Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Nov. 13, 2025

Nov. 13, 2025 Updated Wed., Nov. 19, 2025 at 3:19 p.m.

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Tip of the week: Even if you didn’t use it, fire up your kicker motor before you bring your boat home from the lake. If you do this, it will be easier to start the next time out. It is also a good idea to run fuel that has the Star Brite Star Tron additive through the carburetor, as it removes water from the fuel.

Overheard: Historically, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the winter steelhead run on the Washington Coast with inland opportunities that last deep into spring. Take advantage of this influx of fish by starting on the coast during the late fall, early winter, and move inland to the Puget Sound and southwest Washington rivers in March and April.

Heads up: The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will meet next Wednesday and Thursday at Fish and Game’s Clearwater Region office at 3316 16th St. in Lewiston. A public hearing will be held Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the same location. Those wishing to speak to the commission during the public hearing will have a three-minute time limit, with additional comments accepted in writing. People can address the commission on any topic pertaining to Fish and Game matters.

Fly fishing

The Spokane River is one of your better November fisheries, says Silver Bow Fly Shop. Mornings will be slow, but midday and later will be better. Blue-winged olives and midges will have some fish podded up and feeding in the early afternoon and there are a few fall caddis. The constant is always nymphing. Nymphs can include rubber leg stones, blow torch patterns, hot bead stuff, perdigons, San Juans or Squirmies, tungsten pts, and caddis pupa.

Steelhead fishing has been good on most sections of the Grande Ronde and Snake rivers. Indicator tactics are by far the best, but swinging tactics are still fairly productive in places.

Trout and Kokanee

Billy Clapp Lake, east of Soap Lake, is drawn down in the fall, exposing a long stretch of beach from which anglers can cast their favorite bait for cruising rainbow – some quite large, but most in the 14- to 16-inch rage. Small boats can launch from this beach for those who prefer to troll. The road to Billy Clapp is reached via Highway 28 past Soap Lake about 16 miles.

Rufus Wood Reservoir is a great place to catch triploid rainbow of 3 to 5 pounds and larger. The Colville Net Pens site is a good place to launch or fish, but requires a daily fee of $20 and a $10 launch fee. The middle net pens can also be good and are a short run by boat from Seaton Grove where launching is free. Water flow is critical at Rufus Woods. When Chief Joseph Dam is releasing lots of water, the bite turns on.

Roses Lake offers great fishing for catchable size trout this fall. It will receive a plant of 20,000 triploid rainbow and rainbow trout this month. It was also planted with 1,000 brown trout and 1,000 tiger trout earlier this year. There is a new fishing pier on Roses Lake and some limited shore access.

Anglers will be fishing for the big Potholes Reservoir rainbow from Medicare Beach from now until if freezes. Power Bait under four feet of leader and a sliding sinker is most popular. To reach Medicare Beach, take a right off Highway 17 between Moses Lake and Othello at Road 6 SE or Road M SE and then take a right on Road J SE. The last turn will lead down to the beach.

Sprague and Rock lakes can be terrific for large rainbow in the fall. Trolling crank baits has been effective recently. Rock Lake is known to have some enormous browns too. Drive your boat slowly to avoid basal peaks and reefs not far off the shore.

Hog Canyon Lake opens for fishing the Friday after Thanksgiving and closes March 31. It has good numbers of carryover rainbow. It had 20,000 fry stocked in May, 10,000 trout averaging a quarter pound apiece stocked in mid-April and 1,600 trout averaging 1 pound apiece stocked in October. Fourth of July Lake also opens the Friday after Thanksgiving and offers good fishing for rainbow trout. It was planted with 18,000 rainbow in March and April of last year and with 60,000 fry planted in May. Other eastern Washington Black Friday lakes include Stevens County’s Hatch Lake, with 15,000 fry stocked in May, and 600 trout averaging 1 pound apiece stocked in October. There is also Williams Lake with 12,000 fry stocked in May, and 1,500 trout averaging a quarter pound apiece stocked in mid-April.

Lake Chelan kokanee are abundant but are not very large this year. They bite throughout the winter and a good place to start is just below Rocky Point off the north shore of the lake. This is a good time of year to catch lake trout, and there are also chinook salmon available.

You probably will not run into many other anglers at Antilon Lake this fall and winter, as only small boats or pontoon boats can launch. Gas motors are prohibited and shore access is limited, so there is not much pressure on the abundant brown trout population. Anglers can catch a lot of fish casting lures or even flies. Located in the hills above Wapato Lake, the road into Antilon will close when there is a lot of snow, but snowmobilers will have a nice ride and even more privacy, and the bite remains good during the winter.

Rat Lake, just above the town of Brewster, does not get a lot of attention either. It is a “quality” lake, with selective gear rules and no bait. Anglers may only take two rainbow a day and they must be over 14 inches, but there are some much larger.

Do not overlook local Washington and Idaho trout lakes while waiting for the ice to form. Waitts, Diamond, Sacheen and Bonaparte offer year-round trout fishing, as do Fernan, Spirit, Hayden and Cocolalla. All have good populations of trout.

Steelhead and salmon

With the heavy rains, there have been more coho salmon moving into the Icicle River and fishing should continue to be good for a while. Spinners and pink jigs have accounted for several fish.

On the Columbia River, the Pateros area can be a good option now for steelhead anglers casting shrimp under a bobber.

Spiny ray

There have already been anglers lining the I-90 Bridge over Moses Lake and they are getting perch as well as some big crappie. The riprap bank along the shore is also a good place to fish. Most boaters will launch at Blue Heron Park. The dock is usually pulled in by this time of year, so you may get your feet wet and muddy while launching, but it is a short run down to the I-90 Bridge from there.

Potholes Reservoir walleye have been elusive, but big bluegill and crappie have been more accommodating. Find one of the habitat boxes and do some jigging or try trolling a Flicker Shad to locate schools.

Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee, has some nice-sized perch – 9 or 10 inches. There is a fee to launch there at the Cove Resort and you do not have to run far to get to good fishing water. Fast action is almost guaranteed.

Silver Lake is loaded with stunted perch, but there are some decent-sized bluegill, and bass anglers are still taking a few largemouth.

Hunting

Canada geese are providing some good hunts in harvested grain fields in Grant County and throughout the Columbia Basin, and some lucky goose hunters have managed to decoy flocks of white-fronted geese (specklebellies), but the duck migration is barely under way. There has been limited action on local birds.

Hunters, who have been walking in as much as five miles behind Loon Lake, say they are seeing way more moose than deer. On a recent three-day hike-in hunt, a friend said he saw eight big moose but only four whitetail does. The Washington late buck season ends after Wednesday.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com