Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for June 5, 2025

June 3, 2025 Updated Wed., June 4, 2025 at 5:59 p.m.

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Tip of the week: WDFW encourages salmon anglers to check emergency rules if they are planning to fish for spring chinook salmon in the Snake River, as seasons open and close quickly. Sign up for Fishing Rule Change email notifications and check for emergency rules on the WDFW website prior to fishing.

Overheard: An expected strong pink salmon return in late summer will provide numerous fishing opportunities along the Washington/Oregon coasts as well as in many Puget Sound rivers.

WDFW stocked three Eastern Region lakes with tiger muskie in late May – Silver, Newman, and Curlew. While the stocked fish (300 in Silver, 760 in Newman and 300 in Curlew) are small, holdovers from the past few years are getting big. Your best chances of catching one are at Silver. Anglers fishing for crappie have caught several the past two weeks on small jigs.

The U.S. Army has restricted public access on the Yakima Training Center since June 1 Sunday. As a result, WDFW has removed Game Management Unit 371 (Alkali) from the list of hunt choice options for a special hunt permit this season.

Heads up: Spring wild turkey season ended May 31 Saturday, so it’s time to submit your spring turkey report, even if you plan to hunt turkeys again this fall. Reports are required before Jan. 31, 2026, whether you were successful in harvesting a turkey or not.

Fly fishing

There is plenty of fishable water on every stretch of the Spokane River this week, and the trout don’t seem to be concentrated in any one place. Silver Bow Fly Shop reports good action on dry-dropper rigs, most fish taking the dropper midday. Bobber and Euro rigs have also been effective in some of the faster and more turbulent zones. The caddis hatch has been good.

Great fishing continues on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene; the entire drainage is fishing well. Bug hatches are good, with golden stones, green drakes, caddis, yellow Sallies and PMDs getting the most attention.

Fly fishing has also been good on the St. Joe. Flows have been slightly rising, but the lower portions are plenty fishy at these levels. Hatches and flies will be similar to the Coeur d’Alene River. The St. Joe will remain one of the best options in the region throughout the summer since it holds more water and stays cooler than other rivers around the area.

Having just returned from a trip to Billings , I noted a lot of color in the big rivers along the way, and no one was fishing. The Clark Fork, Missouri and Yellowstone were all running high and brown.

Trout and kokanee

Sprague Lake has good-sized rainbow trout and largemouth bass. At Sprague Lake Resort, Monika Metz said some of the rainbow weigh as much as 5 pounds, and a 4- or 5-pound largemouth is not uncommon.

The lakes in the W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area – Blue, Deer, Spring, Watson and Curl – are fishing well, but Rainbow Lake will be closed to the public Wednesday and next Thursday for a contractor to treat the lake to prevent future blue-green algae blooms. A chemical called Phoslock will be used that binds with phosphorus in the water column, making it settle on the bottom of the lake and become benign. While Phoslock does not have known harmful effects to fish, wildlife, humans or pets, the lake will be closed so that applicators can move freely around the lake to do their work.

June brings excellent trout fishing to many lowland lakes. In Grant County, these are Blue, Park, Deep and Warden lakes. Okanogan County has Alta, Conconully Lake and Reservoir, Leader and Pearrygin. In Chelan County, Beehive, Lilly, Wapato, Fish and Upper Wheeler are top picks, and Douglas County’s Jameson Lake is a favorite.

Amber, Coffeepot, Williams, Badger, Liberty, Sacheen, Diamond, Waitts, Fernan, Cocolalla and Kelso lakes in Washington and the Idaho Panhandle are all loaded with trout and fishing well. Cocolalla Lake offers a unique blend of fishing opportunity for cutthroat trout, brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout. Catch rates are highest for brown trout that are 12-20 inches long. Brook trout tend to be a bit smaller on average, but also offer good catch rates.

Don’t overlook Idaho’s Spirit Lake. While it is better known for its kokanee fishing, anglers can enjoy some excellent trout fishing there throughout much of the year.

Grimes Lake (Douglas County) opened Sunday for a selective gear fishery targeting Lahontan Cutthroat Trout.

Kokanee fishing is a summer staple in Patterson, Alta, Conconully Lake and Reservoir, Bonaparte and Spectacle lakes.

The Quincy Lakes Unit of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area offers walk-in lakes for adventurous anglers. Try Dusty Lake for an evening bite on brown trout or test your skills at Lenice and Nunnally – selective gear lakes stocked with thousands of catchable trout, some reaching 20 inches. Dry Falls Lake in Sun Lakes State Park is another standout, with large rainbow and brown trout and a peaceful, motor-free setting.

Steelhead and salmon

Due to a large percentage of the Clearwater chinook return heading back to Kooskia hatchery on Clear Creek, the Clearwater River lower basin has a two-chinook daily limit.

Spring chinook salmon will be open Friday only on the Snake River below Little Goose Dam from the Texas Rapids boat launch upstream to the fishing restriction boundary below Little Goose Dam. It will be open Thursday below Ice Harbor Dam from the South Bound Highway 12 Bridge near Pasco upstream about 7 miles to the fishing restriction boundary below Ice Harbor Dam.

The 2025 Columbia River sockeye forecast of 350,200 is about half of last year’s record return. Even so, this year’s forecast is slightly higher than the 10-year recent average return and is predicted to be a good return.

The Columbia River sockeye fishery on the Hanford Reach opens June 16. Above Priest Rapids Dam, it will open July 1, with both areas allowing a four-sockeye daily limit.

Spiny ray

Curlew Lake in Ferry County has good numbers of stocked rainbow trout, but in June perch move into the shallows, looking for warmer water and fishing for them is even more popular than it is for trout. Dropping a jig tipped with a chunk of worm or night crawler under a slip-bobber 12 to 18 inches off the bottom in 6 to 10 feet of water can be a great way to catch a bucketful of 9- to 10-inch perch.

Bass, crappie, bluegill and walleye are all biting on Potholes Reservoir. Anglers are reporting that the top water bite has started for largemouth, and larger smallmouth are found in the 15- to 25-foot-deep range off Medicare beach and Perch Point. Crappie are being found in 12 feet of water hugging close to submerged islands with willows. Bluegill are starting to bed in the shallows, Anglers are finding many walleye up the Crab Creek Channel in 10-12 feet of water.

By skirting the weed beds just below the I-90 Bridge on Moses Lake, walleye anglers trolling bottom bouncers and spinners are finding mostly 14- to 20-inch “eaters” in about 9 feet of water.

Porcupine Bay has been kicking out eating-size walleye. Smallmouth bass fishing there and up the arm is good along rocky shorelines.

The west shore of Banks Lake above Rosebush holds plenty of smallmouth bass. Cast close to shore in rocky stretches with Baby Brush Hogs, lizards and grubs.

Other species

Some of the year’s best fishing for channel catfish and smallmouth bass will be this month in the Yakima, Palouse and Walla Walla rivers.

Shad are pouring over Bonneville Dam by the thousands. Anglers below the dam are making good catches by casting shad darts and even crappie jigs from shoe. If you go, take plenty of lures, as the rocks can gobble them up faster than the fish.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com