Fishing Report
Free fishing days
You won’t need a fishing license to fish Saturday in Idaho and Saturday and Sunday in Washington.
“The June 12-13 weekend will be a great opportunity for a family to fish at Washington’s lakes and streams,” the Fish and Wildlife Department noted, adding the agency has stocked numerous waters with trout.
Although anglers don’t need a license to fish, they must obey all rules and regulations pertaining to limits and methods of catching fish.
“Free fishing day provides a great opportunity for novices to give fishing a try and perhaps develop a lifelong pursuit,” the Idaho Fish and Game Department said. “Parents are encouraged to bring their children out for a day of fun and excitement.”
To help beginning anglers, the Idaho department is sponsoring fishing clinics throughout the Panhandle. Fish and Game personnel will answer questions and help beginners learn about terminal tackle, casting and fishing techniques, and fish identification.
Clinics will be held as follows: Coeur d’Alene, Ponderosa Springs Golf Course, 8-11 a.m.; Anderson Ranch Pond, 5 miles south of St. Maries on Highway 3; Mullan fish hatchery; Round Lake State Park; Bonners Ferry Lions Club; and the Clark Fork hatchery, all 9-noon.
Shad
Shad fishing time is here again. Nearly a half million shad have climbed the ladders at Bonneville Dam and are on their way up the Columbia River to spawn.
The peak of fishing usually is from mid-June to the second week of July.
Anglers are hooking shad in the vicinity of Bonneville Dam. Soon, they will be catching shad near John Day. Then in early July, there should be enough shad near Ice Harbor Dam for fair to good fishing at times. Although runs of wild salmon and steelhead up the Columbia River system have been declining for several years, the shad run seems to be holding its own. Runs have varied from 1-1/2 million to slightly more than 2 million the last few years.
If you decide to fish for shad near Bonneville Dam, you have several choices on each side of the river. On the Washington side, anglers fish near Cascade Island, the north side shoreline below the second powerhouse dam, near the transmission towers and downstream from the Hamilton Island boat ramp.
Many Spokane-area anglers wait for large numbers of shad to reach John Day Dam. For shore fishermen, the best fishing on the Washington side is from the dam to Maryhill Park. Most productive fishing is on the Oregon side below the dam.
Washington residents who fish the Oregon side must have an Oregon license. There are several access points from Bonneville to John Day.
Trout, Washington
With the warming and stratification of most Eastern Washington lakes, the best time to fish is early and late in the day. Mid-day hours aren’t nearly as productive as the periods when the sun is just rising and setting.
Although fishing pressure has dropped dramatically at most trout lakes since the opening of the season, enough anglers have been catching trout each day to reduce the fish populations so much that remaining trout have little competition from other trout for insects, crustaceans and terrestrial bugs.
The chironomid and mayfly hatches have peaked, but damselflies and dragonflies are still hatching.
The good news is trout that averaged 9 to 10 inches a couple months ago now are an inch or so longer. A five-fish limit at some lakes, including West Medical, Badger and Williams, is enough to feed a small family for a couple days.
If the weather is fair this weekend, the most popular trout-only lakes will be crowded with anglers who don’t have licenses. Expect competition at the lakes that have been widely publicized since opening day.
If you don’t like to fish alongside 20 to 30 others, you might find some solitude at such lakes as Clear, Silver, Waitts and Diamond in the Spokane region; Soda, Warden, the Potholes Reservoir and Moses Lake in the Columbia Basin; and Spectacle, Fish, Wannacut and Sidley lakes in Okanogan County.
Several selective-gear and fly fishing-only waters continue to provide fair to good fishing. Among the most productive the last 10 days have been Amber, Bayley, Chopaka, Blue, Grimes and Dry Falls. Fishing has been slow at Ell, Aeneas, Lenice and Nunnally.
If you’re a fly fisher and intend to fish only one day this weekend, Amber, a selective-gear lake, would be a good choice. It is still loaded with rainbows 12 to 18 inches long.
Bayley, a fly fishing-only lake, has a big population of rainbows and brook trout. Some fly fishers have hooked as many as 40 a day.
Blue and Chopaka are the top producing lakes in Okanogan County. If you plan to camp at a lake, both are good choices. Blue, which has good populations of rainbows and browns, is the most scenic, but expect lots of company. Coast fishermen have found the lake.
The Callibaetis mayflies are still hatching at Chopaka, but the hatch of the first generation of flies is ending. However, you might do well with damselfly imitations and possibly with chironomid pupa patterns.
