Fishing Report

Trout, Montana

The drought is so severe in western Montana that portions or all of some blue-ribbon trout streams have been closed to fishing and the state is considering closing more rivers if the drought continues much longer.

Some guides no longer are conducting guided trips on the rivers that are extremely low and have high temperatures. The trout are under stress and some may not survive being hooked and released.

The upper sections of the Big Hole are closed to fishing and the lower section is likely to be closed. All of the Jefferson is now closed to fishing.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks department said that the Bitterroot and the Blackfoot in the Missoula area are likely to be the next rivers that will be closed.

The agency doesn’t have water rights for the famed Smith River, but it is asking those who do have rights to try to maintain high enough flows to protect the trout.

The Kingfisher fly shop at Missoula said it has suspended all guiding on all rivers and tributaries in the area.

The shop is recommending that anglers give the rivers in the Missoula area a rest until there is a substantial break in the weather.

The Missouri River below Holter Dam is one of the few rivers where the trout aren’t under stress as the result of extremely low water and high water temperatures, the shop said.

The downside is that hundreds of anglers, mostly fly fishers, float the stretch every day. As other rivers are closed, fly fishers move to the Missouri to fish.

Hatching have been BWOs, PMDs, tricos and caddisflies. Ant, beetle and hopper flies have worked well.

Kokanee

If you want to escape the heat, fish for kokanee at night at Loon Lake. High daytime temperatures drop into the 50s after the sun sets.

With most of the kokanee measuring 10 to 13 inches long, the lake is a good destination for those who would like to catch 10 excellent-eating fish.

Although it’s possible to catch kokanee in various spots around the lake, a high percentage of still fishers gather each evening at the Sockeye Hole, an area that always attracts kokanee.

Some still fishermen are continuing to catch their 10-fish limits in less than an hour, Joe Haley, manager of the Granite Point Resort, reported. The kokanee sometimes start taking anglers’ maggot-baited glow hooks at an hour before the sun sets. The fastest fishing usually starts about 9 p.m.

Trollers also are doing well, Haley said. The most productive time is early in the mornings when there are few water skiers on the lake. However, some anglers have been catching limits during the heat of the day.

He said trollers are letting out 3 to 5-1/2 colors of leaded line ahead of dodgers or flashers. They bait their hooks with maggots.

Both Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Dworshak Reservoir in Idaho are yielding good-sized kokanee. However, the fishing isn’t nearly as fast as it is at Loon Lake.

Salmon/steelhead

Plenty of chinook salmon are in the Columbia River between Priest Rapids and Wells dams for good fishing. The section was opened Thursday for summer and fall chinooks.

Fisheries biologist Jeff Korth of Ephrata said that there are about 20,000 chinooks above Priest Rapids Dam. Most apparently are between Rock Island and Wells dams.

The Fish and Wildlife Department opened the section so anglers can take advantage of a surplus of chinooks. Escapement will exceed hatchery and wild broodstock spawning needs.

“The proposed fishery will not have negative impact on Endangered Species Act listed species,” the department said. The season will end Oct. 31.

The Columbia between McNary and Priest Rapids dams will not be opened to chinook fishing until Aug. 16.

Korth said there are several boat launches along the Columbia between Priest Rapids and Wells dams. For information call the Ephrata office at 509-754-4624.

The Buoy 10 area of the lower Columbia, Drano Lake and the section of the Columbia just below the mouth of the Deschutes River are continuing to yield good numbers of chinook salmon.

The quota for sports anglers in the Buoy 10 area is 9,000 chinooks. It could be filled by Labor Day.

More than 115,000 steelhead have been counted at Bonneville Dam and have started up the Columbia. The count at McNary was nearing 25,000 early this week. Not enough steelhead are in the Snake for good fishing; besides, as water temperatures rise, a “thermal block” could stop the fish from moving up the Snake.

The best steelhead fishing has been in the Drano Lake area of the Columbia, off the mouth of the Deschutes River and in the lower Deschutes.

The largest chinook salmon caught during the first five days of the Lake Coeur d’Alene chinook derby was a 16.72-pounder. Buckie Finnley of Coeur d’Alene caught the salmon in the north end of the lake.

Fishing was slow much of this week, but picked up Thursday morning and several 12- to 16-pounders were boated. Most of the chinooks have been caught on helmeted herring and flies at 45 to 90 feet deep. The derby will end Sunday.

