Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for Dec. 22

Dec. 21, 2022 Updated Wed., Dec. 21, 2022 at 8:01 p.m.

By Alan Liere For The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Gas-powered and muscle-powered ice augers are becoming relics with the emergence of electric augers. With a 25-volt drill and a heavy duty-battery to go with it, hard water anglers can easily and quietly cut through the ice by attaching it to their old hand-powered auger. Be sure, though, the drill has an adapter with a cup at the top end, so if the adapter comes free of the drill the auger won’t fall through the hole. A drill with a handle helps keep it level with the auger.

Braggin’ rights

Austin Davis of Lebanon, Tennessee recently bagged the bird hunting trophy of a lifetime when he shot a sandhill crane that was banded in 1989—one of the oldest specimens on record.

Heads up

The Farragut Shooting Range Center in Idaho has a lot of options. It offers new 3D targets along the 20-station 3D archery range through the woods, with full-size targets for deer, mountain goat, moose and many other animals. Plans to offer more opportunity in the future, include a youth 3D archery range, a raised 3D archery shooting platform (to simulate shooting from a tree stand), enhanced parking areas, a 25-yard multi-use range (air gun, pellet gun and archery), new clay throwers for the four shotgun stands and more.

Idaho fishing licenses and permits for 2023 are now available. Be ready to fish on New Year’s Day by purchasing your license and permits now. Washington renewals are not needed until March 1, 2023.

Overheard

Biologists pay close attention to the survival rate of mule deer fawns because they’re most vulnerable during their first winter, and roughly half of them die in an average winter. Many hunters point to predators as the biggest factor in deer and elk mortality, and in some cases, they’re correct. But on average, predators are less a factor than some might imagine for the simple reason there aren’t that many predators compared to deer and elk populations.

Smaller birds often reach sexual maturity at a younger age than larger birds, and they often show a high risk tolerance as well, which is why teal decoy so readily, but a hunter in Missouri shot a green wing teal in 1960 that had been banded in 1941 in Oklahoma—the oldest green wing teal on record. The oldest mallard ever documented was banded in Louisiana in 1981 and shot in Arkansas in 2008. A friend of mine shot a banded redhead drake in the Potholes Reservoir sand dunes that was 17 years old.

Fly fishing

Fly fishermen become scarce when it gets this cold, but if you can’t bear to sit by the wood stove with a good book and a cup of coffee, you can still find trout on the Spokane River. Silver Bow Fly Shop said dredging is the name of the game. Use sink-tips and streamers moved slowly, or double nymph rigs that include a stonefly type of nymph. Look for deeper, softer currents and buckets.

Rocky Ford near Moses Lake fishes consistently during the winter. Try scuds, midge pupa or baetis nymphs. Stripping streamers can also be productive.

The Snake River is giving up a few steelhead to fly fishermen. The Grande Ronde has a lot of ice, but there was open water at the lower mouth earlier this week.

Open water fishing

Trollers continue to catch lots of 14- to 20-inch rainbow trout downstream from the Lincoln boat launch and almost anywhere else on Lake Roosevelt. Kekeda flies with a bit of worm has been good 20 down. If you’re not getting bites, try different trolling speeds as the preferred speeds vary from day to day. Don’t be afraid to move to another area. Walleye anglers are catching more burbot than walleye on Roosevelt.

You don’t need a boat this time of year to catch the beautiful and tasty red-fleshed rainbow trout from Lake Roosevelt. Find a spot on the sand, put a slip sinker on your line, attach a swivel to keep the sinker in place and tie on 5 feet of leader and a No. 6 or 8 hook. Bait with a piece of nightcrawler or shrimp. Add a small marshmallow for flotation or use a dime-sized ball of Power Bait. Test your rig in shallow water to make sure the bait is floating off the bottom. Cast out, take up most of the slack, and wait for the action to begin. Good places to try are the beaches at Porcupine, Fort Spokane, Spring Canyon or Keller.

Lake Pend Oreille remains a good bet for large rainbow. The fish seem to be a little deeper than they were during the Thanksgiving tournament.

The catch and keep sturgeon fishery on the Columbia River opens Jan. 1 and will run Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays until the quota is met. The limit is one sturgeon per person. Contact Reel Time Fishing at (208) 790-2128 for information on a guided trip for either sturgeon or steelhead.

Steelhead fishing on the Clearwater River continues to be good in the lower and middle sections of the river. Drift fishing is turning on. January and February should be excellent.

Ice fishing

Most lakes in North Idaho and in Eastern, central and southwest Washington have ice thick enough to safely fish. In Washington, good reports come from Jumpoff Joe, Sacheen, Thomas/Gillette, Diamond and Curlew (perch), and Hog Canyon, Waitts and Fourth of July (trout). Curlew has safe ice nearly everywhere on the lake.

Don’t forget about little Bear Lake off Highway 2 north of Spokane. Bear is open for juvenile anglers, senior anglers and those with a disability who possess a designated harvester companion card. It has some good-sized perch, bass and channel cats. Look for the deeper water on the south side across from the picnic area. Adults accompanying juvenile anglers may also fish at Bear.

A friend who fished Sacheen and Jumpoff Joe on Monday said the perch at both lakes seemed to come in two sizes – 6-7 inches and 9-11 inches. The larger fish were in the deeper water. He said he also caught “a ton of small sunfish” at Jumpoff Joe. The best fishing was about 100 yards straight out from the public access.

Moses Lake has good ice out from Blue Heron Park. Fishing is erratic as the perch move around in schools. Lind Coulee ice fishermen are catching perch and catfish. Scooteney Reservoir has about 5 inches of ice and anglers there are catching some walleye.

Eloika Lake anglers are catching fair numbers of 6- to 9-inch perch and quite a few largemouth bass through the ice.

In Idaho, Avondale, Bonner, Cocolalla, Dawson, Fernan, Freeman, Hauser, Perkins, Medicine and Upper and Lower Twin have spiny ray and some trout. Avondale perch are numerous but small. Anglers who stay on the lake into the night are catching a few crappie.

The best small Idaho lakes for pike are Hauser, Hayden, Killarney and Thompson. Medicine and Cave lakes are usually good. Chatcolet Lake, at the south end of Coeur d’Alene, is a good spot for pike, and ice anglers there usually catch some decent-sized perch. While the little lakes around Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint are fishable, Priest Lake needs more time before mackinaw jiggers can safely go out. Hauser Lake is getting a lot of attention and the perch bite has been excellent.

Hunting

Upland hunters are taking a few chukars on the Snake River breaks, but quail have been a lot easier to find. The blackberry thickets down low between Wawawai and Steptoe canyons have a lot of quail, but it is often difficult to get the birds to leave their thorny sanctuary. If you drop one in a blackberry patch, you’ll look like you’ve been sorting cats after retrieving it.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com