Upriver Park along the Spokane River is now open for public use. Avista Corporation partnered with the City of Spokane Parks & Recreation to create the newly-completed Upriver Park, east of the city’s University District.

Avista dedicated three acres at Mission Avenue and Upriver Drive, near Avista’s corporate campus, to create a natural open space that allows public river access and water-based recreation while contributing to an ecologically-healthy shoreline. The park project involved vacating about a third of a mile of Upriver Drive, separating Centennial Trail users from motorized vehicle traffic in what has historically been a challenging spot for the Trail.

“Upriver Park will be a revitalized space that provides more recreational access to our beautiful river,” says Garrett Jones, director of the City of Spokane Parks & Recreation. “The native vegetation, improved river views, and widened Centennial Trail are all incredible and desired assets to add to the park experiences in our community.”            

Loreen McFaul, executive director of the Friends of the Centennial Trail concurs. “Avista’s commitment to stewarding the Spokane River and Centennial Trail continues to make a positive, unique impact. Upriver Park sets a new standard for how the land between the Centennial Trail and Spokane River can be stewarded as greenway, healthy wildlife habitat, and riparian area for native plants.”

McFaul adds the park was thoughtfully designed with amenities like a wider Centennial Trail, trailhead parking, open views, and new public access to the Spokane River.

“Many Spokane residents feel unsafe on the Centennial Trail near Mission Park and along Upriver Drive because of the proliferation of illegal camping, litter, and overgrown trees and shrubs blocking open views to the river,” she says, noting that the new Upriver Park will change that.

“We are grateful to Avista for this beautiful community gift and encourage all jurisdictions and developers to repeat this concept along all 40 miles of Centennial Trail and the Spokane River in Washington.”

Find more stories about the Spokane River in the OTO archives.

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Spokane, Wash.

One of the best known and most widely used access points to the Spokane River for recreational floaters is about to undergo a massive remodel. Beginning this spring or summer, the T.J. Meenach access, just downstream from the bridge of the same name, will undergo a complete redesign as part of the bigger City of Spokane stormwater runoff project designed to keep pollutants out of the river.

“The city is working to restore T.J. for public use while meeting our needs for a clean river is a great example of leveraging resources to meet multiple needs,” said Andy Dunau, Executive Director of the Spokane River Forum.

Construction, which includes repaving and installation of utilities between Northwest Boulevard down T.J. Meenach to the bridge will take place throughout the summer and into fall. Work on the river access is not slated until fall, after the prime floating season.

The area, which currently serves both commercial and recreational floaters, will be upgraded with an entirely new configuration. Access will be flipped to eliminate an awkward turn and allow entrance off an exit to Downriver Drive from T.J. Meenach.

Once inside, traffic will move one-way toward parking that will accommodate over 30 vehicles, plus spaces for users with rafting trailers. A new designated launch area for rafts will be constructed at the end of the park—an area that now serves as the entrance. There will also be a turnaround to ease traffic flow.            

Between the parking lot and the river will be a swale that will help handle the stormwater. A new trail will form a border along the river and help the shoreline riparian environment.

Currently about 5,000 acres of stormwater from northwest Spokane flows untreated to the Spokane River at end of the T.J. Meenach bridge. To address this situation, the city has already begun a series of six projects that will divert the initial flush of stormwater to about six acres of grassy swales for treatment.

Five of those six acres will be at the disc golf course located just west of Downriver Golf Course. The disc golf course will also be rebuilt and upgraded as part of the swale construction project.

Find more news and stories about the Spokane River in the OTO archives.

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This year’s cleanups include multiple options: public group cleanups, private organization or business cleanups, and DIY cleanups that you and your family or friends can pull together whenever if fits your schedule. It’s a fun and easy way to get outside near the water and help the Spokane River.

For all the cleanups, the two non-profits provide supplies, guidance, and trash disposal. Last year 1,000 volunteers removed over 25,000 pounds of trash and litter. 

Upcoming public cleanup projects for 2022 include:

• June 25: University District/Downtown Spokane
• June 25: Mission Park
• Sept 17: Spokane Valley

Private Groups & DIY

People can also collaborate with the Spokane Riverkeeper to schedule a private cleanup event for a specific group (e.g. school, church, or business), or to organize a Do It Yourself (DIY) cleanup, such as for families and informal small groups. Spokane Riverkeeper lead these private cleanups, and provide supplies and disposal.

