Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Feb. 19
Fly fishing
The Spokane River is still one of the best places to consistently find some fish now. Most of them are still hanging in the classic winter water, says Kenyon at Silver Bow Fly Shop. Inside seams with deep, soft water nearby have been the most consistent zones to target. Fish are definitely still light on the take so be willing to set on any slight movement or hesitation on the indicator.
Stick with nymph rigs or streamers on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene. Road conditions are still rough on the upper river so don’t plan on driving much past Prichard.
There are a few options right now on flat water. Fourth of July is ice-free and would be worth checking out. Large lakes like Rock, Roosevelt or Long are all fishable and can be good to excellent.
Z Lake might be an option for the fly fisherman willing to take a short hike. It’s in the WDFW Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area in Lincoln County. It’s hard to find, requires some effort to get to, but offers nice sized trout
Rocky Ford is reported to be fishing well. Use dark colored, size 18 midges at midday and leech patterns early and late.
The Clark Fork River in Montana is a distinct possibility for some good trout fishing, but check road conditions before heading out.
Trout and kokanee
Some big Lake Roosevelt rainbow trout are being caught in the Spokane Arm upriver from Porcupine Bay. Anglers casting RattleTraps are catching fish with blood-red flesh that are full of crawdads and small fresh-water clams. Some fishermen claim that these are a different species of fish than those found in the lower river, but the preponderance of crawdads could account for the redder flesh. Overall, trout fishing on Roosevelt has been good all week from boat and shore. Kokanee fishing has been very slow.
Anglers fishing close to shore on the south side of Rock Lake are casting or trolling orange broken-back Rapalas for some good-sized rainbow and brown trout. Jerk baits thrown in the coves and off the rock walls are also catching fish on a fast retrieve.
Although they don’t always mark fish on their locators, trollers above the Yacht Club on Lake Chelan are catching kokanee of about 11 inches. The best bite has been at about 40 feet on the downriggers, but a lot of fish are much deeper – down to 90 feet. Hoochie style lures baited with maggots are doing best. The fishing has been steady rather than fast.
Bonaparte Lake still has good ice and ice fishing for kokanee and three species of trout has been excellent at times. The lake has produced some big tiger trout this winter.
Big Pend Oreille Lake rainbow are hitting flies fished behind planer boards on the surface. The best trolling speed has been between 2.3 and 2.6 mph.
The Hayden Lake kokanee bite continued this week with some good catches of 14-inch fish at about 40 feet. Several much larger kokes have also been taken – up to 20 inches long. Standard kokanee gear with a dodger and spinner or hoochie has been effective.
Steelhead and salmon
This is prime time for steelhead on the upper section of the Grande Ronde. The fish are beginning to congregate in a two- mile section of river around the Cottonwood Creek hatchery. Anglers there are beginning to catch a lot of Washington fish.
The steelhead fishing is starting to pick up in the South Fork Clearwater River and also upstream of the Orofino Bridge on the mainstem Clearwater River. Fish are beginning to move into the water near the Dworshak and Hells Canyon hatcheries, as well as the Little Salmon River.
Lake Coeur d’Alene landlocked chinook salmon have come up closer to the surface and fishing has been good at depths ranging from 10 to 40 feet. Deep Down Husky Jerks, Flicker Shad and even herring are taking fish ranging from 18 to 27 inches. Coeur d’Alene salmon must be 24 inches to keep, and a lot of the fish are 18-22 inches.
Spiny ray
The water temperature on Potholes Reservoir is still on the cold side and the walleye bite has been slow to develop. When the water warms, Lind Coulee will probably be the first to begin producing.
Some photos sent by Long Lake anglers indicate smallmouth bass are biting aggressively, and a lot of these fish are huge – many over 5 pounds. The walleye bite has been good, too. Blade baits are taking both species.
There is a lot of open water showing now on area lakes despite the recent cooling trend. Curlew Lake is said to still have ice, but it is marginal and there is a lot of slush. Most of the perch fishing has been north of the public access island, but a friend who fished there a lot this winter said “I’m not going out there now even with an inner tube around my neck.”
Other species
Craig Dowdy of YJ Guide Service is still catching burbot from the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt, though he had one of his slower mornings Tuesday with just six fish landed. He said the walleye bite has been good in about 50 feet of water.
Jeff Smith at Fins and Feathers in Coeur d’Alene says most of the pike being caught on the lake are on dead bait, though a 30-pounder was taken recently by a man throwing a spoon. Some of the bays like Cougar and Harrison are too shallow to fish now, as the lake has dropped considerably. Smith also said anglers are catching pike and a few walleye on the flats at the north end of Lake Pend Oreille.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliee@yahoo.com