Fishing a wild ride in North Idaho

Pat Way, with Orvis Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d'Alene, said water conditions in North Idaho and western Montana have resembled a roller coaster.

"We did have some good windows of fishing on the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe rivers, but it is a day to day operation," Way said. "Flows are projected to steadily rise with warm and wet weather in the forecast."

The flows on the Coeur d'Alene are 7,660 cubic feet per second at Enaville and on the St. Joe are 6,390 cfs.

"We advise very cautionary wading in both of these rivers and floating them is for expert rowers only," Way said. "Even experienced fisherman and rowers get into trouble in these springtime water conditions."

There are better fishing opportunities on area and Eastern Washington lakes right now.

"Coffee Pot Lake and Amber Lake are both fishing well," Way said. "Intermediate sink tip lines and leech patterns have been working well."

In North Idaho, Hayden Lake and Lake Coeur d'Alene have been giving up a few crappies and largemouth bass.

At this point, river fishing is a hurry up and wait program, Way said.

To help alleviate the wait, Northwest Outfitters is sponsoring a viewing of the International Fly Fishing Tour (IF4) at the Kroc Center on Friday May 11, Way said.

"This is a series of short fly fishing movies that are filmed around the globe," he said. "The film tour is a lot of fun and gets people excited about the upcoming fishing season."

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Bass fishing is a little slow this spring, but for now chinook, crappie and crawdad fishing can keep an angler busy.

Lake Coeur d'Alene offers up Chinook, which are chasing lines with herring helmets and herring, even some Rapala plugs, said Tina Padgitt, of Black Sheep Sporting Goods.

Boaters are trolling their lines slowly, around 1.5 miles per hour, from 30 to 60 feet deep.

The season is just getting started, and should improve as the summer progresses - just be careful for increased boat traffic.

Crappie are active in Fernan, Hayden and Hauser lakes, too.

Use screw grubs on a 1/32 ounce jig head, and cast lines from either boats or the banks. The panfish are lurking in about six feet of water.

An increasingly popular way of fishing is trapping for crawdads, Padgitt said.

Trappers are loading traps with anything from hot dogs to fish along Lake Coeur d'Alene and trapping some big catches.

"It's getting popular," Padgitt said. "People are realizing there are a lot of crawdads here."

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Fishing on the Coeur d'Alene River should improve in the coming days with much of the spring rains behind, said Bud Frasca of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden.

"The river is dropping down, so the fishing should be better," Frasca said.

Frasca recommends fishing with nymphs with an indicator or streamers.

Frasca said crappie fishing is coming on "here and there" on lakes such as Cocolalla, Coeur d'Alene, Hayden and Fernan.

"They're not spawning yet, so they're not in shallow water," Frasca said. "If you have the wherewithal, you can find them with a fish finder."

Some trout are being caught on Hayden and Pend Oreille by trolling with downriggers.

Pike fishing is improving on the chain lakes and Coeur d'Alene, Frasca said.

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Salmon fishing was tediously paced at Fins and Feathers' salmon derby this past weekend, said Jeff Smith of the tackle shop and guide service.

Snagging trophies required scouring the lake, Smith said, adding that the largest fish were caught off Tubbs Hill, Driftwood Point and Gasser Point.

"They were everywhere and nowhere. It was terrible," Smith said with a chuckle.

The top catch and $1,000 first prize went to Rich Nearing of Pinehurst with a 13.28 pound fish. Second place went to Smith himself, for a 12.58 pounder. Pat Benson of Coeur d'Alene took third for an 11.68 pound fish.

"It was slow fishing," Smith said.

But those that were caught were done so in the usual fashion, he said, by pulling diving plugs and helmeted herring from the surface to 30 feet.

Fins and Feathers' pike tournament is scheduled for April 28 and 29, with entry set at $50 for each two-person team.

Smith said pike fishing is best at the chain lakes these days, particularly Killarney, Cave and Anderson lakes.

"Last year during the pike tournament, Anderson Lake was the hot spot," Smith said.

He recommended throwing Husky Jerk Rapalas or Johnson Silver Minnow Spoons at shallow depths of 3 or 4 feet.

Those itching to catch some fish should head to Priest Lake, Smith said, where the mackinaw are biting on everything.

"You can use so much different stuff - jointed plugs, dodgers and mini squids, you can use herring," he said. "The mackinaw hit a lot of things."

Fishermen can expect to catch several at a time on the lake, he added, with sizes ranging from 16 inches to 20-some pounds.

"We call Priest Lake the confidence booster," Smith said.

Fernan Lake is still reliable for rainbow trout after being recently restocked, he added.

Trout will bite on a jig set up, he said, but nightcrawlers and marshmallows usually do the trick.

"Can't beat it," Smith said.