friend caught a 5-pounder and a 10-pounder last week and heard of another trout that weighed more than 20 pounds. Most of the fish caught at Brandts Landing have been 2 to 3 pounds.

Priest Lake has had some good mackinaw fishing. Troll Mack Alley with a dodger and Glow Hoochie, making sure the downrigger ball is always thumping the bottom.

Ice fishing

There are 7 inches of hard ice on Thomas Lake and perch fishing has been excellent. A friend who fished there this week said the perch were mostly around 8 inches. He also caught two crappie. The best fishing was in deep water.

Bonaparte Lake, northeast of the town of Tonasket, is frozen and offers some good ice fishing for brook trout, rainbow trout, lake trout and tiger trout. The tiger trout are in 4 to 6 feet of water. Rainbow trout are numerous, running mostly 12 to 13 inches. Bonaparte also has spiny ray and kokanee. Bonaparte Lake Resort is having an ice fishing derby again this year on Jan. 25. There are cash, tackle and equipment prizes in both adult and kids classes. Adults can register for a multispecies class and a biggest fish class. You can register the day of the event or online.

Up north, Williams Lake has been good for trout fishermen and it is still possible to launch a small boat there. Hog Canyon and Fourth of July lakes are still providing open water trout fishing. Sprague Lake is wide open.

The ice fishing season on Idaho’s Lake Cascade is off to a strong start. There are reports of people catching some nice perch, trout and coho through the ice. Ice depths are reportedly reaching up to 8 inches on the lake’s southern and northern ends, but it is still a little thin in the midlake area. For more information on Lake Cascade, contact the McCall Fish and Game office (208)-634-8137.

Steelhead and salmon

The steelhead rivers all blew out with the most recent rains. A consistent drop in flows is needed before these are back to being a reliable option. Fish were still being caught on the Snake and Clearwater rivers prior to the rain.

If you are contemplating fishing the Grande Ronde, be aware that there has been a rock slide blocking the road above Boggan’s Oasis. Call them for updates.

The inaugural Steelhead Expo and Derby runs Friday through Sunday at the Hells Canyon Grand in Lewiston (208-799-1000). The event will showcase a variety of vendors, informative seminars and a steelhead fishing tournament with a growing prize pool of $4,300. There are three divisions – men’s, women’s and kids. The expo will run in the afternoons and evenings, allowing attendees to spend their mornings fishing for the big prize. The first-place prize in each division is $500 plus. Cost to enter is $60 with a weekend expo pass. Kids 15 and under are free with a paid adult. Sign up at www.steelheadexpo.com. For info: Toby Wyatt, (509)-780-7969.

Spiny ray

Perch are still being caught from Moses Lake by the I-90 Bridge. Anglers are doing a lot of sorting to get the 9- to 11-inch fish they prefer, but a few fish to 13 inches are reported.

Other species

Whitefish are spawning in schools 40 to 50 feet down on Banks Lake. Usually by this time, anglers are taking them through the ice, but such is not the case this year. There are a few spots on Banks Lake where anglers can fish from shore, but those with a boat generally do much better.

Hunting

My son Matt and I hunted the Columbia River near Patterson for ducks two days last week with my nephew, George Twigg, of Outlook, Washington. On Friday, we sat in a pouring rain and watched thousands of mallards fly over our heads at 80-plus yards as they headed out to feed in the corn fields above the river. None of them looked at our decoys. Cold and soaked, we left at 1 p.m. without firing a shot. The next day in a different spot down the river, we shot 12 mallards between 10 and 11 a.m. with nothing before or after that, an unusual but satisfying day with warmer temperatures and no rain.

Pheasant hunters are seeing birds but say they are unusually wild, flushing at 100 yards or more. Duck hunters in traditional spots on Potholes Reservoir and the Crab Creek Channel say the birds have headed back to the Tri-Cities.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com.