Salmon and steelhead

The Riverside Sports Shop in Orofino says that considering the few anglers fishing the Clearwater, the catch-and-release fishing hasn’t been too bad for A-run fish. About 400 streelhead had crossed Lower Granite Dam by midweek.

Wells Dam and Okanogan mouth chinook fishing has been good this week, with anglers catching bright fish over 20 pounds. One client of guide Ray Bailey caught a 43-pounder last week. Bailey says the fishing should hold up to mid-September.

Ocean salmon fishing has been generally slow, though anglers at Ilwaco and Neah Bay are averaging slightly over a fish per rod, mostly coho. With only 10 percent of the yearly Ilwaco allotment taken as of Sunday, the fishing should hold up a long time.

The steelhead limit on the Cowlitz River has been raised to three. Fishing has been good.

Trout and kokanee

Small net pen trout have been bothersome at Lake Roosevelt, but anglers who use a quick drop can get below them and into larger fish. Big kokanee have been showing in good numbers this week in Swawilla Basin, with some of the fish running close to 4 pounds. Successful anglers are going down 40-60 feet with flashers and flies or Apex lures. Rainbow anglers are using the same flies and ures but tipping them with worm.

Anglers have still not located big concentrations of Coeur d’Alene kokanee, but a lot of those caught are over 12 inches. Loon Lake kokes, which have been extremely cooperative most nights, went off their feed a little at midweek. Still-fishermen plying depths from 27-32 feet caught limits, but it took a lot longer than usual.

Curlew Lake rainbow 12-14 inches are cooperating early and late for still-fishermen. Closer to Spokane, Clear Lake is yielding some big rainbow to those trolling at around 40 feet. Still-fishermen are catching trout averaging 13 inches. The Fishtrap Lake Resort dock is crowded most days, and trout fishing remains good. The algae bloom has not yet materialized on Fishtrap.

Lake Chelan’s kokanee are running strong. Anglers are taking advantage of the early-morning bite, dragging Mack’s wedding rings with white shoepeg corn behind a 0000 dodger. The Chelan lakers bite continues to be early morning and evenings off the south shoreline from Sunnybank to Minneapolis Beach and Mack Bar. The standard U-20 purple luminous Firetail Flatfish is popular.

Twin Lakes near Inchelium is yielding good catches of big rainbow and brook trout. The brookies average a pound each, but fish up to 7 pounds are coming in. Sparkle-bodied muddlers work for trollers, and still-fishermen seem to prefer worms with enough Power Bait added to float the bait off the bottom.

WDFW District Fish Biologist Eric Anderson reports access is excellent now to alpine fishing lakes in the South Cascades. “There are some great opportunities for rainbow and cutthroat trout at Dog and Leech lakes in the White Pass area of Yakima County and at Lost Lake near Snoqualmie Pass in Kittitas County,” he said. “We continue to stock these and other high lakes and are gearing up now to start our fry plants for next summer’s catches.”

Northern Idaho and western Montana streams are fishing well early. On most, dry flies will work in the morning and dry flies and a dropper in the afternoon. As the hot weather continues, throw nymphs in the holes for the larger trout. The Missouri is getting rave reviews – consistent flows and lots of insects, and Rock Creek is said to have been fantastic. Boat traffic is finished there, so pressure has decreased significantly.

Spiny ray

Though walleye fishing is slow, smallmouth anglers are raving about the quality of Banks Lake fish. At Coulee Playland Marina, Dave Altier says the reason anglers are missing the walleye bite is because they are going too deep. He suggests trying for suspended fish by Steamboat Rock and also across the bay from this big landmark in 25-40 feet of water. He also mentioned the Big Poplar area and the south end by the rose bush.

Walleye anglers on Roosevelt are marking lots of fish in the Daisy/Hunter area, and from Kettle Falls north. Bass have gone a little deeper, but are still susceptible to dark-colored plastics.

Sprague Lake isn’t getting much boat traffic these days, but anglers jigging the humps are finding fish. One weighing 8.6 pounds was caught Sunday.

The Grande Ronde continues to be good for large bass, with a lot of 3-pounders reported, mainly from Boggan’s Oasis down.

For perch, try Downs Lake near Cheney. The bite is picking up again, and 10-12 inchers are not uncommon. Trout fishing has also been good.

Several northern pike over 18 pounds were taken along the weeds across from Nine Mile Resort recently. A red and white Dardevle spoon – an old standard – did the damage

You expect to catch largemouth at such area lakes as Newman and Eloika, but many, considered trout-only lakes, also have a good population of spiny ray. Clear, Waitts, Loon, Deer, Diamond, Hayden and Coeur d’Alene, to name a few, also have good populations of largemouth bass and perch.

Other species

For whatever reason, catfish entered the Palouse and Tucannon Rivers late this year to spawn. Fishing is excellent right now. Look for more cats to show in 30-40 feet of water in the Snake proper in a few weeks.

Channel cats are being targeted at Sprague Lake, where five fish over 18 pounds were landed recently. The fish seem to be cruising the shorelines, and not just at night. Nightcrawlers or cut bait will bring bites.

Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) will reopen for limited halibut fishing on Aug. 4, until the quota is projected to be attained.

Hunting

Hunters have until Aug. 6 to enter the WDFW special big-game raffles for deer, elk, moose, mountain goats and California bighorn sheep hunts this fall. One winner will be selected for each hunt. Tickets can be purchased at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov, by calling 1-866-246-9453, or at WDFW license vendors statewide.