Trout, Washington

Eastern Washington’s big waters continue to yield rainbows ranging from 12 to 20 inches.

Trollers and still fishermen have caught net-pen-reared rainbows along Lake Roosevelt, Moses Lake and the Potholes Reservoir.

Anglers who have trolled deep have caught some 2- to 3-pound rainbows at Lake Roosevelt the last 10 days or so. They’ve also hooked a few large kokanee. Shore fishermen are continuing to catch a few rainbows at a few spots from Spring Canyon to the Seven Bays area.

Fishing for the net-pen-reared rainbows in the Potholes Reservoir has been better than fishing for walleyes, perch, crappies and bluegills. Nearly every day a few rainbows up to 4 pounds have been caught off the Mar-Don Resort dock.

Other favorite spots are the mouths of the Frenchman Hills and Winchester wasteways, off the face of the O’Sullivan Dam and in the Crab Creek channel.

It isn’t easy to catch a limit at most trout lakes in the Spokane region. However, persistent trollers and still fishers have taken home five trout, especially those who fish in the evening.

If chironomids hatch during mid-day hours, the fish will take pupae near the surface and then move back down to deep water.

Most trout now are subsisting on chironomid pupae, damselfly and dragonfly nymphs, an occasional leech and tiny crustaceans.

Although some anglers have hooked good-sized trout at the mixed-species lakes, such as Clear and Jump-off Joe, the most consistent fishing still is at the trout-only lakes. By fishing deep in the evenings, fishermen can catch five trout at Fishtrap, Williams, Badger, the small cutthroat lakes in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties and lakes in Okanogan and Douglas counties.

Most fly and spin fishers apparently are waiting until the water cools in September to fish the fly fishing-only and selective gear lakes in Eastern Washington. Fishing has been slow at Dry Falls, Ell, Blue, Aeneas and Chopaka lakes but anglers have had fair to good fishing in the evenings.

Surprisingly, trout fishing has been good at Sprague Lake, according to Monika Metz, co-owner of the Sprague Lake Resort. Fishermen have been taking home limits of rainbows that are 13 to more than 20 inches long. A favorite spot is the springs area in front of the resort.

Trout, Idaho

Unlike some Montana streams, North Idaho’s cutthroat streams, although low, are still in good condition.

The most productive streams are the St. Joe, Lochsa and Selway rivers and Kelly Creek. The upper Coeur d’Alene is very low now; however, the lower rivers still have plenty of water.

Water temperatures along the St. Joe have been ideal. Fishing pressure will remain high this month but will drop in September after school starts and vacationers head home.

Priest Lake is continuing to yield limits of small mackinaw trout. Anglers troll in 140 feet of water, using baited lures.

Spiny-rays

Anglers are catching walleyes at several eastern Washington lakes and streams.

Metz said that a few anglers have been taking home limits of walleyes. Although most of the walleyes they hook are less than 18 inches, the fishermen have continued to fish until they had five legal-sized walleyes.

She also reported that some fishermen have been catching 24-inch catfish on plugs in shallow water.

Walleye and sturgeon fishing has been good along the Columbia in the Hanford Reach section and below the Priest Rapids Dam, wildlife agent Dan Rahn said.

Many of the walleyes weigh 5 to 6 pounds, he said.

Sturgeon fishing has been so good, he said, that some anglers can’t resist the temptation to keep illegal-sized fish. To be kept, a sturgeon must be 48 to 60 inches long.

“Some fishermen have been tying illegal sturgeon on a stringer and then leaving them somewhere to be picked up later,” he said. “When they are ticketed, we try to revive the sturgeon before releasing them.”

Anglers have been catching lots of smallmouth bass off the face of the O’Sullivan Dam. A few smallmouths have been caught off the Mar-Don Resort, including one that weighed 3 pounds, 5 ounces.

The south side of Goose Island also has been good for smallmouths.

Some walleyes, perch, crappies and bluegills also have been caught recently at the Potholes Reservoir.

Closure

The Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources departments have banned the burning of forest, yard and land clearing debris in Eastern Washington on all private and state lands protected or managed by the two departments.

No campfires are allowed, except in approved, metal- or concrete-lined fire pits located in designated campgrounds.

The ban will remain in effect until the risk of wildfires has dropped to acceptable levels.