Learn more and sign-up at Spokaneriver.net.

Find stories about the Spokane River and Spokane Riverkeeper organization in the OTO archives.

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Spokane

Expect to find lots of rainbow trout when fishing the turnouts downstream of Tumtum, as well as smallmouth bass, black crappie, and yellow perch. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) also encourages northern pike harvest. In Lake Spokane (aka Long Lake), year-round statewide rules apply.

Because of contaminants and to protect redband trout, the Spokane River from Nine Mile Dam to Idaho is now one section with one set of regulations. There are selective gear rules, no bait, barbless hooks, and you can keep two hatchery rainbow trout per day; everything else is catch and release.

Washington and Idaho’s Department of Health recommend checking fish advisories. In some areas it may mean limiting certain types of fish eaten or not eating fish at all.

Coeur d’Alene

Fernan Lake, near Coeur d’Alene, is open for fishing all year. You can find bluegill/pumpkinseed/sunfish, smallmouth and largemouth bass (in shallow, warm water April-May, moving out to deeper water in summer), catfish, yellow perch, rainbow and brook trout, and white crappie.

Sandpoint

Look for largemouth bass, catfish, white crappie, yellow perch as well as rainbow, cutthroat, brook, and brown trout at Cocolalla Lake. Round Lake has bluegill/pumpkinseed/sunfish, bullhead catfish, largemouth bass, brook and rainbow trout. Unique to Shepherd Lake is tiger muskie, but you’ll also find largemouth bass, bluegill/pumpkinseed/sunfish, and yellow perch.

For all three lakes there are bag limits and restrictions for certain species.

Originally published as “Fish Found Near Your Front Door” in the May-June 2021 issue as a sidebar for “Fishing Close to Home” feature story.

[Feature photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – rainbow trout.]

Read more fishing stories in the OTO archives.

The post Know What Fish Species can Be Found In Local Lakes and Rivers appeared first on Out There Venture.

Conor Giorgi, fish biologist with the Spokane Tribe, suggests a 5-weight rod with a soft hackle caddis fly attached. Sean Visintainer, owner of Silver Bow Fly Shop, says most trout are caught subsurface on nymphs and streamers.

Not sure what all that means? Stop by your local fly-fishing shop or join a club or fishing group to get started.

Remember the Spokane and many surrounding rivers are catch and release and the Spokane season runs from May 29 to March 15, with the spring closure intended to protect the trout during spawning season.

Visit the OTO archives for more fly fishing stories.

[Feature photo: Catching a prized redband trout. // Photo: Sean Visintainer, Silver Bow Fly Shop.]

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These trout are also adaptable to a range of conditions and can be found growing up to 24 inches in the deep waters of Lake Roosevelt and 4-5 inches in smaller headwater such as those flowing into Hangman (Latah) Creek. Along the Spokane River there can be as many as 300 fish per mile, but in some Idaho rivers their numbers can be as high as 3,000 fish per mile.

It isn’t always easy to tell a redband from coastal rainbow trout varieties, especially if it is at the end of a fly line. Even fish biologists Casey Flanagan and Conor Giorgi who work for the Spokane Tribe have trouble at times. But there are some ways to tell them apart.

Flanagan says in the Spokane area, hatchery trout, which are coastal rainbow varieties, will have a clipped adipose fin (a small fin along the back). Redband can also have some distinctive coloration including the namesake red lateral band as well as large rounded spots. Flanagan and Giorgi say those marks become more distinctive in populations that live in smaller streams. But when Flanagan wants to be absolutely sure she uses genetic markers.

Redband Face a Variety of Challenges

Although redband live in a variety of river habitats, their population numbers can be limited by degraded streamside habitat, increases in water temperature, as well as competition and predation from non-native fish.

The Spokane River by Sandifur Bridge near downtown Spokane is a year-round stronghold for redband and is an important nesting area where fish dig depressions in the gravel called reds to layer their eggs. Redbands struggle on other stretches of the Spokane such as those downstream of the Post Falls Dam where they are preyed on by the non-native popular game fish, small mouth bass.

