FISHING — Josh Williams of Spokane won $500 in gift cards and merchandise with the 6-pound 1-ounce rainbow he caught Saturday during the Sprague Lake Trout Derby. The fish measured 24.5 inches long.

Second, $250: Randy Williams of Spokane with a trout weighing 4 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches.

Third, $100: Kathy Armstrong of Bayview, Idaho, with a trout weighing 4 pounds  3 ounces and measuring  22.5 inches.

FLY FISHING — When everyone else hit the Missouri to “catch fish”, Ben Hahn floated upper Rock Creek east of Missoula and dredged a streamer.  It paid off with the brown trout of a lifetime, according to the MoldyChum “served fresh daily” blog.

FISHING — More than $900 in prizes is waiting for anglers who catch the biggest fish and luck out in the raffles at the 2013 Sprague Lake Trout Derby on June 8.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for kids under 17. No fishing license is required since it’s Washington’s Free Fishing Weekend.

Tickets will be available the day of the derby at the two resorts on the lake:

• Four Seasons Campground Resort, (509) 257-2332, on the northwest end of the lake.
• Sprague Lake Resort, (509) 259-7060, at the east end of the resort just outside the town of Sprague.

The Main Derby Station and weigh-in site will be situated just outside Sprague Lake Resort.

Both resorts offer camping, boat rentals, boat launching, docks and tackle.

More info: (509) 259-7060.

FISHING — Rain, moose, bushwhacking, scattered yellow stoneflies, a half-hour hatch of March Browns, 47-degree water, one hook imbeddd in thumb requiring cord-jerk extraction (worked slick) and more cutthroats than you could shake a (fishing) stick at….  

It was another great day at Cutthroat Creek, where the trout are handsome, the anglers smell strong and the fishing is always above average.

FISHING — Get an update on fishing action in the Inland Northwest with our weekly Hunting-Fishing Report by Alan Liere.

Also, click “continue reading” to check out the wide range of fishing updates from saltwater to freshwater in the latest Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Weekender Report.

FISHING — It's no fish story that Spokane angler Tanner Grant, his fishing buddy Branden Carter and their boys had a great time Saturday for the fishing season opener at West Medical Lake.

They have this short broadcast-quality video to prove it.  

Grant shot the footage in and out of the water with his Go-Pro camera and edited the clips to perfection. Add the  perfect song and it's a first-class documentary on why many of us feel sorry for parents who've never taken their kids fishing. 

P.S.  Notice the boys eating in the background as they watch before applying the skills they've learned from observation and a peanut-butter high. A cooler with appropriate food is an essential item for successful kid fishing trips.

Also see:

Eastern Washington's top trout lakes surveyed

Photo essay: Boy's first fish — hooked on the moment

FISHING — After my post on a Spokane Fly Fishers outing to catch large Lahontan cutthroat trout at Omak Lake, I received an email from an angler who was surprised.

“When I lived in Omak in 1965-67, we waterskied there and as I remember the lake was very alkaline and nobody fished it,” he said. “Is it possible that the lake I remember is another lake?”

“No, it's the same lake,” I responded. “But you hit exactly on the reason it is stocked with Lahontan cutthroat trout, a species originating from the southwest and specially adapted to thriving in alkaline waters.  The Lahontan species also is stocked in Lake Lenore and Grimes Lake.”

By coincidence, The New York Times has just published a story recounting the successful effort to revive and preserve the Lahontan cutthroat's genetics originating from Pyramid Lake, Nev.

Note:  Check out the NYT photo of the anglers wading out with ladders to get out to deeper water while gaining a higher profile for longer casting.

FISHING — With April 1 falling on a Monday, the opening day for fishing at many of the Columbia Basin's trout lakes didn't reel in a lot of effort in some areas.

Dry Falls Lake was an exception.

The selective gear lake, a darling for fly fishers had a good turnout, with 45-50 float tubes and pontoons on the water when Washington Fish and Wildlife Deparment district biologist Chad Jackson checked it out.

Fishing overall was good with several anglers having double digit catches of trout, Jackson said. “However, individual angler success was highly variable, that is, some with over 20 fish, some with less than10, and others with 2-3 or less,” he said. 

“Anglers who fished chironomids were the most successful. 

“Trout size was excellent ranging from 12-20” and with most around 15-16.”

Fishing effort wasn’t very high at the “production” lakes (Upper and Lower Hampton lakes, North and South Teal lakes), but those who did fish Monday morning had gorgeous weather and reasonably good success, Jackson said.

