Hunting+Fishing: Salmon and steelhead

Steelhead fishing in the lower stretches of the Clearwater has cooled off, but the stretch above Lenore is still yielding decent catches. The Snake River has been slow except for the confluence where many of the fish are the larger B-run stock. There are still about a hundred fish a day crossing Lower Granite Dam.

The Grande Ronde was running a little brown at midweek but was expected to clear quickly. The ice is gone, and though plugs and jigs were taking most of the fish, fly-fishermen were also having success. The latest creel checks conducted by WDFW and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife showed steelheaders spending three to four hours per fish on the Washington and Oregon sections of the Grande Ronde.

The fastest steelheading in eastern Washington is the Tucannon River, where anglers are spending an average of less than three hours of fishing per steelhead caught.

Steelheading on the Columbia is fair, with the majority of fish coming from Pateros on a bobber-jig combo.

Hatchery winter steelhead returns to the Kalama and Lewis river facilities are off to a slower start than last year, while returns to the Cowlitz are on a faster track. Anglers should note that the catch limit for hatchery steelhead on the Cowlitz River has been raised to six fish per day through Jan. 31 from the river mouth to Mayfield Dam. The same six-fish limit is also in effect from the mouth of Blue Creek upstream to Spencer Road.

Large, bright fall chinook are being caught on the North Fork Lewis. Good numbers of coho are still being caught at Lake Scanewa. The Bogachiel and Quillayute are giving up good numbers of steelhead.

Steelhead fishing is picking up on the Humptulips, Satsop and Wynoochee rivers, particularly around Black Creek, said Scott Barbour, WDFW fish biologist. Anglers are also still picking up some bright coho salmon in the Satsop and Wishkah rivers, he said. “Those are some nice, big fish,” said Barbour, who also recommended plunking for steelhead on the Chehalis River this time of year.

In the Columbia River above John Day Dam and in the John Day Arm, steelhead angling was good this week for boat anglers who averaged 1.05 steelhead caught per boat, but only fair for bank anglers who averaged 0.25 steelhead caught per rod.

On the John Day Pool, weekly checking showed one adipose fin-clipped steelhead kept for four bank rods, and 26 adipose fin-clipped steelhead kept plus 15 unclipped steelhead released for 39 boats.

Trout

Ice at Hog Canyon, Fourth of July and Sprague was a firm 3 inches when I checked Wednesday, but it was extremely slippery. One person was fishing Sprague and there was no one on Fourth of July, but reports from last week indicated good fishing there. I tried Hog Canyon for about an hour with no luck, and the other five anglers present had no bites. Reports from last week indicate there was good fishing for fat rainbow. Small jigs tipped with worms were deemed effective. The other two winter trout lakes, Williams and Hatch in Stevens County, are suffering from an illegal plant of perch. Fishing is poor.

Trout fishing is starting to pick up above Chief Joe Dam with most fish running 3-6 pounds and a few 8-14. Power Bait in any color fished on a slip sinker and long leader will do the trick.

Mackinaw fishermen on Lake Chelan are averaging more than two fish per hour, most running 2-5 pounds, but there are some big fish in the mix. Keep your U-20 or T-4 Flatfish within 10 feet of the bottom. Mackinaw are also biting well at Priest Lake, but few anglers are trying for them.

Roses Lake in the Okanogan is still unfrozen and is yielding a lot of 10- to 12-inch rainbow as well as a few 3- to 5-pounders. WDWF stocked 19,000 catchables and 300-500 jumbos there right before Thanksgiving. There is shore access.

This is prime time for Rufus Woods rainbows. Plugs, flies and baited wedding rings behind Hot Wings or Flashlites are bringing bites.

Good rainbow reports are coming out of the Keller to Lincoln stretch of Lake Roosevelt. The best trolling speed is 1-1.3 mph at depths from 8-22 feet. If you can’t catch them on the troll, pull into a bay, particularly one with a spring running in, and try still-fishing with worms and marshmallows or Power Bait. Banks Lake trout are biting and the launches are ice-free.

Spiny ray

Walleye jiggers are still taking fish from Rufus Woods. On Banks Lake, there is ice on the back side of Osborne Bay just outside of Electric City, and a few brave souls have been taking perch there. The ice has deteriorated considerably this week. At the Coulee City Boat Basin on Banks, it is possible to catch a nice mess of good-sized perch without venturing onto thin ice. The water around the docks is open.

If you are looking for a really big smallmouth bass, this may be a good time to try Dworshak Reservoir in Idaho. Last month, the large impoundment kicked out two smallmouth weighing more than 9 pounds.

Other species

Tentative opening dates for the next clam dig are Dec. 31 on all ocean beaches including Copalis, Jan. 1 on Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks and Kalaloch, and Jan. 2 at Twin Harbors and Long Beach only.

Hunting

Most bird hunters agree this has not been a great upland season in eastern Washington. Even in gray partridge and quail country, where the number of coveys are almost the same as last year, there are fewer birds per covey. Chukars may be up a bit, but I estimate the hills have grown by at least 50 percent this year.

Duck hunters will be encouraged to know big flights of feeding mallards have returned to the Potholes area. Gary Russell of Quackers Guide Service in Moses Lake said there was a huge influx of birds Tuesday. Potholes is open to the sand dunes, and the ice on Moses Lake is getting weak. Info: 750-7807.

The major concentrations of geese are in the Tri-City area, but Banks Lake is holding a couple of thousand and the winter wheat fields are keeping them in the area. There were a lot of geese in the air on a drive between Wilbur and Banks at midweek.

During a recent aerial survey, more than 970,000 dabblers were counted in the Skagit River Delta and Fraser River Delta area, the highest waterfowl numbers recorded in the region.