Trout and kokanee
Most of the lowland lakes around Spokane are still pumping out trout. Good reports come from Badger, Amber, Williams, Fishtrap and West Medical. Cameron Stiles of Valley White Elephant said he trolled Williams recently using nothing but a worm and small weight and caught a limit of 10- to 11-inch rainbow in 30 minutes. Farther north, Waitts Lake rainbow and browns are hitting trolled flies and Marshall Lake cutthroat are taking everything.
Sprague Lake has been sadly underfished this spring, and nearby Cow Lake is also usually deserted. Trout fishing at both lakes can be excellent and the fish are putting on weight quickly. At Sprague Lake Resort, Monika Metz said the smallest trout in the lake are 12 inches and fish 14-19 inches are common. Sprague has also been planted with spiny ray, and that fishery should kick into gear next year.
Three friends and I tried for Loon Lake kokanee Wednesday night with spectacular results. Dunking Glo Hooks and maggots on the railroad tracks side in 26 feet of water, we all limited on chunky 11-inch fish in 11/2 hours beginning at 8 p.m.
Kokanee fishing on Dworshak Reservoir has been good, as has the smallmouth bass fishing. All campgrounds and boat ramps are open for use.
For kokanee on Lake Chelan, try a Wedding Ring behind a 0000 dodger. Bait each hook with a kernel of corn or a maggot and troll at about 1.5 miles per hour. The area around Rocky Point has been productive.
Water level at Hauser Lake is greatly improved, and anglers report taking a few kokanee there. Anglers plying the south end of Coeur d’Alene are also taking a few kokanee but report the fish are of no consistent size. The no-wake restriction is off at Coeur d’Alene, but watch out for debris in the water.
Fly fishing has been consistent on the Coeur d’Alene River. The water is high, but visibility is good. Fishing on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene is also shaping up.
Idaho’s Cocolalla Lake has been productive for cutthroat, brookies, browns, and the most common – 8- to 15-inch rainbow. Leech patterns under a strike indicator are effective.
There are good reports from anglers fishing the lakes in the Columbia Basin. Lenore and Rocky Ford are still fishing particularly well.
The Clark Fork River is running high, but there could be some fishing where the tributaries enter. The St. Regis, Rock Creek and the Big Hole are fishable.
Salmon and steelhead
Idaho’s salmon fishing has been so good, quotas will be met and the season closed Sunday evening on the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River, the Snake River in Hells Canyon and the Lower Salmon River. Last weekend, anglers caught 1,700 chinook from the Lower Salmon River between Hammer Creek and the mouth of the Little Salmon River, with some biologists calling it “off-the-charts good fishing.” The Little Salmon River will remain open, as will the North Fork Clearwater and the Lochsa.
The South Fork Salmon River will be open from Wednesday until further notice.
The sport fishery for summer chinook from Bonneville Dam to Priest Rapids Dam opened Monday and runs through July 31. Below Bonneville Dam, anglers can retain adult chinook salmon from Saturday through June 28.
Though they cannot be retained if caught, a total of 50,925 sockeye were counted at Bonneville Dam through Wednesday. That is the highest total to date for possibly a half century or more. Last year at this time, fewer than 5,000 sockeye had been counted.
The Lewis River has been good for steelhead near the mouth. Bank anglers are also catching some fish near the salmon hatchery. On the Klickitat, some bright chinook are being caught by bank anglers in the lower river.
Ocean salmon fishing is nothing to write home about just yet. At the Ports of Chinook and Ilwaco, an estimated 44 anglers caught 39 chinook from June 9 through Sunday. At Neah Bay and LaPush, the catch rate was substantially less.
Spiny ray
Crappie anglers are still finding good-sized fish at Newman and Banks. Those in Long Lake seem to be smaller than last year – 11-13 inches. Those in Eloika are smaller yet, but 9-inch keepers are fairly common. Twin Lakes in Idaho is booting out hand-sized crappie.
Fishing has been good for bass, crappie and perch in the smaller Idaho lakes. Hayden has been good. Coeur d’Alene smallmouth are active on the north end, with some pike coming in as well, mostly from Cougar Bay. The lake is coming down and the amount of debris in the water has diminished.
Moses Lake walleye are averaging about 15 inches. This is supposed to be the lake for walleye this year.
Perch anglers appear to be having better luck than trout anglers at Diamond Lake this spring. A couple of reports indicate a lot of the perch are 9-10 inches long.
Newman Lake anglers report a lot of small perch and bluegill, but also some decent large and smallmouth bass and an occasional tiger muskie. Most fish are close to docks.
Fish structure for a chance at Silver Lake muskies and bass. The fishing isn’t fast, but big fish are possible.
Walleye anglers are finding fish between Porcupine Bay and Buoy 5 on the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt, but the stretch from Fort Spokane to Porcupine Bay is also giving up fish. Farther north, anglers are still popping walleye around China Bend.
Banks Lake walleye are biting just enough to keep you interested – not fast, but not terrible, either. There doesn’t seem to be any one depth or presentation that is best.
Other species
More than 655,000 shad had passed over Bonneville Dam as of Thursday and the fishing was good in the Columbia. By midweek, nearly 100,000 fish a day were being counted.
Guide Ray Bailey and clients have been taking 30-40 channel cats a day near Lyons Ferry recently. Bailey is fishing shy of the flats in the Palouse.