Fishing Report

Shad

There are enough shad below John Day Dam for good fishing at times.

The count at Bonneville has topped 1.7 million, indicating most of the shad that will climb the dam’s ladders this year are already in the lower Columbia River.

For Eastern Washington anglers, the long, shallow section below John Day is the best place to go. If you go there, assume you’ll have plenty of competition from other anglers. The fish count at John Day early this week exceeded 650,000.

Only a few more than 600 had been counted at Ice Harbor early this week. There may not be enough shad below the dam this weekend for good fishing.

Kokanee

Thousands of Inland Northwest anglers who fished for trout and spiny rayed species earlier this year have joined the fishermen who are dedicated kokanee anglers. Several lakes and reservoirs are yielding limits and near-limits of the landlocked sockeye salmon.

The southern end of Lake Coeur d’Alene has been producing 25-fish limits of 10- to 13-inch kokanee, Ross Fister of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene said. Most of the fish are 10 to 11 inches, but a few are 13 inches long.

Kokanee fishing has been fair at Loon Lake, according to Joe Haley, manager of the Granite Point Resort. Experienced anglers have been catching a few each day.

Trollers have been doing better than the still-fishermen at Lake Mary Ronan, Gary Thomas of Camp Tuffit said. The 12- to 14-inch kokanee apparently haven’t schooled up enough to make still-fishing rewarding.

Thomas also said anglers have been catching 12- to 14-inch cutthroat and rainbows up to 3-1/2 pounds.

Kokanee fishing has been fair to good at Koocanusa Reservoir, Mike Singer of the Koocanusa Resort said. Anglers have been averaging 10 to 15 each of the 12- to 14-inch fish.

Singer said some fishermen have been catching 12- to 14-inch cutthroat and rainbows near the mouths of streams.

Spiny rays

Walleye fishing picked up last weekend in many areas of Lake Roosevelt, including the area fished during the Governor’s Cup tournament. It had been slow the previous week.

Walleye fishing was excellent most of last week along the Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt, according to Lennie Mayo of the J.L Fishing Guide Service. Mayo said his clients either caught limits or near-limits most days.

Mayo said his clients used 5/16ths-ounce jigs, mostly the new pearl blue with a salt and pepper finish. The jigs were baited with nightcrawlers.

Sprague Lake, which earlier this year frustrated anglers, finally is producing terrific fishing for trout, walleyes, crappies and bluegills.

Monika Metz, co-owner of the Sprague Lake Resort, said fishing was excellent for most species last weekend. Anglers who concentrated on rainbows took home five-fish limits of trout that measured 14 to 20 inches long. Veteran walleye anglers boasted of catching limits of keeper walleyes, as well as numerous sub-legal fish. And fishermen who went after crappies and bluegills did exceptionally well, catching some outsized fish.

Clear, once one of the top trout fishing lakes in the Spokane region, is yielding good-sized crappies. Some anglers, fishing around docks and shorelines, have been sacking fish to 12 inches.

Bass fishing has been excellent at nearly all North Idaho lakes that hold the species, Fister said. Especially good have been Coeur d’Alene and Hayden lakes. Fister also said crappie fishing has been outstanding at Hayden Lake.

Many anglers are trying to beat the new tiger muskie state record of 21 pounds, 2 ounces at Hauser Lake, he said. They’ve been hooking good-sized fish, but only one that weighed more than 20 pounds.

Salmon

Unless the Fish and Wildlife Commission extends the season, the month-long chinook fishing season along the lower Icicle River will end Tuesday.

Fishing has been frustrating at times, according to Spokane anglers who have been fishing the Icicle. However, there have been days when enough chinooks were in the stream for fair to good fishing.

There are 20,000 spring chinooks in the Columbia above McNary Dam.

Meanwhile, shore fishing for both chinooks and steelhead near Ringold Springs along the Columbia will continue. Many anglers arrive before dawn every day to occupy spots.

Pike

Anglers continue to catch large numbers of northern pike at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Fister said. Many of the fish weigh 10 to 12 pounds, but once in a while an angler hooks a pike in the 15-pound-plus bracket.

Trout, Idaho

If you’ve been planning to fish North Idaho’s cutthroat streams, this weekend is a good time to do it. The Coeur d’Alene, St. Joe, Lochsa and Selway won’t be nearly as crowded this weekend as during the Fourth of July weekend.

Fister said fishing along the entire Coeur d’Alene River has been “fantastic,” with numerous cutthroat in the 12- to 18-inch class taken.

Barring rainstorms, the St. Joe, Lochsa and Selway rivers and Kelly Creek should be low and clear enough for good fishing this weekend.

Priest Lake is continuing to yield two-fish limits of mackinaw trout, many of which weigh 10 to 12 pounds, Fister said. Rainbow fishing has been good at Lake Pend Oreille.

Trout, Washington

You can catch trout at most lakes managed for trout fishing in the Spokane area if you’re willing to fish late in the day. Water temperatures are rising gradually and the best fishing is in the evenings.

However, if you troll baited lures deep or fish bait just above the bottom at 20 to 30 feet, you still can take limits at such lakes as Williams, Badger, Fishtrap and West Medical.

A 25-pound mackinaw trout was caught several days ago at Loon Lake. The angler, Matt Fechter of Spokane, caught the mack, biggest caught this year at the lake, on a Sutton spoon.

Many are fishing the small lakes in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties. Potentially productive lakes in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties are the lakes in the Little Pend Oreille chain, Yocum, Marshall, Skookums, Ellen and Deep.

Fishing has been slow much of the time at most of the selective gear and fly fishing-only waters. Big hatches of damselflies, dragonflies and mayflies are over, but chironomids (midges) are continuing to hatch at most lakes.

Some fly fishers have had good luck at Bayley Lake, a fly fishing-only lake southeast of Colville. For the most part, they’ve been fishing chironomid pupa patterns. Amber, a selective gear lake south of Spokane, still has a big rainbow population. Anglers have been doing well in the evenings and occasionally during mid-day hours.

Fishing has been spotty at Dry Falls, Lenice, Nunnally and Lenore lakes, all selective-gear lakes in the Columbia Basin.

Trout, Montana

Streams in the Missoula area were high and cloudy early this week, but could be fishable by this weekend, according to Brooks Sanford, owner of the Clark Fork Tout & Tackle shop at St. Regis.

Sanford said the rains hit the headwaters of Rock Creek and the Blackfoot River, causing the streams to turn muddy. They, in turn, muddied the Clark Fork.

Some Green Drake mayflies are showing along the Henry’s Fork in the Last Chance area, Jackie Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies at West Yellowstone reported. She said Pale Morning Dun mayflies also are hatching along the river.

Most fly fishers are casting nymphs along the Madison below Quake Lake, she said. The big stoneflies should be hatching soon. The Gibbon and the Firehole are yielding trout to fly fishers using PMDs.

Sturgeon

If you’re interested in trying for sturgeon, you can continue to keep legal-sized sturgeon you catch along the Columbia River between John Day and McNary dams after Tuesday.

The section had been scheduled to be closed to retention of sturgeon after July 1, but the Fish and Wildlife Commission extended the catch-and-keep season until further notice. To fish for sturgeon, you have to have an $8 food fish license and a free sturgeon catch record card.