Warm spell prompts ice fishing warning

With the recent warm spell and rain, the message with ice fishing on area lakes is simple but important.

Be safe.

"With all the warm temperatures we got, I'd be really careful on the ice," said Steve Holweg of Cabela's. "If we get a couple days of cold weather as predicted, ice fishing should go back to what it was and guys will be catching fish."

"I was going to go out ice fishing last Sunday and I said to myself, 'You know what? I don't think so.' With ice fishing, it's definitely a good idea to weigh on the side of caution."

Holweg said the ice can vary from lake to lake.

"It really depends on where you're at," Holweg said. "I talked with a guy the other day who was fishing on 14 inches of ice, but he was way up north.

Holweg said he hears that rainbows are being caught in good numbers on Lake Roosevelt both off the banks and trolling. He said worms and marshmallows off the bottom and Berkley power bait are doing the trick.

He said he also heard anglers hooked chinook salmon on Lake Coeur d'Alene last weekend.

"It was around 90 feet using herring flies and mini squids," Holweg said.

He said, even if there's no ice, Hog Canyon and Fourth of July lakes on the Washington side may be worth a try, especially with recent flooding on the Coeur d'Alene River.

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While warmer temperatures have thawed many lakes, ice fishing is still a go in some places.

Still, it might be the best time to go after steelhead south of here.

The Clearwater River, especially from Orofino to the confluence near Lewiston, is offering good fishing for this time of year, said Josh Kinghorn, Black Sheep Sporting Goods.

Using slip bobber and jigs, anglers can toss from the banks into pools where the steelhead lurk. Colored jigs should be black and white, green and black, and red and black patterns.

Trolling for the fish from a boat is also working right now, Kinghorn said.

Those lines should be baited with shrimp, with shrimp oil or egg hooks.

For those wanting to stay closer to home, ice fishing is still an option.

Fernan, Twin and Avondale lakes are offering pike, crappie, perch and trout too.

Use a Swedish pimple, or a glow hook and bead chain, with a chunk of worm, corn or maggot, for the trout and perch at Twin Lakes. The same formula will land crappies in Avondale, Kinghorn said.

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For ice fishing that won't result in falling through, Dale Odenbaugh suggests choosing locations carefully.

Fernan Lake and the Chain Lakes don't have very stable ice right now, warned Odenbaugh, who works at Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service.

"It all depends on how much water is coming into 'em. Ice will rise, and you'll have a bear of a time getting on it," he said.

Some lakes up north are ice fishing worthy, he said.

Like Twin Lakes, he said, where the pike fishing is still strong.

"Most of the others (lakes) don't really have pike in them to be really productive," he said.

Using smelt is best to nab pike, he said.

Spirit Lake is also prime for ice fishing for Kokanee, he added. He suggested using maggots and glow jigs.

"They're usually about 25 feet deep, is the typical area," he said.

Chinook salmon are doing well on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Odenbaugh said.

"Everybody who has gone has been catching the limit on it," he said of the two-fish cap.

He advised fishing with helmeted herring at the 90-to-100-foot depth.

"The mini squids are still producing some fish," he said. "They're actually working a little bit better than the herring."

Odenbaugh reminded folks to check the amount of water around the shoreline before trying any ice fishing.

"Safety is of most importance out there," he said.

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Pat Way, longtime fly-fishing guide at Orvis Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d'Alene and an angler who knows the local waters as well as anyone, delivered an honest assessment of the fishing conditions on Tuesday:

It's tough out there.

Actually, it's terrible out there.

"Obviously, (the rivers) got really big in a hurry," Way said.

After several days of warm weather and spring-like rain, nearby trout streams are muddy and flowing fast, while down south, the steelhead rivers are not only un-fishable, they're mighty dangerous.

The Clearwater, Way reported, registered a mammoth 50,000 cfs this week. To put that number in perspective, the boys at Orvis like to fish the river when it's running around 5,000.

"That's crazy, because that's bigger than the Snake River," Way said. "I've never seen the Clearwater bigger than the Snake."

But all is not lost: Fly-casters can still catch a few trout at Rocky Ford Spring Creek in central Washington, not far from Ephrata and Moses Lake. Known for its big rainbows, the creek is spring-fed, Way explained, which means Rocky Ford is less prone to flooding and major temperature variations.

And right now, it's "the only game in town," Way said.

"Even in the winter, you can have pretty good trout fishing out there," he added. "It does get quite a bit of pressure. If you can get out there in mid-week, it's preferred."

Way suggested flourocarbon leaders and tippets, tied to small flies (no smaller than size 20). Olive or yellow scuds - freshwater shrimp imitations - might elicit a strike.

Just before dawn or right after sundown, try fishing a streamer. Big black bunny leeches, black and yellow tandems or white streamers are a good call, Way advised.

"There's enough public access on (Rocky Ford) that you usually can find a spot to fish on your own," he said.

If the weather cools and the raindrops stop falling, chances are the fishing will return to its normal winter patterns. Steelheading should stabilize with a return to colder weather.

"If it stays near or under freezing, then things will solidify again pretty rapidly," Way said. "We're hoping it doesn't (warm up) again, because we'd like to save some of this for the summer flows."