Fishing Report
Free fishing days
You can fish without a license in Washington on Saturday and Sunday and in Idaho on Saturday.
The fish and wildlife agencies in the two states are among the many similar departments throughout the country that have established free fishing days to encourage would-be anglers to start fishing.
The agencies almost never say that one of the most important reasons they permit everyone to fish without licenses one or two days a year is to add to the angler base of their states. For a variety of reasons, sales of fishing licenses have dropped the last dozen or so years. As a result, fish and wildlife departments have seen their revenues drop.
Those departments, including the Washington and Idaho agencies, are having financial troubles. Many have had to curtail programs and lay off personnel. An increase in revenue from sales of fishing licenses would help them.
This weekend is a good time to take youngsters fishing. Lakes and streams have lots of fish and neither parents nor kids need a license.
Although licenses aren’t necessary, anglers must obey all regulations pertaining to methods of fishing and bag limits. That’s why first-time anglers should get fishing regulation pamphlets at places that sell licenses.
Trout, Washington
Fishing wasn’t nearly as good as its been the last few years when Grimes Lake in Douglas County opened for the season Monday, fisheries biologist Ken Williams reported.
The most successful angler hooked and released 10 Lahontan cutthroat, he said. In past years, anglers have released 20 to 40 a day.
Fishing was excellent only for about a half hour just about sunrise, he said. Then it got tough. Spin fishermen who used lures did much better than fly fishers.
The average size was 20 inches. Largest were a couple of 24-inchers.
Insect hatches are peaking at most low-elevation lakes and fish are no longer feeding actively from morning until night. Consequently, fishing can be slow during mid-day hours.
Hatches affect fly fishers and bait anglers. When insects hatch, trout feed actively and all fishermen do well. But when there are no hatches, fishing can be slow for everyone.
The hatches of Callibaetis mayflies are over for a while at such lakes as Amber, Williams, Badger, Dry Falls and Lenice. Second generations of the species will occur at most lakes in a few weeks.
Callibaetis mayflies are still hatching at some high-elevation lakes, such as Chopaka, a fly fishing-only lake northwest of Loomis. Fishing has been excellent at Chopaka and other lakes where the mayflies are still hatching. A high percentage of the rainbows in Chopaka are 14 to 18 inches long.
Fishing was excellent last week and over the weekend at Blue, a selective gear lake south of Loomis. Fly fishers caught 12- to 18-inch rainbows and a few brown trout on chironomid pupa patterns while spin fishermen trolled lures and flies.
Also, hatches of damselflies and dragonflies are over at most trout lakes in the area. From now on, anglers will see lots of the adult flies, but no hatching bugs. Midges will continue to hatch throughout the summer.
In most cases, trout will feed on midge pupae, almost microscopic crusteaceans, good-sized scuds, immature damselfly and dragonfly nymphs and terrestrial insects during hot summer months. They’re active primarily during early morning and late evening hours.
Fishing has slowed at many lakes, especially during mid-day hours. If you want to do well, fish early or late in the day.
Trout, Idaho
Most North Idaho cutthroat streams were dropping at mid-week and, barring more rainstorms, could be in fair to good condition for fishing this weekend.
Last week’s rainstorms caused the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe to rise and turn off-color. Storms didn’t hit the Lochsa and Selway drainages nearly as hard.
The Coeur d’Alene at Enaville was running at 3,620 cubic feet per second Monday, compared with a long-term flow of 3,120 cfs for this time of year. Flows of other streams, with long-term flows in parentheses: St. Joe at Calder, 5,470 (6,740); Selway near Lowell, 10,500 (15,200); and the Lochsa, also near Lowell, 7,320 (11,000).
Several North Idaho lakes are yielding good catches of trout, according to Ross Fister of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene.
Most consistent has been Priest, where trollers have been taking two-fish limits of small mackinaw nearly every day the weather permits them to be on the big lake.
Trollers also are hooking fair numbers of 2- to 6-pound rainbows and a few large mackinaws at Lake Pend Oreille. Big rainbows have been elusive. Surface water temperatures have remained in the 55-degree range, keeping the rainbows near the surface.
Most of the smaller lakes still have good populations of rainbows. Among the better producers have been Hauser, Kelso and Cocolalla.
Spiny rays
Walleye fishing was excellent when the Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt opened to walleye fishing Monday, guide Lennie Mayo said.
He said his two clients, fishing jigs with plastic skirts, caught their eight-fish limits. A slot limit is in effect at the lake; only walleye under 16 inches in length and longer than 20 inches can be kept. Bass fishing has been excellent at numerous lakes and reservoirs in Eastern Washington.
Bass either are in the final stages of their spawning or have spawned at North Idaho lakes, Fister said. Anglers have been hooking bass at the majority of lakes.
Crappie fishing has been good at Anderson, Black, Chatcolet, Hayden and Hauser.
Kokanee
Trollers are starting to take 25-fish limits of 10- to 11-inch kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Fister said. Most productive fishing is in the south end of the lake, particularly off Spokane and East points.
The kokanee are still near the surface and anglers have been catching them by trolling baited lures down to 20 feet deep, he said.
Biggest kokanee are at Mirror, Fister said, but the fish are not plentiful. Some are 14 inches long. Typically, anglers catch two to four kokanee during a day’s fishing.
Both Koocanusa Reservoir and Lake Mary Ronan in northwest Montana continue to produce good fishing. Experienced trollers have been taking 20-fish limits of 12- to 14-inch fish at Koocanusa and 10-fish limits of 10- to 13-inchers at Mary Ronan.
Kokanee fishing has been fair at Loon Lake, Joe Haley, manager of the Granite Point Resort, reported. Experienced trollers have been catching three to six or seven while those who don’t know the lake have been catching one or two.
Haley said two age classes are showing up in catches. The smaller kokanee are 10 to 10 inches long; the bigger fish are 15 to 16 inches. Two-thirds of the fish being caught are the smaller fish.
Greg Edgerton of Spokane caught a 16-pound mackinaw while trolling for kokanee, Haley said.
Pike
This is a good time to fish for pike at Lake Coeur d’Alene and some of the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River.
Fister suggested anglers fish in 2 to 8 feet of water in the bays at Lake Coeur d’Alene. Favorite lures have been Johnson Silver Minnows, Daredevles and spinner baits. Most of the pike are small, but some to 16 pounds were caught last weekend.
Montana streams
Trout streams in the Missoula area were still high and off color at mid-week, but at least a couple - Rock Creek and the Blackfoot - could be fishable this weekend, said Drew Miller, guide for Grizzly Hackle International at Missoula.
Miller said Rock Creek’s water temperature, running at 43 to 45 degrees, is a little too low for good fishing. Salmonflies are starting to hatch. Fly fishers have been fishing with both nymph and floating patterns and catching some trout.
The Blackfoot was high and off color at mid-week, but could be fishable by the weekend.
Fly fishers have been hooking trout along the Clark Fork River above St. Regis by fishing with big stonefly nymphs and No. 10 Prince Nymphs, according to Brooks Sanford, owner of the Clark Fork Tackle shop at St. Regis. They’ve also had some success with big Stimulator and Improved Soft Pillow patterns.
Salmon
The Icicle River from 400 feet below the Leavenworth hatchery to the mouth is open to fishing for chinook salmon. The season, which ends June 30, is not listed in the 1998 fishing regulations.
The season is based on forecasts for hatchery salmon returning to the river. Dam counts and hatchery returns indicate there will be a harvestable surplus of 700 hatchery chinooks. The limit is one a day.