Weekly hunting and fishing report

Fly fishing

The North Fork Coeur d’Alene River has been a solid option recently with dry flies working some days.

The St. Joe River has seen good bug activity this week with BWOs, March browns and a few skwalas showing up. Most of the dry fly action will be in early afternoon. The mornings will be streamers or double nymph rigs.

Coffeepot remains good for trout – probably the best of all options with good numbers and good size. Buggers and leeches have been most effective.

North of Soap Lake at Dry Falls Lake, fly fishermen are enjoying good action on 12- to 20-inch trout.

For some really big cutthroat, try Omak Lake in the Okanogan. This lake isn’t fly fishing only, but a Wooly Bugger under a strike indicator will entice fish up to 10 pounds with a lot of 2- and 3-pounders in the mix. The lake is catch and release until June 1. A tribal license is required.

Trout and kokanee

Amber Lake has given up some nice rainbow and cutthroat trout lately. Fishing at Amber Lake is catch-and-release/selective rules until April 25, when it shifts to a catch-and-keep season with a daily limit of two trout measuring at least 14 inches. Rainbows with clipped adipose fins caught at Amber must be released even after April 25.

Liberty Lake started out slowly after the March 1 opener but should offer good catches of brown and rainbow trout as the season progresses. Once the water warms, it also provides some of the earliest perch and crappie fishing around.

Downs Lake was planted this spring with catchable-size rainbow trout. It should also begin fishing well for largemouth bass, perch and crappie.

Salmon and steelhead

Monika Metz said anglers fishing from the docks with bait at Sprague Lake Resort are catching both steelhead and big rainbow. The steelhead are running 14-16 inches and putting on weight. Some of the rainbow are topping 4 pounds.

In Lincoln County, Coffeepot Lake is producing rainbow trout, mostly on flies. Coffeepot is under selective gear rules, with a minimum size limit of 18 inches and a daily catch limit of one trout. The boat launch at Coffeepot is still closed to launching boats from trailers because of low water conditions. Anglers can still launch car-toppers.

Deer Lake in southern Stevens County opened March 1 and is warming up and producing catches of rainbow and lake trout.  One Deer Lake angler said he trolled in 10 feet of water on the south side from the launch, catching numerous rainbow on a small Hot Shot with ¼-ounce trolling weight.

Long Lake (Lake Spokane) continues to produce great catches of 13- to 15-inch rainbow trout. It should provide decent opportunity for bass, perch and crappie as conditions warm up.

Lake Roosevelt rainbow seem to be tucking back into the bays. Friends and I have had good luck recently throwing PowerBait from shore at Fort Spokane. It isn’t fast fishing, as the bites come in bunches with a lot of dead time between, but the smallest fish caught was 16 inches long.

Kokanee fishermen on Roosevelt are finding a mixture of kokes and ’bows near Spring Canyon and in Swawilla Basin. Troll slowly near the surface.

The Seep Lakes Wildlife Area in the Columbia Basin opened April 1. A number of large trout were taken from Corral Lake, just across the road from Mar Don Resort. North Teal Lake was good for bank anglers who caught numerous 13- to 16-inch rainbow.

Palmer Lake in Okanogan County has some nice kokanee and the bite is on, but there have been conflicting reports regarding fish size. Last week anglers said they were 16-17 inches, but this week I saw pictures of limit catches that appeared to be closer to 13 inches with a few going perhaps 15. The bite is from the surface down to about 25 feet. The limit at Palmer is five.

More than two dozen lakes in south-central Washington are scheduled to receive fish this month, including Rotary Lake, Tim’s Pond, Sportsman Pond, Fio Rito Lakes, Kiwanis Pond, Lavender Lake, McCabe Pond, Naneum Pond, Matton Lake and Woodhouse Pond. I-82 Ponds Nos. 4 and 6 were heavily stocked recently with fish running from one-third to a half-pound with some weighing in at 1 ½ pounds.

In addition to stocking large numbers of catchable and jumbo rainbow trout, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plants large triploid trout in April into select area lakes including Powerline in Franklin County. Dalton Lake has received nearly 12,000 good-sized rainbow in the last two months.

A number of lakes opening Saturday on the Colville Reservation should provide good fishing.

Buffalo Lake will have kokanee averaging more than a foot, some big bass and decent crappie.

McGinnis Lake has brookies to 17 inches, and the Twin Lakes are stocked with rainbow running 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds. It also has some big brookies, but the big bass at Twin Lakes usually attracts just as many anglers as the trout.

In the Idaho Panhandle, Freeman, Hayden, Smith and Kelso lakes will be planted Monday through April 17 with 10- to 12-inch rainbow trout. Between April 20-24, Brush, Robinson, Bonner and Post Falls Park Pond will also be planted. In the Clearwater region, Hordemann Pond, Robinson Pond and Snake River Levee Pond received plants this week.

Spiny ray

The most consistent walleye fishing this spring has been at Potholes Reservoir where anglers are taking fat, healthy fish. Trolled nightcrawlers on a Slow Death hook and a Smile Blade have accounted for a lot of 14- to 21-inch “eaters” just below the mouth of Crab Creek and in the Crab Creek arm in the northeast end of the reservoir. When the water is dirty, a chartreuse Spindrift Walleye rig by Mack’s Lures works well, as it has a large profile and good action.

Anglers fishing up the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt have met with mixed results lately. On the day I fished, the bite was almost nonexistent, but before and after that, I received glowing reports. The walleye weren’t large, but action was steady for 14- to 17-inch fish. The Slow Death setup with a Smile Blade and nightcrawler have been effective in 25-50 feet of water.

Newman Lake crappie are still tight-lipped, but the bass, particularly smallmouth, are beginning to hit. Eloika Lake is beginning to give up some largemouth.

Bobcat and Coyote Creek, two of the lesser-known seep lakes in the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area, are loaded with largemouth bass, bluegill and crappie.

In Idaho, anglers trying for pike on Lake Chatcolet are finding more largemouth bass than anything.

Hunting

The general Idaho spring turkey and black bear seasons open Wednesday. Turkey hunts run through May 25, and spring black bear closing dates vary. Youth 10 to 15 years old on or before Wednesday may participate in the general season youth hunt that runs through Tuesday.