Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for May 1, 2025

Thu., May 1, 2025

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Tip of the week: Save yourself and others some frustration and angry words by getting your boat ready to go before trying to launch. This means before leaving for the lake, make sure your battery is charged and the motor starts. Don’t block the launch while you load your gear, and be sure the tie-down straps have been removed. If you are having a hard time backing your trailer, ask for help. More experienced people will be happy to do this for you to speed things up.

Heads up: Even though the Clear Lake Kids Fishing registration deadline has passed, parents may still be able to sign their kids up. The best thing to do is to go to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife district office at 2315 N. Discovery Place in Spokane Valleywith theirits registration form. Several of the morning fishing slots have filled, so going in sooner than later would be best.

Overheard: How fast a chinook salmon swims from Bonneville Dam to Idaho is dependent on flow and water temperature. Right now, it’s taking three or more weeks for fish to make this migration. This is a bit on the slow side, but the migration rates will speed up as water temperatures warm. It takes seven to 14 days for a chinook salmon to migrate from Lower Granite Dam to the beginning of the fishery (Rice Creek Bridge) during average flows. If flows start exceeding 50,000 cfs in the lower Salmon River, significant delays can occur. As of Wednesday, flows in the lower Salmon were at about 28,000 cfs.

Although Silver Lake southwest of Spokane has been a good largemouth fishery for many years, anglers there complain the lake’s tiger musky are diminishing their supply of expensive bass lures. It seems the musky will not hit a lure attached to a stainless steel leader, but they are attracted to bass plugs and will cut through the monofilament and braided line used by bass fishermen.

Braggin’ rights: Water temperatures on Potholes Reservoir are rising and the walleye and bass are beginning to spawn. This can be a tough time to fish, as many anglers discovered during the recent Potholes Bass Club’s 46th annual “Potholes Open” bass tournament. This tournament had almost 150 boats entered. Aaron Echternkamp and his son clinched the top position with 33.66 pounds for two days of fishing.

My friend Tony DeWinter of Spokane has been trying off and on for 28 years to shoot a wild turkey. Granted, his hunting time has been interrupted by military duty and a long stint in Alaska, but last Monday it all seemed so easy when he walked across the creek below my house, spotted a gobbler, called it in, and shot it at close range. I, on the other hand, blew a great opportunity the day before and have put in six days of hunting without success.

Fly fishing

Silver Bow Fly Shop said the St. Joe is rising but is still fishable. Big bugs are taking trout on top and a good March brown hatch has had fish looking up midday.

Trout and kokanee

Kokanee fishing on Dworshak Reservoir in Idaho should be good through July. These fish usually average about 10 inches, and the limit is 25.

There were a lot of people on the water on last Saturday’s Washington fishing opener, but WDFW personnel were puzzled by the amount of catch and release taking place. Williams Lake, for example, fished well, as expected, and anglers caught an average of 9.8 fish each but only kept 3.4 fish per angler on average. Fishtrap followed a similar pattern, with people catching an average of 5.4 fish per angler, but only keeping an average of 2.7 fish per angler. West Medical was slow, as expected, but the next couple of years should be much better if illegal fish plants don’t occur. Fishing at Badger and Clear was decent, but not as good as expected.

Last Saturday’s low-lake opener in the Columbia Basin included more than 25 seep lakes, including Warden, which produced some of the best reports. Anglers that fished there were rewarded with fast limits of trout, bluegill and even crappie. The bite remains good on all the newly opened lakes, and most of the Seep lakes have good bank access. Anglers at Park and Blue Lake were doing well despite a heavy wind. Jameson Lake in Douglas County fished well.

Steelhead and salmon

The spring chinook salmon season began Saturday in Idaho. This year’s return appears to be a little late but similar to last year’s. This would rank it as the fourth best in the past 10 years, but unfortunately, many of the returns over the past 10 years were poor.

Drano Lake and Wind River spring chinook fishing is open. You can book a trip with Reel Time Fishing by calling Kyrie at (208) 790-2128 or visiting www.reeltimefishing.com.

Steelhead angler effort last week in the Upper Salmon River was almost entirely concentrated upstream of the East Fork Salmon River in location code 19. Anglers interviewed in this area continued to report excellent catch rates, averaging three hours per steelhead caught. Angler effort downstream of the East Fork was low.

Spiny ray

Anglers on Potholes Reservoir are finding walleye in the Lind Coulee and Crab Creek areas. Look for areas with a gravel or rock in 12 to 20 feet of water, where current and cover are present. Most anglers are trolling Mack’s Slow Death worm rigs behind a bottom bouncer at 0.9 to 1.1 mph.

Targeting spawning bass on Potholes involves finding them in shallow protected areas with hard bottoms and deeper water close by, using lures that mimic their forage or are bright and easily visible. Lizards and creature baits are good choices. Spawning bass may not immediately bite at a lure, so be patient and make multiple presentations.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different lures and presentations to find what works best.

The Potholes walleye bite should improve greatly for the Meseberg Memorial Classic walleye tournament on Saturday. There are spots still open in this tournament if you’d like to test your skills against some of the Northwest’s top walleye anglers.

Largemouth bass anglers have been catching some large fish this week by throwing jigs around docks on area lakes north of Spokane. Eloika Lake is expected by bass fishermen to be good, but some of the biggest fish have come from lakes like Sacheen, Diamond, Deer, Waitts and Jumpoff Joe. Sprague and Silver are also said to be producing bass,

Crappie anglers have reported large schools of feeding crappie in Soda Lake in Grant County.

Other species

Razor clam digging opportunities continue at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, and Mocrocks, through Saturday. The final digs of the season are tentatively planned for May 10 to 15.

The carp spawn is in full swing, and the Washington Bowfishing Association timed its season-opening tournament on Potholes Reservoir last Saturday perfectly. A total of 1,385 carp, with the largest weighing in at 24.2 pounds, were removed from the reservoir.

The WBA has the Moses Lake Carp Classic scheduled for May 17. Registration is at Connelly Park on Moses Lake from 6-6:30 a.m. For more information, contact Ty Swartout at (206) 459-2342.

The Newman Lake Property Owners Association is sponsoring a carp tournament on May 31 to help with water quality. To become a sponsor or register to fish contact the association at carp@newmanlake.org.

Hunting

Idaho Fish and Game staff launched a wild turkey study in the Panhandle last spring. By reporting leg bands to the Panhandle Regional office at (208) 769-1414, you can help Fish and Game better understand adult turkey survival and continue to provide excellent hunting opportunities for them into the future. When you report a leg band you get to keep it, and you’ll learn when and where your turkey was initially banded.

The application period for Idaho fall 2025 deer, elk, pronghorn, swan, fall black bear and fall turkey controlled hunts begins Thursday and runs through June 5. Successful controlled hunt applicants will be notified by July 10. Hunters can also apply for the first Super Hunt drawing through May 31.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com