Alan Liere’s weekly fish and game report for May 26

Wed., May 25, 2016

By Alan Liere spokesmanliere@yahoo.com

Tip of the week

Wearing a life jacket doesn’t have to be a challenge, and the best life jacket is the one you’ll wear consistently. Inflatable life jackets are unobtrusive, they don’t trap body heat and they give full mobility.

Braggin’ rights

The annual Williams Lake fishing derby at Klink’s Resort last weekend attracted 224 entries and raised $4,100 for the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Spokane.

Overheard

An email from a reader in response to my comment that I didn’t care for the taste of Snake River Channel cats said “If those Snake river cats are not to your liking, you may need to remove more of the belly and dorsal line meat that has yellow fat in it.” He went on to say the muddy flavor is due to a fat soluble molecule found in algae that gets concentrated in the fish fat. That’s why Roosevelt trout are so good – they predominately eat zooplankton and not bugs off the bottom along with algae.

Heads up

The summer chinook season for the upper Salmon River and South Fork of the Salmon River opens on June 18. Anglers interested in the South Fork of the Salmon River season will want to stay alert because the season may not last long after the fish arrive. Call Fish and Game hotline at (855) 287-2702 for updates on chinook fishing seasons.

Fly fishing

The North Fork Coeur d’Alene River has been fair this week. Hatches are varied and wading is possible.

The St. Joe River is a pretty good option now. In the cooler weather, afternoons have been best. Stonefly hatches will be weak, but an imitation thrown into the soft water will still produce, says Silver Bow Fly Shop.

The Clark Fork in Montana was running at about 15,000 cfs early in the week and clarity was marginal. There are a lot of insects, including some early caddis, and the black ants are out. If the rain stops and the river clears, their will be a lot of options.

The lower Spokane River will re-open on June 1 and water level should be good. The upper river will open on June 4. Traditionally the first part of June is good caddis fishing.

Trout and kokanee

Besides the catchables and brood stock planted at Williams Lake by WDFW, Klink’s Resort has also been releasing huge steelhead/kamloops hybrids. Many 5- to 8-pound fish have been caught recently, and the lake will be planted again in June with fish weighing 12 pounds and up.

Curlew Lake rainbow fishing is excellent. Still fishermen with boats are dunking Power Bait just off the bottom in 30 feet of water, but trollers and dock fishermen are also doing well. Most of the fish are at least 15 inches.

Clear Lake rainbow are hitting trolled offerings at mid-lake in the top 20 feet. A few brown trout have also been taken with that method, but generally, they are deeper.

Big kokanee as well as rainbow and smallmouth are still coming out of the Keller Ferry area. Trollers seldom go deeper than 10 feet for the kokes – some of which are closing in on 4 pounds. The most consistent offering has been a pink hootchie tipped with maggots.

The Kokanee fishing has been spectacular in the lower basin of Lake Chelan, says Anton Jones of Darrel and Dad’s Family Fishing. The fish are usually between 25 and 50 feet over deeper water. For a change of pace, troll closer to shore with a Flatfish or just cast dough baits or eggs from shore or dock for cutthroat action on fish running 11-16 inches.

Still no night fishing reports from Loon Lake but trolling during the day has been excellent in the upper water column all over the lake. Wedding Ring-type spinners tipped with maggots are consistently good. The fish are 9.5 to 10.5 inches.

Idaho anglers are beginning to catch 8- to 10-inch kokanee from the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene, but much larger kokes are available at Hayden Lake, where the fishing is reported to be “off the charts.”

Excellent fishing for two different class sizes of rainbow trout is reported from Jameson Lake in Douglas County. There are a lot of 11-inch fish, but it is common to fill your limit with 16-20 inchers.

Walleye trollers are taking some large rainbow from Potholes Reservoir on a Slow Death hook and nightcrawler setup.

Salmon and steelhead

Anglers fishing the lower Columbia River can catch and keep spring chinook salmon for four more days in May – including Memorial Day weekend – and up to 13 days in June under an agreement reached by fishery managers from Washington and Oregon. Under that agreement, the fishery below Bonneville Dam will reopen Friday through Monday, close for three days, then reopen June 3-15, or until the annual harvest guideline is met.

The Clearwater River from the Camas Prairie Railroad Bridge near Lewiston upstream to the Cherry Lane Bridge closed to all chinook salmon fishing on May 20, and will close on Friday from the Cherry Lane Bridge upstream to Orofino. In addition, the North Fork Clearwater River will close to fishing for all chinook salmon effective the end of fishing hours on Monday. Due to this year’s low jack return, a “Jack Only” harvest season will not be provided. Chinook salmon seasons will continue on the Clearwater River upstream of the Orofino Bridge, on the South Fork Clearwater, Middle Fork Clearwater, Little Salmon, Lochsa, and Snake rivers.

Spiny ray

Felton Slough on Lake Spokane has been a good spot for spawning largemouth. Anglers are also taking crappie and perch, and there are some 12- to 14-inch bullheads being caught after dark.

Anglers who are able to get a boat up the creek and into Bonnie Lake say the crappie fishing for big fish has been excellent. Crappie fishing has also been good at Lake Spokane and Newman.

Banks Lake walleye action has been concentrated on the east end in 15-20 feet of water. Bottom walkers with a spinner and nightcrawler are taking eating-size fish. A two-day two-man tournament there last weekend was won with a weight of about 40 pounds.

Moses Lake has also been a productive place to drag your spinner and nightcrawler behind a bottom walker. The lake northwest of Connolly Park has been good in about 15 feet of water. The fish are eating a lot of crawdads now, so crawdad-colored imitations are putting numerous 16- to 22-inch fish in the box.

The south end of Scootney Lake in Grant County is yielding walleye and some decent perch. On Potholes Reservoir, walleye from 16-24 inches, a lot of smallmouth bass and some large perch are being caught.

Friends who launched at Snag Cove on Tuesday and fished The Dalles area of Lake Roosevelt said walleye fishing was very good with lots of 15- to 20-inch fish. They were bouncing jigs.

Elsewhere on Lake Roosevelt, the Spokane Arm has delivered some nice walleye to anglers dropping crawdad-colored tubes and jigs in 12-20 feet of water. Roosevelt is rising quickly now and water is beginning to cover some of the large flats. Take it slow and pay attention to your depth finder.

Fishing is reported to be excellent now for Lake Coeur d’Alene smallmouth bass and pike. The pike are being caught from the drop-offs in shallow bays.

Other species

Sturgeon fishing is reported to be very good in the Snake at the entrance to Hells Canyon. This is a catch-and-release fishery. If your intent is to catch and keep a legal-sized sturgeon, the Hanford Reach section of the Columbia River is kicking out a lot of fish, including an occasional keeper.

Hunting

The application period for this fall’s Idaho deer, elk, pronghorn, black bear, and turkey controlled hunts continues through June 5. Hunters can make informed decisions about what controlled hunts to apply for by using a feature on Fish and Game’s website that lists the 2015 drawing odds and statistics for all controlled hunts. The search tool is available at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov.

Contact Alan Liere via email at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com