Part III: Fishing for Bass
The best time of year to fish for bass is April to June. Later in the summer, as the heat of day drives them to cooler depths, fishing the early morning and evening is most productive.
Use a moderate action rod with bait caster or spinning reel with at least 10-pound test. Casting or trolling Texas Rigs, Apex lures, or weighted rubber minnows work well. Power baits, from rubber worms to frogs and plastic jigs, are also productive. Look for areas with structure and shallow weed beds, and don't be afraid to make noise when you cast. Often the sound of the lure or fly crashing down on the water will make a predatory bass strike immediately.
If you are fly fishing you can also have good success. I use a 6-weight rod with an eight to ten foot leader. I add 18-inches of Berkeley Fire line to compensate for abrasions, snags, and violent hits. Using floating line cast poppers, deer-hair frog, mouse or hopper patterns – or, my personal favourite, the Dahlberg Diver – over weed beds. Experiment. Often making quick strips with as much commotion on the water as possible will elicit strikes. Other times slow and steady with minimal ripple will get bass to subtly sip the fly. Set the hook at the slightest resistance; this may mean more snags but it also means more fish. If trolling flies or casting to deep water use a sink-tip or full sink line. Those tied with a strip of rabbit fur are especially productive as the wet fur gyrating through the water gives the fly a lively appearance.
Be prepared for anything. In addition to bass, Moose tells me he has caught perch, black crappie, rainbow and one 26-inch brown trout in the Pend d'Oreille. Apparently, the trout have not all disappeared. Along with the bass hatchery, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife operates a trout hatchery in the Box Canyon Reservoir and releases thousands of rainbow and bull trout each year. These trout also make their way into the Seven Mile Reservoir. The conditions are not ideal for trout but the do survive and can be found near cool water tributaries.
I have yet to be so prolific in the variety of my catch. I like to stick to bass, rainbow and bull trout. The river is also exempt from the April to June 15-stream closure, so conceivably you can fish for bass and trout all year round. When the weather heats up, I head to tributaries and cast my flies on rivers like the Salmo during the day. The Salmo River is an idyllic little trout stream with good numbers of rainbow up to 24 inches, though most average between 10-16 inches. Bull trout are resident but restrictions require that all catch must be released. Fishing the mouth of the Salmo where it enters the Pend d'Oreille is a good spot for bull trout and rainbow as the cooler water is more comfortable for trout species.
The Pend d'Oreille is a unique fishery that defies every sound conservation and fishery sensibility. Since the dams and reservoirs decimated trout stocks, the opportunistic Americans sought an alternative to the trout fishery by introducing an exotic species. Their love for bass is well known and so, with typical US perspicacity and resolve, they created an unparalleled bass fishery. Canadians, for better or worse, seem compelled to reap the rewards of this great bass invasion.
