Alan Liere’s fishing-hunting report for May 28

Wed., May 27, 2020

By Alan Liere spokesmanliere@yahoo.com

Tip of the week

Don’t wait until your boat is on the ramp to be launched before you begin moving gear and coolers from vehicle to boat. This should be done in the parking lot, giving anglers who are more prepared (and conscientious) a chance to launch.

Heads up

Make sure to do your homework before you leave the house this weekend if you plan to camp. Idaho State Parks won’t open for camping until Saturday, but many state parks day-use fishing areas will still be open.

In 2019, Idaho Fish and Game kicked off the first year of the walleye lottery program by announcing that $50,000 in reward money was swimming in Lake Pend Oreille. Nearly 200 anglers participated in the inaugural season and winners took home nearly $9,000 in prize money. Unfortunately, none of the $1,000 tags turned up that year. Fish and Game wants to change that in 2020, adding even more high-dollar reward tags to the pool and arming anglers with walleye data gleaned from the first season. Data indicates the majority of walleye caught by lottery participants came out of the northern half of the lake. In addition to angler harvest reports, biologists use radio telemetry to track fish movements by month. Through summer 2019, the Sandpoint Long Bridge and Clark Fork River Delta consistently detected higher numbers of walleye than the other systems. The Pend Oreille River near Laclede and the Clark Fork River also had high detection rates.

Colville Tribal waters that allow fishing to nontribal members are scheduled to open at midnight on Friday. There are roughly two dozen of these among the 35 fishable lakes on the reservation. Nontribal members must have a tribal fishing license. Seniors get discounts and youths under age 16 can fish free in the company of an adult with a tribal license. These lakes have been described as “the best fishing destination in the state where most Washington anglers have never wet a line.”

Braggin’ rights

While working the WDFW boat check station on the Washington-Idaho border just east of Spokane this past weekend, “Puddles,” Washington State’s first mussel-detection dog, discovered invasive mussels on a boat traveling from Lake Havasu in Arizona. The boat had already been decontaminated at three previous Montana and Idaho decontamination sites before Puddles’ nose was able to detect tiny invasive mussels hidden behind part of the boat’s sonar system.

Long Lake was coffee-colored all the way to the old Sportsman Paradise Resort when I fished there Saturday and I only had two bites in five hours of fishing for crappie. Those two fish, however, were the biggest crappie I have caught since I was a kid fishing Potholes Reservoir in the ’50s – a hefty 12 1/2 and 14 1/2 inches.

Overheard

State fishery managers will host an online public meeting next Wednesday to discuss plans to treat four lakes in Stevens County (McDowell, Keogh, Hatch and Little Hatch) and a stream in Eastern Washington with rotenone to remove undesirable fish species. WDFW is also proposing to treat a 4-mile section of Flume Creek to remove non-native eastern brook trout and restore native Westslope cutthroat trout. The meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. Information available at wdfw.wa.gov/get-involved/calendar/event/rotenone-treatments-eastern-washington-lakes.

Fly fishing

Silver Bow Fly Shop said hatches on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene are expanding into drakes and goldens. On the St. Joe, go prepared with a mix of goldens, salmonflies, PMDs and drakes. The Spokane River is back open for fishing in all sections. While still quite high, fish can be found where they’re out of the main flow. Big, flashy streamers will probably be the most effective

At Swede’s Fly Shop on Garland, Allen Peterson said for the North Fork Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe drainages he would recommend using patterns that have high contrast and good movement like black bugger patterns that have additional flash added to attract the cutthroats. Red is always good, and blue flash in the patterns is also excellent. Both work best on a sink tip fly line fished in the deeper sections of the streams with minimal tippet, about 18 inches, to avoid uncontrolled drift.

Good reports from fly fishers are coming from Medical and Coffeepot lakes. Coffeepot has been best with olive buggers and damsel/dragonfly patterns. Medical trout are still hitting balanced leeches and chironomids.

The Tucannon lakes are still a good bet for lots of small trout as well as an occasional fish to 18 inches. The Prince Nymph on a fast retrieve has been deadly of late.

Trout and kokanee

The WDFW 2020 trout derby officially opened last Thursday at more than 100 stocked lakes. Over 100 participating businesses are offering more than 1,000 prizes valued at over $40,000. Winning derby trout will have a yellow tag attached to the fin. Keep the tag, as you will need it to claim your prize. Prize claims will open on the WDFW webpage on Monday. A list of participating lakes is available here.

Chelan Lake kokanee averaging 12 inches have been suspended at 30 feet around Wapato Point recently. Loon Lake kokanee are much smaller, with 9 inches being an average. Trollers are taking good numbers in the top 20 feet of water. The Loon Lake night fishery usually doesn’t kick off until the wild roses begin to bloom in June.

Grant County’s Park Lake rainbow to 17 inches are hungry and limits are being landed. The same should be true of nearby Blue Lake.

Steelhead and salmon

Recreational fishing for spring chinook salmon on the Columbia River has ended for this year as continued low returns raised concerns about meeting conservation objectives. Spring chinook salmon fishing is also closed on the Snake River below Little Goose Dam. This includes the rock and concrete area between the juvenile bypass return pipe and Little Goose Dam along the south shoreline of the facility (includes the walkway area locally known as “The Wall” in front of the juvenile collection facility. This closes all spring chinook fishing in the Snake River, as the Clarkston Area fishery closed on May 15.

Spiny ray

Walleye fishing has been good on Lake Roosevelt near Gifford Ferry and in the Spokane Arm. Most fish are in less than 20 feet of water. In the Spokane Arm, fish the channel edges from Buoy 5 down. Fish are coming in all sizes, but anglers have been keeping limits of walleyes running 17-21 inches. Grubs, swimbaits and plugs in crawdad colors are taking most of the fish.

A friend who fished Long Lake down from the BLM launch last weekend said he had “the best fishing day of my life.” Included in his catch of dozens of walleye was an 11-pounder, as well as some nice smallmouth bass.

Banks Lake walleye fishing was good last week for anglers pulling spinners in Devil’s Punchbowl and on Barker Flats. Most fish have been in about 14 feet of water.

The I-82 ponds in Yakima County hold a variety of fish, including crappie and small trout. It’s a good place to take the kids if you don’t have a boat.

Other species

Marine areas 1-3, including Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, opened for bottom fish, shellfish, mussels, clams, oysters, and other species on Tuesday, as described in the Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet. Crabbing on the Columbia River also resumed under normal regulations. Halibut and razor clam harvest will remain closed in these areas due to continued concerns about the spread of coronavirus in local communities.

The 2020 Pikeminnow Rewards Program began May 11 instead of May 1 this year. For the week ending Sunday, 1,068 fish were turned in. The Cathlamet station on the Columbia recorded the most fish at 654. On the Snake, Boyer Park had the most at 117.

Contact Alan Liere @spokesmanliere@yahoo.com