Hunting & Fishing
Trout and kokanee
The Pend Oreille Spring Derby runs through Sunday. Several rainbow more than 10 pounds and mackinaw more than 15 have been netted, as has a brown trout more than 12.
Saturday was one of the best opening days in years in Eastern Washington with Fishtrap and Williams vying for bragging rights by producing limit catches of trout for every angler checked. Rocky Lake in Stevens County averaged 4.5 fish per angler, and West Medical was not far behind that. Badger produced many 16- to 18-inch rainbow and cutthroat.
A number of other less-touted lakes produced good fishing on the opener. Clear Lake kicked out a lot of 16-inch rainbow and browns. Jumpoff Joe had browns more than 2 pounds and a few brookies as big as 3 pounds. At Liberty, some trollers seemed to have the browns dialed in and took limits on perch-colored flatfish. Diamond Lake was a pleasant surprise, said John Kallas at Valley White Elephant. This northern lake produced limits of trout that included many carryovers. Farther north, Marshall Lake anglers trolling flies near the surface caught plenty of 9- to 14-inch cutthroat.
Loon and Deer lakes have trout of many different sizes, with Deer’s population more numerous and running larger. A few small macks and some big brood stock came from Deer, where most of the fish are holding close to the shorelines, but many carryovers are showing at Loon. A few kokanee 9-11 inches were taken Sunday from Loon.
This is prime time for Lake Chelan kokanee. Most fish are 10-12 inches long. The schools can be found anywhere from the surface to 50-60 feet deep. Most fish are right at 11 inches and the limit is 10. Also in the Chelan Valley, Roses Lake continues to consistently produce rainbows 1-4 pounds
In Idaho, Coeur d’Alene kokanee fishing is still only fair, but Dworshak Reservoir in Koocanusa in Montana have been good. Chapman Lake near Cheney is productive, with several limits checked. The fish were caught on corn and maggots during daylight hours in about 43 feet of water at the far end of the lake.
There has been talk this week of a kokanee bite between Keller and Swawilla on Lake Roosevelt. Dave Altier at Coulee Playland City on Banks Lake said kokes 13-14 inches with some as large as 3 pounds are showing in the main lake behind Steamboat Rock.
Concunally Lake and Concunally Reservoir in Okanogan County saw great fishing for rainbow 12 inches to 2 1/2 pounds on the opener.
Blue Lake produced three 12- to 16-inch rainbow per angler checked.
Salmon and steelhead
Earlier predictions for this year’s salmon numbers in Idaho will probably not be reached. As of Tuesday, only seven chinook had passed Lower Granite Dam. Last year there were 850 on that date, and the 10-year average is 16,687. In the past, when numbers have been as low as they are this year, Idaho has not opened a salmon season. The last time that happened was in 1999.
There are two bright spots in the spring chinook picture. One is that an average of 2,500 salmon a day cleared Bonneville between Sunday and Tuesday. The other is that all the runoff this spring will eventually help Idaho salmon smolts on their way to the ocean, so anglers can hope for improved adult salmon numbers by 2008.
A few spring chinook are being caught at Drano Lake. Remember that Drano is closed Wednesdays. With improved numbers over Bonneville, the Wind and Klickitat rivers should also improve.
The spring chinook catch on the Cowlitz River is light and scattered. A mixture of late-winter and early summer-run steelhead are being caught, primarily around Blue Creek. On the Kalama River, the spring chinook catch is improving with boat anglers in the lower river averaging a fish per every three rods. Some summer-run steelhead are also being caught. Spring chinook catch is improving on the Lewis River with boat anglers averaging about a half fish per rod from the salmon hatchery to the mouth.
Spiny ray
Largemouth bass fishermen are reported to be doing well at Loon, Clear, Newman, Downs and Eloika. At Jerry’s Landing on Eloika, the water is in the 60s and a lot of 2- to 3-pound fish and a few 4-pounders are being caught. Crappie anglers are catching lots of scattered fish, but it has been tough to find 9-inchers – the legal size.
Smallmouth bass have been hot at Banks, Potholes, Long, Roosevelt and Coeur d’Alene. The Bonneville and John Day pools are also excellent.
The Potholes walleye spawn is just finishing up and fish are beginning to bite. Moses Lake walleyes still haven’t turned on and the water is reported to be dirty. On Banks, Barker Bay and Punchbowl Flats are giving up walleye to jiggers, as are the edges of Rufus Woods.
Starting Monday, smallmouth bass regulations on the Yakima River became more liberal, changing to no daily limit, no minimum size, and three bass more than 15 inches allowed for retention. The new rules should increase harvest on the extremely dense smallmouth population.
The reward program for northern pikeminnow began Monday from John Day Dam to the mouth of the Columbia. On May 15, it will open from John Day up to Priest Rapids.
Other species
Catfishing has been slow on the Snake, but Ray Bailey of R/C Guide Service in Davenport said he is picking up a few channel cats at the mouths of the Palouse and the Tucannon.
Halibut fishing has been good on the south coast, where nearly everyone was catching a limit of unusually big fish. The halibut fishery will get under way Tuesday in Marine areas 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay).
The section of the Columbia River from Bonneville Dam upstream to the Oregon-Washington border above McNary Dam is currently open for Shad. Other sections of the river will reopen to shad angling on May 16.