Hunting and Fishing

Editor’s note: The Hunting and Fishing report, which usually appears on Fridays, was not available last Friday because of technical difficulties and now appears below. It will return to its regular day this Friday.

Trout and kokanee

Surface temperatures at Banks Lake had risen to 69 degrees by Thursday, up nine degrees in a week. John Wicklund and a friend fished Banks at midweek, catching rainbow 17-19 inches. He suggests it won’t be long until anglers will need to look for the thermocline to catch fish.

WDFW biologist, Jeff Korth says Blue, Park, and Warden lakes are good bets for trout. He also reported that some kokanee have been caught in Banks Lake and Deep Lake at Sun Lakes State Park. Jameson Lake in Douglas County closes July 4 and re-opens for the month of October.

I fished Lake Roosevelt near Ft. Spokane this past week with Pat McManus and Todd Smith of Outdoor Life magazine. We trolled muddler minnows tipped with worm under three colors of leaded line, catching two 20-inch rainbow and quite a few 10-inchers, which we released. Rainbow trout catches are also coming from the Sanpoil area and from Seven Bays downstream. With Roosevelt close to full pool now, kokanee should also be coming on.

Potholes trout are showing much better than last spring, but limits are not the rule, reports Mike Meseberg at MarDon Resort. The big rainbow so far this year was 7 pounds 10 ounces. It was caught trolling an Uncle Walt’s Squid R and crawler combination.

Bank fishermen on Rufus Woods are still catching a few of the big triploids on rainbow Powerbait. The fish move in closer to shore in the evening.

Lake Coeur d’Alene kokes are on the bite all over the lake, and at Loon Lake, resident guru, Red Crass, said this past week that the kokanee fishing had been “tremendous” for both trollers and still fishermen. He recently took a ten-fish limit from the east side in 48 minutes, and said the fish are “a chunky 10-11 inches.” Trout fishing, too, says Crass is very good, and the fish are running to 22 inches.

Deer Lake is showing some kokanee again, says WDFW biologist, Chris Donley. He noted that most of the region’s trout lakes are productive now, but mostly early in the morning and late in the evening. WDFW Fish Biologist Marc Divens reports catches of 12-inch rainbows at Lincoln County’s Fishtrap Lake and southwest Spokane County’s Badger Lake. Downs Lake is also good for rainbow averaging 10-12 inches,

The Clark Fork, the Blackfoot, and the Bitterroot are fishing very well. The Clark has been murky, and this has created some incredible fishing, even in the middle of the day. The section downstream from Missoula is fishing best, as above Milltown, there is a lot of algae. The North Fork of the Coeur d’ Alene is still good.

Salmon and steelhead

Selective-fishing rules will be in effect in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which opens for salmon fishing July 1. Anglers can retain two hatchery salmon per day – including hatchery chinook – from the mouth of the Sekiu River to the tip of Ediz Hook (Marine Area 5 and the western portion of Marine Area 6). Several areas in Puget Sound also open for salmon fishing July 1, including the San Juan Islands (Marine Area 7), the Seattle-Bremerton area (Marine Area 10) and Hood Canal (Marine Area 12).With coast-wide quotas of 44,500 chinook and 202,500, prospects for this year’s sport fishery are looking good.

Hatchery summer-run steelhead fishing is already hot on the Cowlitz River. The best action was between Mission Bar and Blue Creek, reports regional WDFW fish biologist Joe Hymer.

Some spring chinook are still being caught on the Klickitat River. Summer-run steelhead catches are picking up. On the Kalama River, hatchery summer-run steelhead returns are 30 percent below the 10-year mean, but fair to good catches are reported in the lower river from the Beginner’s Hole to Camp Kalama. Numbers of fish should increase, with the peak typically occurring in July.

Fishing for hatchery chinook salmon began June 21 on the Salmon River from Hammer Creek upstream to a posted line at the uppermost Vinegar Creek boat ramp. This opening added 25 miles to the existing fishery.

The entire mainstem Salmon River is scheduled to close to all chinook salmon fishing on July 5.

Spiny ray

“Walleye fishing is still great in Moses Lake,” said WDFW Fish Biologist Jeff Korth. WDFW Fish Biologist Patrick Verhey reported that Connelly Park and the I-90 bridge area of Moses Lake are currently excellent spots to land a walleye. “Some mixed species waters with good water temperatures are Soda and Long lakes and the wide spots in the canal south of Potholes where there are good flows,” he said. “These waters have walleye, bass, some yellow perch, and even rainbows.”

Snake River smallmouth have been hot, says Tim Johnson of Fishhawk Charters in Clarkston. His clients have been taking quite a few 14-16 inchers in the lower part of the river. He says the preferred offering seems to be a smoke-colored tube with black pepper flakes. Summer smallmouth fishing is also in full swing on Banks Lake. Topwaters are a good choice, but tubes and lizards in the sand color are also picking up a lot of fish.

Good-sized smallmouth and some large perch are showing at Sprague Lake, reports Monika Metz at Sprague Lake resort. She says perch up to 14 inches are in deep water now, but the smallmouth are along the shorelines. Sprague has also been good for channel catfish and walleye.

Largemouth bass are hitting at Newman Lake in eastern Spokane County, and 12-inch yellow perch at Bonnie Lake on the Spokane-Whitman county line. Downs Lake is giving up crappie, some as large as 14 inches. Anglers fishing for crappie at Downs should be following the new regulation – a minimum size of 9 inches with a daily limit of 10. The same rule is in effect for several other lakes in the region, including Coffeepot, Eloika, Silver and Sprague. Lake Spokane (Long Lake) has also been good recently for large crappie. The major bass spawn there is coming to a close. Look for post-spawn fish at the edge of weed lines and off points. Long is catch and release for bass until July when statewide slot limits will be in effect. Try topwaters in the morning and evening near the pads.

Upper and Lower Twin lakes have been producing largemouth bass, black crappie, pumpkinseed sunfish, and perch. At Eloika, anglers are taking numerous smaller bass. The summer weed growth makes topwaters a good option. Perch are biting well, too.

Other species

Although the new, record shad run (more than 4.8 million had passed Bonneville Dam by June 22) is probably past its peak, there are still enough fish to keep anglers busy. Local shad fisherman, Charles Palmer, had an excellent fishing trip recently at Bonneville, fishing the Washington side of the third power plant. He took most of his fish on red and white darts with yellow calf’s tail.

Lots of small sturgeon are coming out of the Hells Canyon section of the Snake, and one 9-footer was also reported last week.

Sturgeon fishing goes to catch-and-release only June 26 in Bonneville Pool and its tributaries, and on June 28 in The Dalles Pool.