Hunting and Fishing
Salmon and steelhead
Although last Sunday’s Westport opener started slowly, one out of every two anglers brought a salmon – mostly chinook – to the dock the next day.
“The word on the dock was go north and fish deep,” said Mark Cedergreen, director of the Westport Charterboat Association.
Starting today, anglers will see if they can improve on the Westport odds when salmon fishing opens in marine areas 3 (LaPush), 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu), 6 (Port Angeles), 7 (San Juan Islands), 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) and 13 (south Puget Sound), followed by Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) on Sunday. The popular inner Elliott Bay chinook fishery starts July 8 and runs Friday through Monday until Aug. 22. Anglers in the Elliott Bay bubble can take an additional two pinks.
Salmon fishing will continue on the Little Salmon River near Riggins for another four-day fishing period, starting today, and then will close for the year. It closed Tuesday on the South Fork Clearwater River and the Lochsa River. The mainstem Columbia River summer chinook fishery, from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to the Highway 395 bridge in Pasco, will open to the retention of both marked and unmarked chinook beginning today.
On the lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam, 862 anglers caught 72 chinook last weekend. Overall, 49 percent were hatchery fish. One of the highest catch rates was at Kalama Bar where bank anglers have arrived as early as 2:30 a.m. to reserve a spot.
Trout and kokanee
WDFW enforcement sergeant Dan Rahn of Spokane reported that trout are still biting at Williams and Badger lakes in southwest Spokane County. Rainbow are averaging 12 to 13 inches and cutthroat are coming in around 11 inches. Rahn also noted that night fishing has been good at Waitts Lake in Stevens County.
“The fish are biting really well on green power bait,” he said.
Rainbows are averaging 11 to 12 inches, with a few running 16 to 19 inches. Some nice brown trout are also showing up at Waitts.
In an effort to better manage the lake trout population, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game teamed with Avista to create and distribute an educational VHS video/DVD called “Reliable Methods of Catching Lake Trout on Lake Pend Oreille.” Videos and DVDs are available to check out from the Regional Fish and Game Office in Coeur d’Alene; the Clark Fork, Sandpoint and Cabinet Gorge hatcheries; Bayview Research Office; public libraries in Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Sandpoint and Priest River; and the Avista office in Noxon, Mont. For more information on the videos, contact Ned Horner at (208) 769-1414.
The St. Joe is gradually dropping and there are a lot of caddis on the river in the evenings. The upper and middle sections of the St Regis are producing better than the lower river. The water level is about half of normal for this time of year. On the Clark Fork, the fish are keying on golden stones, so anything yellow will get some attention.
Flatfish continue to take the most Lake Chelan lakers this week, mostly from the Wapato Point area. Keep your lure or bait operating within 10 feet of the bottom. Chelan kokanee are still being caught all over the lower basin. Anton Jones of Darrel and Dad’s Family Guide Service said 25 feet is the magic depth. Most of these fish are 9 to 12 inches. He cautions that this is prime time to lose a propeller or lower unit on Chelan. Winds have pushed a lot of debris into the popular lower basin and there are a lot of big logs bobbing around.
Two friends and I fished Loon Lake on Wednesday night for kokanee. They each caught their 10-fish limit using Glo Hooks and maggots in 27 feet of water, but I didn’t get a bite. I’m looking for new friends.
Spiny ray
Walleye are feeding aggressively at Banks, and you can also catch a lot of smallmouth. Barker Canyon and Poplar Bay have been hot, as has the water in front of Steamboat Rock. Perch pattern plugs and spinners are working well, and the best bite has been early.
There are reports of good pike fishing on Coeur d’Alene, particularly in the vicinity of Cougar Bay. Hayden Lake is kicking out northerns, and bass are hitting well at both lakes. The best fishing has been before noon. Sprague Lake is producing a variety of fish species, including big walleyes, rainbows, channel catfish and some legal-sized crappies, said Monika Metz at Four Seasons.
Long Lake largemouth have moved off their beds to adjacent structure and the fishing is good. Yamamoto Senkos are deadly this time of year when fished near structure. The vegetation is coming up, but shallow-running crankbaits should also work well. Look for big crappie in the weed pockets.
Good catches of walleye have come from the sand dunes area of Potholes Reservoir in Moses Lake. A variety of bottom bouncers and plugs are taking fish, but live leeches have probably been most effective. Frenchman’s Wasteway has produced walleye for trollers and crappie for anglers using a jig under a bobber.
Walleye fishing has picked up quite a bit in The Dalles and John Day dams pools, and smallmouth bass fishing has been decent in both pools. In general, the lower Snake River and Columbia River from the Hanford Reach to John Day Dam are producing excellent smallmouth catches.
Other species
Sturgeon retention in the Columbia River estuary will be allowed for two additional periods: Tuesday through July 10 and July 15–17. On the Snake, sturgeon fishing below Little Goose dam is reportedly good.
Waters scheduled to open for crabbing today include marine areas 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 7 south (San Juan Islands), 8-1 (Deception Pass to East Point), 8-2 (East Point to Possession Point), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 10 (Seattle/Bremerton), 11 (Tacoma/Vashon) and 12 (Hood Canal). Crab fishing in those areas will be open Wednesday through Saturday each week, plus the entire Labor Day weekend. In the three areas already open – 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu) and 13 (south Puget Sound) – crabbers can fish seven days per week.
Halibut fishing is still good off Sekiu, although no one has topped the 246-pound slab caught by a Spokane angler June 13 off Slip Point.
The mainstem Columbia is still plugged with shad, and bank anglers are averaging five fish per rod. Daily shad counts from the Bonneville Dam fish ladder have ranged from 30,000 fish to more than 180,000 fish. An estimated 5.3 million shad had passed over the fish ladder at The Dalles Dam through Sunday.
An angler was recently checked with five catfish up to 20 pounds, taken from the Columbia River in the six-mile stretch off Highway 730 between Wallula and the Oregon state line.
The lower Walla Walla River is also producing channel cats.