Fishing Report

Free fishing weekend

Hundreds of Washington and Idaho anglers will fish in each other’s backyards this weekend.

Idaho fishers will take advantage of the free fishing Saturday and Sunday in Washington to fish for walleyes at Roosevelt and Sprague lakes and the Potholes Reservoir.

Idaho doesn’t have walleyes in the Panhandle and many Idaho anglers would like to catch a few in Washington during the two days when they won’t have to buy fishing licenses.

Washington, on the other hand, doesn’t have northern pike and blue-ribbon cutthroat streams. Consequently, many Washington anglers will fish Coeur d’Alene and Hayden lakes on Saturday for pike and the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers for cutthroat.

Salmon

If you choose the right place and fish at the right time, you’ve got a chance to hook a spring chinook salmon at one of the Inland Northwest’s streams during the next couple of weeks.

Your major problem will be to fish on the day that the salmon are moving past you.

Hundreds of anglers have taken advantage of the hot fishing for hatchery-raised chinooks that have moved into the Columbia River system. Some of the salmon tip scales at more than 20 pounds.

Here are a few of the potential hot spots:

Ringold Springs area

If you decide to fish the area, you must fish from shore. Experienced bait and lure anglers have done well the last couple of weeks and some have taken home two big, bright salmon and a few have hooked steelhead.

The area you can fish is several hundred yards long, not enough to accommodate all the anglers who have tried for salmon. The best time to fish the area is from dawn to about 8 a.m. That’s the period when the chinooks resume their journey toward their spawning areas.

The Fish and Wildlife Department reported that through June 4 an estimated 265 adult and 216 spring chinooks plus 51 summer steelhead had been caught.

Icicle River

Fishing has been slow along this fast-flowing stream in the Leavenworth area. However, biologists say that plenty of chinooks will move up the stream for outstanding fishing. It’s possible that lots of chinooks will be in the stream this weekend.

If you go, expect a lot of company. In fact, there will be rock-to-rock anglers if the fishing is good. You’ll have to hope you can find a rock to stand on and that your lure won’t hook the lure of the fisherman next to you.

The river is open to fishing from one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset. Non-buoyant lure rules are in effect. The area open is from 400 feet downstream of the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Rack to the mouth of the river.

Biologists believe 13,000 to 17,000 hatchery fish will return to the river.

Clearwater River

Anglers have caught more than 2,000 spring chinooks since the lower river was opened to fishing. Some of the best fishing has been the first mile or two below Orofino. At times, anglers say, the chinooks have been stacked in the deep holes.

As usual, whenever the fishing has been good, numerous anglers’ boats have caused traffic jams along the river. Some anglers back troll, some anchor their boats and fish bait and some drift down the river.

South Fork and Lochsa River

The tributaries of the Clearwater were opened May 27. Plenty of hatchery chinooks should be in the two rivers this weekend for good fishing. Because the streams are much smaller than the main Clearwater and there are lots of places where anglers can fish comfortably from shore, fishermen may not be as concentrated along the rivers as in the Orofino area.

Little Salmon

This tributary of the Salmon has been popular with salmon fishermen the last couple of weeks.

Chinook fishing was fair at Lake Coeur d’Alene last weekend, Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop, reported.

Best fishing was in and near Carlin and Mica bays. Trollers found salmon about 40 under the surface and used flashers and minisquids to take 5- to 9-pound chinooks.

Trout, Idaho

Now is the time to fish the St. Joe and Couer d’Alene rivers. Both streams are fairly clear but a little high; however, some spin, bait and fly fishers have hooked good numbers of cutthroat, a few to about 18 inches, in the areas below the catch-and-release sections.

Big cutthroat are migrating up the lower Coeur d’Alene, Smith said. Some of the biggest cutthroat caught last weekend were hooked in the section from Cataldo to Kingston. However, numerous anglers, including many fly fishers, caught good-sized cutthroat as far up as Teepee Creek.

The St. Joe almost certainly will attract large numbers of anglers this weekend. The river was clear earlier this week and low enough for fairly easy wading.

Smith said that trollers have been catching lots of mackinaw trout at Lake Pend Oreille. Most are small, but a few weighing more than 10 pounds have been caught during the last couple of weeks.

Rainbow fishing has been only fair. The largest caught during the last week was a 23-pounder taken by Don Houck.

Trout, Montana

Rock Creek is the place to go in the Missoula area to catch rainbow and brown trout.

