Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for July 18, 2024
Fly fishing
Hot temperatures around the west have caused some fishing closures or restrictions in Montana. Many rivers have already gone to “hoot owl” restrictions, so reference the Montana Fish and Wildlife website for the latest before venturing to Montana.
The Spokane River will be one of the better options during the current heat wave. Morning fishing is suggested. Caddis are still hatching. This is going into the toughest time of the year for the North Fork Coeur d’Alene. The water is getting skinny and inner-tubers are abundant, so don’t expect great fishing. Silver Bow Fly Shop says small, flashy hoppers, ants and beetle droppers under hoppers or small Chernobyl types of patterns will be best. The St. Joe is also fishing pretty well above Avery where you can avoid the inner-tubers. Hoppers, ants and beetles are on the menu there, too. Always add a dropper.
The Kootenai River still fishes well in the summer heat as it runs cold even during triple-digit temperatures. Fish dries or dry/droppers with Chernobyl patterns, Chubby Chernobyls and hoppers with 24-30-inches to a perdigon, tungsten caddis pupa, Jig prince, or Jig pheasant tail. PMDs and caddis will be hatching.
Marshall Lake cutthroat are active on top in the evening. Most of these fish run between 10 and 12 inches. Air temperatures at Marshall Lake are somewhat cooler.
Trout and kokanee
Trout fishing is now an early-morning, late-evening and night endeavor. At Waitts Lake, trout fishing has become quite popular at night for still fishermen who hang Power Bait just off the bottom straight out from Winona Beach Resort.
A small hook baited with a piece of worm with a red salmon egg on the tip will catch trout at many of the lowland lakes. Diamond has been mentioned in recent reports, as has Sacheen.
Chris Donley, Region 1 Fish Program Manager, has been hitting Badger Lake this summer and says fishing is good. He has been trolling for kokanee in 28-40 feet of water and catching kokes 12-14 inches long as well as cutthroat of 10-16 inches and rainbow trout of 12-16 inches. Donley says Williams Lake is also good for trout at similar depths, and a few anglers are figuring out how to catch Badger Lake kokanee by still fishing at night. He also notes that the big Lake Roosevelt kokanee have gone deep in the hot weather. Trollers with leaded line are going down as many as seven colors in places such as Keller, Swawilla Basin, Hunters and Spring Canyon.
Kokanee fishing on Dworshak Reservoir has been good near Dent. The 8- to 9-inch fish are usually suspended 20 feet below the surface. On Lake Coeur d’Alene, the kokanee are similarly small, but there are a lot of them and they bite readily.
Salmon and steelhead
Sponsored by the Lake Coeur d’Alene Angler’s Association, the annual chinook derby will run July 24 to 25. There will be a $5,000 payout for first place. A chinook must be at least 30 inches to be weighed in. Fins and Feathers in Coeur d’Alene has derby tickets.
Fishing for sockeye salmon has been very good in the Brewster Pool this week. The thermal barrier at the Okanogan River is keeping the fish in the pool – a blessing for anglers. Fears that there may be another die-off similar to the one in 2015 are probably unfounded as the mainstream Columbia River is several degrees cooler than it was during that die-off. Barring an extended heat wave well into August, the fish will probably begin filtering into the Okanogan River in time to complete their spawning run to Osoyoos Lake in British Columbia. Successful anglers are running hoochies between 20-35 feet. A double hook set-up with red hooks, either bare or with a piece of red yarn are doing well with an 8-inch chrome dodger and a 12-inch leader on a slow troll. Mornings are best, but some anglers are having luck fishing in the heat of the afternoon.
The sockeye season on Lake Wenatchee should be announced soon. The count at Tumwater Dam is already past the needed escapement number of the 23,000 required. The forecast this year is for 97,000 sockeye to Lake Wenatchee, but more than that are almost certain.
Salmon fishing, particularly for sockeye, has been good everywhere it seems. Glowing reports also come from Wanapum Pool and below Rocky Reach and Wells dams. On the Washington coast, Westport has the highest combined catch rate for coho and chinook.
Spiny ray
Reel Time Fishing in Clarkston says clients have been catching a lot of walleye and smallmouth bass on the Snake River this week.
At MarDon Resort on Potholes Reservoir, Pete Fisher says largemouth fishing has been excellent with frogs back in the dunes. He suggests having a Senko ready on another rod for fish that miss the frog. Fisher also says walleye fishing has been good back in the dunes and in Crab Creek along the weed lines.
Curlew Lake has been excellent for catches of perch as large as 12 inches. Find weed beds in 15 to 20 feet of water for best luck.
Banks Lake anglers are catching a lot of bass and a few large perch as well as walleyes. Lindy rigs with crawlers are effective for eyes when trolled near the bottom. Barkers Flats and the Devils Punchbowl have been good recently.
Other species
Silver Lake tiger muskie are becoming easier to catch. Neman and Curlew Lake tiger muskies are also on the prowl.
The hot weather has slowed the northern pike bite on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Size is good but numbers are down. Spinner baits, glide baits and spoons will all take fish just off the weed beds.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com.