Salmon and steelhead

Not many anglers will try for Idaho spring salmon until the rivers come down. Earlier, the Clearwater briefly hit a fishable flow of 35,000 cfs, but was running at about 50,000 at midweek. The fish in the Columbia system appear to be holed up between Bonneville and Lower Granite, waiting for better conditions.

Salmon angler effort on the Columbia was moderate on the first weekend since the season reopened. Catch rates in the lower river were generally poor, although catch rates had been good for Gorge boat anglers before the water came up. Boat and bank anglers were doing best for spring chinook in the John Day Pool.

Beginning today, sport fishing for chinook salmon will be allowed on the Icicle River in Chelan County from 500 feet downstream of the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery rack to 500 feet short of the confluence of the Icicle and Wenatchee rivers. Night closure and non-buoyant lure restrictions will be in effect.

Effort is beginning to wane at the mouth of the Wind River as spring chinook begin to move upstream. Fish are being caught in the canyon and at the cofferdam, although public access is difficult.

Drano Lake boat anglers using bobbers and prawns/shrimp are doing well at times on chinook. Drano is open every day for the remainder of the season.

Trout and kokanee

Rivers and streams throughout Washington open Thursday for trout and other game fish. Anglers should check the regulations pamphlet’s “Special Rules” listings carefully for catch and size limits and gear restrictions. This year the Methow River’s catch-and-release area has been extended downstream to county road 1535, or lower Burma Road Bridge. Another rule change is that wherever selective gear is required, nets used to land fish must be knotless.

Saturday marks the opening day of the general fishing season in Idaho. High temperatures combined with the better-than-average snowpack mean rivers and streams are going to be running high, probably well into June.

South of Spokane, Williams and Badger lakes are still holding up well for trout anglers, and Fishtrap hasn’t slowed much. Fish Lake anglers are catching mostly tiger trout, but they are small and fickle. Medical Lake fly fishers are still enjoying excellent fly-fishing, and Diamond Lake is still good for rainbow 12-20 inches.

Lake trout fishing on Lake Chelan has been great in the early mornings between Wapato Point and Willow Point in depths of 240-290 feet. Most fish have been 2-6 pounds.

Coeur d’Alene kokes are becoming more active, but the really good fishing is a couple of weeks off. On Banks Lake, kokanee fishing is fair to poor, and on Loon, the storms are keeping the night bite from happening. It is fairly easy to take a limit of small rainbow during the day, still-fishing or trolling near the shorelines.

Spiny ray

Crappie anglers at Eloika Lake are making big catches on the east side by working a jig 18 inches under a bobber. Remember the 10-fish limit and a 9-inch size restriction. Long Lake crappie are big if you can find them. A jig and bobber fisherman near Nine Mile Resort recently put more than a dozen slabs in the boat that averaged 14 inches. Banks Lake is experiencing the best crappie fishing in 15 years, said Gordon Steinmetz at Big Wally’s. He said anglers can catch a smallmouth bass by throwing a dark-colored grub behind almost any rock. Perch angling for fish 9-12 inches has also been excellent.

Bluegill and crappie are active on Liberty Lake, and a few anglers are taking bass and even walleye. Big crappie and lots of largemouth are showing at Newman, as well as a few tiger muskies.

Sprague Lake is producing some good-sized walleyes, and bass fishing has been good. A Lind, Wash., couple caught an 8 1/2- pound walleye and a 4-pound rainbow while trolling the upper end of the lake last weekend. Anglers have hooked numerous bass, a few of them in the 4- to 5-pound class, by casting plastics into the weeds along the shoreline in 8 feet of water.

Lake Roosevelt smallmouth and a few walleye are being taken in the vicinity of Hawk Creek, but anglers attribute the poor overall bite this week to unsettled weather and water. The Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt and tributaries of the big reservoir open again Thursday to walleye fishing.

Perhaps the best spot for walleye is Banks Lake. Big Wally’s walleye tournament last weekend was a huge success. Ninety-nine teams averaged more than four fish per day, and the winning two-day weight by the father and son team of Ken and Greg Loper of Coeur d’Alene, was 43 pounds, 12 ounces.

In Idaho, crappie and smallmouth anglers are making nice catches from Hayden Lake. Coeur d’Alene Lake bass have really turned on.

Other species

Anglers are catching shad throughout the Columbia, although high water is making angling difficult in the Gorge. Bank anglers at Steamboat Landing in Washougal and off the bank just below Bonneville Dam are averaging about a shad per rod. Boat anglers in the Camas area averaged nearly three fish per rod. More than 99,000 shad came over The Dalles Tuesday, and another 75,000 Wednesday.

Hunting

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has trimmed antlerless mule deer hunts in some southern hunting units where the long winter caused heavy fawn mortality. Changes in hunting seasons made by the commission can’t be noted in the hunting brochure, which is printed, but will be detailed on the department’s Web site.

Idaho hunters will see few changes from last year’s upland hunting seasons. One exception is in Minidoka and Cassia counties, where the pheasant season has been extended through Dec. 31, matching the Southwest Region and western Magic Valley.

Idaho drawings for moose, sheep and mountain goats have taken place, but there is time to apply for other big-game, fall-controlled hunts. The deadline to apply for deer, elk, antelope and black bear is June 5.