Anglers averaged about two trout each, and those harvested were 13-16 inches. 

FLY FISHING — The first group outing of the year for the Spokane Fly Fishers — Saturday at Coffeepot Lake west of Harrington — was a BIG occasion for some of the anglers - with rainbow trout up to 21 inches long.

Read on for the detailed report from club member Mike Berube.

FISHING — Holy heresy! The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department is considering the image of a bass for a logo in its statewide “Fish Washington” campaign.

Actually, that decision already has been made. Instead of taking a stand, the state fisheries managers chose to  have logos featuring both trout and bass.

But the public gets to chime in through February on the graphic technicalities of the logos.

Click here to vote and help choose a pair of new logos that will identify Fish Washington on the web and in other applications.

FLY FISHING — Davy Wotton, a fly-fishing entrepreneur and professional since the 1960s, will present a program of the history, development and fishing of the soft hackle fly in a program sponsored by the Spokane Fly Fishers Wednesday, 7 p.m. at St. Francis School, 1104 W. Heroy.

Fly tiers have dubbed him, pardon the pun, the king of the soft hackle. He's widely known for the SLF Dubbing Blend Series.

Wotton, who hails from Great Britain where he's has a wide ranging career in the sport, lives in the USA. He's currently the managing director of the American International School of Fly Fishing.

FISHING — Lake Roosevelt rainbows like those pictured above can be caught November-March from shore as well as from a boat by casting a bait rig. Look for a shoreline shelf under 10-15 feet of water and cast near the drop-off into deeper water.

A proven rig cast from a spinning rod includes:

• 8-pound monofilament line.
• 24-30 inches of 10-pound leader (extra heavy to take a beating with fewer breakoffs) below a snap swivel and 3/8- to 1/2-ounce sliding sinker.
• No. 2 bait hook baited with a mini-marshmallow or PowerBait and piece of nightcrawler.

Experienced anglers have a half dozen hook-and-leader rigs ready to change onto the snap swivel if necessary so they can keep fishing when the bite is on. Keeping at least one rig in the water as a school of rainbows circulates through an area is an excellent application for the two-pole endorsement. 

The rainbows tend to be most active for a short period in early morning and again in the afternoon, although they can be caught throughout the day and night.

A five-fish limit of rainbow trout from Lake Roosevelt is a beauty to behold in December, when the fish released from net pens in summer have had a chance to go wild putting on length and girth.

These are healthy, lovely and delicious fish.

FISHING — A five-fish limit of rainbow trout from Lake Roosevelt is a beauty to behold in December, when the fish released from net pens in summer have had a chance to go wild putting on length and girth.

These are healthy, lovely and delicious fish.

Limits have been coming easily on most days since mid November, although Wednesday was an exception.  Anglers I fished with and interviewed had to work long, hard hours to scratch out a limit.

Today could be a different story.

WINTER FISHING — Hog Canyon had an average turnout, but the pressure was down somewhat at Fourth of July lake when the fisheries opened for their winter trout season on Saturday.

Fishing was good, but anglers had trouble getting their limits after catching two fast fish over 14 inches.

Problem:  Most of the fish are large and you can keep only two fish longer than 14.

Click here for the opening weekend report from Hatch and Williams lakes near Colville.

Following is the Hog Canyon/Fourth of July lakes report from Randall Osborne, Washington Department of Fish Wildlife area fisheries biologist:

Both lakes were ice free for the opener and with the forcast, should stay that way for a while anyway. Both lakes fished relatively well and should be good for quite a while through the season.

Hog Canyon Lake - this lake had a pretty good turnout for the opener. Rainbows averaged 16 inches and ranged from 9 to 20 inches. Average number of fish harvested by anglers that were creeled was 1.9 fish/angler.

Fourth of July Lake - Not the most people I have seen here in past openers, but still a pretty good turnout. Rainbows averaged 17.5 inches and ranged from 15.5 to 21.5 inches. Average number of fish harvested by anglers that were creeled was also 1.9 fish/angler.

When these two lakes are in form, like they are now, they tend to grow trout really, really well. This is the reason for the relatively low harvest rates. Most people harvested their two fish over 14 inches pretty quickly, but struggled a bit finding fish under 14 inches to fill in their limits.
  

FISHING — Trout were present while any sign of ice was absent during Saturday's winter fishing season at several northeastern Washington trout lakes.

