Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Sept. 7

Thu., Sept. 7, 2023

By Alan Liere For The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

The beauty of fishing for walleye in the fall is that once you find them, you’re likely to find a pile of them as they tend to school up and hunt for prey in groups. Be sure to mark that spot on your electronics and fish it over and over again repeatedly.

Heads up

WDFW’s National Hunting and Fishing Day celebration on Sept. 30 at Camp Cowles near Newport is a great, family-oriented way to introduce youth to target shooting, hunting and fishing, and other outdoor recreation opportunities. It’s also an opportunity to recognize that hunters and anglers continue to be among the most active supporters of wildlife management and conservation. Volunteers at least 18 years of age old are needed to help staff the fishing dock, clean fish, serve as parking guides, help with registration, and more. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. WDFW is preparing for 500 youth at the event, accompanied by parents or guardians. If you have any For questions, contact Kristopher.thorson@dfw.wa.gov. To sign up for the event or other upcoming volunteer opportunities, visit the WDFW volunteer webpage.

Snake River chinook anglers need to be sure to identify their catch because returning coho salmon and steelhead are also in the Snake during this fishery. All salmonids (salmon or steelhead) that are not kept as part of the daily limit cannot be removed from the water and must be immediately released unharmed.

Fly fishing

Silver Bow Fly Shop said the fish in the Spokane River are responding in a good way to the cooler temperatures and some of the bigger fish are coming back out to play. Late-summer tactics still apply, though – Chernobyls or hoppers with droppers, Euro or indicator rigs.

The recent rain and cooler temperatures will be a big plus for the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene and the St. Joe rivers. Cooler weather will even kill the inner tube hatch. Look for usual late-summer patterns like attractors, terrestrials and small chubbies with droppers. Small parachutes or midges will do well for picky risers.

In the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, the Pillar-Widgeon Chain (Pillar, Snipe, Cattail, Shoveler, Hourglass, Sago and Widgeon) offers consistent rainbow trout fishing and is a favorite spot for fly anglers until closing Sept. 30.

Trout and kokanee

Trout are still biting on Spring, Blue and Deer lakes on the Wooten Wildlife Area near Pomeroy in southeast Washington. Rainbow Lake, also on the wildlife area, was experiencing a blue-green algae outbreak at the end of August.

In September, trout fishing concludes in many Columbia Basin waters. Year-round fisheries in Grant County are prominent, particularly around the Seep Lakes area south of Potholes Reservoir. Corral Lake, located just south of Potholes Reservoir, offers year-round angling opportunities for rainbow trout, largemouth bass and crappie. Warden Lake in Grant County is excellent for smallmouth bass, yellow perch and rainbow trout.

Salmon and steelhead

Friends who have been fishing the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater with shrimp and bobber said they had a stellar day on Tuesday, putting three steelhead and two chinook in the box. One of the chinook was a 20-pounder.

Fall chinook counts over Bonneville are trending much higher than the 10-year average. Reel Time Fishing said the mid-Columbia River fishery near The Dalles, Rufus and Biggs Junction, Oregon, should fish well for the next three to four weeks. The lower section of the Hanford Reach (I-182 Bridge upstream to old Hanford townsite powerline) is scheduled to remain open through Dec. 31 to provide anglers the opportunity to target the late-returning coho to Ringold Springs Hatchery.

The section of the Columbia River from Buoy 10 to west Puget Island is only open for the retention of hatchery coho with a daily limit of three. Farther upstream, the mainstem remains open for coho and chinook with varying open days and limits. September is arguably the best month for West Side river anglers as pink salmon and early-run coho flood into the Puget Sound region. The first fall coho are also showing up on coastal rivers, and summer steelhead and trout are becoming more active as waters cool. Many of the Okanogan-destined sockeye have pushed beyond the Brewster pool and into Canada for spawning. Anglers have plenty of opportunity through Oct. 15 for chinook fishing at the mouth of the Okanogan River and below the highway 17 bridge in Bridgeport. The majority of hatchery fish will be destined for the Chief Joseph hatchery (Bridgeport) and the Similkameen hatchery (Oroville). Anglers can also do well above and below the Wells Dam fish ladders.

Anglers can look forward to decent fishing for fall chinook salmon in the Hanford Reach in the coming weeks with a forecast of 80,000 adult upriver bright chinook. There is expected to be a strong proportion of larger chinook in this year’s return (4-year-old fish.)

Spiny ray

Friends fishing Long Lake this week said there has been a good perch bite and the fish are big – 9 to 14 inches. A similar big-perch report comes from Diamond Lake. Target 30 feet of water over weeds.

Roses Lake in Chelan County, and Leader, Patterson and Palmer lakes in Okanogan County are good this month for perch, crappie, bluegill, largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Water is down in the Columbia River above Northport. Water clarity is good and the current is mild to moderate. Walleye fishing has been good.

Potholes Reservoir walleye fishing always improves in the fall. To the south of Potholes, warm-water options like Soda, Long, Upper and Lower Goose, Hutchinson and Shiner lakes provide good fishing opportunities for other spiny ray species this month.

Hunting

There are some important changes to the general cow elk seasons in the Idaho Panhandle for 2023, so make sure to get familiar with them and review the 2023 Idaho Big Game Season and Rules book before you head into the mountains.

Rules for migratory waterfowl and upland game are now available. There are some bird hunting opportunities that get underway this month so hunters can start making plans by checking out the upcoming seasons.

In Washington, archery deer hunting opened Friday, archery elk will start Saturday, and the fall general black bear season is open. The forest grouse season begins Sept. 15.

If you hunt deer in WDFW’s Region 1, have your deer tested for chronic wasting disease. It has not been detected in Washington to date but was found as close as Idaho last year. Information on several ways to have the free testing done is at wdfw.wa.gov/cwd. If you do have your deer tested, your name will go into a drawing for a free multiseason deer tag.

Populations of Merriam’s wild turkeys are high around Spokane this year and Rio Grande turkeys are plentiful in the southeast part of the state; the season opened Friday. If you are new to turkey hunting, check out WDFW’s Basics of Turkey Hunting in Washington.

Dove season got off to a soggy start around Spokane, and many of the birds have pulled out. There are still good numbers to the south, however, in the drier counties like Lincoln, Whitman, Grant and Yakima.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com