Hunting+Fishing
Salmon and steelhead
The ocean salmon fishery begins today when waters off La Push and Neah Bay open for fishing Tuesdays through Saturdays. Several marine areas in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca will also open for salmon fishing seven days a week. Those waters include marine areas 5, 6, 7, 10, 12 and 13. Coastal fisheries off Ilwaco and Westport will open Monday on a Sunday-through-Thursday schedule.
Steelhead fishing on the Skykomish has been good, and the upper Klickitat River has been opened to the harvest of hatchery salmon fishing throughout July. Because the run was so late, these fish are still in great shape, said WDFW biologist John Weinheimer.
The South Fork Salmon River is open every day for summer chinook fishing, from the mouth of Goat Creek upstream to about 100 yards below the South Fork salmon weir and trap. The bag limit is one fish per day, three in possession and 10 for the season statewide for all salmon fisheries. On Tuesday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game closed spring chinook fishing statewide, including the Little Salmon River.
At R&R Guide Service in Brewster, Rod Hammons is predicting a tough Saturday salmon opener at the Okanogan mouth. Judging by dam counts, the run appears to be on its way. About 120 chinook crossed Wells on Sunday. Hammons said that when the Okanogan starts to drop and warm up, the fish will begin to pool and be easier to catch. Until then, they have a tendency to shoot straight up the river.
There aren’t enough steelhead in the Clearwater to attract much immediate attention for the catch-and-release season, which begins Saturday.
Trout and kokanee
Koocanusa kokanee fishing has been good. This Montana Reservoir fishery traditionally heats up around the Fourth of July and stays that way into September.
Coeur d’Alene kokanee appear to still be most prevalent in the south end of the lake. The bite has not stabilized, but some anglers report 25-fish days.
I night-fished Deer and Loon lakes this week with friends. We couldn’t find any kokanee on Deer, but the rainbow bite at night was frantic around midnight for suspended 10- to 17-inch fish on the northeast side near the narrows. We cast Glo-Hooks and worms and worked them slowly back to the boat. Deer Lake rainbow are extremely fat. Macks are still biting, and those caught are spitting out small kokanee from an earlier WDFW plant.
The Loon Lake kokanee bite is hot, but sometimes it begins before 9 p.m., and sometimes it begins closer to 11. Look for fish in 27-30 feet of water. Loon Lake trout are also biting at night. They are not as fat as those in Deer, but there seems to be more big ones.
The best trout lakes close to Spokane are still Badger and Williams in Spokane County, Fishtrap in Lincoln County, and Rock in Whitman County. Fishtrap is kicking out easy limits to both trollers and still-fishers. A trolled Double Whammy tipped with nightcrawler has been effective. Up north, several trout waters with public campgrounds are just the thing for Fourth of July holiday get-togethers, notably Ferry County’s Ellen Lake, Stevens County’s Pierre Lake, and Pend Oreille County’s Sullivan Lake.
The St. Regis River has come down and is crystal clear. Wade fishing is excellent. Try anything yellow. At 2,300 cfs, the St. Joe is barely wadeable but dropping fast. White’s Fly Shop’s Barry Pipella fished the Joe recently, finding decent nymphing in the morning.
The upper Clark Fork is coming into shape, but the lower river is still pretty dirty. The Missouri is dropping and the caddis action has begun.
Spiny ray
The winning team at last weekend’s Governor’s Cup walleye tournament on Lake Roosevelt, Dave Zinecker of Seven Bays and Lonnie Krebs of Spokane, weighed in 28.98 pounds. Close behind was Jeff Dickinson and Rod Hewitt, both of Monroe, Wash., with 28.80 pounds.
Two trout anglers on Roosevelt reported catching more walleye and bass than rainbow, trolling an Apex at 40 feet. Some big walleye have been taken recently on the Fort Spokane side of the cemetery.
Walleye, perch and smallmouth are biting well on Banks Lake near Steamboat Rock. Crankbaits such as Hotlips have been effective for walleye, using snap weights to get them down to 35 feet.
The Okanogan River is still high but clearing slowly and the bass fishermen are taking lots of smallmouth pitching jigs and spinner baits.
Crappie have been active on Coeur d’Alene and the chain lakes in Idaho, and Long Lake (Lake Spokane) anglers are also pulling slabs from 15 feet of water.
Other species
Eight more areas will open to crab fishing Saturday, including marine areas 6, 7, 8-1, 8-2, 9, 10, 11, and 12. All sport crabbers – regardless of age – who fish for crab in Puget Sound must carry, maintain and return a catch record card.
Catfishing is excellent in the Palouse River, but elsewhere on the Snake system the whiskered fish are more difficult to find.
Shad fishing can still be good in the lower Columbia. The daily count dropped to 42,000 over Bonneville a week ago, but rose to 158,000 at midweek.