North Idaho Ice

[catskinner]

Checked fernan today, main boat launch cove is capped, rest of the lake is water.

I give up.

It will be alright we didn't want ice with 2' of snow on it we will be in single digits tonight and the freeze can begin.

[fishman101]

Anyone been out toward the chain lakes? Much ice?

[S.moyer0331]

It will be alright we didn't want ice with 2' of snow on it we will be in single digits tonight and the freeze can begin.

Ya but we have more 40 deg weather on the horizon, it's not looking to promising :/

[aza10]

Went and checked around today, everything is a sloppy mess as expected.  Kelso and granite had about 4” inch with 10” plus of slush and water by the docks.  Round sits at 2-3 inches of ice with slush and water and Cocolalla had about an inch or so of solid white ice and slush and then around 2” of good ice by the ramp.

Might head up to blue tomorrow, as I’m eager to try out the helix 5 I recently got.

[S.moyer0331]

Went and checked around today, everything is a sloppy mess as expected.  Kelso and granite had about 4” inch with 10” plus of slush and water by the docks.  Round sits at 2-3 inches of ice with slush and water and Cocolalla had about an inch or so of solid white ice and slush and then around 2” of good ice by the ramp.

Might head up to blue tomorrow, as I’m eager to try out the helix 5 I recently got.

Did you by chance make it out to blue? What's the top of the ice looking like? Soup?

[RayneBidziil22]

Well went to fernan last night had about 1-3"of ice at the docks on the west end heard from a friend that the east side still has some open water

[hugeinchina]

With more 40's in the forecast...

[IcekiddKt]

Anyone check mirror lake out lately?

[aza10]

Sorry I never made it out to blue, I did fish kelso this morning. 4 plus of good ice and the slush is starting to firm but still rough by the dock.  Cocolalla could be close if the temps would stay. The wind has blown a lot of the snow off.
 
I checked mirror yesterday and it’s maybe an inch of ice. With about 18 inches of snow by the dock.

[IcekiddKt]

Thanks

[Vashtgn]

I fished Kelso today. Absolutely slated the trout. 4" of ice and 6" of slush and garbage on top.

[Vashtgn]

Nice running into you today. I was the guy who gave you the Mirabou jig.

Sorry I never made it out to blue, I did fish kelso this morning. 4 plus of good ice and the slush is starting to firm but still rough by the dock.  Cocolalla could be close if the temps would stay. The wind has blown a lot of the snow off.
 
I checked mirror yesterday and it’s maybe an inch of ice. With about 18 inches of snow by the dock.

[aza10]

Nice running into you today. I was the guy who gave you the Mirabou jig.

Thanks! It hooked up a few times for me, even running it with no bait.

[DEER4DINNER]

I'll be out tomorrow.  Not sure if I'm going to Freeman or Blue. I'm still trying to get an answer on whether Gamble is safe.  I haven't heard anything.  Texted the officer yesterday, said he may get out there in the next few days to check.  I was hoping to hear back from him tonight.  No word yet.  I live in CDA, so it's frustrating not hearing conditions or reports on all the Northern lakes.  Here and FB don't seem to have much information.  None of the lakes around CDA are safe yet.  I worry a bit driving so far without knowing conditions.  I'm afraid some of them capped then got a crap load of snow on top.  Anyone have any further information? 

[DEER4DINNER]

Well I ended up at Blue yesterday. 8" of ice with about 2' of snow on top.  Difficult to walk through and pull a sled.  Super slop at the access point.  Better have good boots as there is about 10" of slush that you sink in for the first 20yds or so to get out to drier snow.  It would benefit if somebody took snow machines out there to pack it down and build some trails.  Caught one nice 18" largemouth 3lbs(ish), about 8 perch (largest being maybe 8"), 1 dink crappie and 2 dink pumpkin seeds about the size of silver dollars.  First two fish on the new tickle stick were the small crappie then the largemouth, fun! The new tickle stick didn't disappoint with sensitivity. Some problems with icing up. On a slightly warmer day it would be non-issue.  Heard back from the officer up north and "Gamble is safe with 4" of ice and sloppy on top.  People were catching some decent perch up to 12"

[Vashtgn]

Has anyone been out to McArthur yet?

