Fly fishing
Silver Bow Fly Shop says streams like the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene will hang in there for a little longer before they go full fall mode. Plan on nymphing and streamer fishing until the mornings warms up. October caddis, mahogany duns, and bwos will be on the menu over the next week or so. Silver Bow notes fishing on the St. Joe River has been excellent; hoppers/terrestrials and attractors will find fish.
Trout and kokanee
Lake trout fishing around Lake Pend Oreille can be at its best in September. Fish are fully in pre-spawn feeding mode and are aggressive as they pack on extra weight before the spawn next month.
Acoustic tagged lake trout are still widely distributed throughout Pend Oreille Lake wherever depths are greater than 80 feet. The main concentrations are at Whiskey Rock, the Windy Point area along the Monarchs, the steep break off the mouth of the Clark Fork Delta and off the Grouse Point to Talache shoreline.
Salmon and steelhead
Friends fishing shrimp under a bobber for steelhead and chinook at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater had very poor luck this week, but said trollers were doing pretty well on salmon.
Salmon guides in the Columbia Gorge say fall chinook fishing is as good as it gets. The troll bite has been decent for those running Super Baits and spinners, but egg fishing has been better. The Hanford Reach is also a good option for chinook now.
The Buoy 10 fishery at the mouth of the Columbia River is now open for hatchery coho salmon, and another section of the lower river has reopened for chinook and hatchery coho. Ryan Lothrop, Columbia River fisheries manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said, “The coho run appears to still be coming in strong, and we hope anglers get out and take part in what should be some good fishing during the second half of September and into October.” So far this fall, nearly 399,000 adult chinook and 70,000 adult coho bound for the upper regions of the Columbia have passed over Bonneville Dam.
The section of the Columbia River from Buoy 10 to the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line has opened for retention of hatchery coho, with an adult daily limit of three.
Also open on the Columbia is a section of river from the eastern tip of Reed Island to Bonneville Dam for retention of chinook and hatchery coho, with an adult daily limit of two salmon, only one of which may be an adult chinook. To see all regulations and a map of the boundary line from the eastern tip of Reed Island, visit WDFW’s emergency fishing and shellfishing rules webpage.
As always, anglers should be sure to check the 2022-23 Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet to see permanent regulations for the section of river where they hope to fish, as well as WDFW’s emergency rules webpage for updates to this and other fisheries across the state.
The Nez Perce Tribe predicts that 12,250 coho salmon will reach Lower Granite Dam in 2022. This return is large enough to allow harvest opportunities. Through Oct. 31, the daily limit from the downstream edge of the large power lines crossing the Snake River to the Idaho Border at Clarkston will be 5 adult salmon, including no more than 3 adult chinook and no more than 2 adult coho. There will be no daily limit for jack chinook or jack coho. (Chinook and coho may be hatchery or wild.)
Through Oct. 31, the daily limit is five salmon including no more than 3 adult chinook and no more than 2 adult coho. There will be no daily limit for jack chinook or jack coho, hatchery or wild.
From Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, the daily limit will be 2 adult coho, hatchery or wild with no daily limit for jack coho.
Spiny ray
Largemouth bass fishing has been extremely good on Potholes Reservoir this week with a lot of 2-4-pound fish caught. The rock piles between Goose Island and the face of the dam, as well as the mouth of Crab Creek have been producing decent smallmouth on small Norisada blade baits, tubes, crankbaits and Senkos. Walleye fishing has picked up slightly on the face of the sand dunes.
Catch rates for walleye in Lake Pend Oreille are up and are beginning to move into fall location patterns. The number of fish in the Clark Fork River has again increased as it did last month. The greatest concentrations of acoustic tagged walleye in the Clark Fork are in some of the deep holes and runs adjacent to the log boom at the mouth of Lightning Creek and in the hole just above the River Road and railroad bridges south of the town of Clark Fork. These areas are most easily accessed by either the Driftyard or Johnson Creek boat launches. The number of walleye in Oden Bay and off of Fisherman’s Island have increased over the past month to match some of the highest numbers of the year. Some walleye continue to frequent popular locations near the Highway 95 Long Bridge and the railroad bridge area near Sandpoint.
Hunting
An early waterfowl season for Idaho youth and veterans/active military runs Saturday and Sunday. A Federal Migratory Duck Stamp is not required for hunters 15 and younger but is required for hunters 16 and older. Veterans and active duty military personnel can participate in the early, two-day hunt. NOTE: The dates for this hunt are incorrect on page 8 of the 2022-23 Idaho Migratory Game Bird Seasons and Rules. The correct dates are reflected above.
For folks with young dogs or who are new to the sport of bird hunting, Idaho has expanded its captive-raised pheasant program. Released in publicly accessible areas such as Wildlife Management Areas, (WMA’s), the program has been gaining popularity. Pheasant stocking areas in the Panhandle Region are at the Boundary-Smith Creek WMA and the Coeur d’Alene River WMA in Kootenai County. In the Clearwater Region, birds will be released in Latah and Nez Perce Counties.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com
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