Crappie season in full swing

Now is the time for reeling in crappie trophies.

Crappies are abundant at most small lakes, said Jeff Smith with Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service.

"This is kind of the time for 'em," Smith said.

He suggested casting for crappies at water bodies like Twin, Rose, Gamble and Hayden lakes.

The standard setup is a bobber and jig, he said. Some bait with crappie nibbles or maggots, he added.

A few are also fly fishing, using beaded headed nymphs for flies.

Smith advised taking care of fishing at Hayden Lake, where there is a 10-inch size limit and a bag limit of six.

"Just sort through them a little bit," he said.

Fishing is mixed on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Smith said.

Folks have been seen fishing for northern pike and small mouth bass, he said.

Pike are concentrated in flooded grass on the north end, Smith said, mostly in Cougar, Mica and Kidd Island bays.

"Weedless spoons have been as good as anything," he said. "Maybe put a plastic trailer on it."

He suggested pitching it off in the shallow water, around 2 to 6 feet.

Small mouth are scattered, he added.

"You might have to move around a little bit more than normal," he said. "At least everywhere we've stopped, we've caught some."

Use crank baits or tube jigs, he suggested.

Small mouth has a bag limit of 6, he said. There is no size limit.

Pend Oreille is ideal for trolling for big trout, Smith said.

"Troll the surface to 10 deep with Apexes or buck tailed flies," he said.

Rainbow will be up high, he added, while mackinaw will be a lot deeper.

"It's a good time for rainbow," Smith said.

The Pend Oreille Captain's Table - Trash Can Derby starts this weekend and runs every weekend in June, Smith said.

Entry costs $20 a weekend, and can be paid at Captain's Table at Garfield Bay.

Warm-water species are on the move

Largemouth bass are spawning, so anglers can reap the rewards of the active fish at any of the area lakes, said Josh Kinghorn, of Black Sheep Sporting Goods.

That means the fish have come up to shallower waters, about 5 to 15 feet deep. So use three- to four-inch curly tail jigs, tube jigs or cinco worms. Lots of plastic baits are a good bet.

Smallmouth bass are pre-spawning, so they're still a little bit farther out, about 10 to 30 feet deep.

Pike haven't settled down yet, either. They're chasing crappie fish, so if you can find crappie you can find pike. They're swimming anywhere from 5 to 20 feet.

If you want the crappie use 12-inch husky jerks from perch to firetiger for the jerk baits. Tennesse-chad is the color of choice.

For pike, use rooster tails or Mepps with a rooster tail.

Once the weeds grow in better later this month, pike will hide and ambush prey so that's the best spot to cast line.

That way, you won't have to chase them around, Kinghorn said, they'll be on the weeds, sitting and waiting.

And it's when fishing is the best, using smelt and various lures, he said.

Fishing on rivers are improving

Fishing on area rivers is gradually improving after recent high water and runoff events, said Bud Frasca of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden.

"It's fishable up high on the Coeur d'Alene above Prichard, at Teepee Creek and anywhere above Shoshone and mile marker 30," Frasca said. "The river is dropping every day to where it's clear and fishable, so that's a good sign."

Frasca said there may be a chance at some dry fly activity in the middle of the day. Otherwise, nymphs, streamers and indicators are the best bet.

The St. Joe River is also dropping.

"I'd fish up high where it's a lot slower and not near as big," Frasca said. "It's still pretty big around by Avery, although it could be floated and fished with streamers as they were doing before the water went up."

Frasca said as long as it stays cool, fishing should be good. However, there's still a lot of snow in the mountains so warm weather could bring on more heavy runoff and murky waters.

"Waters were high recently mostly because of all the rain we had," he said. "If it gets hot, everything will blow out again."

Meanwhile, bass and crappie fishing on Hayden is still a good choice, Frasca said.

"The smallmouth are staging up to spawn," he said. "They're coming into the water that's 10 feet or less, so they're very catchable with 4-inch rubber worms or tube jigs."

Frasca said that now is a good time to be out on the water.

"It's not too hot and it's not too cold," he said. "Overcast is typically better than sunny days for fishing."