Largemouth bass great on Hayden Lake

Largemouth bass fishing is hot on Hayden Lake, according to Jeff Smith of Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service. "(Fishermen) are fishing shallow in the weeds, tight to the bank," Smith said. "(The fish) are quite shallow, either 2 foot of water or 3 foot or even 1 foot."

Largemouth bass fishing is hot on Hayden Lake, according to Jeff Smith of Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service.

"(Fishermen) are fishing shallow in the weeds, tight to the bank," Smith said. "(The fish) are quite shallow, either 2 foot of water or 3 foot or even 1 foot."

He suggested pitching rubber lizards or plastic worms. A weedless jig with a pork rind trailer is the way to go if bass are hanging out under a wood structure, he added.

Crappie in Hayden Lake are sticking around the weeds and wood structures, too, Smith said, usually around 6 to 10 foot depths.

The best lure would be small jigs under a bobber, he said.

Northern pike and smallmouth bass turn up in Hayden Lake, too, he added. He suggested bringing multiple rods to target different fish.

"It's a pretty good multi-species lake," Smith said. "You might end up bass fishing, you might end up pike fishing. You just got to go out there with both barrels and all the ammunition you got, and see what you can come up with."

Fernan Lake has plenty of largemouth bass at shallow depths, Smith said, most of them biting on rubber lizards and rubber worms.

Trout on Fernan Lake are being snagged with powerbait, he added.

Lake Coeur d'Alene still has kokanee to offer on the south end of the lake near Harrison, he said.

Most are in shallow spots, and chomping on wedding ring spinners with corn or maggots.

Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe rivers

The Coeur d'Alene River is fishing well, said Mark Roush of ROW Adventures in Coeur d'Alene.

"Flows are a little high with warm weather, but the clarity is decent and fishermen are getting tugs while using a broad variety of flies," Roush said.

Most days see some nice stonefly and blue wing olive hatches, he said. There are still large fish holding in deeper water that can be easily enticed by a bugger or leach that is drifted over their nose.

The St. Joe River is seeing some nice hatches during the middle of the day and into the late afternoon, Roush said.

"Flows are up quite a bit, but there is some solid fishing to be had on the lower river," he said.

Be sure to have a variety of stoneflies, some blue wings and some march browns.

Area lakes

The lakes are continuing to fish very well, Roush said.

"Visit Hauser and Hayden if you are looking for largemouth bass," he said. "Crankbaits and a variety of small to mid-sized plastics are the lures of choice.

While there are some smallmouth eating, the bite should start to pick up on area lakes soon.

"Fishermen on Fernan are still finding healthy numbers of crappie and bluegill while using grubs and red worms under rocket bobbers," Roush said.