Hunting and Fishing

Salmon and steeelhead

Water released from Dworshak has lowered Clearwater River temperatures to 48 degrees. Oddly, this seems to have made fishing more difficult rather than better. The bite has been off the past few days.

To increase opportunity for anglers participating in the historic, Salmon River fishery near Ellis, Idaho, the IDFG is putting salmon back into the river. Each morning hatchery workers remove Chinook from the trap at the Pahsimeroi Hatchery. Those with adipose fins are released into the Pahsimeroi River to spawn naturally.

Then Hatchery workers release the adipose-clipped fish into the Salmon River a short distance below Iron Creek Bridge. As of July 17, hatchery workers had returned 284 chinook to the fishery and anglers had harvested seven of these recycled fish.

The mainstem Columbia River from Priest Rapids Dam to Wells Dam and from the Highway 173 Bridge at Brewster upstream to the Highway 17 Bridge at Bridgeport opened to salmon fishing from July 16 and runs through Oct. 15.

The Wells Dam area has slowed since the opener, but chinook anglers trolling herring are still catching fish early in the day. It is reported that larger chinook have begun to appear, and there are still plenty of fish in the river. The first hole below Wells Dam has been a consistent producer.

Some chinook are being taken on buzz bombs in the Okanogan river, but most of them are being snagged and must be released.

At this point it appears as though the fish have run up the Okanogan, said Rod Hammons of R&R Guide Service in Brewster, but there are fresh fish arriving daily. Info: (509) 689-2849.

At Coho Charters in Westport, Jim McBroom admits that, “On a scale of 1 to 10, salmon fishing right now is a three.” The ocean is warm, so bait is scattered, but McBroom feels a couple weeks will make a huge difference. “There have been reports that fish are starting to show at Neah Bay,” McBroom said. “And if that is the case, they will be arriving here in early August.”

The fall salmon season gets underway from Buoy 10 upstream to Bonneville Dam on August 1. Fishing for chinook salmon in the lower Columbia is expected to be good again this year, said Cindy LeFleur, Columbia River harvest manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“We are anticipating a total return of more than 671,000 fall chinook salmon to the Columbia River this year, which is significantly higher than the average over the past 10 years,” she said.

Trout and kokanee

Now is the time to hike into the high country of the South Cascades for some good fishing in alpine lakes stocked with rainbow trout. Most high lakes are on U.S. Forest Service property, particularly the Wenatchee National Forest and wilderness areas, so anglers might check on trail conditions, camping, fire restrictions and other details at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/.

Rainbow trout are on holiday at British Columbia’s Kootenay Lake, staying close to the cold water layer at 50-70 feet. Downrigging with mostly black plugs and spoons is working best. Kootenay kokanee fishing is very good, with limits coming easily, says Ziggy Ziegler at Woodbury Resort and Marina. Ziegler also says bull trout are staging up to spawn at the creek mouths, and that a Mepps Black Fury and a maggot works well.

Koocanusa kokanee are everywhere in the lake, says Randy Burch at Koocanusa Resort and Marina. Anglers are averaging 25-30 fish, each trolling 2-3 colors of leaded line. Sizes range from six inches to a foot. Some rainbow up to 11-pounds are also hitting black and silver or blue and silver plugs, particularly during stormy weather.

Also in Montana, Lake Mary Ronan kokanee fishing is excellent for 12- 14-inch fish. They are hitting throughout the day on the east side, approximately 200 yards from shore.

At Pend Oreille Charters on Lake Pend Oreille, Kurt Arnter says the mackinaw fishing is hot for mostly 6-10 pounders and a few over 20. The best fishing has been on the north end of the lake out of Hope Marina.

Mackinaw fishing has improved on Lake Chelan in the last week, says Anton Jones of Darrel and Dad’s Family Guide Service. Most fish are running 2.5-6 lbs. Jones also notes that kokanee have become harder to catch, but cutthroat trout fishing should be good around both state parks due to recent plants.

Coeur d’Alene kokanee have slowed this past week. There are still plenty of fish to be had, particularly in the south end in 40 feet of water, but big schools are becoming more difficult to locate. On Loon Lake, night fishermen are finding their fish at 32-34 feet. Depth is critical when still-fishing for kokes.

Spiny ray

The walleye bite has slowed on Lake Roosevelt, but anglers are still taking a fair number of fish near Hunters. Banks Lake walleye fishing is reported to be slow.

Curlew Lake anglers are more excited about the tiger musky right now than the bass or the 18-inch trout. At Curlew Lake Resort, Jack Beck says huge topwater plugs are enticing fish up to 46 inches.

He says successful anglers are spotting the fish in shallow water and tossing the plug over them. If the strike doesn’t come on the retrieve, work the plug in a figure eight near the boat. Beck says it drives the big fish crazy. The State, incidentally, recently planted an additional 200 tiger musky in Curlew.

Moses Lake had a pretty good bloom by mid-week, and fishing has slowed. Potholes has remained hot, however, for both bass and walleye. Water in the dunes is dropping now. There have been reports of anglers catching ‘eyes to 12 pounds from the dune area on floating Rapalas.

Long Lake bass fishing is excellent, as is perch fishing near the lily pads.

Other species

Tuna anglers are excited about the arrival of 18-25 lb. albacore off the coast of Westport. Because of El Nino conditions, the fish are close in, with charters seldom venturing further than 40 miles offshore. A one-day trip last week netted 125 tuna for seven anglers. Info: Coho Charters at 1-800-572-0177.

Sturgeon harvest has slowed in the Columbia River estuary, and the sport harvest guideline of 17,800 fish will not be reached by the scheduled retention closure date of July 18. At that time, about 4,070 sturgeon will still remain on the annual harvest guideline. As a result, retention of sturgeon will continue to be allowed seven days a week through Aug. 15.

Pikeminnow bounty anglers are still raking in big cash rewards. A total of over 11,000 pikeminnow were turned in last week. The Dalles, with 1,707 fish, and Boyer Park, with 1,616 were most productive.