Fishing Report

Trout, Idaho

North Idaho’s premier cutthroat streams are in near-perfect condition and providing excellent fishing.

Water levels have dropped to summer-time levels. In fact, the Coeur d’Alene is now too low to float in some areas.

The St. Joe, Kelly Creek and the Lochsa and Selway rivers are among favorite destinations of anglers.

Pale Morning Duns and caddisflies are hatching along the St. Joe.

Priest Lake is continuing to yield three-fish limits of mackinaw trout, most of which are 3 to 6 pounds. Anglers must have downriggers to get down to the fish.

Trout, Montana

If you are a fly fisher and plan to fish Montana’s trout streams, tie or buy plenty of Pale Morning Dun patterns. PMDs are hatching along nearly all the most productive rivers.

The most rewarding fly fishing the last three weeks has been along the Missouri River in the Craig area. Spokane-area fly fishers say the fishing has been the best in several years.

The Missouri is in perfect condition for floating. The PMDs hatch during mid-day hours and the caddisflies hatch in the evenings. Fishing can be slow during hot days when the sun is shining.

All the streams in the Missoula area are clear and providing fair to good fishing.

Gary Westerland, manager of Streamside Anglers, said the lower Clark Fork is clear and running at 7,900 cubic feet per second. Like the Missouri, PMDs hatch during the day and caddisflies in the evenings. He recommended fly fishers try PMD cripples, Prince nymphs and olive Woolly Buggers.

The upper Clark Fork is low and clear. Although PMDS are hatching, Westerland suggested using small nymphs and Woolly Buggers, as well as caddis imitations.

Gray Drakes, PMDs and caddisflies are hatching along the Bitterroot, he said. The river is low and clear. He recommended using PMD cripple, Rusty Spinner and Gray Drake mayfly imitations and bead head nymphs.

The same insects are hatching along Rock Creek, now running at 740 cfs. Westerland said fly fishers are getting action on Elk Hair Caddis, Rusty Spinner and bead head Hare’s Ear flies.

Trout, Washington

Fishing is slow during mid-day hours at nearly all Eastern Washington lakes and reservoirs. Best fishing is in the evenings.

Trollers and bait fishermen are finding some of the best luck in the area at West Medical Lake. However, the small fish planted this spring are starting to be a nuisance to anglers trying to catch larger fish.

If you troll, go deep. If you’re a fly fisher, use an ultra-fast sinking line.

For example, a Spokane fly fisher took a couple of friends to Browns, a fly fishing-only lake, a few days ago. He provided tackle to the friends. The only one who caught good-sized cutthroat was the angler who used a super fast sinking line. Lesson: The cutthroat were 20 or more feet deep.

Some of the smaller mountain lakes in northeastern Washington are good bets in this warmer weather.

Daily catch limits have been waived on six Eastern Washington lakes beginning Saturday through Oct. 15 because the waters will be treated with rotenone this fall.

Beginning this weekend, you can take all the fish you can catch out of Williams Lake in Stevens County, Alkali, Blue and Park lakes in Grant County and Blue and Fish lakes in Okanogan County.

Kokanee

If you want to keep cool during the hot weather, fish at night at Loon Lake. The huge kokanee aren’t plentiful, but they make up for their apparent scarcity by their size.

So far, no still-fisherman has reported catching a limit of 10 of the 18- to 19-inch kokanee, but a few have, after sitting patiently in their boats for hours, caught two or three.

Glenn Biddle, owner of Granite Point, said the best chance to catch Loon’s big kokanee is to troll for them, preferably before 8 a.m.

Some of the “regulars,” as they’re known at the lake, catch two to four or five before breakfast each morning. For example, one angler, Fred Cook, caught four early Monday that weighed nearly nine pounds.

Biddle said getting a baited lure down to the depth where the kokanee are swimming is the key to catching them.

Most experienced trollers have been catching 25-fish limits at Coeur d’Alene and Pend Oreille lakes, Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene said.

The kokanee in Coeur d’Alene are 8 to 9 inches long; those in Pend Oreille are 9 inches.

Experienced still-fishermen are taking 10-fish limits of kokanee that run 15 to 16 inches at Lake Mary Ronan, Gary Thomas of Camp Tuffit said. Most are fishing crawdad tails or corn 3 feet off the bottom in 35 feet of water. Trolling has been slow.

Fishing has slowed at Koocanusa Lake, with anglers having to fish all day to catch 25 kokanee.

Salmon

Anglers are starting to catch 20-pound-plus chinooks at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Smith said. Twenty-one, 22 and 23 pounders, the first salmon weighing more than 20 pounds, were caught last weekend.

Smith said the salmon are 45 to 50 feet deep. Most anglers are trolling dodgers and flies or dodgers and herring 1.2 to 1.4 knots in the north end of the lake.

He said 1,500 anglers are expected to enter the big fall chinook derby Aug. 10-18. First prize, which will go to the angler who catches the largest chinook, will be $10,000 in cash.

Coastal salmon

Fishing seasons opened for coho salmon out of Westport on Monday. Charterboats were doing well. Larger boats also are booking for tuna trips July through October.

Spiny rays

You’re not likely to fill a bucket with bluegills and crappies if you fish Sprague Lake, but you have a good chance to take home enough for a meal or two.

Monica Metz of the Sprague Lake Resort said a few anglers, fishing evenings, have caught 8- to 10-inch bluegills and crappies near shore. Fishermen also are catching some smallmouth bass.

Fishing for channel catfish, some of which weigh as much as 14 pounds, is becoming popular at Fernan and Cocolalla lakes, Smith said.

“It’s the kind of fishing that everybody can do, both from a boat and from the shore,” he said. “All a fisherman has to do is to thread a stink bait on a hook, toss it out and wait for a bite.”

Walleyes

For some reason, most of the walleyes in Lake Roosevelt are on the thin side this year. Walleye fishermen hope to get some answers when fisheries officials attend a public forum at 9 this morning at the Bureau of Reclamation office in Grand Coulee, guide John Carruth said.

Carruth said fishing for both walleyes and rainbows has been slow at the big lake. Best fishing for walleyes, he said, has been in the north end of the lake.

Metz said anglers are continuing to catch good numbers of walleyes at Sprague Lake. Some troll and others cast lures. About 1 in 10 to 12 is a “keeper,” 18 inches or longer.

Sturgeon

Anglers are hooking quite a few sturgeon from the Columbia River below Priest Rapids Dam, wildlife agent Dan Rahn said. Nearly all are fishing between the dam and Vernita Bridge.

Steelhead

Good numbers of steelhead are climbing the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam, but not enough are in the Snake for even fair fishing.

The Corps of Engineers reported more than 28,000 have been tallied at Bonneville. Some of those steelhead presumably have moved into the lower Deschutes and Klickitat rivers.

Shad

Of the 2.7 million shad that climbed the fish ladders at Bonneville, only 11,000 to 12,000 have gone over Ice Harbor Dam. However, it’s still possible to catch shad below Ice Harbor.

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