Weekly hunting and fishing report

Fly Fishing

The Kootenai River in Montana is always cold. The guides at Silver Bow Fly Shop say it is providing good dry fly action early and late on Chernobyls, hoppers, caddis, pmxs, and pmds. There are numerous floats available around Libby.

The high lakes in the southern Cascades offer unparalleled fishing experiences for those willing to brave the mosquitoes. With the snow melt, wilderness areas south of Mount  Rainier and around Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens are now accessible. Two drive-up lakes on the northwest side of Mount Adams – Council and Takhlakh – have both received more than 3,000 catchable-size rainbows in recent weeks. Takhlakh also received 200 rainbows weighing almost 3.5 pounds and 600 at 1.79 pounds each.

Fly fishing for several types of trout in higher elevation lakes on U.S. Forest Service property should be decent throughout August.  Davis, Ellen, Empire, and Ferry lakes are good bets in Ferry County.  In Stevens County, Black, Little Twin, and Summit lakes should be good producers.  In Pend Oreille County, anglers should fare well at Carl’s, Frater, Halfmoon, Mystic, North and South Skookum, Petit, and Yokum lakes.

Salmon and steelhead

Although the retention steelhead season is on in the Clearwater River from the mouth to the Memorial Bridge, it’s a little early to expect much success. On Aug. 3, only 22 steelhead were counted at Lower Granite Dam and fewer than 800 had been counted for the year. Fish checkers recorded 15 anglers with one steelhead released.

According to preseason forecast, 925,300 adult Chinook will return to the Columbia River this year – up 50 percent above the 10-year average and more than half of upriver brights. The forecast also projects a return of 539,000 adult coho salmon, up 17 percent from the 10-year average. During the first few weeks of August, most of the action will center on the popular Buoy 10 fishery in the lower 16 miles of the river.

There are a lot of Chinook in the upper Columbia this year. Chelan Falls and Wells Dam have been very productive.

Lake Wenatchee sockeye anglers had excellent luck on last Thursday’s opener trolling bare red hooks on a short leader behind a size 0 dodger in about 60 feet of water. Troll slowly and remember the fish go deeper as the day progresses. Get on the water early, as the wind usually picks up around noon. The west side has been good. Lake Baker sockeye are generally larger than those in Lake Wenatchee but the fish have been less predictable lately. Troll slowly and avoid the crowds. Be on the water before dawn.

Chinook retention is now over in the waters off Neah Bay but fishing for other salmon species is not affected. Anglers fishing in the area will continue to have a daily limit of two salmon, plus two additional pink salmon. Chinook retention remains open in marine areas 1 (Ilwaco), 2 (Westport) and 3 (La Push).

Nearly 7 million pink salmon are expected to return to Puget Sound this year and fishing should be epic. Anglers can find up-to-date information on the best pink fishing opportunities around the region, as well as tips for catching pinks, on WDFW’s pink salmon webpage.

Trout and kokanee

Loon Lake kokanee fishing has been decent to good. The magic depth right now is 33 feet, though some have been found in water as deep as 38 feet. White shoepeg corn on a Glo Hook works well, but a hook baited with a couple of maggots is a lot less hassle as the maggots stay on much better.

Paul J. Pence, Natural Resources Manager for Dworshak Dam and Reservoir, says anglers can catch kokanee almost anywhere on Dworshak reservoir right now, but those willing to follow the spawning migration as far up as Magnus Bay or even higher can expect even better fishing.

Dodgers and pink UV Apexes tipped with white shoepeg corn are taking Swawilla Basin kokanee on Lake Roosevelt. Troll slowly at about the 60-foot depth over much deeper water. The fish have been unclipped and therefore the limit is two, but they are running 17 inches and up and seem to be plentiful. There has also been a good kokanee bite out of Lincoln near Sterling Point.

 The net pen public access area on Rufus Woods is giving up fast two-fish limits of 1 1/2- to 3-pound triploids.  Trout landed using bait count towards your limit whether released or not. To extend your fishing time, you might want to go with Roostertails or black jigs.

Anglers can find some action at the area trout lakes, says District Fish Biologist Randy Osborne, but early morning and late evening fishing will produce the best results.  These lakes include Amber, Clear, Williams, and West Medical lakes in Spokane County, and Fishtrap Lake in Lincoln County. Up north, Waitts has been good for nice rainbow.

Spiny ray

Newman and Silver lakes are producing decent catches of yellow perch, crappie, and largemouth bass. Mixed species waters, including Coffeepot Lake, Downs Lakes and Long Lake are also providing decent catches of those species and some rainbow trout as well.

Walleye anglers are still finding fish near Buoy 5 in the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt, but Porcupine Bay has been good at times too.

Banks Lake walleye are stacked up in several places. Try along the west wall out of Coulee City in 25 feet of water. Slow death hooks tipped with nightcrawler, chartreuse beads and smiley blades beneath a bottom bouncer are very effective.

A friend who fished Potholes Reservoir last weekend said walleye fishing was very good in front of the dunes for big ‘eyes and big perch. He fished both days in 17-24 feet of water and did equally well on Flicker Shad and Slow Death hooks with a smile blade and worm.

Hunting

Bear opened in locations all over the state on Aug. 1. Check page 69 of the Washington Big Game Pamphlet for specifics. In Spokane County, the season opens August 15 in Unit 124 (Mount Spokane), 127 (Mica Peak) and 130 (Cheney). It opens Sept. 1 in seven other GMUs (101-121) where hunters need to know bear species identification to avoid taking a federally protected grizzly bear. Hunters can prep for hunting in that area by taking an on-line bear identification test.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has released two 2016 bighorn sheep tags, one for lottery and one for auction. The lottery tag was awarded to the Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation and the auction tag was awarded to the Wild Sheep Foundation. Information on ticket sales for the 2016 bighorn lottery tag will be available at idahowildsheep.org.