Pike best bet for local fishing

Fishing for pike is the best bet right now.

Because of the warm weather, ice is thin, but pike can still be caught, especially at the Chain Lakes, said Tina Padgitt, of Black Sheep Sporting Goods. You can add a steel leader to the line to land those, too.

At last check, perch are going after tiny jig heads, tipped with a maggot, dropped anywhere from 4 to 10 feet deep.

"With the warm weather we've had," Padgitt said of the ice conditions, "I don't know how good it is."

If there is no ice, go after pike at Fernan Lake's north end, which is a hot spot of late.

Use the same smelt rigs there, she said.

But to fish at greater depths, try fishing Coeur d'Alene or Priest lakes.

Trolling for salmon on Lake Coeur d'Alene, anglers should drag lines with a downrigger and a mini squid between 90 to 110 feet deep.

Reports of Priest Lake producing kokanee are cropping up, Padgitt said. Use wedding rings, or small hoochie rigs when you troll for those, she said.

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Bud Frasca of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden said he has had good luck fishing recently on the lower Coeur d'Alene River from mile marker 15 down to the Cataldo Mission.

"It has been really good, depending on the day," Frasca said. "Sunny days are the best. You don't want to go very far up the river; fish down low."

Frasca said nymphs with an indicator are a good setup on the Coeur d'Alene.

There is also good rainbow trout fishing to be had at Rufus Woods below Coulee Dam on the Columbia River and on Rocky Ford, a spring creek near Moses Lake.

Wooley Boogers (jigs) and a streamer are good choices to catch fish there.

Meanwhile, steelhead fishing on rivers to the south has slowed down with recent warmer temperatures.

"It will start to pick back up with colder temperatures because that will stop the runoff and make the rivers clearer," Frasca said.

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Ice fishing may still be tenuous in Kootenai County, said Dale Odenbaugh with Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service, but northern lakes are still holding up.

The usual spots, Round, Kelso, Granite, Campbell and Hauser, are the most solid bets, he said.

"The best thing is just be cautious around the shore," Odenbaugh reminded. "Drill plenty of good holes, make sure it's good ice."

If the biting is slow, he said, he advised using wax worms. Generally folks are relying on a glow jig, Dale added, baited with three or four maggots.

"Just kind of jig at the bottom, keep it moving," he said.

The lakes are offering a variety of catches, he noted, including bass, trout, perch, crappie and bluegill.

If fishermen want to keep it local, there are still some chinook on Lake Coeur d'Alene, he said.

He suggested using a black and glow mini squid around 60 to 80 feet. Folks can also pull herring around 100 feet.

"The bigger ones come off the bottom for the herring," he said.

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Mike Beard at Orvis Northwest Outfitters said steelheading down south has gotten a lot better in the last few days. Hit the Clearwater, Snake and Grande Ronde rivers, he said, where water clarity is improving everybody's chances for a great catch.

"It's even better now than it was at the end of the year," Beard said.

Locally, go after the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River.

With no snow on the ground, he recommends going as far up the North Fork as Prichard. Take advantage of the opportunity to hit some spots farther up stream this time of year.

"You definitely don't have to go up high," he said. "We get a lot of fish that will move down and winter in those lower stretches."