Hunting and Fishing
Salmon and steelhead
Ilwaco has provided the best salmon fishing off the coast, with anglers averaging 1.2 fish last week despite stormy weather that cut many trips short. Chinook made up 20 percent of the take, with coho running 5-6 pounds. Westport was also stormy, with anglers averaging six-tenths of a fish each, more chinook than coho. Seiku fishing remains slow, but both Neah Bay and LaPush anglers were averaging about a half fish each, split evenly between chinook and coho.
The early catch-and-release fishery on the Clearwater River is going well, according to Tim Johnson at Fishhawk Guides in Clarkston. He reported fast fishing for 5- to 8-pound fish during the first four hours after daylight. There have been about 1,400 steelhead over Lower Granite since May 1, but the Clearwater is 52 degrees and the Snake is 68, so they’re all heading for the cooler water. Johnson said rainbow Mag Warts, as well as both blue and green Pirate Fat Fish, have worked best.
Anglers are legally fishing for chinook salmon on the Upper Salmon River for the first time since 1978. Adipose-clipped salmon may be retained on a 17-mile stretch of the river from Iron Creek Bridge to a posted boundary near the mouth of the Pahsimeroi River. The season opened Saturday, the short notice coming about because early projections indicated there were not enough fish. By the time actual counts were available, it was so late in the run, further delay would have meant fewer fish available for catching.
Steelhead anglers on the Cowlitz River are catching some hatchery summer run steelhead between Mission Bar and Blue Creek.
On the Lewis River, bank anglers are catching hatchery summer run steelhead from the salmon hatchery downstream. Steelhead effort on Drano Lake is increasing, with boat anglers averaging nearly a fish per rod. White Salmon River steelhead effort is also increasing.
On the lower Columbia below Bonneville Dam, bank anglers have recently averaged a steelhead per every 9.4 rods. Fishing from boats was slow. Most of the steelhead catch was from Longview downstream. Summer chinook catches have declined.
Fishery biologists with the WDFW and treaty Indian tribes have announced there will be no sockeye fishery this year on Lake Washington. Fishery managers had predicted that 398,000 sockeye would return to the lake this year, and an estimated return of more than 350,000 is needed for consideration of state recreational and tribal commercial fisheries. Using current data, fishery managers believe the total run will be about 71,000 sockeye, although low counts in Canadian test fisheries off Vancouver Island indicate that the return could be smaller.
Trout and kokanee
Local rainbow and cutthroat trout lakes, including Badger, Clear, Williams, West Medical and Fishtrap, are still good in early-morning and late-evening hours. “The trick to catching the big ones by this time of year is to downsize your gear,” said WDFW fish biologist Chris Donley. “The bigger trout have seen the bigger baits or lures at least once, touched them twice and won’t come near them again at this point. Try something different, like crawfish tails, something they haven’t seen, and you’re more likely to hook a good-sized trout.”
It is pretty easy to take a limit of Loon Lake rainbow while fishing for kokanee at night. Most of the fish are 14-18 inches long. Orange Power Bait a few feet off bottom has worked, but sometimes the fish are suspended halfway down. The kokanee fishing continues to baffle me – a limit one night and nothing the next. Last summer, I fished Loon probably 20 times and failed to limit once.
Lake Roosevelt net-pen rainbows are gaining weight and length, and the flesh is beginning to turn pink. Anglers report anything trolled with a piece of worm will catch fish. There are also still plenty of 3- to 5-pounders available.
Ten-inch Spirit Lake kokes are hitting well in the morning, reported Justin Kimberling at Fins and Feathers in Coeur d’Alene.
The most productive area for Lake Chelan kokanee is still the Yacht Club area. Start fishing 20 to 25 feet deep, and move deeper as the day progresses. Schools are being located as deep as 75 feet.
Coeur d’Alene kokes are most abundant in 20-25 feet of water at the south end. Target Powderhorn and Sunup bays. Chinook are at 35-50 feet, hitting trolled herring and dodger or Mini-Squid and flasher.
Fly fishermen are doing well from the 10-mile mark up on the Coeur d’Alene River, and St. Joe and Clark Fork anglers are also smiling. Try caddis and drake patterns in the flat water and attractor patterns in the current.
Spiny ray
Loon Lake perch are largely ignored, but there are schools of 9- to 11-inch fish around. I have caught many in the evening in 23-27 feet of water while waiting for the kokanee bite. A biologist once told me perch will not bite at night, but I have caught them at midnight and later.
There are some northern pike in the 6- to 15-pound range being caught in the Pend Oreille River. Target the weed edges with spinnerbaits. In Idaho, pike are biting on the south end of Coeur d’Alene Lake and in the chain lakes.
WDFW district fish biologist Chris Donley of Spokane reported good walleye fishing continues throughout Lake Roosevelt, at least for the persistent angler.
The Potholes Recreation area water level remains high enough to navigate any channel in the sand dune area. Be sure you to include some surface lures for bass, especially buzz baits. Early morning and late evening have been best. Smallmouth, largemouth, walleye, catfish and crappie are all available at the mouth of Frenchman’s Wasteway where it enters Potholes Reservoir, and it is reported that and bow-and-arrow carp shooting is also good there.
Smallmouth bass are hitting aggressively through the Lake Roosevelt system. Good reports come from the buoys in the Keller area. On the John Day Pool, anglers are bringing in several dozen smallmouth per rod. Bill Vail at Boggan’s Oasis said the smallmouth fishing is fantastic on the Grande Ronde.
For Eloika Lake largemouth in the midrange, ply the deeper water with plugs. Crappie and perch fishing is also good, but the fish are small, and it is difficult to find a legal (9-inch) crappie.
Other species
Most sturgeon anglers in Hells Canyon are doing well, with multiple hookups each day. Largest reported from this week was more than 8 feet long.
Anglers are doing well on channel catfish at Sprague Lake, most using chunk baits of some kind. Catfishing also continues to be productive throughout the Snake River system.
Shad counts at Bonneville and The Dalles dams are down to a few thousand fish per day.
Hunting
The Canadian prairies were wet this spring. There is water everywhere, but mallard numbers, although up, are still 17 percent less than the long-term average.