Fly Fishing
Silver Bow Fly Shop says the Snake River has been a good option for steelhead this week and the Grande Ronde has settled down. The Clearwater River is also a good option. For swinging, it will be a sink-tip and leech (or intruder, reverse marabou), and for nymphing throw a stone type (hot bead stones, double bead stones, etc.) with an egg or bead below that. Find the slower/deeper water and cover it thoroughly, getting your flies down deep.
Ice fishing
Washington’s winter lakes, Williams, Hog Canyon and Fourth of July are still fishing well through the ice.
A friend and his family rented a cabin at Tiffany’s Resort on Curlew Lake last weekend and the four of them fished two days. The catching was not what they expected, nor what it has been, however, as they only caught four perch. He said there were perhaps 50 other anglers on the ice on Sunday, and no one seemed to be doing any good. His underwater camera picked up a lot of perch, but they either ignored his maggot completely or just bumped it and darted away.
Another friend fished Sacheen Lake last Friday with similar results. He fished with jigs and maggots just off the point at the end of the big bay by the public access. He caught 3 keeper-sized perch of about 9 inches and a few others under six inches in five hours. Other anglers say the best perch bite at Sacheen has been in 40+ feet of water. Perch eyes for bait have been ignored, but the fish are hitting small tungsten jigs tipped with maggots.
Diamond Lake has been good for perch in the deepest water you can find. This generally means a long trek across the lake from the public access. Waitts Lake has been off and on. Hit it on a good day and you can catch big rainbow and browns not too far out from the public access. The perch fishery, too, has been erratic, but there are schools of 10-inchers swimming out there.
Banks Lake ice fishermen are catching whitefish out from Coulee Playland Resort. The bite has been torrid at times, but recent reports indicate it has slowed.
Elsewhere in Washington, Fish Lake near Wenatchee has been good for perch, kokanee and even triploid trout. Patterson Lake, located a few miles from Winthrop has trout, kokanee and small perch. Palmer Lake, which is 23 miles north of Tonasket, is giving up perch, trout, kokanee and some big burbot. A little further from Tonasket, Bonaparte Lake has rainbow, kokanee and some big tiger trout.
In Idaho, Mirror Lake still has good ice. Anglers are catching kokanee and rainbow trout. The first 10-15 feet from shore at Avondale is thin, an invitation for a good soaking. The ice is much better (8-9 inches) on Gamlin, Mirror and Kelso.
Idaho’s Round Lake has about four inches of good ice but trout fishing has been slow. Cocolalla has about six inches of ice. The perch bite has been good before noon.
Ice at Hauser is good, but the perch fishing recently has been off from weeks past with a lot of smaller fish showing. Anglers with underwater cameras say the fish have been doing what they have been doing at a lot of other lakes—nosing the bait and then swimming away.
Open water fishing
Trout fishing on Lake Roosevelt has been decent near A Rock. There hasn’t been any one lure that is consistently hot. The fish are running 15-20 inches, but there have been long stretches of nothing interrupted by 10 minutes of action and then nothing again.
Walleye fishermen on Lake Roosevelt have found some success near Outhouse Flats and across from Seven Bays. Blade baits have been effective at times, but jigs have also worked if allowed to sit on the bottom before starting a slow retrieve.
Rufus Woods Reservoir below Grand Coulee Dam is a primary destination for anglers looking for big triploid trout. Stretching from Chief Joseph Dam to Grand Coulee Dam most fishing is done at the top end of the reservoir where they can launch for free at Seatons Grove and make the eight-mile run down to the net pens.
There have been reports of good catches of kokanee on Lake Chelan below Rocky Point and the area across from there out from the blue-roofed condos.
Hunting
Idaho duck season closes Friday in Areas 2 and 3 and on January 31 in Area 1. This includes the scaup season in Area 1. The Canada goose season closes Friday in Area 2 and Jan. 31 in Area 1. It is already closed in Area 3. The white front and light goose season closes Friday in Area 1 and Jan. 31 in Areas 1 and 2.
With a 2023 hunting license, Idaho hunters can continue targeting red (pine) squirrels, cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares all the way through March 31.
Up to 1,500 nonresident Idaho white-tailed deer-only tags will go on sale at 10 a.m. MST Thursday morning. To apply, go online at GooutdoorsIdaho.com, at vendors, with the Idaho Fish and Game mobile app or by telephone at (800) 554-8685. Hunters looking to apply for 2023 spring controlled hunts for black bear can apply from Sunday to Feb. 15. Information on the spring 2023 controlled black bear hunt can be found in the 2022 Idaho Big Game Seasons and Rules book.
Washington pheasant, quail and gray partridge seasons end on Monday. Forest grouse close after Sunday. Cottontail and snowshoe hare close March 15. Chukar remain open until the end of the month. The waterfowl season ends after January 29 except for the scaup season which is already closed.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com
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