Northwest Fishing Reports

Ok well my usual haunts havent been producing very much this year, even in junk fish, though Im sure there are factors I havent tried to take into account such as time of day, etc. When I was in high school I used to go out late the night before, collect some worms from the yard, then the next day I'd walk the few blocks to the Pend Oreille River and go fishing about the time the sun set behind the mountains...it was mostly cause I didnt want to sit out in the hot sun while fishing. I enjoyed the time spent, sitting on the river relaxing, watching time go buy and often having really productive fishing...though it was mostly squaw and peamouth and hand sized perch or bluegill....I still enjoyed at least catching something...and watching the bald eagles and osprey come collect our dead throw-backs.

Ok so I want to be able to take my son out fishing....at this point I dont really care what we catch as long as its somewhat frequent....well something other than hand-sized bluegill or perch which or jsut annoying as hell. I would like to be able to catch at least one fish to take home to eat since my son likes to eat fish as much as he likes to "help" me cook them. So im looking for some place to take him fishing from shore mostly since I dont have a boat for us both to fit in and dont really want to pay to rent one every time. So far I've tried Horseshoe (Po County) & Bear Lake numerous times, both I can hardly catch anything from shore. I've tried resorts, but they usually get busy, tried boat launches but hate having to reel in every time a boat wants to launch or leave. He would probably be too impatient to take out in a row boat for very long.

Any ideas on where to go?

Perhaps Williams?

I have heard good things about the resort (there may be two there and I don't know which one) having good shore fishing at times. This is one lake I have never fished, so perhaps moving this thread to the top of the threads might get a confirmation or rejection of here. Trout are the target here.

With the trout in Sprague in such abundance, expect that trout fishing from the state access to improve from shore come this fall. Late in 1999, when the trout population was last up, I use to see a lot caught there in the late fall, then again in early spring 2000, so this is a real possibility.

In the early spring, there is some good shore fishing at Badger, near the boat ramp, but off to one side. Again, trout are the target, but there a a bunch of little bass as well.

Good shore fishing can also be had, at times, at Twin Lakes in Lincoln County. I usually fish Coffee Pot, but often stop by Twin to see what is up. I see a lot of people walk over the walk bridge at the outlet, cross over to the steeper shore on the back side, and pound them with power bait. I guess I have never reported this because I did not fish it myself. I see mostly trout, but the worm dunkers also catch some good perch, and I have seen a couple of crappie as well.

Remember my signature, it's true, and it was before I found out the In Fishermen use a simular catch phrase.

I hope this helps some, but as you know, timing is everything, and right now shore fishing for kids might be pretty tough.

yeah Im mostly going for the cheap hehe, my wife has the purse strings pretty tight these days....I've been trying Horseshoe (PO Co), Horseshoe (Spo Co), and Bear lake this season so far and all have been either skunks, or nothing more than perch, sunfish, or tench...but even catching "trash" fish is better than nothing at all.....these are usually trips I take with my 3yr old son...if i dont take him Im usually in my pontoon boat fly fishing.....

ruthven78 wrote:yeah Im mostly going for the cheap hehe, my wife has the purse strings pretty tight these days....I've been trying Horseshoe (PO Co), Horseshoe (Spo Co), and Bear lake this season so far and all have been either skunks, or nothing more than perch, sunfish, or tench...but even catching "trash" fish is better than nothing at all.....these are usually trips I take with my 3yr old son...if i dont take him Im usually in my pontoon boat fly fishing.....

I remember fishing Horseshoe in PO Co a few years ago. I thought it should be pretty good, but it did not impress me, even out of a tube. I have not taken my boat there yet. How is the launch is is the Lodge still open?

I don't have any young kids anymore, but a friend has also indicated that Bear Lake is pretty much a bad joke.

Never fished Horseshoe in Spo Co yet. Is there any potential for bass in the pads, or is it pretty much a bust?

Hi there i have had lots of fun fishing for smallmouth on long lake right off the highway there is a couple of pull offs just past tum tum. Jump off joe lake is =nt very far from deer park and i have seen people fish from the public access area but i usually pay the 3 to 6 dollars to fish from the resorts nice dock with my son or my little brother u can catch aa little of everything from the dock perch in the 8 to 14 inch range one time i saw a kid pull in a perch over 2 lbs from the dock the most common catch is 10-17 inch rainbows and a few 14 to 20+ in browns. the best way ive found to catch them from the dock is with minture marshmellows and a worm the mellow keeps it off the bottom hope this helps you

Anglinarcher wrote:

ruthven78 wrote:yeah Im mostly going for the cheap hehe, my wife has the purse strings pretty tight these days....I've been trying Horseshoe (PO Co), Horseshoe (Spo Co), and Bear lake this season so far and all have been either skunks, or nothing more than perch, sunfish, or tench...but even catching "trash" fish is better than nothing at all.....these are usually trips I take with my 3yr old son...if i dont take him Im usually in my pontoon boat fly fishing.....

I remember fishing Horseshoe in PO Co a few years ago. I thought it should be pretty good, but it did not impress me, even out of a tube. I have not taken my boat there yet. How is the launch is is the Lodge still open?

I don't have any young kids anymore, but a friend has also indicated that Bear Lake is pretty much a bad joke.

Never fished Horseshoe in Spo Co yet. Is there any potential for bass in the pads, or is it pretty much a bust?

the resort was purchased and closed down, the land is now private with a nice house on it (cabins are still there but not for rent). The launch is actually very nice but it gets a lot of swimmers who dont have the decency to get out of the launcher's way. If nobody is swimming there is room to launch/load three row boats or small motor boats...that is if the person doing the steering isnt a bafoon (which I would be since I've never launched a boat using a trailer).

Yeah Bear is a joke, they did a study on how to best increase the sport fishing back in 2004....here it is 2008 and none of the suggestions have been done, at least that I've seen. To do any decent fishing you need a boat, there is only a hand launch area and its not even designated...ie you have to drag your boat about 50-75yrds....at least its over grass and not rock heh...there is a no motor restriction which is fine since the lake isnt really all that big anyways. I spoke with the parks dept and they write like 10 tickets per month between the Co parks dept and the game dept for either fishing w/o license, or fishing w/o a juvenile or disable person.....the one good dock they have there gets packed pretty regularly, they need more docks thats for sure. On the plus side they ave flush toilets both near the dock and over at the playground and swimming area, my son likes the playground too for when he gets bored of fishing.....although it does cost $2 per person when they start staffing the park.....