Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for March 21

Fly fishing

Fly fishermen at Hog Canyon Lake are still doing well on rainbows, but Fourth of July Lake has been slow. Both winter season trout lakes, as well as Hatch, close March 31.

Amber Lake is fishing well. Most of the rainbow run between 15 and 20 inches. Black Woolly Buggers have been effective. Coffeepot Lake trout are also turning on. Woolly Buggers have been working almost everywhere there, but chironomids have been best on the far end of the lake.

Trout and kokanee

Three friends and I launched around 8 a.m. at Keller Ferry on Lake Roosevelt last Friday. Trolling Apex lures, our first fish was a 20-inch kokanee, followed by two 16-inch trout – all in the first half hour and in sight of the launch. By 8:30, the action was over and we trolled until early afternoon, marking fish but without another bite. Other fishermen at the launch who had also given up reported a similar lack of action, with three other boats having netted but three rainbow and no kokes. One of the anglers I spoke with said he had been to Keller 10 times this year and had yet to catch a kokanee.

On Sunday, two other friends went to Hansen Harbor to fish for trout from shore. One had his five-fish limit in about 40 minutes and the other said he had “about a million bites” before finally landing four fish. The bite was again over by 8:30, and another two hours of fishing produced nothing. Both anglers were using orange Power Bait. The most successful of the two used a wide gap No. 6 hook and the other used a circle hook of the same size. There’s a possibility he was instinctively setting the hook, and the circle hook is designed so that the fish hooks itself. Trying to set the hook often pulls it out of the fish’s mouth.

The upper Columbia River near Northport is low with moderate flow and clear water. Trout between 17 and 22 inches are common. Most of these are wild, but are legal to keep in those waters. Mayflies have been noted on the water. The bite is usually dead by 1 p.m.

The middle net pens on Rufus Woods are producing some 1½- to 2-pound triploids for anglers using jigs, Power Bait and a bait I had never heard of called Power Bait Mice Tail, which appears to be outfishing everything else.

Brandts Landing is giving up some triploids weighing 2 to 6 pounds. Fishing isn’t fast, but a few fish over 10 pounds have been caught in recent weeks by anglers using jigs.

Trout fishing has been fair on Potholes Reservoir. Troll No. 7 Flicker Shads or spoons at 2-3 mph. Fish Medicare Beach or the stretch between MarDon Resort and Blythe Point. Corral Lake, Upper Goose Lake and Long Lake have been producing trout. Use rooster tails or Power Bait from shore or troll wedding rings.

Spiny ray

Surface temperatures on Potholes Reservoir have warmed to the mid-40s on the main reservoir and to the mid-50s back in the sand dunes and the fish are waking up. Largemouth bass are making their way back into the sand dunes. Fishing is fair with several nice catches reported from midway back in the dunes.

Throw one-half ounce black and blue jigs, swim jigs, jerkbaits and Texas rigged plastics. Walleye fishing is fair. Fish the humps in front of the sand dunes and near Perch Point. Trolling and jigging are both producing. There have been no reports of perch, crappie, bluegill or smallmouth bass.

Other species

The WDFW has announced plans for the 2024 halibut fishing season, which will kick off April 4 in some Puget Sound areas.

Prior to fishing, anglers should check the WDFW website to ensure a specific area is open. Refer to the WDFW bottom fish and halibut webpage for information on recreational halibut regulations and seasons.

Sturgeon retention closed in John Day Pool. It remains open for catch-and-release fishing for sturgeon on days not open to retention, as do many other stretches of the mainstem Columbia.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com