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Panhandle Region
#1
RIVER AND STREAMS
Flows in most rivers and streams are now dropping rapidly as hot summer temperatures are setting in. However, fishing has remained good in most Panhandle Region streams. This is the time of year that hoppers are a particularly good pattern to try. The upper portions of the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene rivers and the Little North Fork Clearwater River have been providing good cutthroat trout fishing. The Moyie River is a good bet for rainbow and brook trout. The rainbow trout in the Spokane River below Post Falls Dam have now moved downstream to cooler water in Washington. Anglers may encounter smallmouth bass in the Spokane River and the lower Priest River below Priest Lake.
Make sure you understand the fishing regulations for the water you plan to fish. The cutthroat slot limit of 2 fish, none between 8 and 16 inches applies throughout the Spokane River Drainage (Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, St. Maries rivers and tributaries and Coeur d'Alene Lake) except in catch-and-release waters. The cutthroat slot limit also applies to the Priest River and it's tributaries below Priest Lake. The Moyie River, Spokane River below Post Falls Dam, Little North Fork Clearwater River, and tributaries to Lake Pend Oreille (except Trestle and the Gold/North Gold Creek drainage are closed to all fishing) are all managed as Wild Trout fisheries with a 2 fish limit. Tributaries to Priest Lake and the Upper Priest River are managed with catch-and-release regulations for cutthroat. Bull trout are closed to harvest statewide.
For anglers who want to harvest some pan sized trout, there are numerous small tributaries in the Kootenai River drainage with small cutthroat and rainbow trout where the 6 fish general trout limit applies. Anglers may also harvest up to 25 brook trout where ever they are found, including catch-and-release waters. Tributaries to the lower Priest River and along the west side of Priest Lake support brook trout fisheries.

COEUR D’ALENE LAKEKokanee fishing has slowed with the onset of warmer weather, primarily because the fish are moving deeper and anglers haven't. It's not unusual for kokanee to be caught at 50-60 feet deep this time of year. Chinook fishing has been slow. Unfortunately, there are not the desired number of chinook in the lake right now due to poor performance of the Big Creek stock of hatchery fish stocked the past three years and lower spawning escapement of wild fish the past two years. We have requested fall chinook eggs from Lake Sacagawea in South Dakota the past 2 years, but drought conditions have resulted in poor egg takes. Our hatchery personnel are looking for other suitable stocks right now. Bass fishing for both smallmouth and largemouth has been excellent lake wide. Northern pike are now moving to deeper water as temperatures warm up, but they will still be associated with the deep weed beds.


PRIEST LAKE
Lake trout fishing has been good for fish in the 16-24 inch size range with an occasional fish over 10 pounds. The best fishing is deep trolling with down riggers. A size 0 dodger with a Priest Lake Fly tipped with cut bait slow trolled just off the bottom is hard to beat. Flatfish or Kwikfish tipped with cut bait trolled off the bottom are also productive. Try jigging baited lead headed jigs or spoons off rocky points and drop-offs at first light in the morning or at dusk when lake trout become more active.

LAKE PEND OREILLE
The trap net fishery has been suspended for this fall. We will use the next year to gather additional information on how effective anglers can be at managing lake trout. Angler harvest over the next year will be compared against the current lake trout population estimate. We will be holding a public meeting in August to gather public input on what type of ideas we should try to see how effective anglers can be at managing lake trout. Plans call for a resumption of the trap net fishery in the fall of 2005 to repeat the lake trout population estimate and get more information on lake whitefish. We are also moving ahead with gathering additional biological and angler preference data on the Lake Pend Oreille fishery. Currently IDFG has collected otoliths (ear bones) from LPO, Priest and Flathead Lake lake trout to see if we are able to differentiate between lake of origin. We suspect some of the fish in LPO are from the Flathead system. We have sent a sample of lake trout to the state lab to analyze for potential contaminants like mercury. We are looking at lake trout age and growth and other population dynamic information to better characterize Pend Oreille lake trout. We also plan to conduct an angler preference survey during the next year to pin down what fishery anglers want Lake Pend Oreille managed for. All of these things will be discussed at the August public meeting, so state tuned.

LOWLAND LAKESTrout stocking has been discontinued for the summer due to hot summer temperatures. Trout fishing is slowing because the fish are seeking out cooler water. In most lowland lakes that means a relatively narrow layer of water about 10-15 feet below the surface. The fish are often squeezed between hot water on the surface and low oxygen water on the bottom. If you can find the "thermocline" you will find where most of the trout are hanging out. We just finished stocking Fernan, Hauser, Cocolalla, Jewel, Rose and Smith lakes with channel catfish. The fish varied in size from 4-16 inches, so much of the fishery for these fish will be in the future. Fishing for pan fish is beginning to slow as perch and crappie move to deeper, cooler water.


MOUNTAIN LAKES
This is a great time of year to take a hike to one of the many mountain lakes in the Panhandle Region. Most of the lakes are located in the Selkirk's on the divide between the Kootenai River and Priest Lake and in the Mallard Larkin area of the North Fork of the Clearwater drainage. There are a few lakes located along the Idaho/Montana state line in headwaters of Lightning and Callahan creeks and near Lookout Pass near I-90. Most of the lakes are stocked with cutthroat trout fry every other year and a few with rainbow or grayling. Several lakes have self sustaining brook trout populations. You can get stocking information from the Idaho Fish and Game website. The huckleberries should be coming on soon depending on the elevation.
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