Bluegill fishing season begins at Fernan Lake

With weather shifting with the seasons, the best bet for sure firing fishing is probably catching bluegill fish at Fernan Lake.

Anglers are catching them in bigger numbers casting from the banks into three to six feet of water. Use 1/32 ounce crappie jig, and a very small tube with a maggot for the best results, said Blake Becker, of Black Sheep Sporting Goods.

Bluegill season usually marks the beginning of spring and summer fishing, with crappie season and large mouth bass season heating up after that.

"We've heard spectacular numbers on those," Becker said. "Those are starting to turn on."

Also, salmon are being pulled from Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Use a helmet set up - a hard plastic needle nose - and troll with herring anywhere from 130 feet deep to the surface.

Small mouth bass season is slowly heating up, too.

Toss out a Huskie jerk, and use a drop shot to weigh it down 30 feet under water in Hayden and Coeur d'Alene lakes, he said.

One temperatures rise, small mouth will become more active, Becker said. Until then, it's slow going on that front.

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Pan fish are in copious amounts in North Idaho lakes.

Perch, bluegill and crappie can be easily snagged in the Chain Lakes and Fernan and Hayden lakes, said Dale Odenbaugh with Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service.

"Grownups and kids are loving every bit of that," Odenbaugh said. "It's fun fishing."

Most are using 6 or quarter-ounce jigs, he said, generally called crappie jigs.

Many lakes are also boasting nice holdover trout from last summer's plantings, he added.

That includes Fernan, Hauser, Twin and Round lakes.

The fish are chomping on white jigs, power bait and night crawlers, Odenbaugh said.

"Hayden should be picking up, as far as their trout goes," he said. "And those trout are generally up high this time of year. They can catch some pretty nice fish out of that lake."

Pike are also biting well in Hayden Lake, he said, as well as in the Chain Lakes and the bays of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

"There's been some 15 and 20-pound pike caught," Odenbaugh said. "And quite a few in the 3 to 5 to 6-pound range."

Fishermen are generally relying on dead bait like smelt and herring to nab pike, he said.

Salmon is doing better on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Odenbaugh said.

The fish are still found typically from the surface to 30 feet, he said, on the south end of the lake.

"They're getting 'em on herring and Rapalas," Odenbaugh advised.

Lower Cd'A River starting to heat up

Trout fishing on the lower Coeur d'Alene River near Cataldo is starting to heat up, said Bud Frasca of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden.

Midges and leeches should do the trick.

"The lower part of the river is fishable, but there's probably still too much snow in the higher parts," Frasca said.

He said the quality of river fishing will largely depend on how much more rain is received.

"If it keeps raining, that makes the water higher and it can start to get too dirty," Frasca said.

Frasca said he heard that fishing on the lower St. Joe River is also catching on.

Ice has either broken up or is well on its way on area lakes.

"There should be some trout on the southern end of Lake Cocolalla," Frasca said.

Fish tend to congregate in deep pools or at the edge of the ice this time of year, he said.

Fishing on Hayden, Fernan and Coeur d'Alene lakes should get increasingly popular with spring coming on, Frasca said. Try fishing with dead bait such as sardines with bobbers.

Frasca said if the days warm up, dry fly fishing with midges should increase.