Weekly hunting and fishing report
Fly Fishing
There is a lot of bug activity now on area rivers, so a double dry rig of a drake pattern and a caddis trailer would be a good choice. The North Fork Coeur d’Alene is getting so low the riffles are nearly too shallow to float.
Coeur d’Alene Lake pike are a lot of fun on a big fly. Fishermen casting 7 or 8 weights are finding a lot of action.
In Montana, the Clark Fork is having excellent caddis hatches. The Clark Fork is running at 15,000 cfs – a half-hearted runoff that still provides decent visibility. The Bitterroot is running a little high, too, but fishing has been decent and the river has been dropping each day.
Trout and kokanee
Williams Lake has been good for small rainbow, West Medical for larger rainbow, and Fish Lake for some good-sized rainbow and brookies. Waitts Lake anglers are finding quick limits of rainbow by trolling Pink Assassin lures. Jump-off Joe Lake has been fair for rainbows, but the bass fishing has been very good.
The lower Spokane River will re-open Monday and the upper Spokane will re-open Saturday. The river has been running at about 3,000 cfs for quite some time now.
Although trout fishing on Lake Roosevelt usually slows down this time of year, trollers are still boating a lot of fish in the vicinity of Spring Canyon. Anglers are finding limits of 16- to 20-inch ’bows while releasing 10- to 14-inchers. The fish are in the top 30 feet of water. Kokanee up to 16 inches have also been hitting.
Rufus Woods can be excellent for triploids running around 3 pounds. The best bite has been around the net pens.
Buffalo Lake near Coulee Dam on the Colville Reservation is a big, scenic lake, with large populations of rainbow trout, kokanee and largemouth bass. Most of the kokanee are running 10-11 inches and the rainbow trout are 14-16 inches.
Loon Lake trollers are still doing very well on small kokanee, and one excited angler managed to land a large mackinaw this week on his light kokanee gear. Night fishing for kokanee is just getting started. Still fishermen are finding them in 27-30 feet of water.
Horseshoe Lake in Pend Oreille County doesn’t have the biggest trout or kokanee, but the scenery is spectacular and there is always the chance of getting into some good crappie or largemouth fishing.
Lake Chelan kokanee are big and hungry, and trollers are enjoying fast fishing by trolling Sling Blades and Liminators 40-60 feet down over deep water in the lower basin off Rocky Point and Pleasant Beach.
Hayden Lake has been very good for big kokanee recently and the fish have been shallow – 5-10 feet under the surface. Little hootchies and small flashers have been effective. Pend Oreille kokes are running a healthy 12-13 inches but are deeper, and the kokanee bite on Coeur d’Alene hasn’t really gotten going yet. A few fish are being taken near Harrison, but they are small.
Priest Lake mackinaw are abundant. Both trollers and drop-shotters are catching lots of 3-pound fish.
Salmon and steelhead
The Chinook season is open now on both the Wenatchee and the Icicle rivers. The Wenatchee has plenty of access and anglers are doing well, but access is limited on the Icicle.
The Chinook and steelhead season on the mainstem Columbia River upstream of Bonneville Dam has been reopened through June 15.
Spiny ray
Deer Lake bass fishermen are finding excellent smallmouth fishing by tossing plastics toward shore on the points between Pine and Cedar bays and also around the Cedar Bay point along the steep rock wall. The largemouth are less cooperative, but anglers who keep working often catch fish to 5 pounds.
A few anglers are catching a lot of big bass from Silver Lake. The fish are shallow on beds. Senkos are the ticket.
The Buoy 5 area of the Spokane Arm continues to produce good catches of walleye in water 4-20 feet deep. Jigs are fishing well. Glowing reports also come from the Marcus area with jiggers going as deep as 40 feet. At YJ Guide Service, Craig Dowdy says if you aren’t catching lots of Roosevelt ‘eyes, you don’t have your boat in the water.
While throwing a tube jig against the shoreline or a dock is almost a sure thing these days for smallmouth action on Long Lake, anglers report also catching crappie, perch and largemouth in the process. The smallmouth have also been partial to wacky-rigged Senkos.
Liberty Lake trout fishermen are only having fair luck, but those trying for bass and crappie are doing well. The best luck for both species has been around docks.
Largemouth anglers throwing soft plastics are catching a lot of 2- to 5-pound fish in Coffeepot Lake.
The Pend Oreille River is at July levels, and friends who fished there recently caught a lot of bass – both largemouth and smallmouth. They said nothing was particularly large, and a 17-inch brown trout was the fish of the day. The bass hit wacky-rigged Senkos.
Both walleye and smallmouth fishermen are having luck on Moses Lake. For the smallmouth, throw plastics close toward shore. Many of the strikes come in less than two feet of water. The walleye can also be shallow; they are hitting a Slow Death Hook and worm with a Smile Blade. Some jumbo perch are also being taken on this rig. The north end near Connelly Park has been good.
Largemouth anglers who cover a lot of water are finding an excellent bite on Potholes Reservoir. The lake is very high and the fish are schooled up in pockets – catch one and you’re liable to catch several from the same spot. The Crab Creek Channel has been consistent for walleye, but a report from an angler who went back into the dunes indicated there were a lot of fish there, also.
Water is still being pumped into Banks Lake, keeping the water temperature cool. The bass bite doesn’t seem to have been affected, however, but nothing of any size was reported this week.
Coeur d’Alene Lake and the Chain Lakes are giving up northern pike in the cabbage beds. The fish, while fairly scattered, are becoming more active. Soft plastic frogs in less than 10 feet of water always seem to produce strikes, but the Johnson Silver Minnow is tough to beat.
Spirit Lake is a good bet this week for largemouth bass.
Other species
Shad counts at Bonneville are way below last year’s count for this date, but a heavy run is expected.
Palouse River channel cats are in the middle of the spawn and action is good for fish running 3-9 pounds. There are also catfish to be had in the Snake River, and the sturgeon bite near Little Goose Dam is turning on again.
Hunting
Turkey hunters have through this weekend to bag their bird. There is still a lot of morning and evening gobbling going on, and the toms have been very receptive to the call.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com