Frozen over
Bob Schaffer waits for something to bite as he ice fishes.
Chuck Moreland, of Coeur d’Alene, puts bait on his hook as he fishes from his ice fishing tent.
Ice fishermen start packing up their auger and other things around their encampment after a full day of fishing Tuesday on Hayden Lake.
Fish caught are kept cold on the ice of the lake.
A lone ice fisherman finds a spot away from a cluster of others ice fishing.
Dan Johnson, front, Eldon Hall, center, and Don Johnson head out with the day’s catch after ice fishing.
Photos by
LISA JAMES/Press
A rare occurrence is happening on Hayden Lake this winter — ice fishing.
As many as 35 anglers have been showing up in the early mornings when fishing is best. They have heaters and stoves in the pop-up tents they set up over the holes they drill in the ice. Pike and kokanee salmon are being caught. Reports on the thickness of the ice varies from 11 inches in some spots to 20 inches in others, according to some of the fishermen. Some estimate the last time they were able to fish on Hayden Lake was 20 years ago.
Idaho Fish and Game’s Phil Cooper said it’s been more than 10 years since anglers were able to fish on the ice at some of the lake’s more shallow areas.
“Right now they’re in other parts of the lake, near Tobler’s Marina and Honeysuckle Beach, so it very well may be 20 years since anyone’s been able to do that,” Cooper said.