Shoreline fishing abounds

Opportunities abound right now for fun, easy shoreline fishing, said Jeff Smith with Fins and Feathers Tackle Shop and Guide Service.

Folks are casting off the shore and docks at Fernan Lake for rainbow trout, he said.

"They're just small rainbow, really, 11 to 13 inches, but they're catching quite a few, and it's easy to get to," Smith said.

Most are bait fishing with nightcrawlers or Powerbait, he said.

Fishermen are also dotting the shorelines of Lake Coeur d'Alene by Higgens Point, Smith added, to reel in kokanee.

Most of the kokanee are dark spawning colors now, he acknowledged. So while the catching is easy, most of the fish will get tossed back.

"You can sure have some fun with 'em," Smith said. "If you catch some that look fairly decent, you can put them in a smoker."

There are several ways to catch the kokanee, he added.

Some are casting spoons, Smith said. Others are using jigs, maybe tipped with maggots.

"You can have some quick fun and catch a bunch of fish," he said. "How edible they are is the question."

Last weekend saw many trolling for rainbow trout at Lake Pend Oreille, Smith said.

"They're pretty scattered," he said, adding that the fish tend to congregate from the surface to 20-foot depths. "I'd say the bulk of the boats are on the north end of the lake."

Trolling buck-tailed flies seems to bring in the bigger fish, he said.

Last weekend's fishing derby put on by the Lake Coeur d'Alene Anglers Association didn't see many hefty catches, Smith said.

The top three winners were Gary Thompson with a 10.5-pound chinook, Susan Houk with an 8.4-pounder and Dan Pierce of Fins and Feathers with an 8.2-pound catch.

Most fish were caught between 70-to-100-foot depths on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Folks used helmeted herring, flashers and mini squids.

"We consider November to be one of our better months on catching those," Smith said. "We're looking to some good fishing ahead on that."

Pike are still getting caught on Lake Coeur d'Alene, too, Smith said.

He recommended fishing at 10-to-15-foot depths, around weed beds, using Husky Jerk Rapalas and spoons.

Someone recently caught a 15-pound pike south of Harrison, he added.

"The best action is on that south end, south of Harrison," Smith said. "If you don't want to go that far, Wolf Lodge and Blue Creek are close, and there's enough fish to get some action there."

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The weather in early November has been closer to what you would see in summer than in winter, so fishing is holding up to summer-like styles.

Anglers can still catch bass in lakes like Fernan, Hayden and Hauser with deep-diving Jerk baits and heavy lures, said Tina Padgitt of Black Sheep Sporting Goods, while trout can be pulled from Fernan Lake using Powerbaits.

They're swimming deeper now than in the summer, so anglers have to get away from the banks.

Trolling for chinook is still proving successful, Padgitt said.

Drag lines loaded with wedding rings slowly at depths of 30 to 60 feet. Mica Bay has been a popular spot on Lake Coeur d'Alene to catch them, she said. But when the weather turns colder in the winter, load your lines with mini-squids and herring helmets for better results.

With winter comes ice, too.

"I'm gearing up for ice fishing," she said.

The smaller lakes are the first to freeze. When they do, anglers can catch kokanee with maggots and corn, pike on smelt and tip ups, and perch can be caught by jigging with a worm off the bottom of the lakes.

Cd'A River fishing well

Bud Frasca of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden had great results when he fished the upper Coeur d'Alene River from Teepee Creek and worked his way down on Tuesday.

"Midges in the morning and a minute blue-winged olive," Frasca said of what worked. "I was fishing two flies at a time and, at times, I had fish on both flies."

Frasca estimates he caught 40 to 50 fish during the outing.

"No big ones," he said, adding that 16 inches was the biggest. "Most were 12 to 14 inches - nice, chunky clean fish."

Mahagonies were like a "treat" for about an hour in the afternoon, Frasca said.

"When I left, the caddis were coming off," he said.

The river's temperature is rapidly dropping with cold nights - it's around 50 degrees - and fishing should be good for awhile until the water gets in the 30s, Frasca said.

On area lakes, pike fishing is going well, Frasca said.

"Pike do better with traditional equipment such as Husky jerks, spinner baits or red and white spoons," he said.

Smallmouth bass are also hitting well on small plastics, tubes and worms.

Steelhead fishing on the Clearwater and Grand Ronde seems to be going so-so, Frasca said.

"I wouldn't expect it to be that good because there's only about half the fish that there were last year," he said.