Hunting & Fishing
KOKANEE
Mediocre fishing at many trout lakes and surprisingly large kokanee have combined to increase the number of anglers at Loon Lake.
Kokanee in Loon are a surprising 12 to 13 inches long, about 2 inches longer than they’ve been at this time in recent years.
Joe Haley of Granite Point Resort said trolling for the kokanee has been good, with some experienced fishermen taking 10-trout limits - although no more than five may be species other than kokanee. The kokanee actually is a landlocked sockeye salmon, but is considered trout for management purposes.
Haley said the kokanee are spread throughout the lake, but that the north end probably is the best place to fish. Many, he added, are near the surface, but suggested anglers experiment to get the right depth of the fish. Most fishermen have been letting out one to four colors of leaded line and using OOO Herring Dodgers or two- to five-bladed flashers rather than baited lures such as Kokanee Killers, Cherry Bobbers and red Dick Knights.
Elsewhere, kokanee fishing remains slow at Chapman Lake. Spirit Lake is the place to go in North Idaho to catch kokanee. Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feather shop said many anglers have been taking 25-fish limits of 8- to 10-inch kokanee.
TROUT, WASHINGTON
Trout are feeding actively on a variety of insects at nearly all lakes in Eastern Washington. Chironomids and Callibaetis mayflies are the principal bugs.
As a result, both fly fishers and spin and bait fishermen are benefitting.
Fishtrap and Amber lakes remain the best producers in the Spokane region.
Although Fishtrap has been hit hard since opening weekend, the lake still seems to have plenty of 10-inch-plus rainbows.
Amber, a selective fishery lake, holds good numbers of 13- to 16-inch rainbows, along with a few up to 20 inches. The limit is two a day.
Anglers have been catching limits of 9- to 11-inch rainbows at West Medical Lake. Fishing was slow at the lake on opening weekend.
Bayley Lake, a fly fishing-only lake, holds fair numbers of big rainbows and brook trout. Fishing has been spotty, good during hatches of large chironomids and slow when the bugs don’t hatch.
Anglers have been catching fivefish limits of cutthroat at numerous lakes in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties, including Marshall, Yocum and Mystic.
Clarence Grimes, owner of the Marshall Lake Resort, said water levels at most lakes are high. Marshall’s cutthroat average 9 to 10 inches; those in Mystic and Yocum are running at about 11 inches.
Grimes said fishermen are catching limits of rainbows and brook trout at North and South Skookum.
Fishing is decent at Browns and the lakes in the Little Pend Oreille chain.
Top producers in the Columbia Basin are Dry Falls, Lenore, Lenice and Nunnally lakes, all selective fishery waters.
Dry Falls, southwest of Coulee City, has been especially good since opening day. The lake seems to hold good numbers of rainbows averaging about 15 inches long. Most fly fishers have been using chironomid patterns; spin fishermen have had luck on a variety of lures, notably Mepps spinners.
Lenice and Nunnally have been attracting large numbers of coast fishermen. Although they have growing populations of sunfish, trout numbers apparently are large enough to provide fairly good fishing. The lakes soon will have to be rehabbed.
Fishing has been excellent at Jameson Lake, with anglers limiting on 11- to 12-inch rainbows and some huge Lahontan cutthroat that were flushed out of Grimes Lake during recent flooding.
The selective fishery and fly fishing-only lakes in Okanogan County are attracting hundreds of anglers, primarily fly fishers. Fishing has been good at Ell, Aeneas and Chopaka.
SPINYRAYED SPECIES
Fishing has picked up at numerous Eastern Washington lakes and anglers are hooking a variety of walleyes, perch, bluegills and bass.
Mike Mielke of the Sprague Lake Resort said anglers, most of whom have been bouncing worm harnesses on the bottom, have been catching many keeper-sized walleyes. Some perch and bluegills have been showing in the catches, he said.
The Potholes Reservoir and numerous lakes in the Basin are providing fair to good fishing for bass and crappies, The bass are along the shorelines in shallow water.
Bass fishing has been excellent at Newman Lake. Clare Osborne of Osborne’s Cherokee Landing said anglers caught several 4- to 8-pounders last weekend.
Fishermen have been hooking numerous 18- to 24-inch pike and bass at lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River.
Best crappie fishing has been at Hayden, but anglers have been hooking some at Rose and Gamble lakes as well.
CHINOOK SALMON
Numerous trollers switched from Lake Pend Oreille to Lake Coeur d’Alene last weekend after catching only small rainbows during the Kamloops & Kokanee derby.
Fishing for the chinooks in Coeur d’Alene, they discovered, was much more productive than trolling for Pend Oreille’s rainbows.
Smith said fishermen have been boating lots of 5-pound chinooks, as well as some in the 10- to 17-pound class, at Coeur d’Alene.
Many anglers have been trolling Pro-King spoons at 15 to 25 feet in Bennett, Carlin and Powder Horn bays.
CUTTHROAT, IDAHO
Callibaetis mayflies are hatching along the shoreline of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Fly fishers, using patterns that represent the mottle-winged flies, have been hooking and releasing cutthroat to 16 inches.
TROUT, MONTANA
The Clark Fork River and Rock Creek in the Missoula area were high and muddy at mid-week, but the Bitterroot, although off color, was still fishable, John Herser of Streamside Anglers said.
He said Gray Drake and Bluewinged Olive mayflies, and small, tan caddisflies, as well as a few Skwala stoneflies, are hatching along the Bitterroot.
TURKEYS, WASHINGTON
Wildlife biologists expect an increase in the numbers of turkey hunters for the final days of the spring gobbler season. The nesting season apparently is over and hens have moved away from the areas where they nested. Gobblers are still responding to hen calls. The season will end May 15.