Fishing Report

Spiny-ray fishing

Scores of anglers will be on Lake Roosevelt Saturday and Sunday to try to win big money during the second annual Governor’s Cup tournament.

Walleye fishing has been good at the 100-mile-long reservoir the last week or so. Many of the anglers who will enter the tournament have been test-fishing the lake the last couple of weeks to locate potentially good spots.

Anglers are starting to catch some good-sized perch at Sprague Lake. Monica Mielke of the Sprague Lake Resort said a few fishermen last weekend caught fat 12-inch perch near the first island west of the resort.

Fishermen have known for a long time the lake is home to thousands of perch. They just haven’t been able to find big enough perch to keep. There probably aren’t many perch in the 10- to 12-inch class. Most are so small anglers don’t keep them.

The female perch, which spawned in late winter, are just starting to fatten up. They’re skinny after spawning.

Mielke said some anglers are continuing to catch crappies and bluegills during late evenings. Best fishing is after the sunset.

One Spokane fly fisher reported catching all the bluegills and crappies he wanted to fillet during an evening of fishing. He hooked the bluegills, most 8 to 9 inches long, in shallow water near shoreline cover, and the crappies in more open water fairly near the shoreline. He fished after sunset.

Walleye fishing has continued good at Sprague, Mielke said.

Sacheen, once one of the region’s top trout lakes, is yielding catches of good-sized perch.

Bass, crappie and perch fishing have been good at numerous Northern Idaho lakes, Ross Fister of the Fins & Feather shop at Coeur d’Alene said.

Biggest crappies and perch are at Hayden, he said. Anglers have been catching lots of 10- to 14-inchers. Crappie fishing also has been good at Anderson, Swan and Black lakes; many are 10 to 12 inches long.

Shad

More than 1 million shad have been counted at Bonneville and The Dalles dams the last couple of weeks. The slab-sided fish are moving up the Columbia and a few tributaries to spawn.

Fishermen have been hooking lots of shad near the lower Columbia River dams. They’ve been casting their small lures and flies out of boats and from shore.

Fishing could be fair to good near John Day dam this weekend.

Most of the shad anglers catch in the first part of the run are males that average 2 to 4 pounds. The females, which migrate a week or so after the males begin their migration, are a pound or 2 heavier.

Kokanee

Trolling for the big kokanee in Loon Lake picked up last weekend. Some veteran fishermen caught a half-dozen during early-morning trolling.

Since the thermocline level was still only 20 deep, night fishing in the traditional areas was poor. Even experts said they caught nothing but a few trout and bullheads during several hours of night fishing.

When the thermocline level drops to 30 feet, night fishing should pick up.

Some trollers have been taking 25-fish limits of 8- to 9-inch kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Fister said. Popular fishing areas are off Spokane Point, in Conklin and Mica bays.

Trollers have been averaging four to five kokanee a day at Lake Mary Ronan, Mark Thomas of Camp Tuffit said. The fish average 14 inches. Still-fishing has been spotty.

Insect hatches have been sparse so far this spring, he said.

The most productive kokanee spot in western Montana has been Koocanusa Lake. Trollers are continuing to catch 20-fish limits of 10- to 12-inchers during a half-day’s trolling.

Northern pike

Now is the time to fish Lake Coeur d’Alene for good-sized pike, Fister said. The pike are feeding in 3 to 12 feet of water. He said most shallow bays hold pike.

Pike fishing also is good at the chain lakes, but the fish are small.

Trout, Washington

Fish early and late in the day if you want to do well at Eastern Washington’s trout lakes. Fishing has been slow during mid-day hours at most lakes.

Insect hatches have tapered off during daytime. However, fly fishers have hooked trout on adult damselflies and chironomids. Best chironomid hatches are occurring during evenings.

Bait fishing and trolling is best in the evenings at such lakes as West Medical, Williams, Badger, Clear, Silver, Waitts, Jumpoff Joe and the small cutthroat lakes in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties.

Trout, Idaho

The Coeur d’Alene River is low and clear enough for good to excellent fishing. In fact, it’s the top producing stream in North Idaho.

Some fly fishers reported catching cutthroat to 18 inches in the catchand-release waters. They’ve had good luck on Elk Hair Caddis, bead head nymph, Stimulator and Royal Wulff patterns.

The St. Joe is still too high for easy wading and good fishing, but some anglers, fishing the catch-and-release area, have been catching lots of cutthroat.

The Lochsa and Selway are still too high and muddy from the spring runoff for good fishing.

Trollers are continuing to catch good numbers of mackinaw trout at Priest and Pend Oreille lakes. Fastest fishing is at Priest, where some anglers have been limiting in 2 hours. Fishermen are catching more macks than rainbows at Lake Pend Oreille.

Thousands of fly fishers are anticipating good fishing along the famed Henry’s Fork when the Green Drake mayfly hatch peaks the next 10 days. The hatch is a little late this year.

The mayflies are big enough to bring the stream’s largest trout to the surface. Best fishing is during cloudy days, when the mayflies hatch in large numbers.

Fishing was excellent along the Henry’s Fork section of the Harriman State Park during the opener last Saturday, a spokesman for Henry’s Fork Anglers at Last Chance said. Fly fishers caught numerous rainbows, some trophy-sized, on Pale Morning Dun imitations.

The Henry’s Fork is in perfect condition for fly fishing.

Chinook salmon

Trolling for chinooks at Lake Coeur d’Alene is best in the mornings, Fister said. Fishing has been slow in the afternoon and evening.

The salmon are being caught 30 feet deep by anglers trolling Rapala plugs and various spoons.

Trout, Montana

Major trout streams in the Missoula area are still high and muddy from the spring runoff. A spokesman for Streamside Anglers in Missoula said he expected Rock Creek and the upper Bitterroot to be the first to be clear and low enough for good fishing. The Clark Fork probably won’t be in good shape for at least another week.

The Missouri River in the Craig area was running at 21,000 cubic feet per second earlier this week, but the Bureau of Reclamation reported it will start cutting back the flow by this weekend. Fishing is best when the river runs at about 43,500 cfs.

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