Fishing the Calendar in Eastern Washington
The inside of a fly shop might be the only place on earth where it's presumed okay to pass on “classified” fishing information without someone dropping the phrase, I’d tell ya’, but then I’d have to kill ya.’
So here are a few of our “local” Eastern Washington go-to fisheries and when we like to fish them. Some are fairly close to Spokane, others are worth driving a bit farther to fish when the time is right.
Spring
With slightly warmer weather our abundant local stillwaters enter their prime. A host of area lakes open to fishing on March 1st, and by the end of the month most are ice-free. Better-known options include Amber Lake, Coffeepot Lake and Medical Lake for starters.
Chironomids take center stage as the primary food source for the trout. Plan on fishing deep, either with long leaders and Slip & Strike sliding indicators or a fast full-sinking line dropped over the side of a boat. Come prepared with plenty of different colors and sizes of chironomids from large (#10) to small (#18). Lake fish can be selective focusing on certain sizes and colors, and that is likely to change throughout the day. A good selection of Balanced Leeches in different sizes and colors will also serve you well for both cold and warm water species.
Depending on the annual snowpack, parts of the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River (NE of Kingston, Idaho) usually becomes accessible in March. The road gets plowed as far as Prichard in the winter, but not farther. As the snowpack recedes more of the river above Prichard becomes accessible and more good fishing water available.
June usually signals the start of fishing on our other favorite Idaho trout stream, the St. Joe River. There are many miles of St. Joe River to fish, and like the North Fork Coeur d’Alene, the Joe is a Westslope cutthroat trout fishery, meaning beautiful, wild, native cutthroat trout that often prefer dry flies.
Summer
Still a great time to fish around Spokane, but the long, sometimes hot and smoky days usher in the “dog days” of summer. The Spokane River is in it’s prime with Pale Morning Dun (ephemerella dorothea infrequens and excrucians) mayflies and caddisflies (hydropsyche and brachycentrus) hatching in abundance. Through the warmer months, fishing early and late in the day is a solid strategy. Swinging soft hackles on summer evenings is a tried-and-true Spokane fly fishing right of passage.
“In the Spring,” wrote poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, “a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”
When things start to warm up in our shop, thoughts turn to carp on the fly.
We figure the carp’s reputation as a “trash fish” was probably cooked up by feverish anglers wanting all the carp for themselves. As selective as any spring creek trout, these freshwater freight trains will test your patience as well as the breaking strength of most fly rods. Carp fishing usually starts getting good in late May and goes well into summer. Good bets for carp include Long Lake (Lake Spokane), Roosevelt Lake (north of the confluence of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers), Banks Lake (above Coulee City), and Rock Lake.
"Summer might be my favorite time to fish in Washington," said Caden Byrer, Manager in North 40's West Spokane House of Fly shop. "chasing sewer salmon in the hot months, or most commonly known as carp. It can be a blast to walk the flats of Eastern Washington lakes looking for tailing fish as if you were in the Bahamas."
With productive fishing in virtually every direction, sometimes it’s prudent to adapt to the hotter, drier summer conditions by ruling out a few places. Heat is one of three things (major hatches and spawning are the others) known to get Westslope cutthroat trout to move around in a river system, sometimes vacating areas of the river that were previously productive. When the weather is hot you may have to head upstream or downstream to find fish on cutthroat trout streams. Tributaries, deeper pools and runs and springs will attract fish in need of cooler temps on the NF Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe. If the water temperatures approach 68 degrees, consider taking an afternoon nap and heading back out when the sun is off the water.
While we roared with laughter on hearing about the rattlesnake that fell off a rock wall (at Rock Lake) into a customer’s boat, it’s a great idea to remember rattlesnakes are active this time of year.
Fall
Autumn is a magical time as the days get shorter and cooler and leaves explode with color as if to say, “Hurry up and fish while you still can!”
Fall can be a particularly rich fishing season, like the fish know they’d better put on some weight before the colder, slower winter season begins. Though the days are getting noticeably shorter, it’s time of the last balmy weather of the year as well as some excellent fishing. Rivers like the Spokane, St. Joe and NF Coeur d'Alene are still producing memorable fishing.
If stillwaters are your thing, be sure to check the angling regulations before heading out during the fall. Several local lakes (like Coffeepot) close to fishing on seemingly arbitrary dates, and without posting any signage that tells you so.
Winter
Winter in Spokane is the real deal, but that doesn’t mean putting the fly rods away. Expectations for January fishing should not be held to the same standard as warmer months, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some fine fish to be had.
Our home water, the Spokane River, can kick out some fine redband trout, even during winter months. Blue winged olive mayflies (baetis) and midges (chironomids) dominate the winter trout menu and the bugs tend to get small (#18-20). Nymphs like Perdigons, Frenchies, WD40s and Zebra Midges match the hatch well. Surprisingly, large, heavily weighted nymphs like the 20-incher, beaded Pat’s Rubberlegs, and beaded Prince Nymphs can also get the trout moving.
During winter, weather and flows can make or break a trip. One day might be 36 degrees and drizzling on the Spokane River, rising fish and blue winged olives or even Skwalas. Other days might be zip, zero, nada; no bugs, no rising fish, no bueno. While it’s always a bonus to find rising fish on the Spokane, it’s the exception rather than the rule. Nymphing is by far the most effective method, and don’t overlook swinging streamers, either.
Rock Lake (SE of Sprague) is another solid winter fishing option, weather permitting. It’s large enough and deep enough to rarely freeze, but if there is wind is in the forecast, go elsewhere. This fishery can become a wind tunnel. At Rock you may catch any number of warmwater species, but also rainbow and brown trout. Some anglers predict a new state record brown trout could come from Rock Lake.
If there were one word that could inspire Spokane area anglers to drive a bit further, it is steelhead. The Snake, Clearwater and Grande Ronde Rivers come into their prime in the fall and winter as big seagoing trout make their way up the Columbia Basin to their natal streams.
Of the three, the Grande Ronde is smaller water. You can still swing flies, but anglers are also apt to move back and forth between swinging flies and indicator nymphing much the same way you might fish a traditional trout stream. It’s entirely reasonable to fish the Snake and the Grande Ronde in the same day alternating between nymphing and swinging for steel. While the size of the runs varies from season to season, numbers have been sufficient in recent years to keep the fisheries open. About half of these are wild fish.
"SPOKANE IS ONE OF THOSE GREAT PLACES TO LIVE FOR A DIE-HARD FLY FISHER"
Spokane may not automatically register as a great fly fishing destination, but when you think about it, we have it all. Sandwiched between the Idaho Panhandle to the east, and the Columbia River Basin to the west, Spokane is in a unique position for terrific angling opportunities. On any given day you can catch redband trout, rainbows, browns and brook trout, tiger trout, Lahontan and Westslope cutthroat trout, pike, musky, large and smallmouth bass, crappies, kokanee salmon, carp or steelhead.
When local favorite TFP's Restaurant and Bar opened in Avery, ID almost on the banks of the St. Joe River, I thought, "Sweet! I love the new direction North 40 Outfitters is taking." It’s a terrific place to grab a tasty meal and some cold suds after a day fishing the Joe.
Imagine my disappointment when I learned "TFP" did not stand for The Fly Project… (It ought to.)