Fishing Report
Trout, Idaho
Big cutthroat, some at least 18 inches long, took anglers’ flies and lures along the lower Coeur d’Alene River over the Memorial Day weekend.
Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene, said the river was clear but high. Lure and bait fishers found pods of large cutthroat.
Two Spokane fly fishers who fished the river Wednesday said the river was too high for good fly fishing. They said the weather was bad and there were no hatches. A snowstorm hit the river in the morning.
They said they think the river won’t be in good shape for fly fishing for another 10 days.
The St. Joe was a little high but fishable. Many anglers and their families camped along the river, especially in the catch-and-release section that now starts at Avery.
Unsettled weather at times during the long weekend apparently discouraged many anglers from fishing North Idaho’s lakes.
Trout, Washington
Because weather prevented most lakes from being fished as hard as they usually are during a Memorial Day period, anglers didn’t cut deeply into the fish populations. There are plenty of fish left in most trout-only and mixed-species lakes for several weeks of good fishing.
The period of good fishing this year should be at least a couple of weeks longer than usual.
The most productive fishing in the Spokane area the next couple of weeks should be at Badger, Williams and Fishtrap lakes.
Badger and Williams still have fairly good populations of rainbows and cutthroat in the 9- to 13-inch range. Anglers have cut fairly deeply into Fishtrap’s rainbow population; however, persistent and knowledgeable anglers should be able to take five trout in the 11- to 12-inch range. There are small numbers of carryover trout in the lake.
Clear is one of the better choices for rainbows and brown trout ranging from 11 to 18 inches long. Trout fishing at Silver, Liberty and Newman may be slow.
West Medical, usually one of the most popular lakes managed as trout fisheries, holds some big rainbows and browns, but fishing has been slow.
Several trout-only lakes in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties are worth exploring. Among the best should be the small lakes in the Little Pend Oreille chain. Ellen and Deep also are good choices. Ellen still has a good population of rainbows and Deep has been yielding rainbows and cutthroat.
Swan Lake in Ferry County is a picturesque lake that once was stocked with brook trout but now is managed as a rainbow lake. A Forest Service campground overlooks the lake.
Not as many anglers fished Blue and Park lakes southwest of Coulee City as there have been on previous Memorial Day weekends. Both lakes still have fairly large trout populations. Yearling rainbows average about 12 inches long. Sun Lakes State Park has a big campground at Park; a commercial campground also attracts many campers.
Jameson Lake in Douglas County attracted many campers over the holiday period, most of them from the Coast. The lake still has a fairly good population of rainbows ranging from 12 to about 16 inches.
This is a good time to fish Sidley, a shallow 115-acre lake near Molson and not far from the Canadian border. Because it’s at a higher elevation that most put-and-take lakes in Okanogan County, fishing is best in late May and June. Yearling rainbows are 12 to 13 inches long and there are some carryover rainbows to 18 inches.
Most of the put-and-take lakes in Okanogan Country are still good bets. Unsettled weather much of the time since opening day has cut numbers of anglers drastically.
The Bureau of Reclamation has started refilling Lake Roosevelt. However, the lake level was only a little more than 1,234 feet earlier this week and it’s now certain the level won’t be up to what net pen operators had hoped it would be by June 1.
The operators had hoped the lake would be at 1,265 elevation by June 1. They had wanted to start releasing large numbers of rainbows and kokanee raised in net pens by the first of this month.
If they have to release the fish while the lake is low and water flow high, they fear a high percentage of the fish will ride the heavy current downstream and over Grand Coulee Dam.
Specially managed lakes
Grimes Lake in Douglas County was opened to fishing for the big Lahontan cutthroat Thursday. As usual, scores of anglers showed up for the opening and caught Lahontans that ranged from about 16 to more than 24 inches long.
The lake, managed as a selective-gear lake with a one-fish-a-day limit, is open only during June, July and August. The best fishing usually is during the first few days of each season.
As the weather warms, the cutthroat stay in deep water most of the time, forcing fly fishers to use fast sinking lines and spin fishers to get their lures down 15 to 20 feet deep.
Only a couple of the specially managed lakes in the Spokane region are producing outstanding fishing. Fishing has been slow at Amber, Medical, Bayley and McDowell. It’s been somewhat better at North Silver and Browns, both fly fishing-only lakes.
The biggest trout are in Dry Falls and Ell. Rainbows and browns in Dry Falls are 14 to 20 inches long. Rainbows in Ell are 16 to more than 20 inches.
Aeneas, a fly fishing-only lake, holds large numbers of 13 to 15-inch rainbows and some rainbows and browns in the 18- to 22-inch range. Chopaka, a fly fishing-only lake, holds rainbows ranging from 14 to about 18 inches long.
Chopaka was jammed with fly fishers over the Memorial Day weekend.
Fishing was poor at the popular lake. Fly fishers said the rainbows were smaller than they had expected and that the fish weren’t in the best of shape.
Six former winter lakes were opened as selective-gear lakes Thursday.
They are Green, Little Green, Rat, Little Twin, Davis and Campbell.
Because this is the first year as selective-gear lakes, anglers may be disappointed in the size of the fish.
