Fishing Report
TROUT, WASHINGTON
Fishing couldn’t have been much better last weekend at numerous Eastern Washington lakes. Many who usually fish only a few days a year boasted that they caught limits in less than an hour at some of the lakes.
West Medical is proving to be one of the most popular lakes in the region. It’s near the city and seems to have a huge population of 10- to 15-inch rainbows.
The Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club selected the lake as the best place to take Morning Star Boys Ranch youngsters fishing Saturday. Because the youngsters aren’t proficient casters, several of the club members rigged for chironomid fishing. All the kids had to do was watch the bright-colored bobbers. When the indicators went under, they set the hooks.
Badger, Williams, Fishtrap and Amber continued to yield limits of pan-sized rainbows for a high percentage of anglers.
Numerous small lakes in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties churned out limits all last week, last weekend and early this week. Among the most popular have been Marshall, Browns, Yocum, Rocky, Deep, Ellen, Swan and the lakes in the Little Pend Oreille chain.
Trollers continue to catch mackinaw trout at Loon Lake, but fishing has slowed somewhat since opening weekend, said Joe Haley, manager of Granite Point Resort.
Luckiest angler last weekend was Steve Warden of Loon Lake. He caught 17- and 18-pounders Saturday. Two others caught four smaller fish.
Most productive lakes in the Columbia Basin have been Blue and Park on and near Sun Lakes State Park. Anglers have had little trouble catching limits of 10- to 12-inch rainbows.
Numerous put-and-take lakes in Okanogan County also are still full of 9- to 12-inch trout. Among them are Alta, Conconully, Pearrygin, Fish, Patterson, Wannacutt, Long and Round.
TROUT, IDAHO
Veteran mackinaw fishermen are taking two-fish limits at Priest Lake, Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene, reported.
Most are trolling dodgers ahead of squids or dodgers and flies, he said. They’re using 12- to 14-inch leaders and trolling at one knot an hour. Fastest action has been in Distillery Bay in the north end of the lake and between Four-Mile and Barito islands.
Smith said fishing for rainbow at Hayden Lake has been slow, but a few fishermen, trolling lures, are catching 3- to 5-pounders.
Fly and spin fishers continue to catch 10- to 16-inch cutthroat in bays of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The trout are along the edges eating Callibaetis mayflies.
QUALITY WATERS
Mayflies, damselflies and midges are hatching at numerous selective-gear and fly fishing-only lakes in Eastern Washington, creating excellent opportunities for the region’s fly fishers to hook fish.
Massive midge hatches are occurring at most lakes every day or so. However, the hatches can be sparse for a day or two following a massive hatch.
For example, small and large midges (chironomids) hatched at Bayley Lake much of last week, but only tiny midges hatched Friday. Those who fly-fished early in the week hooked and released up to 15 rainbows each when the -inch-long midges hatched, but those who fished Friday, when only a few tiny midges hatched, had to settle for only three or four.
Fly fishers reported taking numerous rainbows and brown trout on imitations of Callibaetis mayflies at Dry Falls some days last week. They used both nymphs and dun imitations.
The first of the Callibaetis mayflies are showing at Chopaka Lake, but the most consistent hatches will occur the next two to three weeks.
Biologist Ken Williams believes this will be another great year for fly fishers at Chopaka. The smallmouth bass haven’t multiplied much since they were first reported, he said.
“Because the lake is high,” he said, “I increased the plant to 6,000 rainbows. Those fish are now 12 to 14 inches long and there are good numbers of carryover fish to 18 inches.”
Williams said this will be the peak year for trout in Blue, a selective gear lake in the Sinlahekin. The lake is full of 16-inch-plus rainbows and some big brown trout.
“Blue Lake may be as good as Chopaka this year,” he said.
Williams said he’s starting to release brown trout into Aeneas, a fly fishing-only lake. There are goldfish in the lake despite the fact it was treated with rotenone last fall. Browns eat goldfish and other small fish.
About 4,000 sterile rainbows averaging 13 inches were also released into Aeneas, he said. The limit is five fish a day, but some fly fishers want it reduced to one a day, he said.
“We’ll probably recommend that the limit be reduced,” he said.
Anglers say good hatches of midges, mayflies and some damselflies are occurring at Amber, Dry Falls, Lenore, Ell, Lenice and Nunnally. Incidentally, a high percentage of the rainbows in Ell are 16 to 18 inches long.
Few anglers have been fishing Medical Lake, not realizing it has a fairly large population of big brown trout. The limit is one brown a day at the selective gear lake.
SPINY RAYS
The fishing hasn’t yet been consistent, but some anglers have been hooking good numbers of crappies and walleyes at Sprague Lake.
Mike Mielke, co-owner of the Sprague Lake Resort, said, for example, fishermen did well Saturday morning, but strong winds that night and Sunday made fishing difficult.
Crappie fishermen fished in the weeds with Beetle Spin lures, usually fished in deeper water. They caught some 11- to 13-inch crappies, as well as a few walleyes.
Anglers who drift with walleyes lures hooked some keepers during the times when the winds weren’t too strong, he said.
He said fishing should start peaking at the lake the next couple of weeks. , Walleye fishing was slow at Lake Roosevelt and its Spokane arm last weekend, guide John Carruth of Davenport said. Anglers in 30 boats fished in the Spokane arm for the tagging program being conducted by Eastern Washington University. They caught only 127 walleyes.
Several Eastern Washington lakes, including Spokane (Long) Lake, are producing good bass fishing. Other spots yielding bass are Banks and Moses lakes and the Potholes Reservoir.
Except for a brief period when it opened to fishing March 1, Coffeepot Lake has been a bust for the region’s anglers. A few huge rainbows were caught and then fishermen had trouble catching trout and spiny rays. However, fishermen have been catching a few good-sized bass.
Carruth said he doubts there are good numbers of spiny ray fish in the lake.
Smith said bass fishing has been excellent at Hayden and a few other North Idaho lakes. All bass hooked at Hayden must be released.
KOKANEE
Trollers are averaging 17 to 18 kokanee a day at Koocanusa Reservoir, Conrad Coggeshall, owner of the Kookanusa Resort, reported.
The kokanee run from 10 to 15 inches long, but average 12 inches, he said. Typical, he said, was the catch of 70 kokanee by three Spokane anglers during a 3-hour period. The limit is 20 a day and 40 in possession.
The fish are still 50 feet deep and many fishermen are using downriggers to get their lures to the fish. The reservoir is 47 feet below full pool and steadily rising.
Chapman Lake in Spokane County is providing fair fishing.
It’s possible there are more kokanee in Loon Lake than experts had anticipated. Trollers hooked good numbers of 10- to 14-inchers this week. For example, two men trolled for 3 hours and caught eight. Others also did well. Most have been trolling baited lures near the surface.
Anglers have stopped fishing for kokanee at Lake Roosevelt, primarily because they no longer can keep most of the fish they catch. It’s now necessary to release all kokanee that have intact adipose fins.
PIKE
Pike fishing was good in the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene and at the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River last weekend, Smith reported.
Most of the pike weighed 3 to 10 pounds.
TROUT, MONTANA
Fly fishers had “incredible” fishing along the Kootenay River below Libby Dam, Brooks Sanford, owner of the Clark Fork Trout & Tackle shop at St. Regis, reported. The river is running clear and low for this time of year. Blue Winged Oliver mayflies are hatching.
The lower 4 miles of the Flathead River has been producing excellent smallmouth bass and northern pike fishing, Sanford said. He also reported that the spring runoff is under way on the Clark Fork River and that the river may be unfishable for another two to three weeks.