Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for March 7, 2024

Fly fishing

Silver Bow Fly Shop said the Spokane River is on the high side of fishable and Latah Creek is still adding some off-colored water into the lower river. Stonefly nymphs, hot bead nymphs and sculpin-type streamers will get the job done. Target places where the fish can find refuge from the high, fast flows. Odds are they will be stacked up in the limited holding water.

Flows on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene are level but definitely on the high side. Fish the lower end below Prichard to find the best holding water and active fish.

Amber, Medical, Coffeepot and Liberty lakes are ice-free and the fishing has been decent. Hog Canyon and Fourth of July will remain good options until the March 31 closure. Jesse from Silver Bow Fly Shop fished Medical and Amber lakes on Friday’s opener and reported good fishing with a balanced leech with a blob fly on the dropper. He said the access gate to Medical had not been unlocked, so that may be an issue if you intend to launch a boat.

Lake Lenore, the selective gear Lahontan cutthroat trout fishery just north of Soap Lake, is an excellent choice for anglers in search of large fish. Fisheries surveys in 2022 and 2023 found the average size of fish collected was 18 inches. In late March, anglers should look for large prespawn fish cruising in shallow water. Lenice and Nunnally lakes, located near Beverly, are consistent producers of rainbow trout in the 13- to 18-inch range. Lenice tends to draw more attention from anglers during the first few weeks of the season, but both lakes fish well. These lakes provide little in the way of shore fishing and require anglers to carry their float tubes or prams about a quarter mile to launch.

Trout and kokanee

Trout anglers casting Roostertails from shore are taking limits of 12- to 14-inch rainbow from Corral Lake south of Potholes Reservoir.

WDFW Fish Biologist Michael Schmuck said all the Quincy lakes in the Columbia Wildlife Unit are free of ice. Friday’s opener was windy, but there were good numbers of 11- to 13-inch trout coming out of Martha and Upper Caliche. Burke and Quincy lakes were putting out good numbers of fish in the 13- to 16-inch range, with some in Quincy running 18 to 19 inches.

On Thursday, the Colville Fish and Wildlife Department is releasing over 15,000 triploid trout with an average of weight of 1.5 pounds at Rufus Woods Reservoir. Typically, the release sites are at Seaton Grove and the state park. The Colville Tribe is also going to release trout into the lakes within the reservation boundaries. Some of them will be large. Twin Lakes, near Inchelium and Buffalo Lake are two of these lakes that allow nontribal members to fish,

Salmon and steelhead

Winter chinook fishing in Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton Area) and Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island) is open four days per week – Wednesdays through Saturdays only through mid-April but could close sooner if guidelines are achieved. Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound) is open year-round and has been fair to good for both resident chinook – commonly known as “blackmouth” – and resident coho.

The preseason forecast of spring chinook returning to Drano Lake (5,273 adults) indicates that a reduced adult salmon daily limit is needed to provide spring chinook angling opportunity and help ensure broodstock collection goals at Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery. Beginning March 16, until further notice, the daily adult salmon portion of the salmon and steelhead daily limit is reduced to one.

The adult salmon daily limit is also reduced to one in the lower Klickitat River and the salmon season is shortened to support broodstock collection.

The salmon season closes beginning May 23. The salmon season in the upper Klickitat River is delayed until further notice. The Wind River daily salmon limit is also reduced to one as of March 16.

The Kalama and Cowlitz river salmon limits of one are in effect.

Spiny ray

Perch fishing has been good at times near the I-90 Bridge in Moses Lake, but the fish are mostly small. Not many the 10- to 12-inch fish for which the area is known have shown.

The pubic launch at the south end of Eloika Lake is ice-free and a few hardy anglers have been out searching for perch.

There is still some ice and lake needs to warm up quite a bit before the crappie school up to spawn.

Some of the year’s biggest walleye are caught in the Columbia River in the late winter/early spring.

These fish are preparing to spawn and are nearing their highest weight of the year. Walleye are usually caught this time of year in Lake Wallula, Lake Umatilla, Lake Herbert G West and Scooteney Reservoir. Spots to try for walleye in the Tri-Cities area are the Snake River downstream to Badger Island and from McNary Dam downstream to Boardman.

As the water warms in backwater areas of the Columbia River, smallmouth bass, channel catfish and yellow perch will become more active along with walleye near Paterson and Crow Butte. Jigging or slow trolling with natural baits like worms tipped on lures is effective. While walleye tend to get most of the attention, yellow perch are generally less finicky to catch.

Other species

Razor clam diggers can look forward to more digging opportunities on coastal beaches beginning Thursday through Monday. After that, tentative dates are Tuesday through March 17; March 26 through 31; and April 8 through 14. Ilwaco (Marine Area 1), Westport-Ocean Shores (Marine Area 2), La Push (Marine Area 3) and Neah Bay (Marine Area 4 west of Bonilla-Tatoosh) will open Saturday through Oct. 19. Possession is prohibited for copper rockfish, quillback rockfish and vermilion rockfish in May, June and July.

Neah Bay (Marine Area 4 east of Bonilla-Tatoosh) is open year-round for bottom fishing. Lingcod fishing is open Saturday through Oct. 19. A bottom fish limit doesn’t include halibut, which has a daily limit of one. Surf perch and shiner perch are not part of the bottom fish limit. Surf perch have a daily limit of 12 and shiner perch have a daily limit of 15. Fishing is open the third Saturday in October except fishing for surf perch is open year-round from the beach.

Sturgeon fishing is open for catch-and-release in the Columbia and Snake rivers. Limited retention opportunities are still available in the John Day pool. Lake Wallula (McNary Reservoir) is open year-round for sturgeon, except for a winter closure from the Hanford townsite to Vernita Bridge, but is limited to catch-and-release only.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com