Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report for March 24

Wed., March 23, 2016

By Alan Liere spokesmanliere@yahoo.com

Tip of the week

Kokanee seem to be everywhere in Roosevelt now, but successful anglers say to either get your lines in the water early or prepare for a long day. After 10:00 a.m., the fish go deeper and are harder to catch.

Braggin’ rights

The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife recently announced that taxes on firearms and ammunition will provide more than $13 million to fund wildlife conservation in Washington State this year. Most of the money comes from hunters.

Overheard

Lake Creek has been dumping a lot of water into Coffeepot Lake recently and though the launch is still not useable for larger boats, there is hope. Anglers who fished the lake from small boats this week said getting to the water was relatively easy and the trout fishing was very good.

Heads up

March is the last month for the catch-and-keep fishing season at several Okanogan County lakes that shift to catch-and-release on April 1. Davis Lake near Winthrop has been producing rainbow trout catches since the first of December. Green and Lower or Little Green lakes near Omak, and Rat Lake near Brewster, were treated last fall to remove undesirable fish and should be restocked soon. Lenice and Nunnally receive 5,000 catchables in April.

–April 1 is the deadline to apply for one of 25 disabled-hunter vehicle-access permits to access otherwise gated areas on Inland Empire Paper Company lands. Apply through the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, (509) 328-6429, or on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website.

Fly fishing

The North Fork Coeur d’Alene is high but fishable. Stripping streamers through the pockets has been effective, as has nymphing.

The St. Joe River is fishing well with bobber rigs and streamers and there has been some dry fly activity during the warmer parts of the day. Silver Bow Fly Shop says small midge and mayfly patterns are best. Forget the riffles and concentrate on slower water. A friend who fished the Joe last weekend said he hooked a half-dozen cutthroat to 15 inches on skwala patterns.

The Montana rivers are in pretty fair shape for March and the trout are looking up when the water warms in the afternoon. Skwala and March Browns are fishing well.

Amber Lake is still providing hot fishing near shorelines. An egg pattern is as good as anything. Surface activity has been minimal. During a stop at Tum Tum on Long Lake on Saturday, I spoke with two fly fishermen who had been casting streamers from a kayak along the shoreline near Willow Bay. They said they had caught numerous rainbow to 16 inches.

Steelhead and salmon

A few more chinook have been taken recently from the Columbia River near Portland and the numbers should go way up from now on.

The best steelheading this week has been on the Snake River from the mouth of the Salmon River to the Hells Canyon Dam tailrace. The South Fork Clearwater catch rate was six hours per fish, but hours per fish kept was 71. The entire Salmon River system has seen decent numbers of steelhead landed.

Trout and kokanee

Dave Grove of Captain Dave’s Guide Service has been pounding the Keller area pretty hard for kokanee and doing well, but he recently fished below Lincoln and caught some limits of rainbow to go with the kokanee. He said he trolled sandy flats 20-35 feet down with trolling flies and no dodgers, finding his best success with a green offering. Info: (509) 939-6727.

Friends trolled small broken back Rapalas in either gold and black or black with an orange belly for some beautiful kokanee and rainbow near Hawk Creek this week. They used 1/4- to 1/2-ounce lead on mono to get to the fish.

Two friends and I fished from shore at Jones Bay last Friday morning and experienced a frantic bite that quickly turned off. We managed ten 15- to 18-inch rainbow; half of them came before 9 a.m. and the others were spread out over the next five hours.

Lake Chelan remains good for kokanee and macks. The kokes are running 11-14 inches and the majority of macks are 2-4 pounds.

Deer Lake mackinaw have been difficult to come by. The largest reported so far was a 12-pounder. A few smaller fish have also been netted.

Most anglers who fish Medical Lake are throwing flies, but as a restricted gear lake, other artificials are legal as long as they have a single barbless hook. Small spoons are working, but fishing is still slow.

Rufus Woods has been hot and cold for triploids near Seaton Grove, but overall, fishing has been excellent for 2- to 3-pound fish as well as a few to 6 pounds. Remember – if you use any kind of live bait or scent at Rufus, you must count your first two fish as your two-fish limit.

The boat ramp at the Northport City Park is still out of the water and the river is flowing fast. Anglers report catching a few cuttbows and redbands there but say pulp-like debris in the water quickly fouls lures.

Starting on April 1, a number of trout lakes will open in the Columbia Wildlife Refuge in the Columbia Basin. These lakes include Dry Falls, Pillar, Snipe, Cattail, Gadwall, Poacher, Shoveler, Lemna, Corral and North and South Teal.

The Teals should fish well, as should Dry Falls where the rainbow will run 14-16 inches. There are also browns and tiger trout in Dry Falls. Two of the more popular lakes, Upper and Lower Hampton, as well as Sago, Hourglass and Widgeon were rehabilitated last year, so don’t expect any carryovers. The yearling fish, however, will be 11-13 inches long.

Spiny ray

Potholes walleye fishermen are working hard for a few fish. Most are using a Slow Death rig and nightcrawler either around Crab Creek or in the Lind Coulee.

Area bass waters are beginning to attract fishermen who are finding largemouth – just not a lot of them. Silver, Eloika, Newman, Liberty and Downs will get better when water temperatures get closer to 50 degrees. Right now, they are hanging at about 45 degrees and fishing has been slow.

Barker Flats on Banks Lake is a popular spot when the wind isn’t blowing. Anglers are taking walleye and a few large perch in 35-55 feet of water. There are still a lot of sub-legal sized walleyes. Crappie fishing has been good at the State Park.

Three friends fished Porcupine Bay in the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt this week with jigs in 30-40 feet of water. They caught 12 keeper walleye. Other reports indicate anglers are catching fish in the same area in much shallower water. No one spot has been consistently good and it is assumed the fish are moving upriver to spawn.

Hutchinson Lake, at the lower edge of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Refuge, opens on April 1 along with the popular trout lakes in the area. It is considered by some to be the best spiny ray lake in the state and may be warm enough on the opener for a crappie bite.

Kokanee are hitting now at Dworshak Reservoir. They are on the small side, but anglers are also finding a good smallmouth bite and fish up to 6 pounds. This is the time of year the largest Dworshak smallmouth are taken. It is considered one of the top 50 trophy smallmouth waters in the nation.

Other species

Recent Sturgeon fishing on the Snake River at Heller Bar has yielded fish up to 10 feet long. This is a catch-and-release fishery. Keeper sturgeon are being caught below John Day Dam.

Clam diggers have a green light to dig razor clams Friday through Sunday at Mocrocks Beach on Washington’s coast. Another option is Long Beach, which is currently open to digging through March 31. Tentative upcoming razor clam dates are April 3-12 and April 20-28 at Long Beach. During that time, there will also be some openings at Copalis and Mocrocks. New licenses are needed beginning on April 1.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com