Hunting and Fishing

Steelhead

The Great Snake Lake Steelhead Roundup begins at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and runs until noon on Nov 27. It includes more than $10,000 in cash and prizes. Derby entry fee is $20 for adults and $10 for kids 13 and younger. Information: Lewiston Chamber of Commerce, 1-800-473-3543.

With the exception of the Salmon River, where anglers are doing well, steelhead anglers who remember the fishing of the past two seasons are becoming frustrated by the fickle bite throughout the Snake River system. Depending on whom you talk to, the water is either too cold, too warm, the barometer too low or too high, or the angling pressure too great. Your best bet is to go fishing and hope you hit one of those days in which the fish are biting aggressively. Most experienced fishermen agree that in the colder days of autumn or winter, the most success will come from drifting bait, preferably eggs. At Darver Tackle in Starbuck, Wash., Verna Foley said some of the best luck is coming off a pink and orange fly tied by a local angler.

On the Grande Ronde, Bill Vail at Boggan’s Oasis said fly fishermen are having a tough time, but trollers and bobber fishermen are doing fairly well. The best fishing is from Schumacher Grade into Oregon.

Trout

Banks Lake is down six vertical feet, so the Dry Falls launch and the one at Million Dollar Mile are unusable again. Access is still available, however, at Coulee Playland Resort and at Osborne Bay. The lake is supposed to start filling again soon. When Rufus Woods is once again receiving water from the dam, fishing there should really pick up. A few smaller triploids are showing at Rufus Woods, although a 23-pounder was caught last week.

The Lake Roosevelt rainbow fishery is probably the best fishing action around at this time. Spokane angler Dale Moffat, however, reports hot fishing one day and limited success the next between Lincoln and the goat farm. He said the fish tend to stack up in bays if the wind is blowing toward shore. Bank fishermen are beginning to haul in 2- to 4-pound rainbow on marshmallows and worms or PowerBait. Trollers are catching their fish on Apex lures, Rippin’ Minnows or Muddler Minnow flies.

Priest Lake mackinaw in the 3- to 7-pound range are hitting well on trolled plugs. Closest access to the best fishing is at Cavanaugh Bay, but the launch there is shallow and requires some caution. On Pend Oreille, lots of 15- to 20-pound kams are on the surface. A good chop increases your chances of hooking one of these big trout.

Brown trout fishing at Rock Lake is good now. Corral Lake in the Columbia Basin continues to show nice rainbow for bank fishermen and boaters. Corral Lake is open all year.

Spiny ray

Walleye action has been fair in Lind Coulee, the face of the sand dunes and along the face of O’Sullivan Dam. On still, sunny days, bass fishing can still be good.

Rufus Woods is one of the few waters kicking out walleye. The west side, straight out from the launch, has been productive. On Roosevelt, walleye fishing is slow.

Small northern pike are still smashing jerk baits on Lake Coeur d’ Alene along the standing weed edges in the vicinity of Wolf Bay Lodge, but bass fishing is slow. Crappie are being taken from the same area as the pike. Give Fernan, Twin, Spirit, Rose or Hauser a try for 9- to 11-inch crappie.

Other species

This is early for Banks Lake burbot fishing, but some have been taken in recent weeks. They are most commonly caught in deeper water in the Devil’s Lake area by jigging heavy weights and treble hooks sweetened with sucker meat or nightcrawlers. Some successful fishermen fill four inches of chrome chair leg with lead and attach the hooks to a bead chain at the end.

Banks Lake whitefish are also biting in 10 to 40 feet of water straight across the lake from Coulee Playland Resort. When the water comes up, the fishing will get better. Bouncing the bottom with a green or white Glo-Hook tipped with a maggot will catch whitefish. In my book, smoked whitefish rival smoked kokanee.

Speaking of burbot, Roosevelt is “paved with the things,” said Spokane WDFW biologist Chris Donley. He said the entire system holds this homely but delicious eel-like fish. The best angling is in any deep bay at night.

Waterfowl

West Side waterfowlers have had excellent hunting this week. On the East Side, the consensus is that duck hunting is better than at this time last year. Limits have not been the rule, but few are going home empty-handed. Fog has been a detriment this past week. There are a lot of ducks around Winchester Reserve in the Basin. Potholes Reservoir near Moses Lake is not as good now as it was two weeks ago, but with the cold weather predicted for the weekend, rafting birds should begin to move. Guide Gary Russell of Moses Lake said one of his clients shot a mature Ross’ goose and a specklebelly last weekend.

Many small flocks of honkers are using the fields north and west of Spokane. Judging by the number of geese in the air Wednesday, there are new birds moving in.

Upland

It’s an old story this time of year, even during the best of pheasant seasons: You’ll pay in boot leather for every rooster you put in your game vest. Now is the time to try the little cattail patches, fencerows and eyebrows you ignored during the early season. Approach them quietly and hunt slowly.

Quail hunters are finding that some of their traditional honey-holes have too much tall grass, causing birds to move. Our wet spring caused a spurt of weed growth. Quail are not comfortable in high, green vegetation that restricts their launch.

Big game

Another hunting opportunity this week is the late season for Western Washington blacktail deer. This season runs through Sunday for modern firearm deer tag holders. Check the regulations for specific information in your GMU.

Eastern Washington’s modern firearm deer season ends today. There are still opportunities for muzzleloaders and archers.

In some Idaho units, deer hunters have until Dec. 1 to put venison in the freezer.