Hunting and Fishing

Salmon and steelhead

Bonneville Dam steelhead counts have increased to 1,000 fish a day, and a total of 70,000 summer chinook had passed the ladders by midweek. There are about 5,000 chinook in the Columbia near Wells Dam. When the summer season begins July 16, the fishery at Brewster should be excellent.

The Tucannon, Touche, and Walla Walla rivers are still open for steelhead on barbless hooks. The summer run has already entered the Snake, and fishing will only get better.

Because steelhead limits on parts of the Cowlitz and the North Fork Lewis Rivers have been increased to three, some anglers think all they have to do is show up to claim their fish. The increased limit merely indicates hatcheries have met or will soon meet their escapement quotas. You’ve still got to give it your best effort.

On the lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam, steelhead catches are increasing. Boat anglers averaged a hatchery steelhead per every three rods last week.

The salmon seasons remain open on the Little Salmon River, the Lochsa River, the South Fork of the Clearwater River, and on the Snake River from the Dug Bar boat ramp upstream to the Hells Canyon Dam.

Trout and kokanee

Lake Roosevelt kokanee to 5 pounds are finally taking anglers’ offerings. Pink or orange Apex Kokanee Killers or Pro-Trolls tipped with maggots or white corn are catching fish below Keller to Swawilla Basin. The fish are suspended at around 30 feet. Ten-inch Roosevelt net pen trout have been bothersome all over the system of late, but that bodes well for the winter fishery, and there are still a lot of 3-pound-plus fish to be had. The Jones Bay area has been good.

As usual this time of year, Loon Lake kokanee are biting well for both still-fishermen and trollers. The recent stormy weather gave me a couple lean evenings this week, but Dale Moffat and a friend took limits between 7 and 9 p.m. on Monday. A few 16-inch rainbows also sweetened the take.

Davis Lake is putting out some kokanee, but though larger than most, they are more fickle. Bead Lake, too, has kokanee. The only problem with Bead is that there is only room for six vehicles at a time at the new Forest Service access.

Coeur d’Alene and Dworshak Reservoir kokes are spread out, but run a couple inches longer than those at Loon.

The Coeur d’Alene bite was erratic this past week, probably due to the storms.

At Marshall Lake in Pend Oreille County, Clarence Grimes says the cutthroat fishing is “the best in years.” The fish are running 9-14 inches and are down 60 feet. Grimes suggests also trying North Skookum for small brookies and South Skookum for 15-16-inch rainbow. Other good cutthroat lakes in the area are Browns, No-Name, and Yokum.

On the left side of the road into Browns is Halfmoon Lake. It has a lot of small brookies but is difficult to fish from shore because of the trees. A float tube would make things easier.

Small trout are abundant in Diamond and Waitts lakes, and Waitts also has some lunker rainbow and browns. Drifting with the wind at a depth of 35 feet has proven effective, as has night fishing.

The best night bite seems to come between 11 p.m. and midnight. South of town, Williams Lake, West Medical, and Clear are still producing, and the trout will go up to 4 pounds.

If you’re a fly fisherman, the Clark Fork, the St Regis, Kelly Creek, and St. Joe are fishing well, but thunderstorms will put the fish down. Try a No. 14 Caddis in the evenings on the Clark Fork, and “fish sneaky” on the St. Regis. The water is very clear and the fish are spooky.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has announced the suspension of experimental trap netting in Lake Pend Oreille. Plans call for a public meeting this summer to gather input on ways to increase angler harvest of lake trout.

Bass and walleye

There are “smallmouth galore near Keller,” says John Kallas at Valley White Elephant. They are full of sculpins. Walleye have been biting well in the Hunters area, practically on shore. Try bottom bouncing with a standard jig and worm. Roosevelt is close to full pool.

“Lots of 14-16-inch smallmouth” are coming from the Grand Ronde, says Bill Vail at Boggan’s Oasis. Best fishing is from Boggan’s to the mouth of the Snake. Float fishing has been most successful.

Bass anglers are casting Rat-L-Traps and other lures along the shorelines to hook Sprague Lake smallmouths, many of which weigh a pound or more. The same technique also takes walleyes.

On Moses Lake, Mike Graham of Mike’s Bait Shop reports catching 18-20-inch walleye by bottom bouncing in 15-25 feet of water. He also reports 4-5-pound smallmouth, but says the fishing is less than spectacular. Surface temperatures are 78 degrees.

On Potholes Reservoir, the water is still high, but the largemouth are turning on, and there are reports of some good walleye fishing trolling worm harnesses.

Boat anglers averaged three walleye and over four bass per rod last week on John Day Pool.

Perch

I have taken some really nice Loon Lake perch this summer from 27-29 feet of water on the east side of lake. On a typical evening, my boat will keep a dozen or more perch while waiting for the kokanee bite. White Glo Hooks and maggots have worked well.

Perch are also been caught in good numbers from Waitts Lake on Demon jigs tipped with maggots. The 1-90 Bridge in Moses Lake is heating up for perch, too, now that the flow from Crab Creek has been cut.

Sturgeon and catfish

In Starbuck, Wash., Verna Foley of Darver Tackle says she has “never seen sturgeon fishing this good.”

Just above Little Goose Dam on the Snake has been the hot spot of late, but Foley says the fishing is also good below Lyons Ferry Fish Hatchery. Squid is the most popular offering.

June Jones at Lyons Ferry Marina, also reports good sturgeon fishing, and echoes Foley’s report of “excellent catfishing.” Anglers, she says, are” hauling them in” from 48-58 feet of water just past the grain elevators, but Jones has also had good success herself a half-mile up the Palouse in only a foot-and-a-half of water.

She says the fish are biting “pretty much anytime. You don’t need to go out at night to fill a cooler with fillets.”

Sprague Lake anglers are fishing worms on the bottom to catch channel cats weighing more than 6 pounds, says Monika Metz of Sprague Lake Resort.