Load Up The Family And Head For The Water

Free fishing days this weekend in Washington and Idaho will provide excellent opportunities for mom and pop to take the kids fishing without having to spend money for fishing licenses.

They also make it possible for residents of one state to fish in another without buying a license.

Washington’s free fishing days are Saturday and Sunday. Idaho has one free fishing day: Saturday. Although you won’t have to buy a license, you must obey all other fishing regulations of each state.

The problem is to learn where your kids can catch fish without knowing much about fishing. If you want to fish a lake and have a boat and tackle, options are unlimited.

State and federal agencies and a few companies, sporting goods stores and sportsmen’s clubs will conduct clinics and contests.

For example, the Newport ranger district of the Colville National Forest will hold a fishing derby Saturday for children and seniors at South Skookum Lake. To register, call (509) 447-7300.

Five fishing clinics will be operated by the Idaho Fish and Game Department Saturday morning in the Panhandle. The department will plant 10- to 13-inch rainbows at each location.

With one exception, clinics will be conducted by department personnel, sportsmen and others from 9 a.m. to noon. The clinic at the Ponderosa Springs Golf course at Coeur d’Alene is from 8-11 a.m.

Other clinics will be at the St. Maries Anderson ranch pond south of St. Maries on Highway 3; at the Mullan fish hatchery; Round Lake State Park, and at the Lions Club pond at Bonners Ferry.

The department will conduct a fishing clinic for children at Spring Valley Reservoir in the Lewiston region. Experts will demonstrate bluegill fishing techniques and will cook the fish kids catch.

The Coca Cola Bottling Co. and Dave’s Sport Shop at Lewiston will sponsor a fishing derby for children from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday at Mann Lake. Register at the sports shop in Lewiston.

A clinic and derby will be conducted Saturday by the Forest Service’s Selway ranger district at Fenn Pond, 5 miles from Lowell on Road 223.

Washington Information Network kiosks at Northtown and University City malls have information on Washington free fishing days.

If you have a computer and subscribe to CompuServe, you can obtain detailed information about Washington fishing opportunities by starting with the “GO Outdoors” command. Library 5 contains the 1995 Washington Fishing Guide.

The guide is in WordPerfect 6.0 and ASC11 text The WordPerfect file name is “fishgu.wp6,” and the ASC11 file name is “fishgu.txt.”

If you fish occasionally, you likely have some tackle and you probably know where you intend to fish. If you have kids who haven’t fished, though, consider places where youngsters will have little or no trouble catching fish.

Generally, perch, crappies and bluegills are easy to catch. You can’t go wrong taking your youngsters to lakes where there are plenty of those species.

Lakes in the Spokane region where youngsters can catch lots of fish are Eloika, Newman, Liberty, Spokane (Long) and Waitts. Bennington Lake (Mill Creek Reservoir), a mile east of Walla Walla, is full of catchable-size rainbows, and officials will be there Saturday to give advice.

The Potholes Reservoir and Sprague Lake are excellent choices for walleyes and bass. Crappies and bluegills are biting at Sprague.

Numerous lakes in North Idaho hold trout and spiny-rayed species: Hauser, Fernan, Cocolalla, Round, Shepherd, Rose, Killarney, Cave, Medicine and Spirit.

If you want to catch kokanee, take the family either to Spirit or the Dworshak Dam Reservoir. Fishermen have been taking 25-fish limits of 7- to 8-inch kokanee in a couple of hours. (Jig-baited lures at Spirit, trolling at Dworshak.) If you’re lucky, you and your family can take home 50 to 75 tasty kokanee.

Fishing has been so slow at most popular trout lakes lately that not even the experts have done well. If you choose a trout lake, fish from just before sunset to dark.

Trout streams may be a best bet. Keep in mind, though, that some streams, particularly those in North Idaho, may be too high and off-color for good fishing as the result of this week’s rainstorms.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review