Spiny rays
This is the best time of year to fish for bass at the region’s lakes. Water temperatures are in the 60s and the bass are on or near their spawning beds.
Smith said bass fishing has been good at most North Idaho lakes. Because the bass are in their spawning mode, he said, anglers who release the fish they catch should be careful so that the eggs of the females don’t drop out.
Some bass fishermen don’t fish for bass when the fish are spawning, believing it’s not fair to the bass. However, the majority of anglers take advantage of the good fishing while the bass are protecting their beds.
Smith said that fishing for northern pike has been good at the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River. Killarney has been particularly productive, with most pike ranging from 18 to 26 inches long.
He suggested that anglers use spinner baits and Rapala plugs when fishing for pike.
The Fish and Wildlife Department said that walleye fishing has been excellent at Lake Roosevelt and the Potholes Reservoir. The Spokane Arm of the lake was opened to walleye fishing Thursday and anglers will be catching post-spawning walleyes making their way down the river to the lake.
The best fishing for walleyes at the Potholes Reservoir has been in the Crap Creek channel.
Trout, Montana
Rock Creek, the internationally famous trout stream 20 miles east of Missoula, is the place to go to hook big rainbows and browns.
The Kingfisher fly shop reported that “there’s some great fishing to be had” from the mouth to Phillipsburg.
“The salmonflies are a factor now on the lower half of the river,” the shop said, “while higher up golden stones and mayflies are what are getting the attention of the fish. “If you’re willing to do big stonefly nymphs on the upper river, that will take them as well. You’ll see tons of salmonflies on the bushes.”
Besides the stoneflies, March Brown, Blue-Winged Olive and Yellow Sally mayflies and midges are hatching.
The shop recommended using Rogue stones, red Turck’s Tarantulas, Goddard and Elk Hair Caddis, Chernobyl Ant, Parachute Adams, San Juan Worms, tan double-bead stonefly nymphs, black and olive sculpins and Woolly Buggers.
The Clark Fork has been producing fairly good fishing even though it’s off-color. Fishing should be good during the next week or so.
The Missouri is in perfect shape for wading. Two Spokane fly fishers, Clay Findlay and Clifford Slaton, fished the stream last week and caught numerous 16- to 17-inch rainbows on Hare’s Ear and Pheasant Tail Nymphs.
The trout are recovering from their spawning cycle.
Salmon
If you want to catch chinook salmon at Lake Coeur d’Alene, get up early and be trolling a herring by 5 a.m.
The best time to troll for the salmon, most of which range from 4 to 10 pounds, is from 5 to 8 a.m., he said. Guide Rick Caddy took clients fishing Sunday and got them into 6- and 9-pounders.
The salmon are 30 to 50 feet deep. Best fishing has been from Squaw Bay to Beauty Bay.
The WDFW said that shore fishing for spring chinook salmon in the Hanford Reach area of the Columbia River has been hot. However, fishing for the springers along the Icicle River has slowed down, apparently because of high and cold water. As the weather improves, the agency said, fishing should pick up.
Spring chinook salmon
Fishing continues to be good for spring chinook salmon in the Clearwater near Orofino and in the Hanford Reach reach of the Columbia.
Kokanee
Lake Coeur d’Alene now is the place to go to catch large numbers of kokanee. Smith said some trollers have been catching 25-fish limits of 10- to 13-inchers, with the average probably about 11 inches.
“The most productive area is in the south end between Spokane and Harlow points,” he said. “Some fish have been caught in Beauty and Mica bays in the north.”
He said that the kokanee are 10 to 15 feet under the surface.
Kokanee in Loon Lake haven’t been as easy to catch as they were during the first week or so after opening day, said Joe Haley, manager of Granite Point Resort.
Fishermen have been averaging about five fish each. The limit is 10 a day.
Weather fronts caused the kokanee to drop to 30 to 35 feet, he said, but as the weather pattern settles the fish should come back up to about 20 feet. Anglers have been letting out two to three colors of leaded line to get their rigs to the fish. They’ve been using flashers or dodgers ahead of maggot-baited lures.
Kokanee fishing has been the best in years at Lake Mary Ronan since the opening of the season Saturday, Gary Thomas, co-owner of Camp Tuffit, reported.
He said most trollers and still fishers have been taking 10-fish limits of kokanee that are 10 to nearly 14 inches long. The average size, he said, is 11 to 12 inches.
Thomas said it’s possible that the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ program of seining perch before they spawn each spring has reduced the population enough so that the perch are not competing with kokanee for food and space. The department seined three to four tons of perch at the lake last year.
Some fishers have been catching rainbow trout to 3 pounds, he said. The department hasn’t stocked rainbows for years, relying on natural spawning. It stocks cutthroat, but they apparently haven’t done well.
The kokanee fishing has been so good, Thomas said, that many fishers have been taking home two-day limits of 20 fish. Fourteen of 16 Spokane area anglers caught two-day limits over the Memorial Day weekend.
This sidebar appeared with the story: CORRECTION Free fishing days
No license will be required for general fishing on June 10 in Idaho and June 10-11 in Washington. The dates for these “free fishing days” were wrong in Rich Landers’ Thursday column.