Hunting + fishing

Fly fishing

At Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d’Alene, Pat Way said the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe are fishing well, seeing good terrestrial hatches anytime and blue wing olives following a rain. He suggested fishing the middle stretches of the Coeur d’Alene, but said that although the upper river fish are spooky, the entire system is productive. Most of the cutts in the Coeur d’Alene and the Joe run 8-14 inches.

The Clark Fork is having one of its best Augusts in 15 years. A fun trip would be to float the Clark Fork for trout to the mouth in Flathead Lake, then concentrate on Flathead’s numerous 1- to 2-pound smallmouth.

Trout and kokanee

Two friends fished Coeur d’Alene Lake tribal waters this week, boating 47 kokanee. The largest was 11 inches, but most were about 7 inches.

The night bite at Loon wasn’t furious for me last weekend, but I did manage three 14-inch kokes and two tiger trout, one a 17-incher. The magic depth was 34½ feet.

Sprague Lake boat and bank fishermen are finding lots of large rainbow by tossing worms and Power Bait into the springs area in front of Sprague Lake Resort. There is a good mixture of trout 15 inches and 20-plus inches.

The West Medical Lake trout fishery is holding up. Anglers are taking 11- to 13-inch rainbow on Power Bait, nightcrawlers or a combination. Trout limits are still being caught at Williams Lake.

Upper Spokane River catch-and-release fishing for rainbows more than 19 inches has been good, but anglers must use selective gear: artificial flies or lures with one single-point barbless hook, no bait, and only knotless nets.

Jim Cummins, WDFW fish biologist from Yakima, said this is a great time for anglers to head for the high mountain lakes.

“The trails are maintained and the bugs are on the decline now,” he said. “Fishing for cutthroat, rainbow and eastern brook trout can be rewarding now until the snow falls.” Cummins encourages anglers to check out the region’s “Primer for High Lakes” for a partial list of lakes and the species of fish in each, available at the WDFW Web site.

Salmon and steelhead

Steelhead anglers from the mouth of the Clearwater to the Memorial Bridge were averaging 12 hours per fish earlier this week.

On the Clearwater proper, catch- and-release anglers are averaging a fish every five hours.

The B-run steelhead destined for the Clearwater River are migrating through the lower Columbia River.

The fall chinook sport fishery in the Hanford Reach is under way and scheduled to continue through Oct. 22. The catch is slow and will probably stay that way until mid-September. Effort was light on the Wind River this week. Drano Lake anglers, however, average 1.2 steelhead per rod as well as a few adult fall Chinook. On the White Salmon River, bank and boat anglers are also catching summer run steelhead and some fall chinook.

Buoy 10 effort and catch are increasing daily. A little more than a third of the catch has been chinook, but that appears to be tapering off. Salmon anglers fishing near Ilwaco and Westport continue to enjoy a “phenomenal” season, said Wendy Beeghley, a fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Catch rates are also picking up fast on the lower Columbia River, where a strong run of coho salmon is moving into the river behind an initial surge of chinook and a record- breaking wave of summer steelhead. Pink salmon rule from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to southern Puget Sound.

Spiny ray

Silver Lake has been good for largemouth in the 2- to 3-pound range. Perch pattern crankbaits are working. Sacheen and Diamond lakes are also good bass destinations. You’ll catch more at Sacheen, but they’re smaller.

Lake Spokane is a good smallmouth destination this week. The entire system is loaded. Best reports came from north of Suncrest to Tum Tum. Long Lake is also a good bet for perch, as is the north end of Chapman.

Walleye, bass and perch fishing have been excellent in the Tri-Cities area, especially in Lake Umatilla, the John Day Dam pool on the Columbia River.

Tuna fishing has been good in recent weeks, especially off Ilwaco. August is the best month if the weather cooperates.

Hunting

Waterfowl experts predict a good season for Idaho and Washington hunters. In addition to a long season and liberal goose limits, there will be a Ross’ and snow goose spring hunt running Feb. 20 through March 10 in the Southeast Region and a portion of the Magic Valley Region of Idaho.

Washington cougar hunters will begin the general season on Sept. 1 this year, while those interested in permit-only hunts held after the general season have until Aug. 31 to submit an application to WDFW.

Under new rules adopted by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, the general cougar season will begin with a statewide archery-only season Sept. 1-25, followed by a muzzleloader-only season Sept. 26-Oct. 16. Beginning Oct. 17, hunters may use any legal weapon to target cougars in most areas of the state. Exceptions include certain cougar management units in Chelan, Ferry, Klickitat, Okanogan, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, which will be closed during modern firearm deer season. Cougar hunting will run Oct. 31 through Nov. 30 in those areas.

Any legal weapon may be used and the use of hounds is permitted. Details on the cougar season are available on page 50 of the WDFW’s Big Game Hunting pamphlet on the agency’s Web site.