Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Feb. 12, 2026

Thu., Feb. 12, 2026

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Hunting and fishing report for Feb. 12

Tip of the week: When fishing a slip-sinker rig from shore with a half-ounce egg sinker and a size 14 hook, cut down on the amount of dough bait you use by first sliding a miniature marshmallow onto the hook shank. Only the tip of the hook then needs any of the dough bait and flotation will be improved as well. Mini-marshmallows come in large packages which will dry out quickly if not properly stored in an airtight container.

Overheard: The ice at Fish Lake in Chelan County went from good to dangerous in a short time. Although perch anglers were doing well there just last week, an angler recently fell through the ice and had to be rescued.

Heads up: There is no doubt there are still places in Eastern Washington and North Idaho where you might find safe ice for fishing, but the reports I am getting are far from positive. When lake ice begins to melt, it is from the bottom up, and rotten ice is difficult to see. That said, I have put away my ice fishing gear for the year, hoping next year will be better. The best ice fishing close to Spokane this winter was Sacheen, but even when I was fishing there last week, I didn’t feel comfortable as the ice seemed to have frozen in layers with space between the layers. There is still ice on Sacheen, but you won’t find me out there. North of Chewelah, Williams Lake has enough open water to fish from a boat and Tiger Slough is opening up. In North Idaho, you might find some decent ice in north Bonner County, and certainly, some of the Chain Lakes in Washington still have decent ice, but you don’t want to be the one who is on Thomas or Gillette or Gamble or Blue the day they don’t.

Fly-fishing

Finally, there have been seasonally normal flows on the Spokane River. Fishing has been quite good this last week on all stretches, says Silver Bow Fly Shop. There have been some solid blue-winged olive hatches on some days, although the bite has been streaky. Nymphing is still the most productive method to find a few fish. Skwala stones have been getting more active. Stick with a stonefly and some kind of hot bead attractor for a dropper. Tossing a streamer has been marginally productive, but keep your retrieve low and slow. The river closes March 15 for the spawning season.

Plenty of good fishing can now be had on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River, and it should continue with the warm temperatures in the forecast. There are a lot of downed trees higher up the drainage from the rain/windstorm combo of early winter so be wary of road conditions if you choose to venture upriver. Winter fishing is generally best below Prichard anyway, where the slow, deep water holds the most cutthroat. Stick with nymph rigs for the most part, but a slowly fished streamer could work, too.

It’s abnormally early to be considering this as an option, but due to the lack of snow, the St. Joe is a reasonable place to find a few fish now. Apart from some shelf ice here and there, the river below Marble Creek has plenty of access for wade and boat anglers.

Trout and Kokanee

Lake Roosevelt trout fishing slowed down a little this week, as both trollers and bank anglers reported catch rates that were lower than those last week. A son and a friend who did very well in the middle of last week by casting Rattletraps and Blue Fox Spinners from boat to shore just downriver of Porcupine Bay said they only caught four trout last Friday. Success was still good for a few anglers, however, some casting from shore with miniature marshmallows at Spring Canyon were catching limits of 14- to 18-inch fish. Lake Roosevelt is dropping about a foot a day.

A good place on Lake Roosevelt to fish in the winter is at Keller near the ferry landing. The federal park that borders the shoreline there has several spots accessible to the water. Some of these have picnic tables, garbage cans and vault toilets. A few big (up to 25 inches) kokanee have been taken by trollers out of Keller.

There is reported to be a good trout bite for trollers in the vicinity of Medicare Beach on the east end of Potholes Reservoir. Most of these fish are 16 inches and more.

A report from Hayden Lake in Idaho said the kokanee are biting on the troll. Most of the fish caught are in the 11-inch range.

Steelhead and salmon

Idaho Department of Fish and Game will be setting new seasons for upcoming spring and summer chinook fisheries and gathering public input on the upcoming season proposals from now to Feb. 22. Members of the public can view and weigh in with online comments. After reviewing anglers’ feedback and agency goals along with angler comments, season proposals will be presented to the commission at the meeting in Boise on March 25.

Steelhead fishing on the Clearwater has been very good on some days. The Grande Ronde fishing is probably faster but the steelhead are smaller.

Spiny ray

Walleye fishing on Rufus Woods Reservoir has been best on weekends when Grand Coulee Dam does not have to generate as much electricity and the gentler water flow makes fishing easier. The best fishing has been between the Seaton Grove boat launch and the first set of net pens. Walleye fishing on Lake Roosevelt has been good. The fish have been hitting jigs in about 50 feet of water.

On Long Lake, walleye fishing has been decent all winter, and some big fish are beginning to show. Both Long and Roosevelt will improve if the weather continues to warm. In the Columbia Basin, Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir are ice-free. Anglers are beginning to take a few walleye from Potholes, but fishing is slow.

The perch fishing at the I-90 Bridge in Moses Lake has been erratic, but boat fishermen have had a few days when the bite seems to go on forever. This week wasn’t one of them.

Other species

There will be razor clam digging opportunities at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks beaches from Feb. 14 to 19. “This upcoming tide series will begin with a Valentine’s Day dig,” said Bryce Blumenthal, a WDFW coastal shellfish biologist. “The Presidents Day weekend low tides should provide lots of daylight digging opportunity since they occur before or just after sunset.”

Copalis and Mocrocks beaches are not open every day during each series of digs, so be sure to check which beach is open before heading out. Tentative other openings will be from Feb. 26 to March 4. Kalaloch Beach off the northern Olympic Peninsula coast won’t be open due to continuing issues with depressed populations of harvestable clams.

Burbot are still biting in the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt. Craig Dowdy of YJ Guide Service says most of his clients are taking their five fish limit in short order. They are using plastics with nightcrawlers or a piece of fish added. The best bite is early and late. Info: 509-999-0717.

Hunting

The coyote breeding and denning season is beginning, and coyote hunters are finding these song dogs to be more conspicuous during the day in the scablands and sagebrush from Spokane south. Virtually every morning the last two weeks from my home north of Spokane, my dog awakens me by barking at a coyote or two in the field below the house while she sits on the cover of my hot tub. I have never shot a coyote on my property, but my son, Matt, who lives next door, has lost two chickens recently, and is quickly becoming less tolerant of coyote presence.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com