Hunting + Fishing

Salmon and steelhead

Guide Tim Johnson of FishHawk Guides said chinook water on the Snake River system is still out of shape, but some anglers are taking salmon from the Clearwater. A few fish are already showing as far upriver as Orofino – but nothing hot. Anglers near Little Goose Dam echo Johnson’s assessment.

Salmon angler effort on the lower Columbia declined from last week. Catch rates were generally poor for spring chinook, but catch rates improved for summer steelhead.

The Elochoman River opened for hatchery chinook fishing Thursday. The daily limit is six hatchery salmon, no more than two of which may be adults. Minimum size is 12 inches. Grays River also opened to fishing for hatchery chinook and steelhead Thursday, as did portions of the Skagit and Skykomish. Chinook regulations are the same as the Elochoman, and steelhead must be a minimum of 20 inches, limit two.

On the saltwater, the Tulalip Bay “bubble” fishery began today and runs through Sept. 25, except for a one-day closure June 17. The fishery is open each week from Friday through noon Monday. Salmon also opened Thursday in Marine Area 11, from the north tip of Vashon Island to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. This is a popular chinook fishery.

Anglers anxious to catch hatchery steelhead might want to consider the Wynoochee River, where the fish are stacking up. Other spots to try for summer hatchery steelhead include the Chehalis River in Grays Harbor County and the Lyre River on the northern Olympic Peninsula. The Bogachiel, Sol Doc and Hoh rivers are still running strong with spring chinook. Check river conditions and use caution on the Hoh since the warm weather has brought down lots of glacial melt, raising the water level considerably.

Trout and kokanee

The Williams Lake dock is still a good place to catch a limit of fat rainbow and cutthroat. Anglers fishing there this week were in awe of the size and quality of the orange-meated fish. The Fishtrap fishery is also holding up.

The kokanee bite has been superior on Lake Chelan recently, with fish everywhere in the lower basin. From first light to about 8:30, troll the upper 15 feet. After that, work deeper, down to about 45 feet with wedding rings baited with white shoe peg corn behind Mack’s Lures hot wings, Flashlites, or 0000 dodgers in chrome scale. Some of these fish are more than a foot long.

Lake Coeur d’Alene kokanee anglers are averaging about 10 fish each. Most fish are around a foot long.

On Priest Lake, both jiggers and trollers are taking mackinaw. A few anglers have had excellent success drop-shotting 3-inch pearl/olive Berkley Power Minnows.

On Loon Lake in Stevens County, night fishermen are waiting for the weather to settle. Generally, hot weather equals hot fishing for Loon Lake kokes.

Some area rivers are dropping quickly and fly-fishing is improving, said Sean Visintainer at Silver Bow Fly Shop. He said the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene is good, and even the St. Joe is becoming fishable. Crystal Humpies and Crystal Stimulators, two relatively new fly patterns, are working well.

Marshall Lake saw excellent cutthroat fishing over the Memorial Day weekend, with limits of 14- to 16-inch fish coming in less than two hours. North and South Skookum are producing small brookies and rainbow. There are rowboats available to rent at the campground on North Skookum.

Evidently, the rising water on Roosevelt has stimulated the trout. There were several reports of big rainbow falling for Muddler Minnows close to the surface in the vicinity of Seven Bays. Many of these fish weighed 3 pounds or better.

Spiny ray

Cold, windy weather didn’t keep walleye, bass, perch and crappie from biting in the upper end of Sprague Lake over the Memorial Day weekend. Some large bass and perch, decent walleye, and 9- to 10-inch crappie kept things interesting. There have also been some large channel cats in the mix.

The annual Bass Jamboree tournament on Banks Lake last weekend (smallmouth only) produced mostly limit catches with lots of culling, says Dave Altier of Coulee Playland Resort. With the walleye and perch fishing also good, Banks is an excellent multispecies destination.

The Kettle Falls walleye bite has been hot recently in depths from 12 feet all the way to 50. Not many big ones are showing, however. Lake Roosevelt walleye angling is improving dramatically all the way to Northport, and the Spokane Arm opened again Thursday. Roosevelt smallmouth bass are everywhere against the shorelines.

Moses Lake walleye continue to bite “all over the lake,” said Mike Graham at Mike’s Bait and Tackle in Moses Lake. Most of the fish are 14-15 inches. The limit is eight fish, one more than 22 inches, with a minimum of 12 inches.

Coeur d’Alene pike and bass continue to hit, said Jeff Smith at Fins and Feathers. Look for smallmouth in the rocks and largemouth and pike in the weeds.

Other species

Lingcod angling off the coast is still hot. “The fishing out of Westport has been particularly good, with lots of boats limiting,” said Wendy Beeghley, WDFW fish biologist. Anglers are also catching some lingcod in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where the fishery in Marine Areas 5 and 6 is open daily through June 15. Halibut fishing in Marine Area 6 closes June 18, but remains open through Aug. 5 in Marine Area 5.

The Sekiu Halibut Derby runs Saturday and Sunday. Entry fee is $15, and first prize for largest halibut is awarded $10 per pound. Largest sea bass gets $200. Info: Olson’s Resort (360) 963-2311.

Shad are moving into the lower Columbia River in large numbers. During the last week of May, creel checkers found that 186 bank anglers had caught 709 shad fishing just downriver from Bonneville Dam. Still, according to Spokane shad guru Charles Palmer, “really good” is one shad every 10 minutes, and “great” is a fish per cast.

Hunting

Idaho Fish and Game Commissioners will not carry a proposal to establish a bonus point system for controlled hunts to the Legislature again. Some other states use a variety of systems in an attempt to improve odds for unsuccessful controlled hunt applicants in subsequent drawings. Idaho will continue to use a purely random computerized drawing, which gives each applicant an equal chance at available permits regardless of the number of times that person has applied in previous drawings.