Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Aug. 22, 2024

Thu., Aug. 22, 2024

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Lures with a brass, copper, gold, or silver finish are much less attractive to fish when dull, but toothpaste has a brightening agent and mild abrasives that can restore lures to their original finish. Rinse them in warm water, then scrub gently with a soft-bristled toothbrush.

Overheard: An angler fishing for salmon out of Neah Bay this week had this to say about current WDFW regulations allowing the retention of hatchery coho but making the release of any unclipped fish mandatory: “It doesn’t make sense to me. My boat had to release at least 15 wild coho. Four of these were severely injured, and despite a lot of time spent trying to revive them, floated off belly-up. I imagine there were others that swam off and died later. It seems it would make more sense to allow the retention of the first two fish caught, whether wild or hatchery.”

Fly fishing

Fly fishing has been good on the Spokane River. The bigger fish are harder to find, but the small-medium-sized trout as well as whitefish are more cooperative. A hopper/dropper or chubby/dropper will usually find fish. The streamer bite has been good.

The same hopper/dropper combination is also a good prospecting tactic on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene. Try fishing small dries if that doesn’t work. Reports have been good from the St. Joe with hoppers, ants and beetles.

Montana has lifted a number of hoot-owl restrictions including the Clark Fork below the mouth of Rock Creek. The North Fork of the Clearwater/Kelly Creek is a good option, Silver Bow Fly Shop said.

Trout and kokanee

Normally, the trout action is good around Split Rock on Lake Roosevelt this time of year, but reports this summer have been minimal. The fall bite should begin soon for anglers trolling flies and dodgers 30 to 40 feet down. Sometimes a piece of worm on the fly will improve the bite.

Curlew Lake is experiencing a good trout bite for 14- to 16-inch fish. Badger and Williams lakes have been fairly good for trollers and still-fishermen.

Action at Badger has been best at the north end of the lake and in front of the public launch. Kokanee anglers are making some nice catches early and late. The Williams Lake bite is deep and early. Still fishermen with a single red salmon egg on a size 14 hook often outfish the trollers. Clear Lake has been good for rainbow and brown trout as well as some nice-sized largemouth.

Long Lake trout are more difficult to catch because of the weed masses stirred up by recreational boaters and jet skiers, but there are still a lot of 13- to 18-inch fish in the lake.

As always, Twin Lakes near Inchelium has some big brook trout and triploid rainbows. Trollers do best.

Salmon and steelhead

Fall chinook anglers had a good opening day on the Snake River out of Lewiston/Clarkston on Sunday, saying the fish fought hard and were remarkably bright. For some reason, a lot of fish were lost, but several of those landed weighed nearly 20 pounds. Unfortunately, the bite wasn’t nearly as good the second day.

Brewster Pool sockeye fishing can still be good, especially in the morning. The fish are a bit darker, but the meat remains red and firm.

Clearwater River steelhead anglers are taking a few fish. It’s probably too early to have steelhead success on the Snake and Grand Ronde.

My son Matthew is fishing with two friends out of Seiku in zone 5 this week and said that salmon and bottom fish were biting well. What he described as five “huge” Pacific cod were included in the bottom-fishing catch. Everyone caught their two-hatchery coho the first day, releasing another 20 or so wild fish and a dozen or so small chinook, which can’t be retained whether wild or hatchery. Matthew said a white hoochie accounted for most of the fish, trolled at about 45 feet. Their coho were all in the 6- to 10-pound range.

Spiny ray

Idaho largemouth bass are hitting at Hauser, Hayden, the Chain Lakes and the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Senkos are the most popular. In Washington, Silver, Newman, Eloika, Long and Clear lakes have been consistent largemouth producers.

Long Lake (Lake Spokane) is loaded with big perch. Find a weedy bottom in 20-30 feet of water and you’re in business. A friend trolling for walleye regularly takes big perch while trolling a deep-diving plug that seems too big for a perch’s mouth. Liberty, Deer and Loon have been giving up some decent-sized perch and bluegill.

Other species

Curlew, Silver and Newman Lake tiger musky will hit a big topwater now and then, but you have to be persistent. Casting toward shore around docks has produced fish up to 43 inches recently.

Channel Catfish up to 12 pounds have been caught on cut bait, chicken liver and nightcrawlers at Potholes Reservoir in the sand dunes and the face of the sand dunes.

Hunting

I am seeing a good number of mourning doves around my home on Wild Rose Prairie this summer, but I know not to get too excited, as it invariably gets cold and rainy right before the Sept. 1 opener and the birds begin to leave.

Indications are there are some good-sized flocks building around Moses Lake, Clarkston/Lewiston, Walla Walla and in the Palouse.

I have never seen so many young turkeys as I am seeing this summer. Flocks with four and five hens and up to 35 poults regularly feed in my lower pasture (and sometimes my vegetable garden). Numbers will diminish due to natural predation as the summer goes on, but it looks like there will be a lot of mature birds for the fall and spring seasons.

Starting Sept. 1 in Idaho, anyone placing bait to hunt black bears, hunting at a bait site, or witnessing the use of a bait site by a grizzly bear must immediately report the presence of a grizzly bear at a bait station to a Fish and Game regional office. Hunters must stop hunting over that bait site for the remainder of that specific hunting season. The bait site may not be rebaited, and must be removed as soon as it’s safe and feasible. If a grizzly visits a bait site during spring season, the bait site must be removed for the remainder of the spring season, but could be replaced for fall season.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com