Hunting + fishing

Fly fishing

Medical Lake is still giving up a few nice rainbow and browns on dark patterns fished near the bottom.

The St. Joe came down some at Calder at midweek, but rain is in the forecast. Wade fishing is tricky. Gold pass is open. The Clark Fork is high, as is the Missouri. Rock Creek, the St. Regis, Fish Creek and the Thompson may be fishable.

Aeneas Lake provided good fishing for rainbows 14-16 inches with an occasional brown trout up to 18 inches.

Big rainbow have been observed jumping and feeding aggressively on the surface in Crescent Bay on Lake Roosevelt, but the big reservoir gets little fly fishing attention.

Trout and kokanee

Colville Tribe creel clerk Branditt West checked in nine kokanee at Spring Canyon last Saturday running 2-4.4 pounds. On Sunday, she checked three at Crescent Bay. West said lime-green Wedding Rings and black, red or orange flies are still taking good numbers of rainbow in the 3-pound range from the same waters. Roosevelt was at 1,283 and rising on Wednesday.

Lake Chelan anglers are starting to get some kokanee in the 9- to 11-inch range in Mill Bay. Coeur d’Alene kokanee are holding close to shore, said Jeff Smith at Fins and Feathers in Coeur d’Alene. He suggested trolling right out of Wolf Lodge or Bennett Bay. Smith said the 8- to 10-inch fish are anywhere from the surface to 30 feet.

Omak Lake Lahontan Cutthroat are just coming off the spawn, so fishing the shallow part of the bays with darting plugs at either end of the lake is good. Most fish are 15-17 inches with a few to 21 inches and larger.

Friends who fished Downs Lake at midweek couldn’t find the big crappie or perch, but they said dragging a spinner for foot-long rainbow was excellent.

Sprague Lake rainbow are huge and anglers are finding them by trolling Rapalas shallow. West Medical Lake rainbow are mostly less than 12 inches, but they are plentiful.

Both Priest and Pend Oreille lakes have been excellent lately for 2- to 4-pound mackinaw.

Still-fishing and trolling are equally good in the vicinity of Tree No. 11 on Williams Lake, but dock fishermen are taking limits also.

WDFW northeast district fish biologist Bill Baker of Colville said rainbow trout fishing continues to be especially good at Curlew Lake, northeast of Republic, and Ellen Lake, 14 miles north of Inchelium. Stevens County’s Rocky, Waitts and Starvation lakes are also fishing well. Starvation Lake is catch-and-release only now.

Bob Jateff, WDFW Okanogan district fish biologist, said several rainbow trout lakes continue to provide good fishing through June. Pearrygin, Wannacut, Conconully Reservoir, Conconully Lake, Spectacle and Alta are producing rainbows in the 8- to 12-inch range with winter-carryover fish up to 15 inches.

Salmon and steelhead

Chinook fishing remains open until further notice on the lower Salmon River from the Rice Creek Bridge to a posted boundary at the mouth of Shorts Creek, about 1.4 miles upstream of the mouth of the Little Salmon River; on the Little Salmon upstream to the U.S. Highway 95 Bridge near Smokey Boulder Road; on the Snake River from the Dug Bar boat ramp upstream to Hells Canyon Dam.

Chinook salmon seasons open Saturday, on the South Fork Salmon River and on parts of the Upper Salmon River. The upper Salmon near Stanley will open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. only July 3-5.

Beginning Saturday, a new mark-selective fishery for hatchery chinook salmon will open in Washington’s ocean marine areas. Anglers will be allowed to catch and keep two hatchery chinook, but must release coho and wild chinook.

This year’s fishery for adult summer chinook salmon opens Wednesday on the mainstem Columbia River. For the first time in years, anglers can look forward to a full season running through July, rather than just a few weeks. To make that possible, a mark-selective fishery has been instituted for hatchery chinook, requiring anglers to release any wild chinook. About a third of the 88,000 fish expected are estimated to be 5-year-olds, some weighing up to 40 pounds. WDFW fish biologist Joe Hymer said high-water conditions on the Columbia River may favor bank anglers over boat anglers.

Spring chinook fishing continues to be good in the upper section of the Yakima River between Union Gap and Roza Dam despite the high water conditions.

Spiny ray

Walleye anglers are finding plenty of 12- to 17-inch fish near China Bend. Limits were the rule early in the week. Elsewhere on Lake Roosevelt, anglers are also finding fish, mostly small. The Spokane Arm and Swawilla Basin have been productive.

Bonnie Lake has given up some big perch to anglers trolling spinners, much like they would for walleye.

Liberty Lake trout are mostly small, but some nice largemouth catches are being reported, as well as decent crappie and lots of small perch.

Eloika Lake largemouth are cooperating, with lots of 1- to 2-pounders and a few to 5 pounds. Several Eloika anglers have reported seeing numerous dead bass on the surface.

In Idaho, Hauser and Hayden lakes have seen some good days for big crappie, but Rose Lake seems to be the most consistent. Lake Coeur d’Alene smallmouth haven’t become serious about the spawn and haven’t yet moved in close to shore.

Other species

With the Snake River running high and muddy, sturgeon and catfish anglers are seeing more action than walleye and smallmouth anglers. Even so, fishing as of midweek had been slow.

Fishing for channel catfish in the lower reaches of the Yakima and Walla Walla rivers has been good in recent weeks and those two rivers should provide excellent fishing through the summer months.

Growing numbers of shad are available for harvest from Bonneville Dam upriver to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco. Last Monday, the single-day count of shad passing Bonneville was 81,656.

Sport crabbing opens seven days per week June 18 in marine areas 4 (Neah Bay east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 (Sekiu) and 13 (south Puget Sound).

Halibut fishing at Neah Bay and LaPush will reopen June 19 for one more day of fishing.