Fish Tips

Posted: Thursday, Sep 25, 2008 - 12:19:51 pm PDT
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Mike Satren

Variety is the splice of life

North Idaho outdoor lovers almost universally love fall. Hunters head for the hills, the sloughs, the fields or the deserts, while anglers fly fish the Coeur d'Alene or St. Joe rivers for cutthroat, cast off the weed lines for pike or smallies or troll our lakes for rainbows, chinook, Macks or Kams.

Some splice it up and do a little bit of everything.

A week ago, Jeff Smith of Fins & Feathers caught and released a lot of everything on Lake Coeur d'Alene -- seven species to be exact. He caught kokanee, chinook, smallmouth, largemouth, pike, crappie and perch.

"That was fun. I don't think I've caught more different kinds of fish in a day than that," he said. "Now there's other kinds of fish we could have caught. I could have caught a trout."

He'd like to challenge his own record sometime and really see how many species he can catch in a day.

"That's not easy," he said. "It's doable but it's a challenge."

Northern pike

Even the smaller lakes such as Fernan and Twin have put out some 10-plus-pound fish, said Randy Richards of Tri State Outfitters.

Pike fishermen are starting to present bait more often but there are still lots of anglers who prefer throwing artificial lures. For those pike fishermen, try larger plugs like the size-13 broken-back or Magnum Rapalas in Perch or Fire Tiger patterns, Richards said.

Spoons like the 1- to 2-ounce Dardevles in red and white or Hot Mackerel or the 5/8-ounce Krocodiles will work, too.

Josh Kinghorn of Black Sheep Sporting Goods prefers crankbaits or Rat-L-Traps right now.

Hayden's still slow but pike can wake up any time.

"You don't know, those things are so moody," Smith said.

Smith has been throwing spinnerbaits almost exclusively for pike but if there's any pause at all he'll start pitching this, that or the other lures and spoons starting with his favorite Fire Tiger color.

Smallmouth bass

Twenty-five feet seems to be the magic number for smallies.

"I'll get just outside of where I'm pike fishing and fish along the weed line, just adjacent to the weed line," Smith said. "I get some nice bass that way."

Sometimes he'll position his boat so guys on the weed line side can cast spinnerbaits for pike and the guys on the other side in deeper water can drag some jigs or whatever for smallies.

Randy Johnson of Sportsman's Warehouse is looking for the water temperature on the Spokane River to drop from 65 to about 55 degrees.

"It's still too warm, they're still too scattered," he said. "When it gets to 55, they'll all group together."

He's already seen them pairing up, all the big fish he's caught recently have had another fish follow it to the boat.

On Hayden, smallmouth fishing has been outstanding, it's been really good on Lake Coeur d'Alene and above average on all the other local lakes, Richards said.

Smallies are hitting no matter the weather, he said.

Pumpkinseed, Watermelon and Camo have all been good colors but chartreuse and white are starting to shine.

Find bottom structure and try Tube Jigs, Smallie Beavers or 1/4-ounce spinnerbaits, Richards said.

Largemouth bass

People tend to forget about largemouth bass but they'll remain active in the fall, Richards said.

Kinghorn echoed that sentiment.

Try Senkos or any craw-type stuff, plastic craws or craw lures like the Rebels, he said.

Otherwise try bait -- like worms. That's real K.I.S.S. fishing.

Crappie/Bluegill

Bluegill are hitting well on the Chain Lakes and he's never seen bluegill as big as he's seen come out of Fernan Lake this year, Richards said.

"One fellow said he caught a huge bluegill down by Benewah," said Tina Padgitt of Black Sheep.

Smith said he catches crappie almost everyday on spinnerbaits as incidental catches to pike or bass.

But now he leaves a rod with a little jig handy when he catches one on a Husky Jerk or a spinnerbait.

"They're nice fish," he said. "They're not as big as the big Hayden ones, but they're plenty decent fish."

There are more crappie out there than there used to be, too, he said.

Perch

Most anglers think perch only when ice fishing but others like to fish for them all year round.

"There's some decent perch in Black Lake, just use little jigs and tip with a maggot," Smith said. "You just have to find the depth range on it."

Either free fall a jig or use a slip bobber. Go out farther from the weed line than you'd fish for pike.

Gamble Lake should have good-sized perch but all the lakes have perch, it's just that many of them will be small.

"They're mostly a food fish for the other fish," Smith said. "You can perch fish at any of the places you do in the winter."

Macks and Kams

Macks are starting to hit a little better on Lake Pend Oreille and much better on Priest Lake, Richards said.

Depths are 30 feet to 50 feet on Pend Oreille and from 100 feet to 160 feet on Priest.

Drop shotting with an olive-colored Berkley Drop Shot Minnow worked best.

A dart minnow weighted jig also works.

Trollers might try black and white or black and purple Apexes, Green Perch or Frog Lymans, gold and orange or Rainbow broken-back Rapalas, even larger Krocodile spoons, he said.

On Pend Oreille just about anywhere will work but the north end is producing better size.

Priest Lake is fishing well all over but around Kalispell Island is probably best.

Kams are hitting flies behind planer boards. Heather, Brown Trout, Blackjack or Chief fly patterns seem to work best.

Longliners may do well with gold and black or silver and black size-9 to -11 broken-back Rapalas, spoons in hammered patterns or Jack Lloyds with night crawlers or small Flatfish.

Steelhead

Most of the steelhead action is on the Clearwater River, because it's got the most fish in it, said Josh Seaton of Northwest Outfitters.

Most of his friends are still swinging traditional fly patterns, Green-butt Skunks and standard hairwing steelhead patterns.

Fly fishing

On both the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene rivers it helps to let the sun warm things up a bit first, Seaton said.

Down on The Joe last weekend, he threw hoppers, beetles, ants, October Caddis, Mahogany Duns, Turks Tarantulas and Chernobyl Ants. He tied on a smaller dry fly 18 to 24 inches behind the bigger one.

"Some days they'd be mostly on the dropper or on the big bug and other days they'd kind of switch back and forth," Seaton said.

On the Coeur d'Alene River, he targeted the chinook from the lake that were up spawning.

"I've been fishing trout beads -- egg patterns -- once you find them you can pester them into eating it," he said. "The cutties are right behind them eating eggs, as well."

Farther up the river try Blue-winged Olives, Mahogany Duns or October Caddis.

On Sept. 27, Seaton and many others will be taking in the fourth annual Spey Clave down by Lenore Bridge on the Clearwater. Information: Poppy at the Red Shed Fly Shop (208) 486-6098

Mike Satren is the Hagadone News Network outdoors editor. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2015, or by e-mail at msatren@cdapress.com. Remember to review appropriate rules and regulations before fishing.