Hunting and Fishing

Trout lakes

Kids are guests of honor and numerous fishing events scheduled around the region to coincide with free-fishing days (no license required for kids or adults) in Idaho and Washington.

Panhandle events scheduled for Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon, with stocked trout and plenty of volunteers to help teach kids fishing techniques, will be held at Snow Creek Pond near Bonners Ferry, Calder Pond at Calder, Clark Fork Lodge Pond at Clark Fork, Steamboat Pond at Enaville, Lucky Friday Pond at Mullan, Round Lake State Park south of Sandpoint and Rathdrum City Park.

A similar kid-fishing event will be held at Ponderosa Springs Golf Course on Saturday from 7-11 a.m.

In Washington, West Evans Pond, just west of Clarkston, is closed for fishing today as the pond is stocked with trout for the kids fishing derby, which starts Saturday at 8 a.m. For details about the derby, call (509) 843-1891.

Other Saturday kid-fishing events in the region will be held at:

•Whitman County’s Gilchrist Pond. Info: Whitman County 4-H, (509) 397-6290.

•Pend Oreille County’s Big Meadow Lake, 8 a.m.-noon. From Ione, drive west on County Route 2695 to Big Meadow Lake. Info: Colville National Forest, (509) 446-7500.

Redband rainbow were planted this spring in Washington’s McDowell Lake on the Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge, but a milfoil infestation makes fishing difficult, said biologist Jerry Cline. Also near Chewelah, Bayley Lake is low again this spring, but has plenty of fish, and Potter’s Pond, which was drained last year to control milfoil, has been planted with small rainbow and some large brood fish.

Priest Lake mackinaw fishing has been excellent for fish in the 16-24 inch range with an occasional fish over 10 pounds.

Trout streams

Although Thursday’s rain put a little blip in the trend, flows in the region’s rivers have been steadily coming down to fishable levels.

The Clark Fork River was at 14,900 cubic feet per second Thursday morning, down 1,100 cfs from Wednesday. Anglers have been doing fairly well with nymph rigs, including some afternoon dry fly fishing, according to Clark Fork Trout and Tackle in St. Regis.

The St. Joe has been dropping steadily, and the upper stretches were in good fishing condition on Thursday. Clark Fork Trout and Tackle workers recommend fishing big salmonfly and golden stone patterns with Prince Nymph droppers.

Coeur d’Alene River fishing has been up and down, said SeanVisintainer of Silver Bow Fly Shop. “The cooler weather seemed to slow it down a little, but I’m still hearing good reports from the upper stretches,” he said. “People are using Turk’s Tarantulas and big Stimulators on top and cone-head Woolly Buggers in the deep pools.”

Salmon/Steelhead

Much of the Columbia River will open to the harvest of summer chinook on Wednesday.

Downstream from the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco, anglers will be restricted to keeping only fin-clipped hatchery fish. However, from the bridge upstream to the Priest Rapids Dam, anglers can keep both wild and hatchery chinook.

The return of wild summer chinook above Priest Rapids is expected to be strong this year. Ocean salmon season will begin June 27, and forecasts call for another year of good fishing. Meanwhile, halibut fishing opens June 15-19 in the La Push-Neah Bay areas, where anglers took some 100-pounders during the first opening in May. The halibut season is already underway at Westport.

Shad

On the Columbia River “We’ve still got shad coming out of our ears,” said Joe Hymer, regional WDFW fish biologist. More than two million shad have climbed over Bonneville and The Dalles dams. The tally 250,000 shad that crossed over Bonneville Dam on June 3 was the fifth-highest daily count on record.

“We’re probably just past the peak of the run, but fishing should still be good for most of June,” Hymer said.

Spiny rays

Fishing is picking up for warmwater species that start spawning at this time of year in Spokane-area lakes, said Chris Donley, WDFW biologist. Largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and yellow perch are hitting at Spokane County’s Bonnie, Chapman, Clear, Downs, Eloika, Long, Newman and Silver lakes, he said.

Angler Todd Klement reports taking several tiger muskies in the 32-inch range from Silver Lake in the past week.

Sprague Lake, on the Lincoln-Adams county line, is a good bet for a mixed bag of warmwater species and rainbow trout.

High water levels at Potholes Reservoir have made easy navigating for boats in the sand dunes area, where some big walleye are caught.

Kokanee

Kokanee have been cooperative at Loon Lake north of Spokane and in Idaho at Lake Coeur d’Alene and Dworshak Reservoir. Coeur d’Alene’s kokanee have spread all over the lake and are running 9-12 inches. Anglers who want to try something different can head east into Montana. Near Kalispell, Lake Mary Ronan kokes are “biting like crazy,” according to Mark Thomas at Camp Tuffit. The limit is 10 a day. Montana’s Lake Koocanusa between Libby and Eureka is getting better every day. Unusually cold water temps kept the kokanee deeper than normal for much of the spring, but they are up now. Limits of 9-12-inch fish are the rule on this long Reservoir — 35 a day with 70 in possession.

Hunting

Idaho moose permits left over from the regular drawing will go into a second drawing. Applications may be filed June 15-June 25. The second drawing will be held June 30.

Whitetail deer hunters who know northeast Washington’s “wedge” (GMU 105 — Kelly Hill) and want a shot at a second antlerless deer this fall, can help Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife research by applying for one of 400 special permits.

June 20 is the deadline to apply for Washington’s special big-game permits.

Studies of declining mule deer populations and cougar interactions in northeast Washington suggest a reduction of whitetail deer in some areas might ultimately reduce cougar predation on mule deer by reducing the food source. Reducing whitetails in this small area will help researchers test their theory.

Deer hunters can apply for a second deer tag under hunt choice 1269, as described on page 32 of the hunting pamphlet.

(Correspondent Alan Liere contributed to this column.)