Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for April 23

April 22, 2020 Updated Wed., April 22, 2020 at 6:06 p.m.

By Alan Liere spokesmanliere@yahoo.com

Tip of the week

Taking the dangers of COVID-19 seriously and going fishing are not mutually exclusive, but in Idaho, most people can fish close to home. COVID-19 has created many challenges, but they don’t have to stop Idaho residents from fishing. Here are few of the tips from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to keep fishing fun and interesting in Idaho while minimizing risk to yourself and others:

Fish close to home: Check out IDFG’s Fishing Planner to find locations near you.

Find bait without going to a store: Your yard has worms, and your pantry likely has other baits, such as canned corn and marshmallows.

Go with light tackle: You can make smaller fish exciting by using an ultralight fishing rod, which can make a 10-inch trout feel like a tuna. Ever hear of microfishing? It’s going after the smallest fish you can find, even down to minnows and smaller fish. It can be especially fun if you spot them and watch their reaction to your bait.

Braggin’ rights

Sawyer Livesey of Post Falls set a catch/release record for bull trout while fishing the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry on April 8. His 30.5-inch bull trout beat the previous 29-inch record set last summer by Aaron Fox in Lake Pend Oreille.

Heads up

On April 15, Gov. Brad Little updated Idaho’s stay-home order, including new changes related to nonresidents’ travel into the state. Nonresidents who possess an Idaho license, permit or tag are encouraged to review the new order at coronavirus.idaho.gov/.

Every year, general Idaho season elk tags are returned or exchanged. Often, the returned tags are highly sought-after. The first sale of nonresident elk tags returned from sold-out capped elk zones begins Thursday, on a first-come, first-served basis at idfg.huntfishidaho.net, or via telephone sales at (800) 554-8685. This will occur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, starting at 9 a.m. PDT. Returned tag counts will be posted on the nonresident tag quota webpage at 9 a.m. PDT on the Tuesday prior to each Thursday sale.

Overheard

Washington State guides met with WDFW and other leaders in the outdoor industry last Thursday to discuss the future of fishing, hunting and land use in the state. The consensus seemed to be that when the fishing season does open again, it should be opened “across the board” rather than in increments or by counties. Suggestions included:

• Staying in your own county for two weeks to fish and hunt and see how well people abide by the social distancing rules.

• Keep individuals on their side of the state, east or west, or limit numbers to these regions.

• Guides could not accept out-of-county clients for a period of 14 days.

• Guides could not accept out-of-state clients for a period of 30 to 45 days.

• Close high-volume fisheries, such as the shrimping fishery, halibut fishery and clamming, until social distancing rules have eased.

With all the suggestions and debate, WDFW made it clear the department will be consistent with the governor’s orders. That means, until the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order is lifted, there will be no opening, but the department could be prepared for the opener in two to three days.

Fishing

WDFW says trout plants are being done on schedule throughout Washington and there should be plenty of fish available when fishing resumes. The Colville Tribe started making triploid plants into Rufus Woods Reservoir in February. The total number of new fish released is just slightly under 20,000.

Idaho’s spring chinook salmon fishing season opens Saturday, but early indications show the fish appear to be doing some social distancing of their own. As of Friday, only six had crossed Lower Granite Dam. Only 1,370 had crossed Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River through Friday.

Spring is spawning season for Idaho’s steelhead. These fish make an incredible journey to reach their home streams to spawn, and sometimes, it is not their first trip home. Young steelhead live in Idaho for one to five winters. When they get big enough, they make their way to the ocean where they pass eight dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers. In the ocean, steelhead head immediately offshore, sometimes as far as the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia on the far side of the North Pacific. When they return to Idaho, they have to swim farther and climb higher than any other steelhead, passing the same eight dams again.

Unlike salmon, steelhead can survive spawning and return to the ocean. Those that survive in the ocean return to spawn again. At that point, they will have passed each dam 32 times in their lives. If they are tagged with a PIT-tag, they can be tracked when they start their second spawning migration. Here is the story of one such fish:

It was tagged July 22 when not quite 4 inches long in the South Fork Salmon River in Idaho. Two years after tagging, it was detected moving downstream past Lower Granite Dam on May 6. Two years later, it returned from the ocean on Sept. 3 as an adult and swam to Idaho to spend the winter.

The next April, it was detected heading upstream in the South Fork Salmon River. A month later, it was detected moving downstream past the dams in the Snake River. It spent another four months in the ocean and returned again and entered the fish trap at Lower Granite Dam. At that time, it was 29 inches long. This repeat-spawning steelhead was last detected in late April back in the South Fork Salmon River, having lived seven years.

Hunting

Washington hunters can submit special hunt applications through May 18 for deer, elk, mountain goat, moose, bighorn sheep and fall turkey for the 2020 seasons in Washington. WDFW does not anticipate COVID-19-related impacts to these future big game hunting seasons. Should the department have to cancel these hunting seasons, hunters would be entitled to a refund or point restoration. Instructions and details on applying for special permit hunts are on pages 16-17 of Washington’s 2020 Big Game Hunting Seasons and Regulations pamphlet.

Idaho hunters received a chance to hunt big game this spring with the opening of black bear hunting season on April 15 (some hunting units opened April 1).

The application period for Idaho moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat controlled hunts is open and runs through April 30. The big game controlled hunt application period follows immediately. Hunters can apply online or by telephone by calling (800) 554-8685.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has set the 2020-21 Migratory Game Bird seasons, including waterfowl, mourning dove, American crow and sandhill crane. Changes approved by the commission for the upcoming seasons include:

Ducks

Reduced bag limit for scaup from three to two.

Shifted duck season dates later in most of the state (excluding Valley County and eastern Idaho) so that they end as late as allowed within the federal framework on Jan. 31.

Established a new two-day veteran/military waterfowl season to run concurrent with the youth waterfowl season, Sept. 26-27 (this will require additional legislative rule-making).

Canada Geese

Shifted Canada goose season dates later in most of the state, now ending on Jan. 31.

Sandhill Cranes

Reduced number of sandhill crane tags available, in response to reductions in the Rocky Mountain population numbers in recent years.

Swans

Established the first swan hunt in northern Idaho (Benewah, Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties), with 50 tags offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The tags will go on sale at the same time as sandhill crane tags, Aug. 1 at 9 a.m. PDT.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com