Hunting and Fishing

Salmon and steelhead

The Big One Chinook Derby runs July 31-Aug. 8 on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Entry fee is $25, payable at most Spokane and Coeur d’Alene sporting good stores. First prize again this year is $5,000, with other cash and merchandise prizes through 10th place. Last year’s big fish weighed over 23 pounds.

Following a great opener on the Columbia, chinook anglers at Wells Dam and the mouth of the Okanogan describe the fishing since as “brutal.” Either the opening-day pressure has dispersed the fish, or the hot weather has made them lethargic and they are laying low in the deeper holes.

At Ilwaco last week, anglers averaged 1.4 salmon per rod, 94 percent of which were coho. Water conditions were rough most of the week and effort was low. Through July 25, an estimated 17.4 percent of the coho quota had been taken. At Westport, water conditions were similarly rough and effort low. Only 10 percent of the quota has been taken.

Drano Lake is producing summer run steelhead, and the boat ramp will open July 30. Fishing for chinook and coho opens Aug. 1. Non-buoyant lure restrictions will be in effect.

On the lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam last week, boat anglers averaged a steelhead per every three rods while bank anglers averaged one per seven rods. Best catches remain from Kalama downstream.

The White Salmon River is producing summer run steelhead and some summer chinook. Non-buoyant lure restriction will be in effect Aug. 1.

On the Snohomish River, anglers are allowed to fish from a motorized boat during the August pink salmon fishery from Aug. 1-31. The allowance, which is an exception to the “Selective Gear Rules” regulation, was inadvertently omitted from the sport rules process.

The Wind River from the mouth to 400 feet below Shipherd Falls opens to fishing for salmon Aug 1.

Trout and kokanee

No matter which species you are fishing for this week, go early or late. By 10 a.m., the bite is off until sunset, and the water is filling up with skiers and personal watercraft. To escape the heat, you might consider heading for a high-elevation lake in the Colville National Forest to cast for rainbow, cutthroat, or brook trout. For details, see WDFW’s 2004 Fishing Prospects booklet, available at regional offices. Another getaway from summer temperatures is Idaho’s high mountain trout lakes.

Kokanee at Loon Lake have moved into deeper water. The bite this week began between 9 and 11 p.m. in 38 feet of water. The fish are putting on weight and running to 11 inches. Across the highway, Deer Lake is still kicking out a few mackinaw to 17 pounds. No one seems to be trying for kokanee there.

Coeur d’Alene kokanee are not biting as fast as a couple weeks ago, but it is still possible to make good catches at 30 feet, particularly in the vicinity of Sunup Bay. The fish are a healthy 11-12 inches. Lots of trout are also available around Coeur d’Alene in the little lakes such as Fernan and Kelso.

Lake Roosevelt kokanee are dispersed in the lake from Keller to Seven Bays and some really large ones are coming out of Swawilla Basin. There are reports of good catches at 20-30 feet early and late, and at 80 feet after it warms up. Rainbow are caught fairly consistently at the same depths.

A small number of Banks Lake anglers have been catching a good number of 2-3-pound kokanee recently from the southwest end of the lake across from the Million Dollar Mile on the west wall. They are fishing pearl pink Apex lures and K-flies 40-50 feet down. It has been many years since the koke fishing on Banks was worth talking about. Banks rainbow averaging 2 pounds are being caught off the bluff banks at 15-25 feet. Rapalas, and Apexes, and K-flies in a muddler pattern are effective.

At Lake Kookanusa in Montana, 10-13-inch kokanee are being caught at 40 feet, often using non-traditional gear such as Rooster Tails. “I don’t know what’s going on,” says Randi Burch at Kookanusa Resort and Marina. “We’ve never fished this way before.” She says some anglers are taking 35-fish limits, and others are getting skunked. Burch also reminds anglers that a free Fish and Wildlife tag allows taking two bull trout from Kookanusa, Hungry Horse Reservoir, or the South Fork of the Flathead River.

The St. Joe was running at 80 percent of normal at midweek, but fishing pressure has lightened up and conditions are good. The Clark Fork was running at 3050 cfs on Wednesday. Morning fishing continues to be best. All the fly fishing waters would benefit from some rain and a cooler August.

Spiny ray

Surface temperatures all over Potholes Reservoir are in the low 80s. Topwaters are probably the best bet for bass.

Eloika Lake largemouths have slowed some since two weeks ago, but perch and crappie are still biting. Mid-lake at the north end has been good for both. Trolling a white or yellow fly on top in the evening is a fun way to take Eloika crappie.

Smallmouth bass fishing is red-hot on the Snake River. There are a lot of fish 12-14 inches coming in with quite a few up to 16 inches, reports Tim Johnson of FishHawk Guides in Clarkston.

Lake Roosevelt smallmouth fishing is still excellent, and on Banks Lake, it is red-hot. Try topwaters early and late and plastics during the day. The walleye fishing on Banks has been disappointing. There are a fair number of juvenile “throw-backs,” but the few larger fish are in the weed lines and are difficult to fish for. Roosevelt is a better bet for ‘eyes.

Coeur d’Alene are still prowling the weed beds. Spoons and spinnerbaits are bringing hits.

Other species

Sturgeon fishing, especially above Pittsburg Landing in Hells Canyon has been very good for big fish. There have also been some taken on the Snake above Little Goose Dam.

Fishing for channel cats “is always good” says Verna Foley of Darver Tackle in Starbuck, Wash. She suggests a good place for bank anglers is the deep water in front of the Lyons Ferry grain elevators.

Pikeminnow anglers collected bounties on over 18,000 fish last week. The Dalles collection station recorded the most at 2,389.

Hunting

Tags for most Idaho resident big game hunters go on sale beginning Aug. 1. The new 2004-2005 Idaho Upland Game Seasons and Rules brochure is available now at license vendors and Fish and Game offices throughout Idaho. The brochure also contains seasons and rules for rabbits and hares as well as furbearers, predators and unprotected species. Included are seasons and rules for crows, doves and sandhill cranes. Doves and sandhill cranes were previously covered in separate publications.

The Washington upland and waterfowl seasons have not yet been set, but the Big Game Hunting Seasons and Rules pamphlet is available. The modern firearm season for Eastern Washington whitetail and mule deer begins Oct. 16. The early muzzleloading season is Oct. 2-8, and the early bow season begins Sept. 1.