Fly fishing
There are several benefits to fishing rivers and streams during the coldest part of the year. Seek out slow, deep water where trout and whitefish will most likely be holding, expending as little energy as possible. Look for slow pockets or pools where water is barely flowing. Fish are still looking for an easy meal, but use smaller flies than you would in spring and summer. The same goes for tippet. River flows in winter slow down dramatically and tend to be lower and clearer. That means it’s even easier for fish to see right through a poorly-executed presentation. Downsize your tippet from what you usually run.
A big advantage to winter fishing is that fish won’t begin feeding until mid- to late-morning. Unlike peak summer conditions, fish will be most active during mid-afternoon on sunny days, and even longer into the afternoon on cloudy days.
The Lower Lochsa and Selway rivers provide good opportunities to catch whitefish during winter, and also have catch-and-release trout fishing. The St. Joe River also provides winter fishing opportunities for cutthroat trout and whitefish, and the lower section of the North Fork Coeur d’Alene has fishing for whitefish and cutthroat trout and is accessible during winter.
Ice Fishing
Many lakes in Washington now have safe ice for fishing, but always be cautious as thickness can vary as much as three inches. Some of the Washington lakes close to Spokane with good ice are Eloika, Sacheen and Jump-Off Joe, Thomas and Gillette (for perch) and Waitts, Hog Canyon, Fourth of July and Sprague (for trout). Moses Lake has about five inches of ice at the Blue Herron launch, but there could be thin spots. Many lakes in the Okanogan are also seeing ice fishing action.
Close to Coeur d’Alene in Idaho, Fernan Blue, Hauser, Freeman and Upper Twin are fishable, and Winchester Lake near Lewiston, is a great multi-species destination which also has campsites and yurts for overnight stays. Lakes like Kilarney, Round, Shepherd, Gamlin and Avondale could be fishable by the weekend.
Open water fishing
Lake Roosevelt trout fishing has been excellent for those brave enough to face the elements. Both bank and boat anglers are netting plenty of 15-17-inch rainbow. Anglers jigging olive green jigs are taking home limits of chunky triploid trout from Rufus Woods Reservoir.
Rock Lake fishing for big brown trout is just turning on. Smaller fish and rainbow trout are being caught from shore at the access, but the larger fish are caught near the inlet at the far end of the lake and up against the cliffs.
Walleye fishermen in the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt sometimes inadvertently catch more burbot than anything. As always this time of year, the Buoy 5 area has some big schools.
Hunting
Duck hunting in the Moses Lake area has been poor as most of the small water is frozen. Some hunters are finding birds by jump-shooting the wasteways, however, and goose hunting in the fields has been excellent.
There was 22 inches of snow in my yard on Tuesday when a friend and I headed into the Palouse to hunt pheasants. We expected to find a little less snow, but were surprised to discover the areas around St. John, Winona and Endicott had virtually none. It was the first time ever that I have gone pheasant hunting and not seen a single bird of either sex.
Big flocks of Canada geese are loafing on Rock Lake and flying out to surrounding stubble fields during the day where they will often feed for hours. A friend who lives just off the Palouse River says he has had one of his best goose seasons ever, with the birds visited the decoy spread he sets up in an alfalfa field near his home. He said the geese have often been difficult to pattern, as they have been alternating between harvested grain fields and winter wheat.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com
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