[plfish]

Hit Blue today.  19 crappie from 3:30-5:00 but nothing big.  Kept a few for dinner.  Still lots of slush walking out but not too bad once you are 100 yds out on the Lake.  Definitely thinking bringing snowshoes to get through the slush next time. Once you are out just packing the snow down was fine to keep the feet dry when fishing.  Swedish pimple tipped with a maggot and a crappie nugget was the hot one.  Bite was light and the flasher was very helpful

[Ice-A-Holic]

Regarding McArthur Lake (I live right near it), don't know if you know but it was drained this past summer to kill weeds.  The main lake bed was totally dry and there was only a narrow channel left running north/south that still had water in it.  Hundreds of pelicans and other fish eaters converged on lake for several weeks.  Attached pic was taken July 29 from McArthur Lake Rd just west of the boat ramp on the north end of the lake.  It was considerably lower than in pic a few weeks later.  In the fall it was brought back up near normal.  The lake is currently fully snow and ice capped but I don't know the depth or quality of the ice.  I have not seen anyone fishing for several weeks.  We really got dumped on in the past week with snow (over 3 feet.)  If it gets cold again I will probably ice fish it some day just to see if I catch anything.

I spoke with a Idaho Panhandle Fisheries Biologist a couple of weeks ago and he said that they have no idea of the fish survival rate after the draining and that they had no plans to do any stocking since it is managed for waterfowl and not fishing.  He did say that they drained it 5 or 6 years ago and the fish came back with no stocking. 

[DEER4DINNER]

Hit Blue today.  19 crappie from 3:30-5:00 but nothing big.  Kept a few for dinner.  Still lots of slush walking out but not too bad once you are 100 yds out on the Lake.  Definitely thinking bringing snowshoes to get through the slush next time. Once you are out just packing the snow down was fine to keep the feet dry when fishing.  Swedish pimple tipped with a maggot and a crappie nugget was the hot one.  Bite was light and the flasher was very helpful

With temps predicted to be near 45 this week, it's gonna be a mess.  Super slop!

[perchhead1]

McArthur Lake ice looked really soft I would not go on it, with the snow cover and warm Temps I feel it would not be safe.

[S.moyer0331]

It's over folks. 45 degrees and rain. Guess I'll shoot my bow instead 🤷🏻‍♂️ such a disappointing year

[RayneBidziil22]

It's over folks. 45 degrees and rain. Guess I'll shoot my bow instead 🤷🏻‍♂️ such a disappointing year

there are still plenty of lakes north of athol that are safe just saying it isn't quite over yet

[S.moyer0331]

there are still plenty of lakes north of athol that are safe just saying it isn't quite over yet

Driving an hour and a half to sit in 6 inches of slush and water on 4 inches of cloudy ice just doesn't sound very appealing to me 🤷🏻‍♂️

[RayneBidziil22]

Yeah I get that  being fishing in that kind of a situation since Saturday (missed Monday and Tuesday)  but I'm to stubborn and want to get fish granted I'm on like 3-5" of cloudy/slush ice with 3-4" of clear ice under that

[Apache16]

Any 3"+ ice between cda and Bonner's? Looking to get out on the ice Monday...

[aza10]

I was also trying to fish Monday. Was thinking blue is the best bet.

[DEER4DINNER]

I was also trying to fish Monday. Was thinking blue is the best bet.

I was on Blue yesterday.  Fished about 3 1/2 hrs brought home 4 crappies and 3 perch.  Had to leave as my feet got wet and cold.  Super slop with about 8" of slush on top of 6-7" of good ice.  The access point is starting to break up.  A couple more days of this rain and warm weather and I don't think it will be accessible. Now they're talking 50 by the end of the week.    Spring fever is setting in.

[plfish]

I don’t want to divert the topic to a gear discussion....but do any of you use a pop up type shelter around here? I don’t usually have the need for one in north Idaho but I’ve been thinking about it a bit.  Especially if I try somewhere a bit colder/windier like Montana.  If you do use one is it insulated or do you find that the uninsulated variety works fine?

[meandcuznalfy]

I don’t want to divert the topic to a gear discussion....but do any of you use a pop up type shelter around here? I don’t usually have the need for one in north Idaho but I’ve been thinking about it a bit.  Especially if I try somewhere a bit colder/windier like Montana.  If you do use one is it insulated or do you find that the uninsulated variety works fine?

I use a Eskimo quick fish 3, it's uninsulated, but still works great.

[WebeClubin]

Planning on hitting up Blue Lake this weekend.  I have never fished this lake before but desperately need to get out on the ice.  I have been trying to find a map of the lake but cant find one anywhere.  any info on what depths to be looking for or locations of flats would be helpful. thanks in advance.