Fishing Report

Trout, Washington

Surface water temperatures are in the 70s and low 80s at Eastern Washington’s lakes and reservoirs, most aquatic insects that fish depend upon during spring and early summer months have hatched and trout now are feeding on nymphs, leeches and tiny crustaceans during early morning and late evening hours.

Fishing during mid-day hours is seldom productive during hot July and August days. Consequently, most veteran anglers are staying out of the sun and fishing when the fish are active - that is, early and late in the day.

It’s still possible to take a five-fish limit during the heat of a day, but the best fishing the next few weeks will be soon after the sun has risen and after the sun has set.

Anglers have reduced trout populations drastically at lakes managed for trout. However, such lakes as Clear, Silver, Fishtrap, West Medical, Badger, Williams and Amber in the Spokane area still have enough fish for fair and, at times, good fishing.

Best bets, however, are the small lakes in Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry and Okanogan counties. Anglers have done well at times at Browns, Marshall, Yocum, Skookums, Black, the Little Pend Oreilles, Swan and Long.

Anglers have been catching both rainbows and brook trout at Big Meadow Lake in Stevens County. The department released about 7,000 catchable-size rainbows into the lake early this year and there still are plenty for good fishing. The lake also holds big bass and perch populations.

Fishing has been slow at the selective fishery lakes in the Columbia Basin, including Dry Falls, Lenore, Lenice and Nunnally.

Kokanee

Lake Roosevelt is the place to go to catch big kokanee. In fact, some Idahoans, tired of catching 7- to 9-inchers at their lakes, have been using down riggers to take five-fish limits of kokanee to 4 pounds. The Keller Ferry area is a hot spot.

Night fishing for the 13-inch-plus kokanee at Loon Lake has been so slow lately that not even the experts have been able to catch limits. In fact, most fishermen either have been skunked or have caught only one to three fish during several hours of fishing.

Trollers are now letting out four to five colors of leaded line to get to Loon Lake’s kokanee, Glenn Biddle of the Granite Point Resort said. Best time to troll for the 13- to 14-inch fish is from down to about 9 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to dark.

It’s easy to catch limits of 25 kokanee at North Idaho lakes, including Coeur d’Alene, Pend Oreille and Dworshak.

Limits no longer come easy at Lake Mary Ronan, Mark Thomas of Camp Tuffit said. Nearly all anglers now still fish and some do take 10-fish limits.

Trolling is continuing to produce 20-fish limits at Koocanusa Reservoir.

Spiny-ray fishing

A dense algae bloom is creating problems for anglers at Sprague Lake. The bloom is so dense that visibility has been less than a foot. In addition, anglers have been plagued with what they call “gunk” that accumulates around the shorelines.

Most Sprague Lake anglers have been trying to catch keeper-sized walleyes. There are a lot of walleyes under 18 inches long in the lake and fishermen have been complaining that the only walleyes they could catch were fish they had to release.

Steelhead

The air temperatures rise into the high 90s and rattlesnakes sleep in deep shade, but steelheaders, sweating under the blazing sun, are trying to hook a few of their favorite fish along the lower Deschutes River just off the Columbia River.

More than 18,000 steelhead have been counted at Bonneville Dam and several hundred are climbing the fish ladders every day. Some of those steelhead have moved into the lower Deschutes, something they do every July.

Fishing can be frustrating, but steelheaders from throughout the Northwest, including the Spokane area, spend a few days every July trying to hook a steelhead or two along the famous river.

The best that can be said about fishing the Deschutes under summer suns is that an angler won’t have much competition. Few steelheaders fish for the early arrivals.

Trout, Idaho

Most of North Idaho’s cutthroat streams have dropped enough to provide good fishing. The St. Joe, Lochsa and Selway are the best bets. The water is still somewhat high, but fishable.

The road from the mouth of Gold Creek to Red Ives ranger station on the St. Joe has been resurfaced and there no longer are any delays getting to the Spruce Tree campground. Fishing has been good, with fly fishers hooking and releasing up to 30 cutthroat a day.

The Lochsa and Selway dropped two to three feet the last 10 days and now are just above summer-time levels. Fishing has been excellent.

Small mayflies and caddisflies are hatching along the Henry’s Fork in the West Yellowstone area.

Trout, Montana

Many blue-ribbon streams are still high for this time of year. However, fishing has been fair to good.

John Herzer of Streamside Anglers at Missoula reported the lower Clark Fork is still high and somewhat cloudy. He recommended that fly fishers use yellow Stimulators, Pale Morning Dun and caddisfly imitations.

The Bitterroot is still high, but the water has been dropping daily and the river is clear. Fishing is best in the evenings with Woolly Buggers and caddis imitations.

Rock Creek now is low enough to wade comfortably, he said. Golden and yellow stoneflies, Pale Morning Duns and caddisflies have been hatching.

The Yellowstone River in Yellowstone Park produced excellent cutthroat fishing when it was opened for the season July 15, Aaron Hecht of Bud Lilly’s shop reported.

Hecht, a guide, said the Madison below Quake Lake has been been excellent for fly fishers using salmonfly, PMD and caddisfly imitations.

Chinook salmon

Chinooks in Lake Coeur d’Alene are showing more interest in anglers’ trolled lures and bait, Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop said. The salmon now are down to 40 to 50 feet. Many anglers are using flashers and Hootchies and dodgers and flies, but many more are baiting their hooks with herring.