Trout and kokanee
The North Fork Coeur d’Alene is high but fishable, said Bob Drummond at the Orvis Shop in Coeur d’Alene. Water temperature is still in the low 40s, but he and a friend had good luck fishing dry flies this week. Drummond said you can drive all the way to Independence.
The Clark Fork River is still experiencing a huge runoff, but some of the tributaries are getting close to being fishable. These include the St. Regis River, Fish Creek, Thompson River and Rock Creek. The St. Joe is running just less than 10,000 cfs and is on a steady drop. It’s not quite time yet.
Red’s Fly Shop on the Yakima River reported excellent conditions and a good bite. PMD hatches in the lower river have been spectacular and nymphing is called “automatic.”
Trout lakes throughout the region remain productive. In Spokane County, Amber, Badger, Clear, Fish and West Medical lakes are among the best. West Medical is giving up some hard-fighting 20-plus-inch rainbow to trollers.
Deer Lake has been nearly deserted lately, but a few anglers trolling flies are hooking some outsized rainbow. No mackinaw action was reported this week.
The wild roses are blooming, so it’s time for Loon Lake to start producing kokanee for night fisherman – assuming they are dressed as they would for an ice fishing expedition. Daytime trollers are still catching kokanee and planted trout and say the kokes are averaging 11 inches.
Rufus Woods is back in shape after being blown out by Canadian snow melt.
Lake Chelan kokanee fishing continues to be good, and Roses Lake has been excellent for 12- to 15-inch rainbows with some 2-pounders. Fish the ends of the lake. For the Chelan kokes, start shallow at dawn and drop down a few feet every 15 minutes once the sun hits the water.
For Chelan macks, Anton Jones at Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service in Chelan recommended trolling T-4 Purple Glow flatfish and whole herring at 1.6 mph off the benches at Minneapolis Beach. He said Mack Bar, located straight out from the Mill Bay boat launch, is loaded with fish.
Spiny ray
Long Lake perch in the 8- to 10-inch range are fairly easy to catch along the weed beds across from the old Forshees Resort, near the willow trees in Willow Bay, and in both directions of the DNR launch.
Newman Lake is good for largemouth, perch, lots of bluegill and a few crappie. I have two reports from anglers who hooked and lost large tiger muskies this week while fishing the docks for bass. Tiger musky have also been caught at Curlew. At Silver Lake, no tiger muskies were reported, but anglers say they did well on crappie and perch.
Lake Roosevelt walleye have picked up this last week. Anglers are finding fish at Seven Bays, in the Spokane Arm, near Kettle Falls, and from China Bend north. Two friends and I managed to launch at China Bend this week, taking quick limits of 16- to 20-inch fish by jigging in 20-30 feet of water.
Salmon and steelhead
The Upper Salmon will be open from Thursday until Aug. 2 or until further notice, from the Highway 75 Bridge – milepost 213.5, about 9 miles west of Clayton – upstream to the posted boundary 100 yards downstream of the weir at Sawtooth Hatchery.
The Columbia River Mainstem, from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to Bonneville Dam, will be open to angling for chinook jacks and adipose fin-clipped steelhead effective Monday. The section from Bonneville Dam to McNary Dam will open on the same day. Anglers may only retain adult chinook June 21-28. Anglers may also want to make note of these dates: Saturday – sockeye salmon on the Baker and Skagit rivers; Sunday – chinook salmon in Tulalip Bay “bubble.”
Salmon fishing on the Yakima River between Union Gap and Roza Dam is good. Much of the catch is adipose-clipped hatchery fish, and more than half are jacks. Wild chinook must be released. The season ends June 30. The limit for hatchery spring chinook has increased from two to six fish per day on the Lower Yakima Reach from the Interstate 182 Bridge in Richland upstream to the SR 225 bridge at Benton City. The limit is also in effect on the Middle Yakima Reach from the Interstate 82 Bridge at Union Gap upstream to 3,500 feet downstream of Roza Dam. WDFW and Yakama Nation co-managers want to limit hatchery fish on the upper Yakima River spawning grounds this fall to prevent adverse genetic effects to the natural-origin component of the run.
Cowlitz River boat anglers are catching steelhead around the trout hatchery. Kalama River boat and bank anglers are catching some steelhead, as are Lewis River steelhead anglers fishing at the mouth and in the North Fork. Both the mainstem and North Fork Lewis are closed to fishing for spring chinook. The coffer dam area of Wind River was good last week, but anglers report the river is too high to fish at Mile Post 7 in the upper river. Klickitat River bank anglers below the Fisher Hill Bridge are catching a mixture of spring chinook adults and jacks plus summer-run steelhead.
Anglers fishing off of Westport and Ilwaco averaged one salmon for every three rods, and catch rates were lower off the north coast during the first week of June, said Wendy Beeghley, WDFW fish biologist. But last Sunday, when the waves flattened out, creel checkers counted 65 anglers with 42 chinook at the dock in Westport.
Other species
Starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday, crab fishing will open seven days a week in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca and southern Puget Sound. Most other marine areas will open July 2 on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule
Sturgeon catches have improved for charter boats at the ports of Chinook and Ilwaco. Some are limiting the whole boat.
Despite lower numbers, shad angling has been good in the Columbia below Bonneville. Anglers should watch for high flows in the Columbia and use caution when anchoring. It is not clear whether this year’s shad run is down or just later than usual.
Hunting
For more than 20 years, moose numbers in Idaho have grown steadily. But with this season’s winter kill and animals coming into summer in poor condition, moose hunting permits will be reduced to keep the population healthy. The population is expected to bounce back quickly if we have a normal year.
Wednesday is the last day to apply for Washington special deer, elk, moose, mountain goat and bighorn sheep permits for fall seasons.