Hunting+Fishing

Steelhead and salmon

Starting Sunday, Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) will open for fishing on a daily basis and Marine Area 2 (Westport) will open Sundays through Thursdays. Marine areas 3 (La Push) and 4 (Neah Bay) will open Tuesday and will be open Tuesdays through Saturdays. Overall, this ocean salmon season is expected to be better than last year.

Other salmon fisheries opening Sunday include: The Strait of Juan de Fuca (marine areas 5 and 6), where anglers must release all wild chinook, coho and chum; Hood Canal (Marine Area 12); the Skagit and Baker rivers, where sockeye are beginning to show; and the Columbia River above Wells Dam, where the focus is on summer chinook salmon.

Fishing for adult summer chinook salmon will close at the end of the day Monday in the Columbia River from Bonneville Dam to Priest Rapids Dam near the Hanford Reach. By Monday the cumulative catch is expected to meet the annual quota of 1,650 summer chinook allocated for the fishery below Priest Rapids Dam, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Game. Most of those fish were caught below Bonneville Dam, where the fishery is scheduled to close at the end of the day Saturday.

Saturday is the last day to try to catch a Snake River hatchery spring chinook. The stretch of river from the Texas Rapids boat launch upstream to the Corps of Engineers boat launch on the south bank will remain open until then. Fishing has been good.

The Clearwater catch and release steelhead season opens Sunday, but early numbers do not look good. Daily counts at Lower Granite Dam average fewer than 20.

Trout and kokanee

Kokanee anglers near Balfour on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia report “phenomenal fishing” for “huge” kokanee all over the lake. It is said that fish running 2-3 pounds are commonplace this year. There is also the chance of picking up a large rainbow or Dolly Varden at Kootenay.

Pend Oreille Lake is at full pool and the macks have gone deep. Anglers who target them are still cashing some big checks from the Angler Incentive Program that pays $15 per fish.

On Lake Chelan, kokanee have been biting along the face of Mill Bay and up near the Yacht Club. Some of these fish are stretching upward of 14 inches.

John Kallas of Valley White Elephant said he caught a limit of 12-inch kokanee and a 4-pound cutthroat at Lake Coeur d’Alene recently between Sunup Bay and Sixteen-to-One Bay. Kokes were also biting in front of Powderhorn Bay.

Lake Roosevelt trout are biting between Whitestone and Spring Canyon. A few large kokanee have come from the vicinity of Swawilla Basin. Trollers are dragging Kokanee Killers with Milar blades up high.

Productive Spokane-area trout lakes still include Fishtrap, Amber, Badger, Clear, Fish, Medical, West Medical, Williams and Rock Lake.

The Clark Fork, St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene are still fishing well all day. Green drakes are starting to come off on the “Joe.”

Rainbow, cutthroat and brown trout fly-fishing on the Yakima River has been good. Fly fishers report the best dry-fly action during daylight hours in the Upper Canyon.

Rainbow trout fishing is still steady at Conconully Lake and Reservoir, Wannacut, Pearrygin and Spectacle lakes.

Spiny ray

Walleye fishing in Banks Lake is in full swing, said Matt Polacek, WDFW fish biologist. Fish have been caught in 16 to 22 feet of water along weed beds and over flats, Polacek said. Fishing seems to be best in the evening hours. Fishers should try trolling bottom walkers with a perch pattern worm harness baited with a nightcrawler or leech. Fish over the flats around Steamboat Rock and in the Devil’s Punchbowl over the old roadbed. Also try north of Steamboat Rock in the large bays.

In the Columbia Basin, Potholes Reservoir water levels are dropping and surface water temperatures are climbing, signaling the beginning of top water largemouth bass fishing. The walleye bite is still slow, but smallmouth action is good.

Ron Charlton and Stacey Stewart won the Washington Governor’s Cup Walleye Tournament with a two-day weight of 23.82 pounds. Roosevelt walleye were running mostly 14-17 inches this year, though approximately 1,200 were weighed in and close to 4,000 caught. The Governor’s Cup team winner was the Idaho team of Scott Piper and Bryan Henton with a total weight of 16.54 pounds.

Fat crappie have been biting at Sprague Lake this week near shorelines. At Sprague Lake Resort, Monika Metz suggests tipping a jig with a small piece of worm.

Downs Lake, east of Sprague in the southwest corner of Spokane County, has been yielding perch and largemouth bass. Coffeepot Lake in Lincoln County also is good for perch and bass. The Twin Lakes, especially Upper Twin, and Deer Springs Lake in Lincoln County are producing largemouth bass. Large crappie can be found in the deep areas of Long Lake, the Spokane River reservoir northwest of town.

Smallmouth fishing on the Snake has been decent, mostly for 10- to 13-inch fish. The Grande Ronde above and below Boggan’s has provided excellent smallmouth fishing for fly fishermen throwing white and yellow maribou muddlers. Afternoons have seen good popper action. Most of the fish are 1-2 pounds

Leader Lake has been good for bluegill measuring up to 8 inches and crappie up to 9 inches. Leader Lake is four miles west of the town of Okanogan. It has a concrete boat launch and numerous campsites.

Walleye anglers at Irrigon are catching a few fish when the wind moderates. Smallmouth bass have been a lot more cooperative. A good spot is Boulder Alley, across from the boat ramp.

Largemouth bass fishing on Hayden Lake is hot, with fishermen using spinnerbaits with good success. Smallmouth bass and pike fishing have also been good.

Other species

Channel cats are being taken fairly regularly at Sprague Lake. The largest caught this week weighed more than 21 pounds.

Starting Wednesday, sport crabbing opens Wednesday through Saturday in San Juan Islands, Deception Pass to East Point, East Point to Possession Point, Admiralty Inlet, Seattle/Bremerton, Tacoma/Vashon and Hood Canal.

Halibut fishing in Marine Area 5 remains steady. A WDFW creel check near Olson’s Resort off Sekiu showed one halibut for every three rods. Anglers can fish this area five days a week until Aug. 3. The daily limit for halibut is one.