North Idaho Ice

[uprivercasey]

I have always fished the chain lakes in a boat , until last weekend when I went to Thompson. I was surprised to see the no trespassing signs right where I wanted to go. Is there a lake in the chain that has better access?

[DEER4DINNER]

Fished Fernan yesterday from about 10:30-2:30.  Last turnout about 50yds from the bank.  Had 3 tip-ups out for pike, nothing there.  A little slow for perch.  Seems like fish would come by about every hour, you'd catch 2 or 3 then nothing for another hour or so.  Brought 9 home.  Biggest about 12", smallest about 8".  Tough walking in the snow.  Dragging a sled back up the steep bank in 2' of snow was a workout. 

Gonna try Gamble this weekend I think.  Anyone been up there? 

[IceChatter]

Been fishing primarily Gamble this winter.  Went last weekend.  Ice is 10 to 12'.   So far only fished the right front side of the lake (as you look at the lake from the parking spots).  Been catching about 3 to 8 nice perch in a 4 hour session.  They're on the graph..but it's a game of teasing them into strking.  Bite can be VERY light, I'm mostly getting them by sight on a spring bobber.  Too light to feel it oftentimes. Been fishing the morning break.  A couple guys that are out there everytime I go said the bite shuts off about 10:00...and then there is another in the evening. 

There has also been a shanty that goes out to the left back corner of the lake at day break every time I'm there.  They set up in nearly the same spot everytime....must be doing something good back there.  I'm just to lazy to make the trek.

Good luck!

[DEER4DINNER]

IceChatter, thank you for the info.  Think I'll give it a try on Saturday.  Also have you been catching any crappies there? 

[BlueDuck]

Fished Round lake again yesterday.  12" good ice with 8" of crusty snow on top.  Tough pulling a sled.  Got there at 8am.  5 degrees with a pretty good breeze.  Brisk getting set up but pretty cozy in the flip up.  Over all a pretty good perch bite but you had to work for them. They showed on the screen all the time I was there, but would only bite now and then. 

[IceChatter]

IceChatter, thank you for the info.  Think I'll give it a try on Saturday.  Also have you been catching any crappies there?

A couple!  First time for me on Gamble.  Just suddenly showed up higher in the water column and hit hard.  My dad caught two, and I got one.  two were small, one was pretty good size.  Caught a couple small bluegill as well.

[spiltmilt]

Covered a lot of ice the past 4 days. Here is the rundown with some fishporn.

1.) Cocolalla: Ice 9" (4" white + 5" black) deep snow with some slush in areas not windblown. The perch bite has been phenomenal before 10 AM and from 3-4 PM most other times its sporadic. I've been catching 10-15 fish an hour with most fish in the 9-12" range with a few larger fish scattered in. Swedish Pimples in white seem to be the trick tipped with maggots. The trout bite is more sporadic but I'm finding a few fish in the top 5' of the water column. Small perch patterned Rapalas have been most productive.





2.) Mirror: Ice is 10" (5" white + 5" black) deep snow and heavy slush.The kokanee bite is fair. Electronics are nearly a must. They are biting lightly but they are a lot of fish on the sonar showing interest. May improve as the water temps rise in the coming weeks. Small spoons tipped with maggots jigged constantly are key.



3.) Jewel: Ice is 11" (6" white + 5" black) very slushy near the dock but gets better further out. Slow! Perch, crappie, and bluegill are biting but only intermittently and fish are fairly small.

[hugeinchina]

Thanks for the report Spilt! We were waffling between Cocallala and Avondale for our ice fishing trip tomorrow morning, but I think you pretty much settled it for us. This will be the first time my wife and I have ever fish Cocallala and we are both looking forward to it!

[TJT]

Hello everyone, I haven't been on here in a few years but thought I would share some info. Cold weather has opened up some areas to ice fish this year that haven't been accessible in a long time. I live near Hayden lake and fish it very regularly in the summer and finally this year there is plenty of ice to fish the west end at honeysuckle. I went out this morning and walked out from the dyke (not from launch) and made it all the way to the center of the bay punching holes along the way. There is 4.5 to 5" of solid clear ice in the middle of the bay. I have been wanting to tip up fish and perch/crappie fish this bay for many years now but haven't been able to because the ice never has been good enough. Unfortunately I cannot make it out this weekend to ice fish it but thought I would pass along the info. This bay produces some of the best fishing on Hayden during the summer (if you are willing to deal with the idiot wake boats and what not) so I wanted to put the word out since I cannot make it out this weekend. If you are looking for a new spot that doesn't have people elbow to elbow you may want to take a stab at this. Also a friend of mine who works for one of the marine companies told me they will be breaking up the ice next week when it warms up so this may be the only weekend to fish this spot. If you go out there you will see my track where I shoveled and punched holes. There are some good weed beds out there scattered and roughly about 8-14' of water depending how far you go out.

[perchhead1]

Nice report Split, like the photos.

[jcmontgo]

Hey spilt where are you getting on to mirror at?

[spiltmilt]

Hey spilt where are you getting on to mirror at?

North end at the resort.

[TeamGoinHot]

What's the cost to park at Mirror now?

[hugeinchina]

We have coocallala an hour and had one dink  perch each. No one else appeared to be catching anything either. We are headed to Avondale to hopefully get something on the ice!

[Skookum1]

Brand new here and brand new to icefishing. I've been reading around alot on here and have been getting lots of good info. Today we fished Fernan and it was slow with 4 perch and two 14-15" hatchery trout that we released. The wifey got cold so we weren't out for more than 3 hours.

