Fishing Report

Ice fishing, spiny rays

For a few days last week, ice was in fairly good condition at the most-popular lakes in the Spokane area. However, temperatures soared and a mixture of rain and snow fell.

As a result, water covered honeycombed ice and many would-be fishermen decided to wait for lower temperatures and possibly better ice conditions.

However, ice on most North Idaho lakes was in excellent condition last week and early this week. Jeff Smith, owner of the Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene, said ice was 5 to 7 inches thick on lakes north of Coeur d’Alene. It was not quite as thick at Fernan, Hauser and the lakes adjacent to the Coeur d’Alene River.

Despite “iffy” ice conditions, scores of anglers have been fishing for perch and other species at such lakes as Sprague, Eloika, Spokane (Long) and Waitts.

For the most part, fishermen have been disappointed with the size of perch at Eloika, Waitts and a few other lakes in the Spokane region. They’ve had to do a lot of sorting to catch enough 7- to 9-inchers to cover the bottom of a frying pan.

There are big perch in Sprague, but fishermen rarely can find them. Most of the perch they catch have been too small to keep. However, they’ve caught some 10-inch-plus crappies and a few big bluegills.

Overall, fishing has been slow for most ice fishing, so slow that many anglers are reluctant to take chances walking on thin, honeycombed ice.

If you want to catch big perch, fish Gamble Lake just south of Sandpoint. Smith said many perch there are 10 to 11 inches long. To get to the 130-acre Gamble, drive north on Highway 95, head east on the road to Garfield Bay and then to the lake.

But don’t expect to fill a 5-gallon bucket with big perch. You’ll be lucky to catch 20. But they are big enough to provide goodsized fillets.

Smith said other Panhandle lakes worth fishing for perch are Fernan, lower Twin and probably Hauser. By doing some sorting, you can catch enough 8- to 9-inchers for several meals. At Hauser, perch feed most actively from dawn to 8 a.m.

Ice fishing, trout

If the ice on Fourth of July Lake is solid this weekend and the weather is not too harsh, expect to see scores of anglers on the ice. Although fishing has slowed the last few weeks, a persistent fisherman can hook enough rainbows for a five-fish limit, provided he or she can catch several under 14 inches.

The lake south of Sprague is the most popular winter fishing trout lake in Eastern Washington. Despite heavy fishing pressure, it still seems to have a big population of rainbows ranging from 10 to 20 inches.

The region’s fly fishers have been hoping the ice will melt before the end of the month. Fourth of July is one of fewer than a half-dozen lakes that provide good fly fishing during the late winter months.

As usual, Williams and Hatch lakes in the Colville area provide fair fishing for good-sized rainbows.

Ice on Columbia Basin lakes that are open year-round is too thin and honeycombed to safely support anglers. Several lakes south of the Lind Coulee are stocked with trout and are popular with ice fishermen.

Trout, open water

Lake Roosevelt continues to be the most popular spot in Eastern Washington to catch five good-sized rainbows and hook and release several big kokanee.

A high percentage of those who trolled lures and flies at the long reservoir last weekend took home deep-bodied rainbows. Most also hooked and had to release numerous kokanee in the 13- to 20-inch range.

To protect “wild” kokanee, the Fish and Wildlife Commission, at the urging of the Fish and Wildlife Department, passed a regulation requiring anglers to release all kokanee with intact adipose fins.

The problem for anglers, though, is only a few of the kokanee they’ve hooked the last few months have missing adipose fins.

Thousands of the kokanee in Lake Roosevelt originated in Lake Coeur d’Alene. They were flushed out during last year’s high water and moved down through Spokane (Long) Lake and entered Lake Roosevelt at the mouth of the Spokane River. There are still enough kokanee in Spokane Lake to interest fishermen.

Some fishermen continue to catch outsized triploid rainbows at Rufus Woods Lake. Most serious anglers launch near Chief Joseph Dam or at the head of the lake and run 12 to 20 miles to get to the places where large numbers of the rainbows seem to be.

Anglers are starting to catch mackinaw trout at Lake Pend Oreille. Smith said fishermen trolled lures 70 feet under the surface.

Steelhead

Most steelhead that moved into the Snake River last fall are in the tributaries where they’ll spawn. Consequently, the best fishing from now on will be in the tributaries.

The lower Clearwater and its North Fork have been providing fair to outstanding fishing at times the last week or so. Some bank fishermen have done exceptionally well by fishing jigs under bobbers in the North Fork.

The Idaho Fish and Game Department reported anglers averaged 17 hours per steelhead along the lower Clearwater last weekend and 24 hours along the North Fork. Both the lower river and the North Fork were clear and temperatures were 39 to 40 degrees.

Other tributaries that are good bets if the streams are not too muddy for the steelhead to see lures include the Grande Ronde, Tucannon, Touchet and Walla Walla.

Salmon

The immature chinooks in Lake Coeur d’Alene had lockjaw last week and early this week, Smith said. Most anglers, after trolling an hour or two, gave up.

Kokanee

Some fishermen have been catching 25-fish limits of small kokanee at Spirit Lake, Smith said.

Ice has been thin in some spots, but mostly 5- to 7-inches deep. Anglers have been fishing about 30 feet deep, with catches about 7 or 8 inches.

Pike

To increase their chances of catching pike, some fishermen are using two rods, Smith said. It’s legal to use two rods in Idaho, but an angler must pay an extra $9 to put out a second rod.

Smith recommended those who pay for the right to use two rods use one with bait on the bottom and the other with bait under a bobber. Most fishermen use smelt for bait and fish in Blue Creek, Loff’s, Cougar and Mica bays.

Burbot

Anglers have been catching burbot, also known as ling, through 5 to 7 inches of ice at Sullivan Lake in Pend Oreille County.

Most have been walking out on the ice from the public launch site at the south end of the lake. The ice was honeycombed and a little thin near the edges earlier this week.

Fishermen have been jigging 1- and 1-1/2-ounce Nordic spoons and other similar lures near the bottom in 100 to 140 feet of water.

Most of the burbots are small, running about 14 inches long, but the fishermen have been catching a few 5 to 8 pounders. Washington’s burbot limit is five per day.