The watershed of the Little Spokane River with its cold spring-fed waters and healthy riparian habitat has a healthy population of redband. Whereas some tributaries of Hangman Creek, on the other hand, have lower population numbers due to warm, seasonal water temperatures and frequent fine sediment erosion from surrounding agricultural land. This fine sediment covers up the larger gravel that the trout use to make their reds.

Conservation Collaboration

There are many collaborative conservation efforts in the region. The Spokane Tribe, Confederated Colville Tribes, and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) collect and share similar data. Groups like the Spokane River Forum and the Spokane Riverkeeper are putting up education signage and working to protect water quality.

The EPA, Department of Ecology, tribes and WDFW are working on habitat restoration, including removing fish barriers in the Little Spokane watershed and restoring meanders and streamside habitat to the headwaters of Hangman Creek. Several county conservation districts are also encouraging landowners to opt into a voluntary stewardship program to protect their riparian habitat.

With clean water and intact, healthy habitat, redband trout can thrive in rivers and streams here in the Inland Northwest, allowing them to play their natural role in our aquatic ecosystems and anglers and nature lovers the chance so catch or see this magnificent fish.

As the weather warms up you can find Adam floating the Spokane in canoe, packraft, inner tube, or along with any friend with room on their fly-fishing raft. He last wrote about a close encounter with a woodpecker.

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For 2021, there are three ways volunteers can get help pick up trash along the river, says Jule Schultz with Spokane Riverkeeper: public clean-up events, DIY group events, and business/civic group events.

First, there’s the first big public clean-up event that’s scheduled (with COVID safety protocols in place) on Saturday May 8 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. That kickoff event will be followed by four additional public trash pickup days:

• June 19 at Mission Park
• July 10 at Peoples’ Park
• August 21 in the University District
• September 18 in Spokane Valley

River clean-ups are great for removing litter, but they are also a great opportunity to educate people about other threats to the river, says Schultz. “We are seeing more and more interest in the Spokane River and protecting it than we ever have before.”

Also new this year, Spokane Riverkeeper is encouraging individuals to partner with them to schedule their own DIY river cleanup events with friends and family members whenever it’s convenient. You will be responsible for rallying the volunteer labor, and Spokane Riverkeeper will recommend a trash pickup location and provide the trash pickers, bags, and gloves. And when you’re finished cleaning up your area, they will haul away the trash bags.

Businesses and civic groups can also work with the Riverkeeper to set up a private group river clean-up event.

For more information or to sign up, visit Spokanerivercleanup.org.

[Photos courtesy of Spokane Riverkeeper.]

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To help you make the most of your outdoor time and keep things fresh during the pandemic, the faculty of Eastern Washington University’s Recreation and Leisure Services Program in partnership with Out There Venture has created the SPOvid-19 Local Adventure Series.

Episode 8 – River Surf Spokane

Telling someone you are a river surfer is not an easy thing to do. Most people stare at you in disbelief or act like they heard you wrong. Inevitably I sometimes wish I just told them I like to hike a lot for my recreation.  

So, if you’re one of those people reading this, I say to you now, “Yes, stand up paddle riversurfing is a thing. And yes, you can do it on the Spokane River.”   

I say you can do it because you can.  It takes some time, equipment, and instruction, but it is attainable. First comes the equipment, what I call the stand up paddle river surfer’s Big Five: an appropriate board for your skill level, paddle, pfd, helmet, and a reachable and releasable leash. 

Once you get to the river there are 3 important things to know about stand-up paddle riversurfing:

1. Nobody else on the river cares that you surf.
2. Be respectful of the river and other paddlers.
3. Be safe and have fun.  

You have to remember you’re the oddity on the river.  It’s important to recognize that not everyone will be thrilled to see you at the wave and learn to understand their perspective. And it’s also why it’s key to wear the proper safety gear. Then with some river knowledge, time, and instruction, you’ll be surfing.

I have to say there really is something special about surfing a clear, glassy, river wave. And the best part is when your day is done, you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Isn’t Spokane awesome? 

River Surfer Safety Video

Resources:

• Badfish Stand Up Paddle
• Spokane River Water Trail – Spokane River Forum
• Local SUP gear rentals: Fun Unlimited, FLOW Adventures, EPIC Adventures (EWU), REI – Spokane, Kayak Coeur d’Alene.

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