Fishing Report

Ice fishing

Ice on some of the popular lakes in Eastern Washington and North Idaho isn’t thick and hard enough for safe ice fishing.

In fact, temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s, plus rain and wind, have resulted in some open water at lakes that were covered with 4 inches of ice 10 days ago. Ice around the edges of a few lakes, including Fourth of July and Hog Canyon, has receded a little.

Much of Sprague Lake was ice-free Wednesday. However, there still was too much ice around access spots to launch boats.

Despite the poor ice conditions, some anglers have continued to risk cold baths by walking out on the ice.

Most anglers won’t trust ice that isn’t at least 4 inches thick and hard. Ice on some lakes is only a couple of inches thick and is honeycombed.

Wildlife agent Dan Rahn said none of the lakes in the Columbia Basin is covered with enough hard ice for safe ice fishing. However, a few anglers have risked dunkings by walking out on ice at the lakes south of the Lind Coulee.

Trout

Fourth of July and Hog Canyon are still the best choices in the Spokane region for five-fish limits of rainbows, although fishing through the ice can be slow at times. Ice has deteriorated the last 10 days.

Fishermen can expect to catch yearling rainbows, as well as carryover trout, at Fourth of July. The yearlings are 10 inches long. The carryovers are 16 to 24 inches.

Anglers have caught a few thousand of the carryover trout at Fourth of July since Dec. 1. However, there almost certainly are enough of the big fish available for good fishing at times.

Historically, Fourth of July provides excellent fishing the first part of each season. By this time each winter, though, fishing usually slows down and anglers have to spend more time at the lake to catch a limit.

Fastest fishing has been at Hog Canyon. The word spread early and the lake has been highly popular since it opened. Rainbows in Hog Canyon are 10 to 18 inches long, with a few to more than 20 inches.

Rahn said some anglers have been catching trout in the Lind Coulee above the spot where the outflow from Warden Lake enters the Coulee to Highway 17. Most fish are 8 to 10 inches, but occasionally an angler hooks one to 18 inches.

A few fly fishers have been using blue-winged olive mayfly imitations and midge patterns to hook rainbows up to 18 inches at Rock Creek, a fly fishing-only stream north of Moses Lake.

Fishing guide John Carruth of Davenport said some anglers have been catching huge rainbows in Rufus Woods Lake a few miles up from Chief Joseph Dam. They’ve been launching at the dam and motoring up the lake and still-fishing. A few days ago, two men hooked eight or nine and landed four averaging 5 pounds each. The limit is two per angler.

Most of the lakes in Bonner and Boundary counties of Idaho had enough ice for safe fishing last weekend, Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene, said. However, he said he wouldn’t go out on ice at Fernan, Hauser and the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River until the ice gets thicker and harder.

Smith said anglers have been catching trout at Mirror and Kelso and perch at Round, the Twins and Freeman. Fishing has been slow at times.

Some fishermen are hooking good-sized rainbows and browns along the Spokane River at Corbin Park and between the Jacklin Seed Co. property and the Idaho-Washington line. Most have been drifting nightcrawlers, shrimp and squawfish meat in the deep holes.

Walleyes and whitefish

A few anglers are taking advantage of the good walleye and whitefish fishing between Priest Rapids Dam and the Vernita Bridge along the Columbia River, Rahn said. The wildlife agent said he has checked some anglers with big walleyes and limits of 12- to 14-inch mountain whitefish.

Most start fishing about a half mile below the dam and continue fishing for another mile, he said. There are lots of good-sized walleyes in that section of the Columbia, he added.

Rahn said fishermen who know how to troll for walleyes have been taking a few keepers near Goose Island at the Potholes Reservoir. However, the fishing has been slow.

Kokanee

Trollers are continuing to catch some 14- to 20-inch kokanee at Lake Roosevelt in the Spring Canyon area, but lately the fishing is good one day and very slow the next few days, Carruth said.

Best time to fish for the kokanee is when they’re cruising along the shoreline in fairly shallow water. The fish apparently are feeding on tiny midge larvae or pupae and are easily spooked when a boat goes over or very near a school.

Some fishermen use planing boards to keep their boats away from the kokanee. The practice irritates fishermen who must troll around the boards.

A few have been fishing for the small kokanee at Idaho’s Spirit Lake, Smith said, but they have had mediocre success. The ice was still in fairly good shape last weekend.

Steelhead

Tributaries of the Snake River continue to provide the best steelhead fishing along the Columbia River.

Fishing was excellent along the lower Clearwater Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Idaho Fish and Game Department reported that even though the river was muddy, anglers averaged 11 hours per steelhead. The average along the North Fork was 33 hours per fish.

Lower Snake River tributaries provided excellent fishing last weekend. Jerry Dedloff of the Fish and Wildlife’s Snake River Laboratory said anglers averaged 7 hours per steelhead along Mill Creek, 6.2 hours on the Touchet River, 11 on the Tucannon, 27.5 near Little Goose Dam and 20.3 along the lower Grande Ronde.

Chinook salmon

Immature chinooks in Lake Coeur d’Alene finally started taking lures last weekend, Smith said.

Several anglers caught salmon averaging 5 to 6 pounds by trolling mini-squids in 80 to more than 120 feet of water. Smith said fishing was good in Squaw and Bennett bays.

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