Fishing Report
Chinook salmon
Chinooks in the 13- to 15-pound range, as well as 6-8-pounders, took trollers’ lures and bait near the surface on Lake Coeur d’Alene during the Memorial Day weekend, Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop reported.
Smith said the best fishing for the chinooks, as usual, was in the north end of the lake, particularly in Wolf Lodge Bay. The south end is clearing, he said, and fishing could be good there this weekend.
Most of the chinooks are caught from the surface to 30 feet on helmeted herring, Rapalas and flutter spoons.
Chelan County’s Icicle River will close to spring chinook salmon fishing at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Spiny-rayed species
Crappies and bluegills finally are hitting at Sprague Lake.
Monica Mielke of the Sprague Lake Resort said some anglers caught good numbers of the species in fairly deep water during the Memorial Day weekend. She said some of the crappies were “platter-sized” and the bluegills were big.
Most fishermen fished Beetle Spins, she said.
Walleyes also are cooperating with anglers, she said. Numerous 18- to 22-inchers were brought to the resort during the weekend.
One angler caught a 22-incher off the resort’s dock.
Guide John Carruth of Davenport said walleye fishing has been good at Moses Lake. He and others fished the lake during the weekend and hooked numerous fish, including some keepers.
Carruth said Lake Roosevelt’s level is coming up fast, but the water is too cold for good fishing. There’s a lot of trash in the lake.
The Spokane Arm reopens for taking walleyes Saturday.
Kokanee
Don’t expect fast fishing if you troll for the 16- to 19-inch-long kokanee in Loon Lake. If you get lucky, however, you’ll take home two or three of the big fish.
Fishing for big kokanee was tough last weekend. Many experienced anglers either caught one or two or got skunked. Fred Cook was one of the luckiest. He caught four each Saturday and Sunday.
Joe Haley of the Granite Point Resort said the kokanee are still scattered around the lake. They’re starting to drop to the gradually forming thermocline level.
Consequently, most anglers are letting out three to four colors of leaded line ahead of 000 Dodgers and baited lures and flies.
Few anglers caught limits of kokanee at Lake Mary Ronan during the Memorial Day weekend, Gary Thomas of Camp Tuffit said. The few who did catch 10 kokanee had to troll all day.
Thomas said most anglers caught a few 13-1/2- to 14-inch kokanee. Only a few trout showed up in the catch. Perch weren’t biting.
Twenty-fish limits of kokanee that averaged 10 to 12 inches were the rule rather than the exception at Lake Koocanusa. Many limited during 2 to 3 hours of trolling.
Some anglers caught Kamloops rainbows to 10 pounds.
Trout, Washington
Anglers will catch big Lahontan cutthroat at Grimes in Douglas County when the lake is opened to fishing Saturday.
Because the opening will fall on a Saturday, the popular lake will likely be more crowded than usual on an opening day.
The Lahontans will be 18 to 25 inches long, with some weighing more than 5 pounds, fisheries biologist Ken Williams said. There are numerous carryover Lahontans in the lake more than 20 inches.
Williams said fishing has been poor at Aeneas, a fly fishing-only lake near Tonasket. The big problem, he said, is a huge population of sculpins, which compete with trout for food. The lake will be rehabilitated in 1997.
Williams said there are bass in Chopaka, but they don’t seem to be multiplying. Fishing has been excellent for big rainbows.
Anglers have skimmed the cream of the trout crop at such lakes as Fishtrap, West Medical, Williams and Badger in the Spokane region. The lakes, however, are still churning out five-fish limits.
The big difference between today’s fishing and that of opening weekend is the trout no longer are jumping into anglers’ boats.
The biggest trout in the Spokane area are in Medical, Silver, Clear and Amber. The big fish in the first three lakes are brown trout. At Amber, a selective fishery lake, the big ones are rainbows.
Amber is providing the fastest fishing. Some fly fishers hook and release up to 30 trout a day.
Damselflies, mayflies and midges are hatching at many Eastern Washington lakes. Fly fishers, however, have discovered that fishing can be tough.
The scores of fly fishers who fished Dry Falls, Lenice and Nunnally, selective fishery lakes, during the Memorial Day weekend didn’t catch nearly the number of fish they expected on their flies.
It’s possible, however, fishing will be good this weekend. Damselflies are hatching and trout often go on feeding frenzies in pursuit of the nymphs.
Trout, Idaho
Several North Idaho lakes, including Hauser, Fernan and Kelso, are good for recently released hatchery trout, as well as some carryover fish, Smith said.
Trollers are starting to catch rainbows in the 12- to 15-pound range at Lake Pend Oreille, he said. Action was fair to good last weekend. Anglers are not expecting rainbows in the 20-pound-plus bracket to show up in good numbers this year.
Good-sized mackinaw trout are hitting regularly at Priest Lake. Guide Gary Brookshire reported his clients caught nine that weighted more than 14 pounds each on Monday. The fish took lures and flies in 60 feet of water.
Northern pike
The best fishing for pike is at the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River, Smith said. The pike aren’t as big as those in the big lake, but some are big enough to bend anglers’ rods nearly double.
Most of the lakes also are kicking out nice-sized crappies. Among the best are Cave and Black.
Trout, Montana
With streams in the Missoula area high and off color, most anglers are fishing area lakes, guide Eric Ruberg of the Grizzly Hackle Fly shop in Missoula reported.
He said periodic rainstorms caused Rock Creek and the Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers to rise and become muddy. Meanwhile, he said, anglers are fishing Georgetown, Harper’s, Swan, Seeley, Salmon and Placid lakes.
He said caddisflies and chironomids are hatching at Georgetown and anglers are hooking 12- to 18-inch rainbows, as well as some brook and cutthroat trout. Harper’s holds big rainbows.
Squawfish
A squawfish derby is scheduled Monday through June 16 on the Clark Fork River at Lake Pend Oreille. Info: Bobbie Kassel, (208) 264-5031.
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