The Kingfisher fly shop reported that the stream is low enough for wading, as well as floating. Recommended patterns are salmonfly imitations in the upper river and golden stone, mayfly and caddisfly patterns along the lower river.

Fishing was slow along the Clark Fork last weekend.

Easy wading and excellent fishing. That’s the way the shop described the Missouri River below Holter Dam.

The shop recommended fly fishers try small Royal Stimulators, 14 to 18 pink scuds, olive midge emergers, size-10 San Juan Worms and small bead head patterns.

Trout, Washington

Fishing is slowing down at many Eastern Washington trout lakes, partly as the result of heavy fishing pressure since opening day and partly because of the warm weather.

The best fishing during the hot weather will be early and late in the day. However, trollers and still fishermen will do well at times during mid-day hours.

As usual, the most productive fishing will be at Badger and Williams lakes in the Spokane region, Blue and Park in the Columbia Basin and the put-and-take lakes in Okanogan and Douglas counties.

Badger and Williams apparently still have large enough trout populations to provide fairly good fishing for another month. Anglers have caught more than half the rainbows in Fishtrap.

Clear Lake is still a good bet. Persistent fishers have been hooking 14- to 18-inch rainbows and brown trout. Fishing has been slow at Silver, Liberty and Newman lakes.

The small cutthroat lakes in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties are worth fishing. Yocum and the lakes in the Little Pend Oreille chain have been popular with anglers seeking trout that are good eating.

Kokanee

Lake Mary Ronan in northwest Montana may be the best place to go in the Inland Northwest to catch a limit or two of good-sized kokanee. Fishing has been excellent since the lake was opened for the season a week ago.

The kokanee average 11 to 12 inches long, with some to more than 13 inches. Gary Thomas of Camp Tuffit said that both trollers and still fishermen have taken home two-day limits of 20 fish.

Fishing at Loon Lake has slowed down from the fast pace of a couple of weeks ago, Joe Haley, manager of the Granite Point Resort, said. However, experienced trollers have been doing well.

Most of the kokanee are 10 to 12 inches long. Some are 8 to 9 inches and a few are up to 13 inches. The largest kokanee have come from the south end of the lake.

Fishermen who trolled for kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene last weekend were somewhat disappointed. The landlocked sockeye salmon suddenly became difficult to catch after several days of hitting anglers’ lures, Smith said.

The kokanee could resume hitting lures after the weather has settled down for a few days, he said.

Shad

At least a half a million shad have gone over Bonneville Dam so far this season and some anglers fishing just below and above the dam and further up the Columbia have done well.

The Fish and Wildlife Department reported that anglers averaged 2.4 shad each last week while fishing near Cascade Island below the dam. The checks were made before many fishermen had finished for the day.

Traditionally, the best fishing near Bonneville is during the last week in May and the first couple of weeks in June. The run over Bonneville will peak the latter part of this month.

Specially managed lakes

Grimes Lake in Douglas County is the best spot to go to catch outsized trout in Eastern Washington. Many of the Lahontan cutthroat caught last weekend were more than 20 inches long.

If you plan to fish the lake, go before the water temperatures get too high. Once the water temperature goes above 70 degrees in the lower end of the lake, the cutthroat will move into deep water to seek food.

Don’t waste time fishing Lenore Lake. The Lahontan cutthroat released last year are still too small to interest most fishermen. Nearly all of the big, mature cutthroat that enticed anglers from throughout the Northwest died when the lake’s oxygen level plunged during hot weather of 1998.

The most productive lakes in Eastern Washington have been Dry Falls, Ell, Aeneas and Chopaka.

Most of the major insect hatches have occurred, but some mayflies will be hatching at several of the lakes, including Dry Falls and Chopaka. Fly fishers will go back to fishing chironomid pupa, leech, scud and nymph patterns.

Blue Lake in the Sinlahekin is filled with shiners. However, some fly fishers who fished the lake last weekend said that the rainbows they caught were good-sized and in excellent shape.

Fishing has been slow at Medical, Amber, Bayley and McDowell lakes.

Spiny rays

It’s walleye time at several Eastern Washington lakes. The tasty fish have been relatively easy to catch at Sprague and Roosevelt lakes and at the Potholes Reservoir.

Monika Metz, co-owner of the Sprague Lake Resort, said anglers catch about 10 walleyes for every keeper.

She also reported that fishermen have caught small bluegills and lots of 14-inch rainbows.

Walleye fishermen caught limits in the Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt when the river was opened to walleye fishing last week.