Fabulous fall fishing awaits

Pick your battles.

With the weather being spotty lately, fishing can be rough on the water, but anglers shouldn't get discouraged because there's a lot of great fishing to be had, said Steve Holweg of Cabela's.

"Once we get back to stable weather, it will be normal fall fishing," he said. "Go out and get them because they'll be feeding."

Holweg has heard good reports about pike fishing near Harrison.

He said he's still having good luck with kokanee on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

"I run either a ford fender or a cowbell and behind that there's a wedding ring or a needle fish," Holweg said. "Tip those with maggots and corn and hold on. I operate on the principle that if it's not broken don't fix it. It's been working for me for the past 10 years."

Steelhead fishing on the Clearwater and Snake rivers continues to improve, Holweg said.

"It should only get better as the season progresses," he said. "Normally steelhead is a winter fishery - when the weather is nasty and cold that's when they bite best - but the last couple of years the fish have been stacked up early.

"But you still have to be there at the right time. They could bite well today and not tomorrow."

If there's breaks in the weather, go for it on area lakes and streams, Holweg said.

"The crappie, bass, pike and kokanee are all biting and even the chinook are starting to pick up," he said. "They're all putting on weight to make it through the winter."

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The kokanee are growing bolder on Lake Coeur d'Alene, according to Dale Odenbaugh with Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service.

Which is good news for fishermen, he said.

"They're coming up a little bit and coming closer to shore," Odenbaugh explained. "You can get them off the shoreline now."

He suggested throwing little jigs, especially around Booths Park and Higgens Point.

The kokanee are still in the 9- to 12-inch range, he added, but they're getting fatter.

"They're getting ready to spawn," he said.

Chinook are also chomping on herring or mini squid on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Odenbaugh said.

In fact, someone caught a 17.5 pounder last Thursday, he said.

"He was on down toward the Carlin Bay area," Odenbaugh said.

The chinook tend to collect around 70- to 90-foot depths, he said.

Pike are also hitting in all the bays, he said.

Spinnerbaits and jerk baits tend to snag them.

Smallmouth are increasingly active in the lake, too, he said.

"They're along the rocky shorelines," Odenbaugh noted. "The bigger ones tend to be suspended in about 30 to 40 feet of water."

Twin tails, tubes and some small crank baits should do the trick, he advised.

Pend Oreille is still a good source of mackinaw, he said.

"They're not as big as they were, but they're in the 5 pounds on up," he said.

Fishermen have been relying on apexes to reel in the macks, he said.

Catfish are still popular in Fernan and Hauser lakes, Odenbaugh said.

Catfish bait will work, he said, but that's not the main choice lately.

"Nightcrawlers seem to be doing quite well for 'em," he said.

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Fishing is going very well as fall weather sinks in for good.

Largemouth bass are especially active on Coeur d'Alene, Hayden and Pend Oreille lakes, swimming between 10 to 20 feet deep, and feeding at much quicker rates now that temperatures are dropping.

Use Crankbaits and all types of mid- to deep-range divers, but the best bait going right now is Strike King Series 3, 4, 5 and 6.

"It's been really good," said Blake Becker.

On the same waters, smallmouth bass have been almost as active They're going after small plastic worms, grubs or tubes at depths between 25 and 30 feet.

Keep your lines around structures where the fish cluster. Visible structures are OK, but it's still green weed patches at the bottom of the lake that offer the most fish.

Kokanee on Lake Coeur d'Alene have been chasing lines with double-baited wedding rings, with maggots, corn or both at the ends. Trolling is the best bet, dragging those lines.

The fishing should be even better in a couple of weeks when the water temperatures drop even more.

Crappie and perch at Hayden Lake are chasing small grubs, half inch to inch in size, tipped on a 1/32 ounce jig head. Pike in Coeur d'Alene and Hayden lakes are chasing the Crankbaits just like largemouth bass at 10 to 20 feet deep.