North Idaho Ice

[houlzhouse]

hit rose lake this evening-8" good ice- managed 7 bluegill and a few dink perch-no flags

[Machias]

Brrrr, I bet there was some extra ice made last night!!!!   

[aza10]

If anyone would like to try priest tomorrow PM me. Thinking of giving it a shot unless there’s any reports today.

[smitty661]

Nice!!! Wish i could go. please let me know how the ice is. Eager to get on some lakers.

[houlzhouse]

8" of ice on fernan this morning-iced 4 bows and 6 nice sized perch

[houlzhouse]

anyone hit freeman lately?  Wondering how the bites been

[Joe34]

If anyone would like to try priest tomorrow PM me. Thinking of giving it a shot unless there’s any reports today.

Good luck! Let us know how you do and ice conditions where you went.

[catfish2018]

Any reports for north end of cocolalla wondering how fishing has been got a couple newbys wanting to get them on some perch?

[FinBear]

Any reports for north end of cocolalla wondering how fishing has been got a couple newbys wanting to get them on some perch?

I did not get to fish it, however drove by around noon and there was at least 10 groups out in it.

[aza10]

Ended up fishing bead for the morning bite and then checking out cavanaugh around noon. Didn’t even try to get on it. It’s capped passed the seaplane base but there was clearly water and or open water on spots of the ice. Especially noticed it after the dusting of snow it got.  Looks like it might need another hard freeze to shape up.

[CMS]

 Any luck on bead?

[aza10]

Any luck on bead?

Slower bite managed to hook up two lakers lost one at the hole.

[aza10]

I’ll be back out tomorrow morning

[FinBear]

Got out on the upper part of lower twin today as the sun was setting. Got 6 blue gill and a crappie. Ice was a solid 9 almost 9 1/2 inches. The holes were starting to ice back over before we were packed back up about 45 minutes after dark.

2/4
Got out again pre dawn and moved down into the bottle neck section. Ice there is 10 plus inches. Had 2 heavy strikes on dead stick in deep water but no set hooks. We jigged shallower water but not much marked.

[houlzhouse]

anybody catching Cocollala perch get some with black dots all over them?  Is this some sort of lice? Fish ok to eat?

[aza10]

anybody catching Cocollala perch get some with black dots all over them?  Is this some sort of lice? Fish ok to eat?

I catch perch with these dots all over Idaho and Washington.  Its the larva stage of a parasite as I read it.   I eat all my perch from here, just make sure you cook it all the way and you will be good.

[waltermaurer]

anybody catching Cocollala perch get some with black dots all over them?  Is this some sort of lice? Fish ok to eat?

It's called Neascus (Black Spot Disease), see more info at Minnesota's DNR at  https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_diseases/neascus.html  Here in N. Idaho I've also caught crappie and bass with these parasites.

[sihlms391]

Hit lower twin this morning.  Caught a few fish.   Walked the whole lake.  Plenty of ice.  Not sure where to go tomorrow.

[sihlms391]

Anyone been on spirit lake lately.  Probably take a drive out there tomorrow.

[Joe34]

Anyone been on spirit lake lately.  Probably take a drive out there tomorrow.

I've been wondering about this for weeks. Last year it was frozen around Maiden Rock about this time, but the other end was open. Could you post what you find?

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Hit Gamble/Gamlin lake on Saturday for perch. Very slow, not a single bite, left after a few hours.
Hit Mirror lake yesterday. Caught a few trout and kokanee. All were pretty small, except for a couple of stocked rainbows that were around 12-14 inches.

[Machias]

Took the wife on her very first ice fishing trip. We drove 2 hours down to Elk Creek Res, near Elk River, Idaho. Ice was probably 16 inches thick. Had a blast. The Elk River Lodge had a fun tournament, 199 people entered. Top prize was $1,000. We ended up catching 9 trout, 5 Rainbows and 4 Brook trout.  Wife caught 5 and I caught 4. We won a couple of raffle prizes. Weather was really nice, no wind and about 38 degrees.

[sihlms391]

Fished spirit a little bit.  Then hit cocollalla and crushed perch wit a friend.

[smitty661]

I havent been out in a week. How is the ice holding up with these warm sunny days? Is there water on top of the ice?

[fishaddict]

I havent been out in a week. How is the ice holding up with these warm sunny days? Is there water on top of the ice?

I went out to Round yesterday and the ice was still great. Below freezing every night helps to harden it all back up.

[Idaho Panhandler]

I havent been out in a week. How is the ice holding up with these warm sunny days? Is there water on top of the ice?

Chains had 3/4 inch of water on top of the ice.  Ice was 8-9” thick on rose on Saturday but with the water running rapidly on top of the ice, I’m sure it will change quickly. Every hole u drill is like a bathtub drain.

[BlueDuck]

Fished Cocolalla on Saturday (yesterday).  Ice was great (15").  Fishing was dead.  Didn't see anyone including me catch anything.

[IdahoGuy]

Should get out today FinBear or I will update the ice conditions wherever we get to.

[waltermaurer]

On Monday (Feb.7) fished Cocolalla from 9am-1pm, at least 9" good ice without slush. Quite a few guys mostly to east of boat launch, no one seemed to be catching. Gave up at noon with intent to hit Round but met a guy at the launch who said the bite was crazy good!?! He had no problem with my wife and I setting up about 40 yds from him & his wife, where we watched them pull up a perch about every minute for a half hour while we got zero strikes.    They left before 1pm, we dropped in their holes and immediately caught 8 before the bite turned off hard.  Perch bit on eyeballs, fake maggots, cheese, crappie nibbles, etc., so I'd like to think that the only thing that mattered was location (as opposed to my lousy fishing skills).
  Yesterday, I figured I'd hit that honeyhole early, dropped lines in by 8am, and had a short-lived blitz from 8:25-8:45 putting 10 on the ice. Gave up at noon, tried Round (8"ice with 2" snow on top) for 2 hrs with not even a bite, then returned to Coco until dark, only caught 4 more but thankful for the opportunity to enjoy God's outdoor fish markets! 

[FinBear]

2/9
Fished upper twin in 18 feet about halfway across the lake. Pulled 9 small perch and no hits on the tip ups. Ice was still a solid 9. When we arrived around noon there were a few puddles, when we left by 330 there were standing puddles dotting the lake. Hopefully the cold nights will keep the ice a few more days.

[fishaddict]

Hit Round the other day. Walked about halfway across. Ice was a solid 10ish inches. Got into the perch three cranks off the bottom. Nice size to them, biggest being 11.5 inches. Caught a bonus crappie and a nice rainbow as well. Fished from 9am til noon, bite was steady the entire time. Very fun day!