Alan Liere’s hunt-fish report for Aug. 17
Overheard
On July 5, a trout angler netted a smallmouth bass in western Montana’s Bitterroot River, marking the first-ever sighting of a smallie in the well-known coldwater trout stream. Before that, the closest documented reports of locally invasive smallmouth bass occurred nearly 70 miles away in the Clearwater River system and 80 miles downstream in the Clark Fork River near St. Regis, Montana. Upon confirming the report, Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks combed the area for evidence of additional smallmouth. None were picked up in those surveys, but FWP staffers determined that the area could be suitable habitat for the species to establish a “self-sustaining” population, given rising river temperatures and ample underwater structure. Smallmouth bass are not native to Montana, but they’re famously adaptable to new habitats. Their presence in the Bitterroot could be detrimental for the brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout that call the river home. As a result, the agency is proposing an emergency rule that would require anglers to keep, report, and turn in any smallmouth bass caught in the lower portions of the river – from the town of Florence downstream to Missoula.
A new 3D youth archery range is set to open at the 2023 North Idaho State Fair which runs Friday through August 27. The building features six shooting stations, 12 3D targets, Genesis compound youth bows and arrows, plenty of taxidermy for viewing, a life-size big game wall mural, a Fish and Game information booth and more. The range will be operated by Fish and Game staff and volunteers to ensure the safety and teaching of proper shooting technique for all youths who wish to participate. Shooting participation is limited to youths ages 8-17.
Heads up
Anglers with larger boats may find the public access launches on some area lakes don’t have enough water to launch. The access launches at Deer Lake and Loon Lake have been mentioned recently as being quite shallow.
Idaho Fish and Game has received more verified reports and pictures from people catching walleye in the Hells Canyon reach of the Snake River and Salmon River in 2023 than in all previous years and there are indicators that more walleye are coming, which is not good for salmon and steelhead. They can greatly affect native species, including prized anadromous fish, so Fish and Game is asking anglers who catch one in rivers and streams where there are anadromous fish, to not release them back to the river alive.
Fly Fishing
Mornings are the only real choice for fishing the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River and other local waters. Otherwise, the water is too warm and too congested with tubers. Dog days of summer require terrestrials, small attractors, and small dries like midges and parachutes – think smaller nymphs this time of the year, even down to midges – but use the usual stuff like lightning bugs and perdigons droppers. The same gear will be good on the St. Joe River.
Trout and kokanee
To increase your chances of catching trout in hot weather, use smaller baits and lures and fish faster. If a fish isn’t going to strike because of hunger, the only type of bite you can expect is a reaction strike. When you cast, only allow the fish a glimpse of your bait. The next time your offering passes the fish, it may strike more out of instinct than anything else.
Reports are few from Priest Lake regarding kokanee and mackinaw fishing, and those that come in say the fishing has been poor. The smallmouth bite on the other hand, has been good along rocky shorelines.
Lake Coeur d’Alene kokanee haven’t grown much, but there are a lot of them and limits are common.
Salmon and steelhead
The sockeye bite on Lake Wenatchee has been erratic, but it was very good recently with many boats reporting four-fish limits. The quality of the fish is holding up nicely.
The 2023 Columbia River forecasted return of upriver bright adults is 272,400, with a significant portion of these fish expected to return to the Snake River. As a result, a fall chinook harvest will be open daily beginning Friday through Oct. 31 with a daily limit of three adult chinook (wild or hatchery). There will be no limit for jack chinook (wild or hatchery). Barbless hooks required.
On Sept. 1, harvest opens for steelhead in the Snake/Clearwater area, making a combo catch-and-keep trip for both salmon and steelhead possible. Sept. 10, steelhead harvest opens on the Clearwater. The Clearwater River harvest seasons are a little difficult to follow so here is the schedule: chinook harvest is open from Aug. 18 to Oct. 14; steelhead harvest is open Sept. 10 to Oct. 14; steelhead harvest reopens Nov. 10 to the end of season.
Spiny ray
The kokanee fishing at Loon Lake remains dismal, but anglers jigging the usual kokanee spots at night say they are catching a lot of crappie suspended at about 20 feet. It has become all but impossible to catch a largemouth in the channel off Loon Lake. Observers there say a group of river otters have taken up residence and have taken a lot of the big fish.
Visibility at Long Lake is only about 12 inches now and the fishing is slow. A few nice bass are being caught, however.
You’ll have a tough time catching a trout or two from Liberty Lake right now, but bass, perch and channel cats have taken up some of the slack.
Some of the channel edges near the larger flats in Porcupine Bay on Lake Roosevelt are producing a decent bite for walleye. When recreational traffic increases, it produces mud lines. Jigging along these can be good. A lot of small fish are being caught, but there are usually enough 16- to 18-inch “eaters” for a productive morning.
Newman Lake is reported to have a decent topwater morning bite at times by both smallmouth and largemouth bass. Silver Lake largemouth have also been active, but the big tiger musky, which has taken up residence under the dock at the public access, remains elusive.
Curlew Lake tiger musky will hit a big topwater now and then, and the perch fishing remains good. Newman Lake tiger muskies still tantalize and sometimes reward persistent casters.
An often overlooked fishery this time of year is for smallmouth bass in the Okanogan River. Anglers fish above the bridge at the mouth of the Okanogan River and cast crank baits or jigs to the shore.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com