Fishing Report

Ice fishing, Idaho

Cold days and nights have put up to 15 inches of ice on many Panhandle lakes, making it necessary for ice fishermen to have sharp augers to drill holes quickly.

Most anglers apparently have been fishing for perch at numerous lakes. Among the best producers have been Hauser, Rose, Cocolalla and Round.

The biggest perch are in Gamble, Shepherd, Chase and Perkins lakes, but they’re hard to find. The most perch may be in Round, Cocolalla, Fernan, Hauser, Rose and the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River. Most perch are 6 to 9 inches.

Round Lake has been a consistent producer of 6- to 8-inch perch. When I fished the lake Saturday, the perch took lures baited with maggots or perch eyes all day. The action was so fast that, at times, I pulled perch through the ice every minute or so. Once in a while, I even caught two perch at the same time.

Incidentally, my terminal tackle consisted of a Swedish Pimple and a dropper hook about 10 inches above the lure. I replaced the triple hook on the Pimple with a No. 10 glow hook about three inches below the lure. The dropper hook is a No. 12 glow hook.

Although anglers can use five rigs, or tip-ups, when fishing through ice at Idaho lakes, perch fishing with more than one rig isn’t practical. Perch bite delicately and quickly drop bait; consequently, a perch fisherman can’t tend more than one rig and do well.

Perch are considered easy to catch and therefore are recommended for youngsters. However, they can be finicky at times and kids with short attention spans soon give up.

It’s necessary for a fisherman to concentrate on the tip of his or her rod and set the hook the moment the tip nods. Many bites are so delicate that fishermen strike on suspicion.

Cocolalla, like Round, has been attracting good numbers of perch anglers. The fish are about the same size as those in Round.

My fishing partner and I stopped at Shepherd and Gamble lakes, but didn’t fish after talking with the few anglers who had fished the lakes. Finding the perch is the big problem at both of the lakes, as well as at Perkins and Chase lakes. Most fishermen give up after an hour or so and go to lakes where there are large numbers of perch and the fishing is fast at times.

Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene said the surest way to find the perch at Shepherd is to explore with a fish finder. “If you don’t have a fish finder,” he said, “you won’t catch perch. The perch usually are suspended at 10 to 12 feet and the only way to locate them is to use a fish finder.”

Fishing for 7- to 9-inch perch has been fast at Hauser from dawn to about 8 a.m., and slow thereafter. Anglers have been hooking large numbers of perch and bass at Rose Lake.

One of the hottest spots to catch pike through the ice is Hayden Lake. Smith said he and his 6-yearold son, Jordan, using smelt and herring for bait, caught two dozen 20- to 24-inchers a few days ago. Jordan caught 10 and kept two 24-inchers.

Fishermen, using up to five tipups, have been catching good numbers of pike at Killarney, Black and Anderson lakes, Smith said. Pike average 2-4 pounds at Killarney, 2-15 pounds at Black and 3-10 pounds at Anderson.

Ice fishing, Washington

Anglers no longer have to worry about ice on the popular lakes in the Spokane region. Ice caps are 5-9 inches thick, depending on the lake.

Perch fishing has been spotty at Sprague Lake, usually a good producer. One of the reasons is that the lake is shallow and the ice clear enough for perch and other fish to see anglers moving around.

The few anglers who have been fishing out of “ice houses” have been doing well. When they’re in the small houses, perch can’t see them.

One angler who has been taking home 8- to 9-inchers said he can see the perch so well that he can move his bait away when he sees a small perch ready to bite.

Fishermen haven’t caught many bluegills or trout through the ice at Sprague this month.

Waitts Lake may be a good spot to try for 7- to 9-inch perch, as well as brown trout. Biologist Curt Vail said the perch population may not be big, but there are enough for fair to good fishing. Thousands of browns, including 250 broodstock browns, have been released into the lake the last few years.

Hog Canyon and Fourth of July southwest of Spokane likely will attract numerous fishermen this weekend. Ice on both lakes is several inches thick. Most rainbows in Hog Canyon are 9-14 inches long; those in Fourth of July are 10-18 inches.

Silver and Clear lakes may provide fair to good fishing for brown trout. Ice on the lakes is several inches thick.

Ice is finally thick enough at some lakes in the Columbia Basin to support anglers safely. Fishermen will be fishing for 6- to 8-inch perch and big lake whitefish at Soda Lake and 7- to 9-inch perch at Long Lake.

Chinook salmon

Inlet streams poured muddy water into Lake Coeur d’Alene last week, and trolling for salmon was slow as a result, Smith said.

With the streams clearing, he said, the lake may be clear enough this weekend for fair to good fishing.

Steelhead

Although streams are cold, steelhead are still moving slowly toward their spawning areas.

Steelhead fishing has been slow along most of the Clearwater, Snake and Grande Ronde rivers, but fair to good along the Touchet and Tucannon.

Biologist Art Viola said anglers averaged 12.8 hours per steelhead along the lower Touchet last weekend; 14.7 hours along the Tucannon, 26.9 hours at Little Goose, 18.5 hours in the Snake below the Tucannon’s mouth, and 22 hours along the Walla Walla.