Weekly hunting and fishing report

Fly Fishing

Hoot-Owl restrictions are on in the Spokane River, but water temperatures remain cool enough to keep the fish from being stressed. Double nymph rigs are good for trout, and near Sullivan, crawdad patterns are taking smallmouth.

Silver Bow Fly Shop says the St. Joe is still a great option. The mid-stretches have been best with a hopper/dropper rig.

The Clark Fork in Montana has unrestricted visibility and is very fishable with bigger attractors. Most fishermen are finding the trout in the a.m. hours with a slowdown at midday.

Salmon and steelhead

Although the sockeye season has been closed on the Columbia River, the Chinook fishing remains good, particularly around Wells Dam. The forecast is for a return of 85,000 fish to the Columbia, so the action at the Brewster Salmon Derby Friday through Sunday should produce favorable numbers.

In Idaho, the steelhead harvest season opens on Saturday on about a two-mile stretch of the Clearwater River, from the mouth to the Memorial Bridge. The rest of the Clearwater opens to catch-and-keep on Oct. 15.

Coeur d’Alene Chinook salmon are hitting the usual helmeted herring and mini-squids at depths of 50-80 feet.

Trout and kokanee

The mackinaw bite on Lake Chelan is good in the morning on the Bar for the larger fish. The evenings along the face of Manson Bay are good for numbers. Stay tight to the bottom and fish at 1.1 to 1.4 mph.

Trolling for Loon Lake kokanee has been fairly slow, but night fisherman are doing well and catching larger fish.

Hayden Lake kokanee anglers are taking good numbers of 13- to 18-inch fish, but are also throwing back a lot of 6-inchers. Lake Coeur d’Alene kokanee are mostly under 8 inches.

Dworshak reservoir kokanee are stacked up all over the lake, particularly around Magnus Bay at a depth of 35 feet. The fish are running 8-9 inches and are not likely to get much larger this year, due to the expansive population. The limit is 25; anglers are encouraged to take advantage and maximize their catch count.

Kokanee fishing on Lake Mary Ronan in Montana has been inconsistent, but everyone is catching fish. Most are 6-10 inches long, hitting Swedish Pimples and Glo-Hooks at night, tipped with pieces of shrimp.

The Banks Lake trout bite has yet to develop. Lou Nevsimal at Coulee Playland Resort says “the lake is out of balance this year.” He indicates that the huge walleye population is taking most of the food.

Trout fishing on Roosevelt has been slow, but the kokanee bite has been excellent with fish of 17-19 inches. Best reports come from Spring Canyon and Keller in 80-100 feet of water. There have been reports of clipped kokanee coming in from the waters near the dam.

Spiny ray

Walleye fishing at Roosevelt has been steady but not outstanding. Anglers dragging Smile Blades and Slow Death hooks in 38 feet of water are having success near Hunters.

Potholes Reservoir continues to produce consistent good catches of walleye, many over 20 inches.

Banks Lake walleye are everywhere. Fishermen are taking advantage of the relaxed size restrictions. Smallmouth and perch fishing has been spotty, but walleye fishing for smaller fish has been excellent. Perch have been a little easier to find at Long Lake, but they are small, ranging 7-9 inches. Smallmouth bass fishing, however, has been much better for fish up to 2 pounds.

Smallmouth fishing has been excellent on Dworshak Reservoir. Throw plastic worms into 20-30 feet of water with 2-3 pounders common, but a report came in this week claiming a 22-inch fish in excess of 7 pounds. Although the limit on Dworshak is six fish, it is possible to catch over a hundred smaller fish near the shoreline. A young fisherman with a bobber would have a ball.

In Idaho, Coeur d’Alene smallmouth fishing is good in 15-30 feet of water. Either drop-shot or throw double-tailed plastics. Fernan Lake is yielding some small pike, as is Blue – one of the Coeur d’Alene chain lakes.

Pend Oreille River small and largemouth bass are hitting along the outside weed banks. Long Lake smallies are also hitting, as are Silver Lake largemouth in the early morning. A few decent bass have been pulled out of Diamond Lake as well.

Snake River smallmouth fishing has been good early, and channel cats are biting in deep holes at night.

Largemouth bass anglers at Curlew Lake report good fishing on the south end of the lake – nothing terribly large, but many under 2 pounds.

The smallmouth bass are still biting on Blue Lake in Grant County. The trout fishing has been good, too. Blue Lake will probably be rehabilitated in the near future.

Sacheen is a great multi-species option right now, with plenty of bass, crappie, perch and bluegill available. A few brook trout have also been taken.

Liberty Lake bass up to 4 pounds are hitting Senkos along the edges. Anglers are also having luck with catfish at night, some also up to 4 pounds.

Other species

Although the inland salmon fishery has been somewhat disappointing, anglers in Ilwaco, Neah Bay, Sekiu and La Push are experiencing excellent fishing, and a family trip to Westport this week resulted in fast limits of rock bass, ling cod and a half dozen hatchery coho.

Hunting

Applications are being accepted for a limited-entry deer hunting season on the 6,000-acre Charles and Mary Eder unit of the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area in northeastern Okanogan County. A random drawing will select 18 hunters to receive access permits to the portion of the wildlife area near Oroville. Six of the permits will be reserved for bow hunters, six for muzzleloaders, and six for hunters using modern firearms. Applications must be made by Aug. 14 by contacting the WDFW northcentral region office, (509) 754-4624. The results of the drawing will be available on WDFW’s website the last week of August. Hunters who are drawn will receive an access permit and a boundary map in the mail.