Here's Saturday's field report from the Colville area by Bill Baker, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries biologist:

Hatch Lake - No ice…all open water. Rainbows averaged 14.5 inches and ranged from 13-16 inches. Catch rates were decent with most anglers limiting within 2 hours. However, most fishing occurred from shore…not the easiest way to fish Hatch Lake due to its shallow, weedy nature. Few anglers took advantage of the open water to launch a small boat, but those that did were rewarded with quick limits. Given the weather forecast, I suspect that there will be open water for a while longer.

Williams Lake - No ice…all open water. Rainbows averaged 15 inches and ranged from 12.5-17 inches. Catch rates were very good with most anglers limiting within an hour. Similar to Hatch Lake, most anglers were fishing from shore. Shoreline fishing space at Williams Lake is somewhat limited due to the rushes and cattails growing around the edge of the lake. Therefore, as long as open water persists, I recommend fishing from a boat if possible. Trolling, drifting with the wind, or anchoring up and plunking bait should all be very effective.

Click here for the report on Hog Canyon and Fourth of July lakes.

I had a third grader girl and her mother fishing with me and for the girl it was one missed bite and one of the bigger, if not the biggest, fish of the day — a brown trout. When it came time to take a picture, I asked her if she wanted to hold both of the brown trout in my live well. Her answer: “But I only caught one.”

 

Let me tell you about praising her for an example of ethics exhibited by a person of her age! What a thrill for me to observe something like that!

FISHING — Time is running out  for anglers at many of the Spokane-area trout lakes, some of which close for the season on Sunday .

The rainless heat wave of August-September is keeping water temperatures unusually high, and the fish haven't picked up their fall feeding activity.  

I talked to a group of locals having coffee this morning at Fishtrap Lake Resort. They'd put in some long hours for just a few fish.   But the ones they caught were beautiful, big-shouldered carryovers with  delicious red meat.

“It's just a matter of how much time you want to put in to get them,” one angler said.

Water temps have cooled to 60 degrees in the morning and range to 65 or more in the afternoon, they said.

“But that's a lot better than earlier in the week when they were up to 72 in the afternoon, ” one man said. “That's just too warm for the trout.”

The general consensus from the group was that the water temperatures would drop and the fish would go on the bite within a few days after the Fishtrap fishing  season closes.

FISH HABITAT — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on a proposal to install a series of log jams consisting of native green and aged woody debris along a portion of lower Fish Creek in Mineral County. 

Fish Creek, which begins at the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains, flows under I-90 and into the Clark Fork River near Superior.

The proposed project is a cooperative effort between FWP, Trout Unlimited and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. 

If approved, the project is projected to be completed later this summer and would improve habitat for native fish, restore natural stream processes and likely enhance the quality of fishing in the area.

A draft environmental assessment has been prepared for this proposal, and FWP is accepting public comment through Aug. 3. 

Find the documents and make comments online at fwp.mt.gov under “Public Notices.”

Info: Region 2 FWP office in Missoula, (406) 542-5540; or email shrose@mt.gov.

FISHING — Cool, wet weather has kept area lake fisheries alive into summer for local anglers.

While some fishermen give up on area fishing lakes in spring after the first few fast-action weeks of the season, others are finding more at the lakes than just the peace and quiet.

Luke Marcellus, 5, shares a little bit of his weekend action in this photo. Check out the quality of that cutthroat from Badger Lake. It measured 22.5 inches long, and it's fat as a corn-fed sow!

“There were three of us bottom fishing at Badger Lake,” said Jared  Marcellus, who spoke so proudly of the fishing day, it was clear without asking that he's Luke's dad.

“It took 3 hours, but we limited; mostly small rainbows with one larger rainbow and the big cutthroat pictured with Luke.”

“He is quite the fisherman for a 5 year old! I probably wouldn't have gone Saturday without his request.”

We should all be so lucky as to have that motivation.

FISHING — Todd Young of Spokane used PowerBait to catch this 27-inch rainbow weighing 6.8 pounds at Sprague Lake on Saturday.

Had Young caught the fish one week earlier, he would have easily won $500 in prizes offered for the biggest fish in the Sprague Lake Trout Derby, reports Scott Haugen at Four Seasons Campground and Resort.

The 202 anglers entered in the derby weighed in a bunch of fish in the 4-pound range, and the three top fish were separated by only 1 ounce, with the winner coming in at 4 pounds 9 ounces