Hunting and Fishing
outdoor insights
Tip of the Week
Braggin' rights
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Alan
Liere, Correspondent
November 19, 2004
Steelhead
The Great Snake Lake Steelhead Roundup begins at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and runs
until noon on Nov 27. It includes more than $10,000 in cash and prizes. Derby
entry fee is $20 for adults and $10 for kids 13 and younger. Information:
Lewiston Chamber of Commerce, 1-800-473-3543.
With the exception of the Salmon River, where anglers are doing well,
steelhead anglers who remember the fishing of the past two seasons are becoming
frustrated by the fickle bite throughout the Snake River system. Depending on
whom you talk to, the water is either too cold, too warm, the barometer too low
or too high, or the angling pressure too great. Your best bet is to go fishing
and hope you hit one of those days in which the fish are biting aggressively.
Most experienced fishermen agree that in the colder days of autumn or winter,
the most success will come from drifting bait, preferably eggs. At Darver Tackle
in Starbuck, Wash., Verna Foley said some of the best luck is coming off a pink
and orange fly tied by a local angler.
On the Grande Ronde, Bill Vail
at Boggan's Oasis said fly fishermen are having a tough time, but trollers and
bobber fishermen are doing fairly well. The best fishing is from Schumacher
Grade into Oregon.
Trout
Banks Lake is down six vertical feet, so the Dry Falls launch and the one at
Million Dollar Mile are unusable again. Access is still available, however, at
Coulee Playland Resort and at Osborne Bay. The lake is supposed to start filling
again soon. When Rufus Woods is once again receiving water from the dam, fishing
there should really pick up. A few smaller triploids are showing at Rufus Woods,
although a 23-pounder was caught last week.
The Lake Roosevelt rainbow fishery is probably the best fishing action around
at this time. Spokane angler Dale Moffat, however, reports hot fishing one day
and limited success the next between Lincoln and the goat farm. He said the fish
tend to stack up in bays if the wind is blowing toward shore. Bank fishermen are
beginning to haul in 2- to 4-pound rainbow on marshmallows and worms or
PowerBait. Trollers are catching their fish on Apex lures, Rippin' Minnows or
Muddler Minnow flies.
Priest Lake mackinaw in the 3- to 7-pound range are hitting well on trolled
plugs. Closest access to the best fishing is at Cavanaugh Bay, but the launch
there is shallow and requires some caution. On Pend Oreille, lots of 15- to
20-pound kams are on the surface. A good chop increases your chances of hooking
one of these big trout.
Brown trout fishing at Rock Lake is good now. Corral Lake in the Columbia
Basin continues to show nice rainbow for bank fishermen and boaters. Corral Lake
is open all year.
Spiny
ray
Walleye action has been fair in Lind Coulee, the face of the sand dunes and
along the face of O'Sullivan Dam. On still, sunny days, bass fishing can still
be good.
Rufus Woods is one of the few waters kicking out walleye. The west side,
straight out from the launch, has been productive. On Roosevelt, walleye fishing
is slow.
Small northern pike are still smashing jerk baits on Lake Coeur d' Alene
along the standing weed edges in the vicinity of Wolf Bay Lodge, but bass
fishing is slow. Crappie are being taken from the same area as the pike. Give
Fernan, Twin, Spirit, Rose or Hauser a try for 9- to 11-inch crappie.
Other
species
This is early for Banks Lake burbot fishing, but some have been taken in
recent weeks. They are most commonly caught in deeper water in the Devil's Lake
area by jigging heavy weights and treble hooks sweetened with sucker meat or
nightcrawlers. Some successful fishermen fill four inches of chrome chair leg
with lead and attach the hooks to a bead chain at the end.
Banks Lake whitefish are also biting in 10 to 40 feet of water straight
across the lake from Coulee Playland Resort. When the water comes up, the
fishing will get better. Bouncing the bottom with a green or white Glo-Hook
tipped with a maggot will catch whitefish. In my book, smoked whitefish rival
smoked kokanee.
Speaking of burbot, Roosevelt is "paved with the things," said Spokane WDFW
biologist Chris Donley. He said the entire system holds this homely but
delicious eel-like fish. The best angling is in any deep bay at night.
Waterfowl
West Side waterfowlers have had excellent hunting this week. On the East
Side, the consensus is that duck hunting is better than at this time last year.
Limits have not been the rule, but few are going home empty-handed. Fog has been
a detriment this past week. There are a lot of ducks around Winchester Reserve
in the Basin. Potholes Reservoir near Moses Lake is not as good now as it was
two weeks ago, but with the cold weather predicted for the weekend, rafting
birds should begin to move. Guide Gary Russell of Moses Lake said one of his
clients shot a mature Ross' goose and a specklebelly last weekend.
Many small flocks of honkers are using the fields north and west of Spokane.
Judging by the number of geese in the air Wednesday, there are new birds moving
in.
Upland
It's an old story this time of year, even during the best of pheasant
seasons: You'll pay in boot leather for every rooster you put in your game vest.
Now is the time to try the little cattail patches, fencerows and eyebrows you
ignored during the early season. Approach them quietly and hunt slowly.
Quail hunters are finding that some of their traditional honey-holes have too
much tall grass, causing birds to move. Our wet spring caused a spurt of weed
growth. Quail are not comfortable in high, green vegetation that restricts their
launch.
Big
game
Another hunting opportunity this week is the late season for Western
Washington blacktail deer. This season runs through Sunday for modern firearm
deer tag holders. Check the regulations for specific information in your
GMU.
Eastern Washington's modern firearm deer season ends today. There are still
opportunities for muzzleloaders and archers.
In some Idaho units, deer hunters have until Dec. 1 to put venison in the
freezer.
