Hunting + fishing

Fly fishing

Though anglers say it is a little slower than last year at this time, Grimes Lake in Douglas County is consistently putting out 3- 4-pound trout for fly casters.

Medical Lake fly fishermen must be willing to mix it up. Big browns and rainbows are taking flies, particularly chironomid patterns – sometimes deep and sometimes near the surface.

At Marshall Lake in Pend Oreille County, fly casters are having excellent luck throwing Renegades for cutthroat to 14 inches. Best fishing is right after a rain.

The Drake hatch in the upper sections of the Yakima has been fabulous and fly-fishing is good. A size-10 Parachute Adams is effective now. Salmon flies are also making an appearance, but the best hatch throughout the entire river is the PMD mayfly.

The Clark Fork may be fishable by the weekend. The St. Regis and Thompson rivers look good, and Rock Creek has come down a lot. The Bitterroot and the Blackfoot and St. Joe are dropping quickly. Hoodoo Pass in finally open, so Kelly Creek is another option for the weekend.

Trout and kokanee

Lake Roosevelt rollers are catching a lot of small rainbow and a fair number of bigger ones to 20 inches. The Keller area has also been good for both trout and smaller kokanee.

I fished Williams Lake for a few hours at midweek and noted the dock bite was not nearly as fast as it has been. I put on a Needlefish and dragged it behind three colors of leaded line. In a half-hour, I had numerous hits and released two 13-inch rainbow. Badger Lake limits are still possible, but those fish are also becoming more difficult to catch.

A friend who trolled Chapman Lake from a kayak this week said the kokanee bite was “crazy.” He was using a Wedding Ring and white corn on monofilament with an ounce of weight.

Sprague Lake trout are worth the wait. Some fish are scaling 7 pounds.

A successful lure for big rainbow at Rock Lake has been a modified Double Whammy (shorten the distance between hooks). Flatfish are also seeing some action.

At Loon Lake, anglers trolling in 30 feet of water along the Morgan Park shoreline are connecting with 10- to 13-inch kokes and some larger trout.

Diamond Lake has been good for 11- to 16-inch brown trout. Try pulling small plugs and spinners along the highway side in relatively shallow water.

The string of connected trout lakes just south of Ione, Wash., – Gillette, Heritage, Thomas and Sherry among others – is a nice destination for a weekend of trout fishing. The fish aren’t big, but they are numerous, particularly in Sherry. Most are rainbows.

Park Lake in Grant County has been good for fishermen pulling plugs. Flatfish and Kwikfish are good choices.

Curlew Lake has been outstanding, although anglers say it is difficult to get through the smaller 9- to 14-inch rainbow to the larger ones closer to the bottom. Fishing for Priest Lake’s macks has been excellent near Eight-Mile Island. The majority of fish, running 2 to 4 pounds, were caught jigging.

Rufus Woods three-pounders are fairly common near the net pens. The bite has been best on the bottom in the late morning.

Salmon and steelhead

Although the Clearwater River is open for chinook above Orofino, there is not much fishing going on. The River is running high and fast.

The Icicle River is running high and fast, also, but it is full of fish and anglers are catching them. On the Wind River, spring chinook continue to be caught around the coffer dam. Drano Lake isn’t getting much action. It is closed to all fishing on Wednesdays through June.

Spiny ray

Lake Roosevelt walleye anglers are still finding a lot of small walleye. Two friends and I fished up from China Bend on Saturday, keeping three limits of 14-inchers and releasing dozens smaller than that. The flats across from Porcupine Bay in the Spokane Arm have also been good for small fish. The San Poil Arm and the Kettle River seem to have slightly larger walleyes.

Banks lake anglers are finding some larger walleye in Osborne Bay and on Barker Flats. Banks smallmouth are hitting crankbaits aggressively, and some large trout have been reported, too.

A 48-inch tiger muskie was landed and released at Curlew Lake last week. Curlew tiger muskies must be 50 inches to be kept. Potholes Reservoir in Grant County has been excellent for largemouth bass. Fish the willows and pockets in the tules. Senkos rigged weedless are the ticket. For Potholes walleye, troll the face of the dunes and the Crab Creek mouth with a worm harness.

Loon Lake is yielding some nice largemouth in the lily pads. Silver Lake, too, has given up some big largemouth. There was no size reported at Eloika this week, but numbers were good. Long Lake smallmouth are bragging-size.

Hunting

Idaho Fish and Game has 14 leftover moose controlled hunt tags available. The application period runs through June 25. Any tags left over from this drawing will be available first-come first-served beginning July 10.

I don’t know if it is fishing or hunting, but anyone even somewhat proficient with a bow and arrow should find all the carp-shooting action they can stand on Moses Lake. The Rocky Ford Creek area, as well as the water near the Alder Street Fill, is swarming with spawning carp, as are many other shallow bays throughout the system.