Weekly hunting and fishing report

Fly fishing

The Icicle River above the Snow Creek Trailhead in Central Washington is an excellent place to cast for small but hungry trout. A “big” one might go 12 inches, but for lots of action, or for beginning fly fishermen, the Icicle is hard to beat.

Silver Bow Fly Shop says the smallmouth fishing has been great on the Grande Ronde River for fish averaging 15 inches. Baitfish and crayfish patterns have been most effective. To book a guided trip, call (509) 924-9998.

The North Fork Coeur d’Alene will be best in the mornings. Focus on riffle water and the heads of runs. The river is running low and slow and there is a lot of tube traffic. The St. Joe is a longer drive, but it is fishing well and may be a better option. Run a golden stone pattern with a dropper in riffle water.

The Spokane River below town is low but fishing has held up, though the upper river is no longer floatable. Silver Bow recommends nymph rigs or a large dry fly with a dropper.

The Clark Fork River in Montana is down to about 8,000 cfs and has become very fishable. The bugs are out early with a wide assortment of mayflies and pale morning dun nymphs during the day and swarms of caddis in the evening.

Trout and kokanee

Two friends and I fished near the island on Loon Lake Tuesday night and limited in just over two hours after finding no action earlier near Granite Point. The fish were 9-10 1/2 inches and took Glo Hooks tipped with maggots in 30 feet of water. Earlier in the week, we couldn’t find a steady bite in the same location and spent three hours one night for 10 fish and three more another night for 11. Trollers at Loon are having good luck in the morning, but say the bite drops dramatically after 11 a.m. A friend recently caught a 4-pound tiger trout trolling a Wedding Ring for kokanee.

For large kokanee, Swawilla Basin on Lake Roosevelt has been productive for fish running up to 17 inches. Currently, the pink Apex lure is hot. Rainbow fishing is also holding up but they are down at least 50 feet. Above that, the net pen releases will be pesky.

Kokanee are averaging 16 inches at Bonaparte Lake in Okanogan County. Successful anglers are still-fishing with a Glo-hook and a small worm in 30 feet of water. The best spots are out from Boy Scout ranch and in front of the host camp site.

Kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan is good for 15- to 17-inch fish near the Yacht Club in 65-100 feet of water. Down lake in the “blue roof area,” the fish have been smaller.

Pend Oreille Lake trollers are taking a lot of kokanee. Action has been hot out of Kilroy Bay, according to friends who fished there recently, though the fish were only 7-9 inches long.

Rock Lake has been excellent for 14- to 15-inch rainbow and some browns to 3 pounds. WDFW began stocking Rock Lake last Friday with a plant of 45,000 6- to 8-inch steelhead. The lake will continue to be stocked until Monday when all 255,000 available steelhead will have been released.

Lake Spokane received another plant of 155,000 triploid rainbow trout from Avista this year that should be nice-sized by fall. The trout stocked by Avista last year produced some excellent fishing this winter and spring. Fish caught this summer are around 16 inches.

Trout fishing at West Medical Lake is holding up despite the heat. Anglers are catching rainbow up to 3 pounds. Be sure to clean your catch immediately and put it on ice or it will have a muddy taste. Filleting and icing is even better.

Blue Lake in the Sun Lakes Chain in Grant County has a lot of willing 15- to 16-inch rainbow as well as a good population of smallmouth and perch.

Mixed reports come form Fish Lake in Chelan County. The bite seems to move each day, but some anglers are doing very well trolling just a Slow Death hook and worm with a Smile Blade.

Omak Lake in Okanogan County remains good for big Lahontan cutthroat and Wapato Lake near Manson, Washington, is also good for limits of rainbow. Palmer Lake, also in Okanogan County, has some nice kokanee and once you locate the depth at which they are suspended, standard koke gear early and late will put fish in the boat.

Salmon and steelhead

Marine Area 7 opens for salmon Wednesday with a two-fish limit, one of which may be a Chinook (wild or hatchery through September) plus a two-fish bonus limit for pink salmon. Area 6 also opens up Wednesday for salmon. See page 111 of your regulation book for the specifics.

Anglers out of Westport are catching lots of smaller Coho, many of which are wild. At Ilwaco, a good morning bite is producing both Coho and Chinook.

Spiny ray

Long Lake (Lake Spokane) is a good place for a lot of bass action. Smallmouths are the most common, and most are small, but a 5-pound fish is not impossible. The largemouth are more difficult to catch, but there are 5-pounders taken almost weekly.

Deer Lake perch fishing can be very good if you find the right hole in the weed beds or under docks. The fish are a respectable 8-10 inches.

The Spokane River between Barker Road and the Flora trail head and near the Harvard Bridge has been excellent for smallmouth bass. A lot are small, but there are some decent ones there too.

Potholes perch have been active near the mouth of Frenchman Wasteway. Perch fishing has also been good for trollers at Moses Lake. The average size is 10 inches.

The Kettle River seems to have more of the larger walleye than Roosevelt. Bottom bouncers and spinners have been effective.

Banks Lake walleye have been found recently on the rock slides in 20-25 feet of water. The new size limit goes into effect on Saturday and anglers should have no problem taking eight-fish limits of 15 inchers.

Other species

    Roses Lake near Chelan is gaining popularity as a catfish destination. A 25-pound channel cat was caught there recently.