Idaho Prospects Brighten
Idaho will have its usual rich smorgasbord of fish species this year, and there are plenty of each species to provide excellent fishing.
Anglers have the choice between all trout species, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, kokanee, chinook salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, perch, crappies, bluegills and even tiger muskies.
Already, early bird fishermen have been hooking most of the species. The tempo will pick up in May and June.
This should be a good year for anglers who fish for chinooks at Lake Coeur d’Alene, mackinaw trout at Priest Lake, big rainbows at Lake Pend Oreille, kokanee at Coeur d’Alene, Pend Oreille and Spirit and cutthroat at the St. Joe, Selway and Lochsa rivers and Kelly Creek.
Prospects for fishing along the St. Joe River are good, Panhandle regional fisheries biologist Ned Horner said. The cutthroat population is holding up well despite heavy fishing pressure the last few years.
The upper river is under catchand-release regulations and attracts thousands of anglers.
There’s been no improvement in the cutthroat population in the Coeur d’Alene River, the biologist said.
Horner said there should be plenty of 2-year-old chinook salmon in Lake Coeur d’Alene this year for good fishing. The chinooks likely will be 6 to 8 pounds by early summer and 10 to 12 by fall.
“Those fish will provide most of the salmon fishing this year,” he said.
Trollers will catch some mature chinooks, a few weighing more than 20 pounds.
Anglers will hook good numbers of big rainbows at Lake Pend Oreille, not to mention the growing interest in the lake’s mackinaw. Fishing has been good the last couple of years, with anglers catching numerous rainbows in the 10- to 15-pound class and enough bigger fish to keep them trolling.
Priest Lake apparently holds enough mackinaw trout, most of them 3 to 6 pounds, for excellent fishing. During the last couple of months fishing has been so good that trollers and jiggers have bragged of hooking and releasing 15 to 30 a day.
Kokanee fishing should be excellent at Coeur d’Alene and Spirit lakes, and fair to good at Lake Pend Oreille.
Horner said fishermen will catch good numbers of 4-year-old fish that are 10 to 11 inches long. Spirit Lake is expected to produce good fishing for kokanee that are more than 10 inches long.
The Idaho Fish and Game Department will release catchablesized trout into numerous North Idaho lakes during the spring and summer months. Most of the lakes also hold carryover trout to 4 pounds.
Pike fishing has become popular with Idaho anglers the last few years. The toothy predator fish are plentiful in Lake Coeur d’Alene and the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River.
The largest pike are in Lake Coeur d’Alene, but the fastest fishing is at such lakes as Killarney, Cave, Medicine, Thompson and Hayden. Most pike in the latter lakes are running 2 to 4 pounds.
Someone released pike into Hayden Lake a few years ago and the species are now so abundant that they’re jeopardizing the state’s plans to create excellent trout, bass and crappie fishing.
xxxx Coming of age Sterile tiger muskies released into Hauser, Shepherd, Dawson, Freeman and Blue lakes in the Idaho Panhandle now are 36 or more inches long and weigh 10 to 15 pounds.