I'd like to know more about fishing Cocolalla or another lake in the area that might offer some good trout or kokanee fishing. I don't care about keeping them so much as just catching some fish, I've heard there are some good fish in there so if anyone has any info I would appreciate it , I see it was slow there today though. I'm more concerned about Access and safety than anything.

Thanks in advance

[Idahogator]

Welcome to Iceshanty, Skookum1.

                 Cocolalla access is at the north end and west of Hwy 95. Ask at the Chevron station for more directions.

                 Mirror Lake has kokes.  East on Sagle Rd.

                 Good luck.     

[spiltmilt]

Welcome to Iceshanty, Skookum1.

                 Cocolalla access is at the north end and west of Hwy 95. Ask at the Chevron station for more directions.

                 Mirror Lake has kokes.  East on Sagle Rd.  Parking fee required.

                 Good luck.     

There are 5 signed Idaho Fish and Game parking slots at Mirror Lake. If you park at those you don't need to pay.

[Idahogator]

There are 5 signed Idaho Fish and Game parking slots at Mirror Lake. If you park at those you don't need to pay.

Thank you.              I'll update my out of date info which F&G emails to me.

Times like this, I feel like a mushroom.   

[hugeinchina]

The ice is good, but the bite was slow at Avondale. We fished almost five hours and iced around 10 perch and two bows. We found that glow hooks tipped with worm and or perch eyes worked the best.

[Skookum1]

Thanks guys! I live in Athol so all of this is close, how about Pend Orielle?

[Idahogator]

It appears to be frozen shore to shore in some places.

Others need speak up on this topic as I've studied and fished it for 42 years and am usually wrong.     

I'll hazard saying ~ It's dangerous near Sandpoint and a few other towns.     

[DEER4DINNER]

Fished Gamble yesterday from about 7:30am - 1:30pm.  2 of us iced two nice size perch (about 12") in 6 hours.  The bite was so light.  Had quite a few other missed bites.  They'd just barely tap it, then leave.  Tried a little bit of everything - Ice flies or Swedish Pimples tipped with wax worms, maggots, meal worms, or perch eyes.  Tough walking and pulling a heavy sled.  1' drifts in some spots with a slushy crust.  Good 12" of ice.  Beautiful sunny day though!  Love that lake, so pretty and peaceful.  It was my friends first time ever ice fishing.  He had a great time and caught his first ever fish through the ice.  Fun to see.

After this coming weeks warm up, it's gonna be a soupy mess on all of our lakes.  Not lookin' forward to that

[CMS]

Fished cocollala this morning for a few hours, drilled the first hole and flooded the shanty. After diverting some water, I caught a 10" brook trout and my son caught a 17" cutthroat. It was his first time on the ice so he was pretty excited but got bored quick.  Ended up at freeman and caught a decent bass. A friend that is painting a house on the east side of priest lake sent me a pic today of a few guys on the ice quite always out on cavanaugh bay so if this warm front we have coming doesn't trash it I may be checking that out next weekend.

Casey

[willrile4]

Going out today to explore hard water and the perch bite. Anyone know if the ice at Sportsmans park on Hayden lake is safe to walk?

[IceChatter]

I'll call it a 'learning' weekend (although I'm not quite sure yet what I learned). 

Thanks to the post from TJT, we followed his tracks out onto honeysuckle bay, Hayden.  4 inches good clear ice.  Drilled about ten holes, didn't paint any fish. Anywhere from 7 to 11ft deep.  Not saying they aren't here, we just didn't find them.  We kept drilling deeper and deeper, but the ice eventually turned into 3 inches...so quit there. Beautiful day though, it was still fun.

Went to Killarney next morning and set tip ups.  We were way in the back of the bay.  Drilled through what felt like about 80 inches of spongy white ice.  7 to 9 feet deep everywhere you went (deerfordinner was right on...it's really shallow this year, maybe too shallow).  Two tip ups went off...but they either dropped the bait, or my tip-ups misfired (it happened to be the two I was having a hard time setting).  The kids stayed busy catching as many 3 inch perch as they wanted. Caught one bullhead.

end report. 

[IceChatter]

Going out today to explore hard water and the perch bite. Anyone know if the ice at Sportsmans park on Hayden lake is safe to walk?

Oh fer sure.  My son's buddies are out there this morning.  Said the ice is thick.  No fishing reports from them yet, but ice should be really good.

[IceChatter]

Just a sidenote:  As posted here frequently:  Just stay away from Hayden Creek bay, which is the bay around the corner to your left as you are looking out from the boat launch.  Currents back there.  Just go straight out and wear your gear (always).

[DEER4DINNER]

IceChatter, when you fished Honeysuckle what were you targeting?  Did you try for pike there?

[ForestGuy88]

Fished Cave lake for pike using tip ups today from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm in the bay where willow creek enters the lake. It was super slow where I was, got a couple bumps but I did manage to land an 8 pounder so the day wasn't for nothing. There were some people to the west of me that looked to be having more success or at least more tip ups going up, couldnt tell what they landed though. Im thinking about trying upper Twin or rocky point on Chatcolet tomorrow but cant decide...Any fishing reports or updates for me or info on better spots?

[IceChatter]

IceChatter, when you fished Honeysuckle what were you targeting?  Did you try for pike there?

That was the original plan, yes.  We were gonna set tip ups Sunday morning, so Saturday evening we went out to test the ice and scout a little.   After not painting any fish...I had second thoughts if the pike would be in there.  My buddy was still convinced they were there, and wanted set up in the morning on honeysuckle anyway.  I talked him out of it and we went and got skunked at Killarney instead!  Uhm....oops.