Lots of fish options before summer heat

There are a lot of great local fishing options before the summer heat is turned on.

Dale Odenbaugh of Fins and Feathers in Coeur d'Alene said shore anglers are getting a lot of trout on all the little lakes from Fernan on north.

"They were stocked mighty heavily," he said. "You can also catch catfish in Fernan, and some people are getting pretty good-sized ones."

For trout, try rooster tails or little spoons. If you're fishing the bottom, try power bait or put a marshmallow above a nightcrawler on a No. 8 hook. The marshmallow will float the nightcrawler to where the fish are.

Kokanee fishing on Lake Coeur d'Alene and Hayden Lake is going well, Odenbaugh said.

"They're bigger on Hayden and deeper - 40 to 50 feet," he said.

On Coeur d'Alene, the kokanee are about the same depth on the north end and 20 to 30 feet deep on the south end, Odenbaugh said.

Try different-colored wedding rings or maggots behind a flasher unit while trolling.

The largemouth bass are picking up on Hayden, Hauser, Fernan and Coeur d'Alene, and the smallmouth bass are getting lively on Coeur d'Alene and Hayden.

"Plastics and tube jigs work good," Odenbaugh said.

Northern pike are in the bays and anglers should try throwing spinner baits, lures and swim baits.

The chinook are 60 to 80 feet deep on Coeur d'Alene.

"You can pick up a few this time of year, but it's scattered," Odenbaugh said. "Some are over the 20-inch minimum."

Bluegill, a favorite with youth, are in the bays around the brush and about 10 feet deep on area lakes.

"If you get a big one, they can be tasty," Odenbaugh said, adding that jigs, nightcrawlers and maggots under a bobber should do the trick.

Odenbaugh said the predicted hotter weather should turn on bass fishing even more.

"Fishing gets more active when the rain stops," he said.

Bud Frasca of North West Classic Tackle in Hayden said trout fishing on the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe rivers has been great.

"The rain helped get the rivers back up," he said. "The Coeur d'Alene is clear and fishing good. All kinds of bugs are coming off."

Frasca said he has also heard good reports of bass fishing on Lake Coeur d'Alene and Hayden Lake.

"Fishing right now is superb and it should stay that way for another month," he said.

When it heats up, Frasca said the best times are early morning and in the evening.

He said the rain will probably bring on mosquitoes, so anglers are encouraged to take spray with them, especially with the threat of West Nile Virus.

Frasca said, with summer events happening every weekend for the rest of summer in local cities, it's a good time to get out.

"It can get crowded so it's a good time to get out of Dodge," he said. "This is fishing time for sure."