Kokanee fishing doing well on Lake Coeur d'Alene

The kokanee action on Lake Coeur d'Alene is still big, says Jeff Smith with Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service.

Fishermen are quickly catching the six-fish limit, he added.

"You can catch them throughout the lake, but most are concentrated on the east arm of the lake," Smith said.

Most fishermen are relying on a flasher with a wedding ring spinner, baited with corn or maggots.

Depth is key, he added.

"The best depths I think is around 40 feet, but at times there will be some around 10 or 15 feet," he said. "Once you start getting 'em, just duplicate it."

Salmon are also doing well in Lake Coeur d'Alene, he added.

The chinook tend to range between 4 to 12 pounds, Smith said, most around 90 foot depths.

"The best has been on 8-inch flashers with mini squids," he added. "There are lots of colors that work."

He added that he has caught them by The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course, as well as by Arrow Point.

Folks are also still catching smallmouth bass on Hayden Lake.

"They're fairly shallow, around 15 to 20 feet," Smith said.

He suggested jigging with a curl tailed grub and a leadhead.

Fly-casters are landing quite a few fish on local rivers, said Pat Way of Orvis Northwest Outfitters. The fishing pressure is just about nil as many sportsmen shift their focus to hunting season, but the weather has been inconsistent.

"The rain's actually helped a little bit, and it's been back-and-forth," Way said. "One nice day, one crummy day."

Trout are slurping mahogany duns and some October caddis, he added, but the best fly right now is a blue winged olive.

"The fish have been really hitting them, both on the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe," Way said. "You really want to give (the flies) some motion. You don't want to fish 'em on a dead drift."

River fishermen are also boating steelhead down south. Way said traditional steelhead flies are still working well, including signal lights, green bud skunks and green lanterns.

"Both the Clearwater and the Snake River are giving up nice fish," he said.

The B-run steelhead are starting to show up in local waters, Way said. B-run fish tend to be larger, because they spend two or three years feeding in the Pacific Ocean. A-run steelhead, on the other hand, only spend a year in saltwater before returning upstream.

Way said he isn't sure why some fish stay in the Pacific longer than others, but the steelhead is something of an enigma.

"The beauty of steelhead is that they are a little mysterious," he added. "I think that's why so many guys are drawn to 'em."

Pike and bass fishing has slowed down since the arrival of fall.

But that doesn't mean it's over, said Josh Kinghorn, of Black Sheep Sporting Goods. Meantime, steelhead season is picking up south of town at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers near Lewiston.

Trout are chasing fresh shrimp, with oils, off lines that use divers in the front to sink the bait. Bobbers with Steelhead jigs are also working well, he said.

For fishing closer to home, pike and bass can still be caught, just not as abundantly as during summer.

"They're still catching small mouth on Hayden Lake but it's far and few compared to a couple of weeks ago," Kinghorn said, adding that pike have slowed down the most.

Bass are chasing plastic lures like Senko worms or lizards, or any type of crawdad pattern. Soon they'll switch to chasing smelt.

On Hayden Lake, smallmouth bass are going after drop shot minnows, grubs and tube jigs to land them, Kinghorn said.