North Idaho Ice

[BlueDuck]

Be careful out there.  It getting close to time to stick a fork in it.  Won't be long and we will start hearing about people falling through.

[CMS]

Well, that's a season for me. Went to spirit lake and caught 12 Kokanee, 2 crappie, 1 nice perch, and a 16" cutthroat. There was 16" of ice half was good clear and half was white. It was all solid no slush. The hard part was at the shoreline the water from the hill has been pooling up so the first ten feet onto the ice is knee deep water/ slush. I achieved a lot of goals this year and really enjoyed the ice. Thank you all for the advice and tips, I learned a tremendous amount from a little bit of reading on here. Hope everyone has a good rest of ice season and a good open water season.

Casey

[sihlms391]

Heading to lower twin in morning to check it out.  Don't have to worry about shoreline can just walk out off dock.
Casey nice catch.   

[DEER4DINNER]

Spring fever here, but I'm thinking one last hoorah tomorrow (Sunday) before the ice goes out.  Haven't done a lot of pike fishing this year so I'm wondering about ice conditions at Sportsman's on Hayden.  Anyone been out there recently?  There's still good ice at Honeysuckle apparently.  Took a quick drive out there today and there were probably 50 people within about 20 yards of each other just north of the boat ramp (in front of country club).  Parking lot pretty full.  Are they actually catching Kokanee or are they just sheep?  What do you suppose are the chances of icing a pike near Honeysuckle?  Any info would be appreciated. 

[Bonaro70]

I fished Cocolalla Saturday evening.  Tough sledding at the shoreline.  Board will be needed by Monday.  Ice is still about 9" thick at the 40' depth.  Perch are still active but catching more males which are smaller.  Cocolalla does not have more than a week left before ice is junk.  Be careful out there.  We need all of you back next winter. 

Bonaro

[RayneBidziil22]

went to priest lake didn't get any fish ice is 8" and the fish bite was a morning bite

[Vandal78]

went to priest lake didn't get any fish ice is 8" and the fish bite was a morning bite

Where did you fish at RayneBidziil22? Was wanting to head up there, but had not heard a report recently.

[RayneBidziil22]

Cavanaugh Bay 

[Vandal78]

Thanks RayneBidzill22. Haven't fished through the ice up there in a few years. Might try and make it up there this week.

[idahnt]

Anyone been on Fernan the last few days?  Is a plank needed to get out there yet?

[willrile4]

Definitely need a board on fernan. 10 +ft. Anyone checked ice conditions on any other area lakes?

[CMS]

Peeked at Hayden from honeysuckle, pretty sketchy looking from shore but off the end of the docks there's still safe passage. There was a few guys way out to the left. A guy at north 40 said the Kokanee are biting good and there is a lot of size to them and as of Friday there was 7" of ice. It sounds like ice is Swiss cheese out there so plenty of predrilled holes to choose from.  Our daughter was born last night so I had some time to kill today so went for a drive. Stopped by spirit and it still looks good, there was a few guys out there as well. Since the surprise come early it looks like I might get one more trip out.

[Idahogator]

            Our daughter was born last night.

     Congratulations to you and your wife, Casey.     

[CMS]

Thank you Tom, everything worked out perfect, baby and momma are both doing good.

[Idahogator]

All good news and may it continue, Casey.     

[BIGxJIMxSLADE]

Hey CMS, congratulations, and a question. At Honeysuckle, to get out to the kokanee, does one have to walk towards the far left from the dock at Honeysuckle, or is there a place to get on the ice at the Country Club area ?
Thanks in advance.

[CMS]

Thanks b j s. It was my first time driving over there. It looks like a public beach with socks and public parking. The guys I saw were to the far left and quite a ways out there. There is a path you can't miss heading out there, I'm assuming that's where everyone is catching the Kokanee.

[Simonidae]

Has anyone fished Cocolalla lately? Want to try and maybe make one last trip up this weekend. Never caught a Brook trout or cutty through the ice and hear that could be a good spot. Thanks in advance for any info.

[BIGxJIMxSLADE]

Made a run out to the Honeysuckle side of Hayden and reports are correct, it is totally frozen over. About 8 inches of clear ice with a light dust of powder on top. We went out about half way into the main bay to the left of the boat launch. There were about 20 others spread about with mixed catch results. One guy caught 7 or so, and his friend that was 10 feet away got zero. Marked a couple schools go by at around 55 feet, but no bites. People that caught kokanee had a castmaster for weight with a glow hook 6 inches below with red fire corn, or maggots.
 Everyone that had fish were way out to the left of the launch, too far for my Pops to walk, but we ran into RayneBidziil22 riding his bike on the ice, so we are gonna try that tomorrow. That, or maybe sled dogs. 
Ice there is still looking good for the time being.

[CMS]

Made it out to spirit today, all the slush at the shoreline froze back up, there was 16-18" of ice depending on where I drilled.  We caught 15 Kokanee and 1 crappie. We were in 80' of water and most of the fish bit at 25' and a few were down to 40'. The ice was cracking and making all sorts of noise.  One crack ran right between us and felt like an earthquake, we both were on our feet ready to run without realizing what was going on, we got a pretty good laugh after it settled.

[BIGxJIMxSLADE]

 Hahaaa, yeah CMS, Hayden had some pretty big cracks sound off today as well. Except with the dusting of snow on top, you couldn't tell where they were.
 The kokanee bite was very spotty. One guy would catch 7, but his friend that was 10 feet away, didn't get a bite. We also were in the "no bites" club. Ice still looking great.
 

[sediver]

Went out to Hayden today and joined the "no bites" club 

[DEER4DINNER]

I thought about heading out there.  Glad I didn't miss anything.  Took a drive with my daughter though out to Sportman's to check on conditions.  Wasn't anyone out there yesterday, but ice still looks good.  On our way back we took the English Point loop; saw lots of deer, then coming around the corner where we could look back toward Honeysuckle we saw 2 coyotes hunting around on the ice just east of that pressure ridge.  Watched them for about 15 minutes with the binoculars.  Pretty cool.  Did you see them?  They were just east of the group of fisherman.  That never happens in a secluded area when I have the .22-250 with me 

Went out to Hayden today and joined the "no bites" club 

[stjoemitch]

Can you get on to the ice at Fernan off the loading docks on the south end near Lake CDA?

[bullpine]

Some bluegills this past weekend. Very fussy.

[houlzhouse]

Is there any good ice left out there?

[RayneBidziil22]

Hayden is still good

[CMS]

I'd imagine spirit would still be good. There was a guy out in the spot 2 days ago when I drove by. The place I was working on today had 8" of compact snow on the roof in the morning and by afternoon was down to bare shingles so I'd use caution anywhere.

[houlzhouse]

Anyone been on Hayden recently-wondering if the bite is back on.  I only got 2 kokes last Fri-they were the best I'd ever tasted though.

[RayneBidziil22]

Hayden is still good both for fishing and ice