Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for Feb 15, 2024

Thu., Feb. 15, 2024

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Some “kokanee” with a lot of black around the mouth have been caught recently on Lake Roosevelt, which suggests these might be immature chinook salmon. A good way to tell a kokanee from a chinook is to rub your hand down the length of the fish. If it’s a kokanee, your hand will be covered with scales; if it’s a chinook, your hand will be coated with slime.

Heads up

The second of four “Talk Shop with Idaho Fish and Game” gatherings will take place Thursday. The gathering will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Priest River Event Center (5399 Highway 2, 83856). The public is encouraged to attend. Free food and soft drinks will be provided, and folks who attend can expect to hear a 10-minute presentation about a topic of interest followed by plenty of time to mingle with staff and have conversations about questions, concerns or ideas they may have.

Trout and kokanee enthusiasts should mark their calendars for Thursday, April 4, when long-time professional angler Benita Galland of Coeur d’Alene will give a seminar at Marks Marine on fishing for rainbow in Lake Roosevelt. She will be providing insights on a variety of lures and tactics that generate significant year round success.

Overheard

The middle net pens on Rufus Woods Reservoir have seen some large triploids caught this week. A friend landed a 16-pounder and there were reports of another angler who landed a 23-pounder and a 26-pounder on successive days.

Fly fishing

Spokane River flows have been stable this week and fishing has been decent for February. Streamer and trout spey fishing has been productive, as have nymph rigs.

The North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River is back on the drop and has been putting out some fish, Silver Bow Fly Shop said. It’s a nymph and streamer game and will be for a bit longer. No need to get out super early. Slow side channels and some soft eddy water hold the fish. Midges are out.

On the St. Joe River, Huckleberry to Big Eddy is floatable, although you will have to drag the boat up at Big Eddy as there is still some snow on the launch. A few drift boats have been out.

Rock Lake, which is good for the hardware and plug angler, is also a good fly fishing destination if you are not averse to trolling. Anglers dragging streamers are catching fish all day, mostly rainbow. The fish have been hanging at 20-25 feet of water.

As the ice recedes from Sprague Lake, fly fishermen can find some good trout fishing parallel to the shoreline.

Trout and kokanee

Trout fishing on Lake Roosevelt is said to be good from Seven Bays down, but the water is coming up and was at 1,288 feet above sea level at midweek. It is expected to begin dropping slowly on Friday.

When the ice first goes out on Potholes Reservoir, bank fishermen begin catching big rainbow from shallow water. Try Medicare Beach, Lind Coulee and the Frenchman’s Wasteway. The time is now.

Crescent Bay on Lake Roosevelt by Coulee Dam has a nice stretch of sandy beach, some picnic tables, fire pits and a vault toilet. Trout fishing from shore has been good there this winter. Brandt Landing has also been good at times. You can’t always expect a great bite, but with a big lunch, some marshmallows and an armful of wood, you can stay comfortably warm and occupied even when the trout are ignoring your Power Bait offering.

Lake trout fishing on Lake Chelan has been excellent in the lower basin. Most fish are less than 6 pounds. U-20 flatfish have been effective.

Spiny ray

Potholes Reservoir has opened up dramatically since last week. Usable launches are Blythe Bay, State Park and Glen Williams as well as the M-Road launch. MarDon Resort’s launch should also be open soon. The dunes are still iced over. Other than that, the reservoir is ice free and there are a few folks out on the water. Anglers are jigging blade baits and producing nice catches of walleye and trout from 25-35 feet of water.

Some big walleye have been caught this past week from Lake Roosevelt. Walleye anglers on Rufus Woods are also doing well on some days,

Below McNary Dam on the Columbia River, walleye fishing is picking up for big fish. Good spots for winter walleye in the Tri-Cities area include from the Snake River downstream to Badger Island and from McNary Dam downstream to Boardman.

Anglers are catching eater-size walleye from the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt by jigging in 50 feet of water. They report the water is getting murky and that there is quite a bit of driftwood coming down.

Curlew Lake still has fishable ice, but the perch bite has moved north out of the state park where deeper water seems to be holding the most fish. Try 50 feet of water and go even deeper if a bite doesn’t develop quickly.

Bonaparte Lake also has fishable ice and more variety than Curlew. The lake has multiple species of trout, kokanee and spiny ray.

Other species

The ice is off the north end of Banks Lake and anglers are beginning to fish for whitefish from boats. Success is coming on small jigs such as the Swedish Pimple baited with real or imitation maggots, perch eyes or shrimp.

Lake Roosevelt burbot are prevalent off the rock ledges across from Seven Bays and in the Spokane Arm.

If your graph shows masses of fish hugging the bottom on Roosevelt, you are most likely looking at burbot. Though sort of homely – sometimes called “snake-like” – the burbot is unsurpassed as table fare, and it has few bones.

Hunting

Idaho turkey hunters looking to apply for 2024 spring turkey controlled hunts can apply until March. Printed copies of the regulations will be available toward the end of February.

Unless you hunt rabbits, have booked a spring snow goose hunt in South Dakota, or are headed off to Arizona for the tail end of the quail season, hunting opportunities for Washington and Idaho residents are about over until the turkey season begins. In the meantime, there are a couple of pheasant preserves still open through April and sometimes later. These are Double Barrel Ranch near Mica Peak (509-490-3066) and Miller Ranch near Sprague (509 370-5535.)

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com