Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for March 14, 2024

Thu., March 14, 2024

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Rain tends to discourage some anglers from fishing, but it provides a great opportunity for catching fish. The best fishing will occur before the rain when the low barometric pressure can cause the fish to feed aggressively. The bite may slow down during the storm, but it will usually pick up after it passes when the pressure begins rising again.

Braggin’ rights

There was a rare catch this week at Potholes Reservoir when local anglers Rusty Johnston and John Darby caught 16 burbot while jigging blade baits for walleyes. Burbot are not caught often at Potholes and 16 is unique.

Overheard

“The options for ocean salmon fisheries this year reflect forecasts for Columbia River chinook that are similar to last year,” said Kyle Adicks, intergovernmental salmon manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “The number of hatchery coho expected to return to the Columbia is lower than last year but should still provide good fishing opportunities. Fishery managers expect salmon returns of natural stocks, especially those under the Endangered Species Act, to be at low abundance, which will limit salmon fisheries in all marine and freshwater areas.”

Heads up

WDFW urges new, prospective hunters to complete hunter education now before upcoming turkey hunting seasons. Youth turkey season opens April 1, and the general spring turkey season opens April 15. Prospective hunters can register for either a traditional or hybrid hunter education course by visiting WDFW’s hunter education webpage.

Fly fishing

Silver Bow Fly Shop said flows on the Spokane River have dropped a bit in the last week, but the river is still cranking along. Latah Creek is running a little cleaner, so fishing downstream of the confluence is back to being an option. Focus on slow moving, winter-style water for the best success. Heavy stonefly nymphs, hot bead attractors, and streamers will get the job done. Cover the likely water thoroughly, as fish will congregate there.

The Spokane River closes Friday to protect spawning redband rainbow trout.

Flows on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene are at a good level. There could be shelf ice and ice dams up near Prichard. Fishing is best on the lower end of this drainage. Nymphing and streamer fishing is going to be the most productive, but bring along some small dries in case a hatch does come off. March Browns, BWOs and early Skwalas could show anytime now.

The St. Joe has some ice below Marble Creek, which will make floating difficult. Wade fishing around Calder will be an option. Plan on nymphing and streamer fishing.

Trout and kokanee

Amber and Medical lakes froze up during last week’s cold spell, but with the warmer weather, they should be open by the weekend. The boat launch access gate is still closed at Medical, and the boat launch at Coffeepot Lake may have ice. Fourth of July and Hog Canyon should fish well through March.

Spring is one of the best times to fish Lake Lenore as the big Lahontan cutthroat are cruising the shoreline on the north end of the lake. This is a selective gear water with a limit of one of at least 18 inches. All Lake Lenore fish should probably be released, however, as they don’t provide good table fare because of the alkaline water in which they live.

Lake Roosevelt rainbow are getting tougher to catch, but the Keller area has been fair at times. A few small kokanee have been taken high in the water column, but the fishing is not expected to heat up until the water level drops significantly. When that happens, trout will move into warmer water in the back of bays. The water level is way above average for this time of year. Lake Roosevelt water level was at 1,285 at midweek and dropping slowly. All launches are usable.

Liberty Lake anglers throwing Rapalas are catching some big brown trout as they cruise the shallows.

Rock Lake browns are also biting better than the rainbow. Anglers are fishing shallow water with Rapalas and spoons.

Pend Oreille Kamloops are doing well, and some of the best fishing of the year is just getting started.

These large rainbow are staging at the mouths of rivers where they will remain until after the spring run-off.

Spiny ray

Blade baits have caught on as a walleye-getter on Lake Roosevelt. Last weekend, there were close to 30 boats in and around Porcupine Bay, and most of them were catching fish. Friends who were trying blade baits for the first time said they caught 15 “eater-size” walleyes between 16 and 18 inches.

Largemouth bass can be active on the east and southeast-facing shorelines of lakes like Rock, Silver, Sprague and Bonnie. The warmer days will be best.

Walleye fishing is picking up on Potholes Reservoir. They are in the early stages of prespawn and moving around a lot, so success will vary from day to day. Vertically jigging or casting blade baits even better.

Lake Coeur d’Alene is all about northern pike fishing with bait. The bays at Blue Creek, Wolf Lodge and Harrison are popular places to fish dead bait under a bobber.

Other species

Burbot are spawning in shallow water in Idaho’s Kootenai River and its tributaries, making them more accessible to anglers. This is the fourth season of burbot fishing in the Kootenai following a 26-year closure.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com