Grimes, a selective-gear lake in Douglas County, has a good population of Lahontan cutthroat. However, the big fish are feeding in shallow water only during brief periods. You may have to fish long and hard to hook a few.
If you plan to fish Dry Falls, be prepared with plenty of damselfly nymph patterns. Fish the shallows when the nymphs hatch. Chironomid pupa patterns also could be good.
Rocky Ford Creek, a fly fishing-only stream, has been fished hard since February and the rainbows have graduated magna cum laude from the school of fisher awareness. You’ll have to use fine tippets and patterns that suggest the bugs that hatch.
Lenice and Nunnally still have good populations of rainbows and browns, but fishing has been slow the last few weeks. Chironomids and mayflies have hatched. You might catch a few on damselfly imitations or such big flies as the Woolly Bugger.
Trout, Idaho
Most of North Idaho’s small lakes are providing fair to good fishing for pan-sized trout. Fishing may not be fast, but you can catch a few 10- to 14-inch trout at such lakes as Hauser, Fernan, the Twins, Mirror, Round and Cocollalla.
For big trout, troll for the rainbows and mackinaw trout at Lake Pend Oreille. You should do well on small mackinaws at Priest. Trollers have been hooking a few good-sized rainbows, cutthroat and hybrid rainbow-cutthroat at Hayden Lake.
Spiny rays
This weekend may be a good time to fish for crappies at several Eastern Washington and North Idaho lakes.
Sprague Lake is a good choice for crappies that are 10 to more than 12 inches long. You’ll find them next to and in the tules and other aquatic vegetation along the shoreline. Best time to catch them is in the evenings, but you may do well during mid-day hours on an overcast day.
Fish a crappie jig under a bobber or a fly pattern, such as a Yellow and White streamer or a small, black bead head fly, under an indicator. Crappies rarely take a fast moving lure or fly; retrieve extremely slowly.
There are fair numbers of big bluegills along the shoreline. You’ll catch both bluegills and crappies near and among the aquatic weeds.
Mike Mielke, co-owner of the Sprague Lake Resort, said fishing was good at the lake when the wind didn’t keep anglers off the lake. He said perch fishing was excellent, with anglers catching lots of 9- to 11-inchers in fairly deep water.
Biggest fish caught at Sprague last weekend was a 15-pound channel catfish, he said. The big catfish was caught by an angler who was fishing for perch with a 4-pound-test line.
Idaho’s Hayden Lake is another good choice for crappies. Fish near docks and aquatic weeds along the shoreline. Hayden holds some big crappies, some more than 12 inches.
Most of the crappies in Hauser Lake are 9 to 10 inches long, with a few to 11 inches. Most productive area is along and among the lily pads.
Kokanee
Lake Coeur d’Alene is yielding some 25-fish limits of kokanee that average 10 inches in length. They are fairly near the surface. Popular areas have been Squaw and Bennett bays and off Hudson Point.
Few trollers have been catching limits, but those who spend 3 or 4 hours on the lake have been catching 10 to 15 fish.
Spirit Lake is still yielding 25-fish limits of small kokanee. Many anglers jig for the fish in 30 feet of water. Fishing for kokanee that average 12 inches at Loon Lake was slow last weekend and early this week, according to Joe Haley, manager of the Granite Point resort.
“Fishermen are still catching them,” he said, “but not as fast as they did a couple weeks ago. The bad weather may have had something to do with the slowing of the fishing.” If you don’t have a sonar to tell you where there are kokanee schools, watch fishermen in other boats.
If you see kokanee caught, fish in the vicinity of the successful anglers, but don’t crowd them.
Salmon
Salmon fishing was slow last weekend at Lake Coeur d’Alene. However, an improvement in the weather could result in fair to good fishing for chinooks 5 to 10 pounds. The salmon are scattered in the water column, some swimming in water less than 20 feet deep and some down to 60 feet. Trollers have been fishing with helmeted herring and mini-squids behind flashers.
The Wind River will be closed to fishing for spring chinook salmon Tuesday. Only the lower river is open to fishing. Daily limit is two longer than 12 inches.
Stream fishing
The region’s trout streams are still high and off color. It’s possible the Coeur d’Alene River may be fishable this weekend, but be prepared to fish fast, cold water. The river was too high for fly fishing last weekend.
The St. Joe also may be too high for good fishing. However, a few of its tributaries could be low and clear enough for spin fishermen.
The Selway and Lochsa have been dropping, but are still high. The Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers and Rock Creek in the Missoula area also are high from the runoff.