Steelhead and salmon
The Coeur d’Alene Big One Chinook Derby ends Sunday. The big fish as of Thursday, caught by Dave O’Neil, weighed 16.76 pounds. Anglers are finding the fish between 50-100 feet.
The extreme heat is affecting water temperatures and flow, and chinook fishing has slowed down a little at both Brewster and Wells Dam.
Herring, plugs and the hard plastic Super Baits packed with tuna are catching the majority of fish.
Anglers fishing off the coast are averaging nearly 1.5 salmon per rod, mostly chinook and hatchery coho.
On the Strait of Juan de Fuca, anglers are taking advantage of the biennial return of pink salmon, an estimated 3 million of them.
Some summer coho are showing in the Sol Duc River, and conditions are near perfect in the Bogachiel and Calawah, where anglers are catching steelhead up to 18 pounds.
Salmon fishing opened Wednesday from the mouth of the Columbia River upstream to the Highway 395 bridge in Pasco. Open tributaries include the Deep, Green, Toutle, Washougal, Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, Wind, White Salmon and Klickitat rivers, plus Drano Lake.
Trout and kokanee
Coeur d’Alene kokanee expert Dale Moffat trolled between East Point and Powderhorn on Tuesday, limiting the boat in a few hours.
Moffat said there are two distinct sizes, but that many of this year’s fish are “a solid 15 inches.”
Loon Lake kokanee can be caught on the troll into the late morning and in the evening, but the hottest bite is for night fishermen dunking Glo Hooks and maggots in 33-35 feet of water.
On Lake Chelan, the evening lake trout bite has been good off Minneapolis Beach, but the kokanee bite is tailing off. Generally, there is a flurry of action for a couple of hours in the early morning for fish stretching 14 inches.
Triploid trout are biting again at Rufus Woods Reservoir, and jumbo kokanee are also on the prowl.
For the rainbow, troll a wedding ring behind a 0000 dodger, and bait it with Fire Corn. Another method is to cast spinners and spoons along the shoreline.
High mountain lakes in Washington and Idaho are a good bet for escaping the heat while experiencing some good trout action.
Mountain trails are snow free, except at the highest elevations, but bug repellent is a necessity. For information on high lake fishing check Trout Fishing in Washington’s High Lakes at wdfw.wa.gov/ outreach/fishing/highlake.htm.
Fan Lake in Pend Oreille County has seen some good fly-fishing of late for rainbow running 12-14 inches. Use a sinking line to reach the 20-foot depth. Silver Lake trout are also cooperating. The browns are big, the rainbow slightly smaller. Flies, spinners, and lures such as the Flatfish will all bring strikes.
There are several underwater islands on the east side of Silver that consistently produce fish.
Diamond Lake has been consistent, even in the hot weather. It holds both browns and rainbow, most running 9-12 inches.
Early morning and evening are the best times to fish lakes in the Okanogan district of the region during the heat of summer. Both Conconullys, Spectacle, Wannacut, Alta and Pearrygin are still producing trout.
This is a tough time for fly fishermen. Although there are no restrictions on Idaho cutthroat water, the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene, and even the Lochsa, are running warm. Many Montana streams and rivers have partial or complete closures. Best luck will be in the tailwaters.
Spiny ray
Lake Roosevelt walleye fishing from China Bend to The Dalles has been producing limit catches.
The 64 teams participating in two smallmouth-only bass tournaments on Banks Lake last weekend weighed in a total of 312 fish in two days. Most of the smallmouth were taken on dark-colored plastics.
Veteran anglers say the walleye fishing on Banks Lake is unmatched. Limits are coming in a few hours.
The Pend Oreille River continues to produce good catches of large northern pike. The river is also a good bet for largemouth bass, especially from Ione to Box Canyon Dam. Smallmouth are more prevalent in the Metaline Falls area.
Perch are abundant at many waters throughout the region. Coffeepot Lake in Lincoln County and Downs Lake in southwest Spokane County are good perch fisheries. The Spokane River reservoir of Long Lake, Deer, Waitts and Diamond also are good. Fish at 25 feet or more.
Fishing has picked up lately at the Potholes Reservoir. Some big crappie have been caught in the dunes area and off the Mardon Resort dock. Try walleye early in the morning and throw topwaters for bass in the evening.
Trolling for walleye with a spinner and crawlers or dragging leeches has produced walleye in the sand dunes area of the reservoir. Troll at about 2 mph in 20 feet of water.
Leeches are hard to come by in the hot weather as they do not ship well, but Mike Graham at Mike’s Bait and Tackle on Broadway in Moses Lake said he will have a shipment in by Thursday.
Little Fan Lake in Pend Oreille County is largely overlooked as a bass fishery, but there are some good-sized largemouth there. Downs Lake, near Fishtrap, is an excellent largemouth fishery. Spinnerbaits are the ticket. Silver Lake, near Cheney, can be good for bass at times, and there is always a chance of being surprised by a tiger musky. Several yard-long fish have been landed the last two weeks.
Spokane resident John Petrofski reported excellent bass fishing on Rock and Coffeepot lakes recently. He and a buddy also caught many 11-inch perch from the launch to the larger open water. The narrows was choked with weeds and impassable.
Other species
Tuna anglers found a lot of fish 40 miles out of LaPush this week, trolling Williamson tuna feathers at 11 mph. Later in the month and into September, tuna usually move inside the 20-mile mark.
Hunting
Hunters who weren’t drawn in the first round of controlled hunt permits for Idaho deer, elk, antelope or fall black bear have another chance. The application period for the second drawing starts Sunday and runs through Aug. 15. The second drawing will be Aug. 20. The application fee for the second controlled hunt drawing is $6.50. Leftover permits will go on sale Aug. 25.