Hunting and Fishing

Salmon and steelhead

Salmon anglers fishing in Washington’s marine areas can again look forward to significant chinook and coho salmon opportunities this summer. The season package set recreational harvest ceilings of 44,500 chinook and 202,500 coho salmon for Washington’s coastal areas. Recreational chinook fisheries would begin June 27 in Marine Areas 1-4.

The Snake and the Clearwater in Idaho have been giving up their spring chinook grudgingly. Last weekend, the bite was pretty good, but by Monday it was dead again. I fished both rivers a total of 12 hours Tuesday without a hit. Just over a thousand chinook came over Bonneville on Wednesday . The run to date numbers approximately 155,000 fish.

On the Cowlitz River last week, boat anglers averaged a fish per every four rods while bank anglers averaged one per every 12 rods. The catch was split evenly between spring chinook and summer run steelhead.

Boat anglers on the Kalama and the Klickitat averaged nearly .5 spring chinook, while on the Lewis, boat anglers averaged a chinook each with a few steelhead also appearing.

Wind River anglers boated a spring chinook for every five rods at the mouth, and at Drano Lake, it was one fish per every 4 rods.

Trout and kokanee

At Loon, trollers are catching kokanee fairly consistently in the 7”-10” range by pulling a pro-lite flasher in front of a Kokanee Killer, or a purple Apex size 2.0. Tip the lure with a maggot. If using mono, put out at least 135 feet and troll at 1.4 mph. On Coeur d’Alene, 9- 11-inch fish are showing up regularly in the Mica Bay, Wolf Lodge, and Squaw Bay areas. Bank fishing for trout has been good on Fernan and Hauser.

For Roosevelt trout, troll the Keller Ferry area with a pro-lite flasher in front of a red or orange K-fly spinner. Keep your speed between 1.5 mph and 1.8 mph.

The put-and-take lakes near Spokane have slowed down some, though there are still plenty of trout. Fishtrap anglers are taking decent-sized rainbow from the lower end on Double Whammies. Diamond Lake holds lots of rainbow, but they are small. Further north, Clarence Grimes at Marshall Lake says 8-13-inch cutts are common, and he also suggests trying North and South Skookum, where rainbow and brookies to 16 inches are showing up regularly. Browns Lake , too, has good fly fishing for 11-17-inch cutthroat.

Because of rising water, neither the Bitterroot nor the Blackfoot were fishing well at mid-week, though the Clark Fork has been excellent. The clarity is good along pretty much the whole river and the bugs are definitely out and about. On the Missouri, browns and rainbows have been hitting aggressively.

Closer to home, Jan Sadlo at the Blue Dun Fly Shop says Amber and Badger are fishing very well. He also said Rocky Lake near Arden is a largely-overlooked lake with plenty of potential. Sadlo is very high on the whole chain of lakes between Arden and Ione.

Spiny ray

Bass in most area lakes are either spawning or getting ready to spawn. It is probably best not to target largemouths on their beds, but to fish, instead, for those swimming in the vicinity. Remember that bass fishing on Long Lake is catch and release only during May and June.

It is becoming a little harder to take large catches of crappie from Long Lake. Hauser is still good, however, and Hayden, particularly, has some large crappie.

In addition to nice rainbow, Sprague Lake anglers are taking walleye from 16-22 inches long by working the shoreline with jigs, or by trolling worm harnesses and bottom bouncers in 10-15 ft. of water. Rapalas or large flies near the bottom also work. Some outsized perch and a few crappie have shown, too, reports Monika Metz at Sprague Lake resort. She reminds us that there is now a 10-fish, nine-inch crappie limit on Sprague.

The Snake River is cold and not offering prime smallmouth fishing at this time, reports Dale Moffat of Spokane. A few quality fish are being taken using plastics and a slow presentation.

At Roosevelt, the smallmouth are biting more aggressively than on the Snake, and the walleye are picking up slowly.

Lake Coeur d’Alene pike are falling to jerk baits in 6-8 feet of water, and bass are on the banks. Crankbaits are taking some good fish. At Fins and Feathers in Coeur d’Alene, Justin Kimberling also reports good crappie and bass fishing in the chain lakes.

Bonneville pool boat anglers averaged nearly 14 smallmouth per rod last week, and on The Dalles, anglers were taking a few walleye and bass. John Day pool anglers averaged 3 walleye and nearly 9 bass per rod.

A number of years ago, the Spokane Walleye Club donated money to WDFW to buy a barge to use for gathering egg-bearing walleye, which would be “milked” for hatchery use. The vessel, dubbed “Fertile Myrtle,” would see service on Moses Lake where WDFW biologists and volunteers would attempt to catch ripe females via hook and line, take the eggs right there on the boat, and then release the fish. It seemed like a good idea, but it didn’t work out. Ripe female walleye, it seems, don’t often bite at just the right time for “milking,” and the biologists eventually decided they were a lot better off using nets. Thus, “Fertile Myrtle,” which is kept at the Ephrata compound, is now used for a home base during netting operations. Columbia Basin wildlife biologist, Jeff Korth, says there is now a warm water hatchery at Ringold, but though progress is being made, it hasn’t yet “arrived.” Currently, the walleye fingerlings have been going only into Liberty Lake near Spokane. It has taken a long time for this fishery to develop, however, and many anglers did not even know Liberty has ‘eyes. For whatever reason, Liberty may never support a strong population.

A number of anglers, Korth says, would like to see walleye in Eloika, Newman, Rock, and others. This probably won’t happen. Walleye are difficult to control. They don’t need running water to spawn, and they are normally prolific. Once they get established in a small system, they have the capacity to overtake all other species and become stunted. It seems to me that being a fish or game biologist is much like being a basketball referee—no matter what happens, someone is going to be upset.

Other species

Shad fishing should soon be heating up. On Wednesday, 10,455 fish passed Bonneville.

Fishing for halibut closed May 20 in the Neah Bay and LaPush areas. The fishery is scheduled to reopen June 15 when the second portion of the quota becomes available.

The northern pike minnow bounty took effect on all participating waters beginning May 17. The season closes Sept. 26.