Weekend should be good for fishing

Now that the water is dropping, this weekend should be a good one for fishermen, said Mike Beard, of Orvis Northwest Outfitters in Coeur d'Alene.

"Since we really haven't had a deep freeze yet, the local rivers are still fishing decently," Beard said, referring to the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene and the St. Joe River.

"As long as you can stand the air temperature there should be a good chance of catching some fish," he said.

Fishing with streamers and nymphs will be the most consistent, but if the air temperature gets up around 40 degrees there should be a short window to throw some midges, he said.

"I wouldn't waste much time throwing dries unless you see some heads up in the back eddies or slower banks," Beard said.

The steelhead rivers are still a little bit on the high side, but slowly dropping and clearing up, and they should be a great option by the weekend, Beard said.

"Sink tips and bigger winter flies should do the trick for swinging, but nymphing stoneflies and egg patterns under an indicator can also be very effective this time of year just depending on the type of water you like to fish," Beard said.

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Nothing much has changed since last week, according to Tina Padgitt of Black Sheep Sporting Goods, so keep trolling for salmon or go after pike while waiting for ice fishing to begin.

If conditions permit and it's not too windy, anglers can still troll for salmon on Lake Coeur d'Alene dragging lines with herring or mini squids. During the fall, lines sunk between 30 to 60 feet yielded the best results.

Anglers can fish for pike from the banks of the Chain Lakes with a bait and bobber.

Smelt is the hot bait right now, she said.

When lakes do freeze over and ice fishing begins, anglers should go after pike with Tip-Ups.

Ice fishing just around the corner

This could be described as the "between" season for fishing.

Fly fishing on the rivers has ceased, but ice fishing is just around the corner with recent colder weather, said Josh Cass of Cabela's.

"The rivers are pretty much washed out," Cass said.

While there haven't been any reports of ice thick enough for ice fishing - even at lakes to the north - anglers are still gearing up for the season, buying shelters and other equipment.

"Shelters have been moving slowly, but surely," Cass said.

Cass said brads and super baits for salmon continue to sell well.

He said ice fishing could be a couple weeks away if cold temperatures continue into the holidays.