Alan Liere's hunting and fishing report for May 21
May 20-Fly fishing
Area lakes are fishing well for fly fishermen. Bayley Lake, on the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge, is kicking out rainbow up to 20 inches long. Browns Lake has good fly fishing for 10- to 17-inch cutthroat.
The Spokane River opens to fishing on the Washington side on Saturday. Flows will be at a fishable level right out of the gate. There should be good caddis hatches, and maybe a salmon fly or two, hanging around on the lower river.
Anglers this week reported good fishing at the Cheney area lakes, including Amber, Fish and West Medical. Bass fishing is also very good right now as the fish are up shallow in all area lakes.
The Montana-general-small stream opener was May 16, but most Western Montana streams are high and out of shape right now.
Silver Bow Fly Shop guides reported another week of quality fishing up on the North Fork Coeur d'Alene River. They said every stretch of the river has been fishing well.
Afternoons consistently have been the best for hatches and dry fly fishing and subsurface tactics have been better earlier in the day.
Golden stones will quickly become the predominant stonefly hatch going forward, though there are salmon flies, March browns, caddis, Yellow Sallies, carpenter ants and various drakes about.
Employees from the Silver Bow Fly Shop closed the store last Tuesday and fished the St. Joe River. They said fishing was good with the best luck coming on mayfly patterns on the surface, but that the foam bugs with a dropper saw plenty of action as well.
Be aware that jet boat races are going on this weekend below Calder.
Trout and kokanee
The put-and-take lakes north and south of Spokane have slowed down with the cooler weather, but there are plenty of trout remaining.
Diamond Lake has a lot of medium-sized rainbows. Marshall Lake cutthroat in the 8- to 12-inch range are still active, and North and South Skookum have good-sized rainbows and brook trout.
Waitts Lake remains predictably good for rainbow and browns.
The kokanee bite on Lake Coeur d'Alene is still producing a lot of 14- to 15-inch fish. It has been particularly good in the vicinity of Powderhorn Bay and East Point. The fish have been in the top 20 feet.
Steelhead and salmon
There have been some changes to the Clearwater chinook salmon fishery this week. The Mainstem Clearwater and Middle Fork Clearwater fisheries will continue as a four-day (Thursday through Sunday) fishery with a 1-adult daily limit.
However, the Lower Clearwater fishery from the Camas Prairie Railroad Bridge to Cherry Lane Bridge will close to chinook fishing due to another reduction-in-harvest share and insufficient allocation remaining to continue the fishery. Flows are lower than ideal and the run is turning out to be much lower than forecast earlier.
A friend just returned from fishing for chinook on Drano Lake with Reel Time Fishing. He said his hopes were not high because the counts over Bonneville Dam had plummeted from more than 5,000 a day to less than 1,500 a day.
But his boat with five fishermen hooked 10 spring chinook and landed four on Thursday. Friday was slower, but they still managed to hook five and land two.
The Columbia River will open for additional spring and chinook and steelhead retention days in late May. Check the Washington Sport Fishing Rules for details on definitions and regulations.
The chinook fishery below Little Goose Dam closed after Tuesday and opens for one day below Ice Harbor Dam on Thursday.
The Upper Skagit River is open for hatchery spring chinook until July 15 from the Skagit River from the Highway 530 bridge at Rockport to Cascade River Road.
Spiny ray
Jerk baits in 6 to 8 feet of water are taking Coeur d'Alene northern pike. Bass are spawning along the banks and crankbaits are taking some big fish.
The Chain Lakes also have decent pike fishing for smaller fish, but the crappie fishing is said to be good.
Long Lake anglers are catching fair numbers of walleye. Reports indicate there has also been a good perch bite for fish up to 12 inches, but anglers need to move around. If boaters anchor over a school of 7- to 8-inch perch, they are not likely to catch anything but 7- to 8-inch perch no matter how long they fish.
Potholes Reservoir, Moses Lake and Banks Lake walleye have been tight-mouthed during the recent cold front and spawn. That should change as the weather warms.
The perch bite at Curlew Lake has been very good for fish averaging longer than 9 inches. Anglers will find the majority of them in less than 20 feet of water. Look for weedy bottoms.
Other species
For those interested in participating for big bucks in the northern pike minnow rewards program, it looks like The Dalles was the place to be last week with 1,147 qualifying fish turned in by 153 anglers. Statistically, however, the Washougal success rate was even greater with 71 anglers turning in 968 fish.
Hunting
The Idaho spring turkey season ends Monday, while the Washington state spring season ends May 31. From all reports, both states have had very productive seasons. Seven toms were taken from my 11-acre parcel of land this spring. But yesterday evening, a flock of six toms and four hens appeared just off my back deck.
Contact Alan Liere at spokesmanliere@yahoo.com
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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 8:15 AM.