Fishing Report

Kokanee

Those outsized kokanee in Loon Lake are exciting to catch at night, but your best chances of hooking two or three is to troll during early-morning hours.

Some still-fishermen are fishing until dawn to try to catch a few of the fat 19-inchers. For example, three fished from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. one night and caught two kokanee and three small sunfish. Early this week they fished from 9 until 5 a.m. and caught 10.

Although limits are rare, the big kokanee are worth catching. One Loon Lake kokanee weighs nearly as much as a 25-fish limit of the small kokanee from Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Joe Haley of the Granite Point Resort said experienced trollers are continuing to average two to three kokanee each morning before 8. They’ve been letting out five colors of leaded line and trolling in the north central part of the lake.

A high percentage of stillfishermen are catching 10-fish limits of kokanee that average 15 inches at Lake Mary Ronan, Mark Thomas of Camp Tuffit said.

Most anchor in 35 feet of water and fish baited glow hooks 3 feet off the bottom, he said.

Most of the kokanee trollers are hooking, he said, are the 3-1/2-year-old fish that run 11-1/2 to 12-1/2 inches.

To catch kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene, according to Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop, trollers must get lures down 50 feet. That means the use of 4 ounces of lead on monofilament line or 2 to 3 inches of lead with leaded line.

Kokanee in Lake Pend Oreille are not as deep, Smith said. Most anglers have been letting out three colors of leaded line. Most popular areas are out of Bayview and along the Green Monarchs.

Trout, Washington

This is the time when fishing gets even tougher than usual at Rocky Ford Creek. Right? No one told a Spokane fly fisher not to fish the fly fishing-only stream north of Moses Lake during a 95-degree day.

The young engineer, after a business meeting in Moses Lake, drove to the spring creek, rigged up his fly rod, tied on a #10 Black Stimulator and proceeded to hook several huge rainbows, all of which immediately headed for weeds and broke off.

A Black Stimulator? Now why would the trout take a good-sized black pattern? No insect that hatches at Rocky Ford looks like a Black Stimulator.

Fishing is tough at most Eastern Washington lakes. Anglers have reduced the trout populations drastically and the water temperatures are so high the fish feed only during early morning hours and after sunset.

Trolling for 12-inch rainbows has been fair at Lake Roosevelt, particularly in areas near net pens. Few carryover rainbows have been caught.

Three southeast Washington lakes scheduled to close July 31 will remain open through October, Madonna Luers of the Fish and Wildlife Department reported. They are Blue, Rainbow and Spring. The season extension offsets the loss of fishing as the result of floods last spring.

Trout, Idaho

Fish deep at Priest Lake if you want to catch three of the mackinaw trout. Guide Gary Brookshire said he’s having his clients fish 170 feet or deeper.

Most productive times, he said, are early-morning hours and late afternoon through early evening.

“Les Davis herring dodgers and flies are the best producing lures,” he said. “The Frisky Jenny flies in bi-color or tri-color patterns, especially those that glow in the dark, are the best producers. Select flies with lots of feathers and very bright color combinations. Tip the fly with cut bait or nightcrawlers.”

Brookshire said 3- to 4-inch plugs or spoons also can produce strikes, but not as fast as the flies. The plugs and spoons should be trolled slowly.

He recommended fishing deep water off the points of Barito Island and West Twin Island or Cavanaugh Bay.

All of North Idaho’s major cutthroat streams are low, clear and providing good to excellent fishing.

Most of the cutthroat you’ll catch in the lower Coeur d’Alene will be small. The majority of the 14-inch-plus trout apparently have moved up the small tributaries.

Fishing pressure has been extremely heavy along the upper St. Joe. Most good water from the mouth of Gold Creek to the headwaters is being fished constantly from early morning until after sunset.

The Lochsa and Selway are in perfect condition and yielding good catches of 10- to 17-inch cutthroat.

Trout, Montana

Rock Creek is the stream to fish in the Missoula area. Chris Nelson, an outfitter and guide, said fishing along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot has been “dead, dead, dead” during hot weather.

Rock Creek is cooler than the Clark Fork and Bitterroot. It’s in a deep canyon and the sun’s on the water only a few hours each day. The Clark Fork and Bitterroot flow through wide open country and water temperatures are too high for good fishing during midday hours, Nelson said.

Grasshoppers are still tiny, he said. They’re smaller than usual this time of year because of the long, cold spring.

Although the Missouri River is in open country, fishing has been good for some fly fishers who used nymphs during midday hours. For example, a couple of Spokane fly fishers last week hooked numerous large trout by fishing two-fly rigs. They used a Prince Nymph with a Hare’s Ear dropper.

Fishing pressure has been extremely heavy along the Missouri in the Craig area.

Spiny rays

Crappies and bluegills began taking anglers’ bait and lures a few days ago at Sprague Lake. Monica Metz of the Sprague Lake Resort said several anglers hooked good numbers of fish that averaged nearly 10 inches in length.

She said the most productive area seemed to be near the railroad tracks at the east end of the lake. She also said some fishermen have found good schools of perch.

Walleye fishing has tapered off at most lakes and reservoirs. Guide John Carruth of Davenport advises those who fish Lake Roosevelt not to spend much time in one spot. It’s best to do a lot of traveling until you find fish, he said.

Smallmouth bass are hitting off the face of the O’Sullivan Dam at the Potholes Reservoir and below Keller Ferry.

Smith advised anglers to fish at dawn or after sunset if they expect to catch good-sized bass at North Idaho lakes. Small bass can be taken during mid-day hours.

Smith said northern pike can be caught in most bays around Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Chinook salmon

Trollers are continuing to catch a few chinooks in the 20-pound-plus class, Smith said. The following caught big chinooks as follows last weekend: Mark Carver, Coeur d’Alene, 22 pounds; Don Houck, Coeur d’Alene, 23 pounds; and Vern Scott, Spokane, 19-1/2 pounds.

Smith said the chinooks are 50 feet deep. Nearly all anglers are trolling flies behind dodgers.

Squawfish and sturgeon

Sturgeon fishing is popular along the Columbia River between the White Bluffs and Priest Rapids Dam this time of year, but there have been more squawfish anglers than sturgeon fishermen the last few weeks, wildlife agent Dan Rahn said.

Squawfish anglers camp in trailers above the Vernita Bridge. Some have made thousands of dollars under the program conducted by the Bonneville Power Administration. They’re paid $3 to $5 for each squawfish more than 11 inches.

Rahn said some sturgeon fishermen fish from shore between Priest Rapids Dam and Vernita Bridge. Nearly all who fish below Vernita use boats.

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