Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for May 8, 2025

Thu., May 8, 2025

By Alan Liere The Spokesman-Review

Tip of the week

Tip of the week: Targeting spawning bass involves finding them in shallow protected areas with hard bottoms and deeper water close, using lures that mimic their forage or are bright and easily visible, and presenting them in a way that simulates a threat to their nests. Lizards, creature baits, and bright colors are good choices. Spawning bass may not immediately bite at a lure, so be patient and presentations.

Overheard: Loon Lake anglers say there are huge stretches of the lake where the weeds have been intentionally and completely eradicated by poison. While this probably pleases most swimmers, skiers and lakeside homeowners, it has been detrimental to fishing success, as there are places that once teemed with fish where you can‘t even catch a sunfish anymore. The eradication efforts are not killing the fish per se, but it is eliminating the cover they need to thrive. Anglers are beginning to question whether it is legal for homeowners associations to alter a once-thriving public fishery for their personal preferences.

Braggin’ rights: Preliminary results for the 80th annual Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club Spring Derby show these are the winners in the rainbow and mackinaw divisions:

Adult Rainbow first place; Ray Allison with a rainbow of 24.55 pounds,

Adult Mackinaw first place; David DeMers with a mackinaw of 20.25 pounds.

Junior Division first place; Fisher LaRue with a rainbow of 16.30 pounds

Youth A Division first place; Rory Bonner with a rainbow of 31 inches.

Youth B Division first place; Tucker Shelton with a rainbow of 32 inches.

Final results are expected to be posted Thursday.

Fly fishing

Silver Bow Fly Shop said flows on the North Fork Coeur d‘Alene River are up a bit this week, but clarity is good. March browns and salmonflies had the most attention from fish on the surface, but it’s difficult to find good water upstream from Kingston. The Little North Fork Coeur d’Alene is running hard and is not an option this week.

St. Joe flows have also been on the rise but are leveling off. Wade spots will be limited the farther upstream you go, but you can find some good water downstream of Marble Creek. Hatches have been good – salmonflies, gray drakes, March browns and some skwalas.

There are dozens of lakes around Spokane that will fish well over the next couple of months, so don’t feel you have to fly fish at only waters designated barbless. Sprague and Roosevelt, for example, can provide excellent fly fishing for big trout. Bass and carp fishing has been good.

Brown and rainbow trout running to 16 inches are hitting small chironomids at Liberty Lake. Coffeepot and Amber lakes are both producing nice catches of trout – cutthroat at Amber and rainbow at Coffeepot. Bayley Lake on the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge produces rainbow averaging 19 inches. Long Lake in Ferry County is another good fly fishing destination for smaller trout.

Trout and kokanee

More than 25,000 catchable-size (10- to 12-inch) rainbow trout will be stocked in the Idaho Panhandle Region in May. The lakes getting the most fish will be Cocolalla with 3,300 being planted until Friday; Kelso with 2,500 planted Monday through May 16 and again on May 18-23 with 2,500; Jewel with 1.620 planted May 19-23; and Round with 1,250 planted May 19-23. For maps of all the stocked lakes, in Idaho, visit the Idaho Fish Planner.

Some big browns were caught opening day at Jumpoff Joe Lake, but there should still be a lot of catchables still available for harvest. Cedar, Rocky and Mudgett lakes should improve, as will Badger which was a bit of an opening day disappointment. Waitts Lake is getting good again, and Fishtrap has been decent. The best trout fishing this week was at Williams. Diamond Lake is coming on, and is getting more attention after the winter ice fishing season proved there were some nice rainbow and big perch there.

Fishing has been fair for small trout at West Medical Lake. This was expected, as it was killed off at the end of last season to remove nuisance fish species.

Deep Lake, one of the Sun Lakes, has limited parking but good shore access at the lower end. The upper end has a dock at the launch site. Trout fishing is typically good in the spring and the fall, and kokanee fishing should produce fish up to 14 inches. Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee, also has good kokanee fishing. Wapato Lake has kokanee up to 16 inches, but the launch is in poor shape.

Lake Roosevelt is sitting at 1,265 feet above sea level and is expected to remain so into the next week. All major ramps are usable with the exception of Jones Bay, China Bend and Hawk Creek. Rainbow fishing has been erratic.

Steelhead and salmon

Chinook salmon has opened on the Snake River on Tuesdays and Fridays below Little Goose Dam from the Texas Rapids boat launch upstream to the fishing restriction boundary below Little Goose Dam. It will remain open until further notice.

Fish counts at Bonneville Dam have picked up considerably, although barely 50 had made it to Lower Granite Dam by last weekend. When the fishery reopens Thursday, daily counts at Lower Granite could start to exceed 100.

Spiny ray

Perch fishing is picking up on area lakes like Eloika, Liberty, Long and Deer, but the best bite should be at Moses Lake near Blue Heron Park and along the shore at Pelican Horn.

Crappie fishing is getting better at Eloika Lake, though some of the other crappie destinations like Hayden, Sacheen, Coffee Pot and Newman have larger fish.

Friends fishing the area on Lake Roosevelt called “The Dalles” reported walleye fishing there was disappointing this week, as the fish don’t seem to be slowing down as they head for Canada.

Other species

The Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery opened May 1 with anglers paid for each qualifying northern pikeminnow they catch over 9 inches. Anglers will earn $6 for the first 25 fish, $8 for fish 26 to 200, and $10 for every fish over 200. They can also catch tagged northern pikeminnow worth up to $500 each. To qualify for a cash reward, northern pikeminnow must be caught within the program boundaries, which spans the Columbia River from its mouth upstream to Priest Rapids Dam, and the Snake River from its mouth upstream to Hells Canyon Dam.

The final six days of the coastal razor clam dig season will proceed as planned beginning Saturday. “There was lots of successful spring digging during this past tide series, and it is looking like more of the same for the last digs of the season,” said Bryce Blumenthal, WDFW’s recreational razor clam manager. Not all coastal beaches are open for every dig, so diggers are encouraged to make sure their intended destination is open before heading out.

Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com