North Idaho Ice

[Idahoice77]

 We are in 22 ft what were u fishing ? They have all be bout 9 to 10 in fatties

[CMS]

We were in 35’. 90% of them were 9-10” there were a few dunks and some in the 6-8” range. 

[aza10]

Anyone planning or have any luck night fishing panfish on cocolalla?  Wouldn’t mind giving it a shot

[S.moyer0331]

Any word on avondale or fernan?

[catskinner]

We were in 35’. 90% of them were 9-10” there were a few dunks and some in the 6-8” range.

Did you measure the biggest ones you caught? I forgot to measure mine.

[CMS]

I checked one of the bigger ones and it was right at 10” and a lot were right there close

[TOMINATER]

How was everyone's luck this weekend? Got skunked at Freeman on Saturday and only caught 1 bass at Chase today (Monday).

[Idahoice77]

Pushing about 35 to 40 perch all about 8 to 11 in today only 1 brown and on bow both about 20 in long

[S.moyer0331]

Pushing about 35 to 40 perch all about 8 to 11 in today only 1 brown and on bow both about 20 in long

I was out there this morning and got skunked. Where about a were you? I'm gonna hit it again tmrw. I was in the big clam tent this morning

[sihlms391]

Any now how thick ice is on fernan?

[Idahoice77]

I was in that blue and gray clam shack on the south end

[plfish]

Only got out for an hour or two this afternoon on Blue Lake and was hoping to get out more this weekend (FYI....never start a plumbing project after the hardware closes on Valentines Day!!).  11” of solid ice on Blue. Only landed a few but caught a 10” perch and a some keeper crappie.  Had to leave the last hour of light just as the crappie bite was coming on to pick up my son from practice. Flasher was showing quite a few fish and they would follow the jig......but only a few soft bites.  I’m thinking if I had been able to stay another hour....I would have had more on the ice.

[TOMINATER]

Im new to Ice Fishing this year, so I have a lot of questions. Sorry if I'm blasting you all with questions! How long is ice good for when temps hit the mid 40s?

Also has anyone tried Morton Slough for ice fishing? Is the ice good on it? Im gonna be staying in that area with a couple friends this weekend.

[WinterWizard]

I drove over to Morton slough a few weeks ago and it was dry. just a little water in the creek channel. I walked up stream a few hundred yards and all the water i saw was choked with weeds and no more than 2 feet deep.

[Joe34]

Is there any place around Sandpoint to get mealworms? How about trout eggs or salmon egg sacks? I didn't see anything at North 40.

[CMS]

Sometimes north ridge outfitters in oldtown has meal worms,  I know the pet stores in cda used to have them, maybe the pet store in priest river?

[Idahoice77]

I was out there this morning and got skunked. Where about a were you? I'm gonna hit it again tmrw. I was in the big clam tent this morning

How was cocololla any luck today I’ll be out there tomorrow

[S.moyer0331]

How was cocololla any luck today I’ll be out there tomorrow

I had to catch up on adulting today, so unfortunately I didn't make it out. I'll be out Saturday for sure, haven't quite decided where yet.

[Joe34]

Sometimes north ridge outfitters in oldtown has meal worms,  I know the pet stores in cda used to have them, maybe the pet store in priest river?

Pet stores! Excellent suggestion, I never thought of that, thank you.

[aza10]

Spent the morning at shepherd after some tigers. No luck there but got into a few schools of crappie.  Fish cocolalla this evening. Solid perch bite but only a handful of keepers. I only kept the 10 inchers that didn’t have the spots.

[Po Tader]

Any word on avondale or fernan?

Avondale is just shy of 7 inches of clear ice. Bite was slow and lots of people packed up early. Managed a half dozen trout and a big perch.

[jagmt]

Fished north end of Hayden Monday. 5 to 7 inches of ice. We put out a mess of tip-ups and had one flag for the morning and left at 11. There were several other groups out just wondering if anyone else had better luck.

[jagmt]

Has anyone tried the east side of Spirit Lake lately? A few weeks ago it was not ready, but perhaps now?

It’s hearsay but I have heard of a couple groups having luck in the southeast corner just out from the boat launch in 50 to 60 fow...haven’t tried it myself but maybe this weekend

[Harbisgirl]

Does anyone here use any nautical chart apps? I know there are a few popular ones out there but they are expensive and I'm skeptical that they'll have info on our smaller north Idaho lakes. OnX has a Nautical Chart map layer and it has CdA Lake and Lake PO but not the smaller lakes. I realize it's not necessary but I'm new to ice fishing this year and I'm trying to learn their behaviors and mannerisms and I think that might help me connect the dots a bit.

[smitty661]

I saw people fishing fernan by the docks near the freeway. Ive been told not to eat the fish from there, I ate some perch from there last spring and they were fine. Do you guys eat the perch from Fernan? People have been on Avondale for a week or so, it was 4" a week ago. I Fished north hayden for a few hours last week and didn't get a single bite or flag.

[Idahoice77]

Perch bite is great on cocololla some smaller browns and nice rain bows any one have pointers on those big browns trade ya for some perch sports. My fingers Are sore from throwen em all back !!!!!

[catskinner]

Perch bite is great on cocololla some smaller browns and nice rain bows any one have pointers on those big browns trade ya for some perch sports. My fingers Are sore from throwen em all back !!!!!

How deep are you fishing for perch? We were at 35' on Sunday with lots of 9 and 10 inchers.

[Idahoice77]

27 to 35 a lot of bouncing around and then moving couple feet in each direction but the schools were huge and held in place for good period of time

[catskinner]

27 to 35 a lot of bouncing around and then moving couple feet in each direction but the schools were huge and held in place for good period of time

Kind of the same as we found but we noticed that some of the smaller fish had the swim bladder protruding into their mouth so we decided we would keep them not wanting to release them and have them die anyway.

[Idahoice77]

Yes we had same thing we kept about 10 or 15 but I also can deflate their bladder as well