Fishing Report

Winter lakes

Anglers have only nine more days to fish Hog Canyon and Fourth of July lakes. Hog Canyon is the best bet to catch a five-fish limit, but Fourth of July, which has been frustrating anglers, could yield limits the last few days of the winter season.

With the lakes ice-free, most anglers are fishing from boats. Gas-operated motors, as well as electric motors, are permitted at Hog Canyon and the majority of fishermen are trolling bait-tipped flies and lures. Only electric motors are legal at Fourth of July; some fishermen troll, but the majority still-fish with bait.

Because of the run-off, plenty of water is moving through Hog Canyon. Fourth of July doesn’t have inlet and outlet streams and is higher than it’s been in several years.

Trout, spring lakes

Once again the region’s anglers are giving up on most of the lakes that opened March 1. Fishing has been disappointing at the Warden lakes, the Pillar-Widgeon lakes and Upper and Lower Hampton.

Wildlife agent Dan Rahn of Ephrata said only a few anglers have been fishing the lakes the last couple of weeks. However, he pointed out, the weather has been unusually bad and Snoqualmie Pass has been closed periodically, discouraging anglers from the West Side from making arrangements to spend a couple of days fishing the lakes.

Quality waters

Giant chironomids haven’t started hatching yet at Lenice, Nunnally and Merry lakes in the Columbia Basin, but fly fishers feel certain a few warm days will start the insects hatching. Meanwhile, both fly and spin fishing has ranged from fair to good.

Spokane-area fly fishers reported only tiny chironomids hatched at the selective fishery lakes last week and weekend. They used sizes 16 and 18 pupa imitations to take the rainbows.

Yearling rainbows are 13 to 14 inches long; carryover fish range from 16 to 18-1/2 inches. The Spokane fly fishers said they caught only a few of the yearling fish.

Rainbows in Rocky Ford Creek, a fly fishing-only stream north of Moses Lake, continued to frustrate fly fishers. Tiny midges and Baetis mayflies have been hatching.

However, fly fishers are convinced the trout population in Rocky Ford is too low for good fishing. The drop in the stream’s trout population apparently is the result of several factors, including natural attrition, regulations that permit the keeping of one fish a day, excessive handling of the fish before they are released and inadequate plantings to restore fish populations.

There’s plenty of open water at Lenore Lake, a selective fishery water, for fair fishing this weekend.

Anglers have been hooking and releasing some Lahontan cutthroat ranging from 18 to 22 inches long.

Fishing below Grand Coulee Dam

Some of the biggest rainbows caught in Eastern Washington the last few weeks have come from the reservoir below Grand Coulee Dam.

Guide Gordon Steinmetz of Coulee City said trollers have boated rainbows to 14 pounds and some big residualized steelhead below the net pens 8 miles below the dam.

Fishermen also have been catching big fish just above Chief Joseph Dam.

Steinmetz said the big rainbows and steelhead are along the shorelines. Anglers troll jointed and stick Rapalas 200 feet behind their boats in 20 to 50 feet of water. They first locate the depths where the fish are swimming and then try to get their lures down to the fish. Most popular stick Rapalas are the size 8.5 and 11 GFRs (red-gold).

Spiny-rays, Washington

Most productive spot to catch keeper-size walleyes now may be at the inlet of the Potholes Reservoir. Agent Rahn said numerous anglers have been lining the shoreline below Moses Lake.

The moving water below the dikes seem to attract large numbers of walleyes this time of year. In a week or so, he said, walleyes will move down Moses Lake to the outlet and anglers will start catching them above the dikes.

To get to the dikes, drive south on the Sand Dunes road from Interstate 90.

Rahn said the crab creek channel on the East Side of the Potholes Reservoir soon should start yielding walleyes.

Sprague Lake continues to frustrate fishermen. It’s high and fairly clear, but anglers can’t find schools of good-sized perch, bluegills, crappies and bass. They haven’t even been able to hook walleyes.

A few have caught big rainbows, but the fishing has been slow.

Whitefish

Fishermen are continuing to catch 2- to 4-pound lake whitefish at the inlet end of Soda Lake, Rahn said. He predicted the excellent fishing will last at least another week. The whitefish move to the inlet end when water is pumped into the lake.

Rahn said wildlife agents are checking fishermen almost daily to stop snagging. Despite arrests, some fishermen are continuing to drag big, weighted triple hooks through the dense schools of whitefish.

Steelhead

The upper Grande Ronde provided sensational steelhead fishing last weekend despite muddy water, according to Jay Poe of the Hells Canyon Sports shop at Clarkston.

Some fishermen hooked and released numerous steelhead, he said. In nearly all cases, the anglers released the fish, which are dark and no longer in good condition.

Fishing was slow along the Snake River.

The upper Clearwater, a section of the Salmon River and the Little Salmon provided good fishing last weekend. The Idaho Fish and Game Department reported anglers averaged 15 hours per fish along the upper river, 8.5 hours along the Salmon between the Middle Fork and the North Fork and 12 hours along the Little Salmon.

Kokanee

There may be enough ice on Idaho’s Spirit Lake this weekend to support anglers safely, but the ice is honeycombed and getting thin. Furthermore, the ice may be covered with water this weekend.

Ice fishing, Idaho

As far as nearly all anglers are concerned, the ice-fishing season has ended in North Idaho, Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop, said. A few die-hard fishermen are still fishing through ice, but most have put their ice augers and ice-fishing equipment away until next winter.

Trout, Idaho

Trollers are starting to catch good-sized mackinaw trout at Lake Pend Oreille, Smith said. They’ve been trolling big Lyman and Mac Squid plugs near the bottom in the south end of the lake.

Fishermen must release rainbow and Dolly Varden trout they hook.

One of the best spots in the Panhandle to catch rainbows is Fernan Lake, Smith said. Ice is off the upper and lower ends and anglers, fishing jigs baited with nightcrawlers under jigs, have been doing well on 10- to 14-inchers.

Salmon

Some chinook salmon in the 6- to 15-pound range were boated at Lake Coeur d’Alene last weekend, Smith said.

Nearly all anglers are trolling from near the surface down to 30 feet, he said. Helmeted herring continues to be the best bait; floating Rapalas also have taken some salmon. Most anglers have been trolling off the lake’s outlet and in Carlin and Wolf Lodge bays.

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