Salmon and steelhead

Salmon and steelhead

Clearwater River steelhead fishing is good for backtrollers, but there is not much going on with bait or flies. Some of the fish are in the 12-pound range. Experienced bobber fishermen are doing well below the railroad bridge. Dworshak Dam was shut down earlier in the week, so the Clearwater is running about 3,600 cfs. There are a few spots that filled in more than usual during spring high water, and the run could be tricky.

Lots of steelhead have passed over Bonneville and they are still coming. The only years with more on this date were 2001 and 2002.

Anglers are starting to see a few chinook caught in the Hanford sport fishery. An estimated 90 adults and eight jacks were harvested this week. A few steelhead are being caught and released in the Ringold. The season opens Oct. 1.

Fishing has been slow on the Yakima River. An estimated 16 chinook were harvested last week and six wild steelhead were caught and released.

Drano Lake boat anglers are catching larger B-Run steelhead up to 18 pounds, plus fall chinook.

Trout and kokanee

Water temperatures are dropping and the fishing is picking up at many area lakes. While some anglers are putting away their fishing rods and thinking about the upcoming hunting season, others are taking advantage of renewed activity at lakes such as Medical, West Medical, Fishtrap, Fish, Amber, Williams, Waitts, Newman, Curlew and Deer. The best fishing is still early, late and deep, but the action will be spread out as the water continues to cool.

Browns Lake in Pend Oreille County is getting a new boat ramp this month, but the work should be done sooner than previously announced. The campground and the main boat access will be closed until about Sept. 30. Then the campground and boat access will be reopened until the fishing and camping seasons close on Oct. 31. Meanwhile, there is room for several cars to park and launch carry-on boats at the far end of the lake near the big cedar grove.

The St. Joe River is fishing well. Try sculpin patterns in olive. Fly fishermen are also finding success on the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene rivers.

Loon and Coeur d’Alene kokanee are beginning to turn but are still in good shape. Loon has been excellent at night for still-fishermen, and Coeur d’Alene trollers are finding pockets of fish all over the lake. Wolf Lodge Bay has been particularly productive. Lower Twin and Spirit Lakes are giving up lots of small kokanee.

Stream flow in the Jefferson River near Twin Bridges, Mont., has increased and the fishing closure was lifted Wednesday.

Lake Pend Oreille anglers are earning a $10 bounty for each rainbow or lake trout more than 12 inches long. This is Idaho Fish and Game’s last-ditch incentive to revive the almost defunct kokanee fishery.

Since May, fishermen have reported catching 2,300 rainbow trout and 6,500 lake trout at Pend Oreille. More than 3,000 of those fish were taken in fishing derbies sponsored by the Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club. Commercial fishermen have been hired to attempt netting spawning lake trout.

Department researchers estimate that a record-low 17,000 female spawning kokanee remain in the lake, as opposed to 36,000 predatory lake trout more than 20 inches and 27,000 rainbows longer than 16 inches.

Spiny ray

Smallmouth fishing on the Snake is getting good again. Most of the fish are a pound or less, but a few exceed 2 pounds. As the river cools, smallmouth fishing will get better and larger fish will become more aggressive.

Walleye anglers in the Columbia Basin are concentrating on Moses Lake, particularly under the 1-90 Bridge.

Banks Lake is seeing phenomenal perch fishing for 12- to 14-inch fish. Move around and look for weed beds and rock piles in 20 feet of water.

The Two Rivers Walleye Championship will be held Saturday and Sunday on Lake Roosevelt.

Other species

In Hells Canyon on the Snake, guide Tim Johnson of Clarkston said his two sturgeon trips late last week produced 11 fish, four more than 6 feet. Other guides also report good fishing, with several 7-footers being caught.

Hunting

Idaho partridge and quail season opens Saturday. While quail numbers are strong, it looks like the chukar population is down significantly. In some areas, group numbers were high but group sizes were disappointing.

The Idaho early fall general turkey season begins today. Consult the rules brochures for details and exceptions.

(Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this report.)