Northwest Fishing Reports

I wanted to go fishing there last Monday but the gate was closed when I got there. I just called them and apparently they must have opened the gate for the season shortly after I left. I'ts no longer open restricted hours either. It will be open till the end of October.

I moved to Newport last fall and have wanted to fish that lake for some time. Is lake trout and burbot the main attractions there or is there more likely prospects in that lake?

Kokanee is the main attraction in the summer because people go to Priest Lake for Macks. I've gone to Bead because I've heard there are 20+ #ers regularly caught when they are biting. The best I've done is a couple kokes and three macks in a day. The Macks were only 3 #ers. I've had luck with k lures, jenny flies, and wedding ring. Try colors of white or funky chicken. Blue may work also. Try a U-20 or K13 then work your way up to a bigger lure if you only catch small ones. There are also tons of Northern Pike Minnows. You'll have to jig for the burbots. I have a jig that I use but I don't know the name. It was suggested to me by Andy at the local sportsmens shop in Newport.

If you're fishing for Macks, I've had better luck trolling opposite the boat launch. Drive along the shore with the cabins and go straight accross to the other side in the North finger. From there you may have luck trolling South along the East shore to the point and then turn East into the Main Finger. It will get very deep up the main finger eastward. You may want to start in 30 to 40' and slowly work your way into 200'+. I've only had luck in 40 - 70' of water.

I caught the kokes in the South finger out from the boat launch and you may see other fisherman in this area.

Palmer:

When fishing in 40-70' of water do you mean thats how deep you were fishing or thats how deep the lake was there.... and if thats how deep you fish, how far off the bottom are you when doing that?

I hate to sound like a real greenhorn but I don't have much experience fishing for macks. Are downriggers nessesary to get down that deep? Do the macks and burbot bite year round or should I save my efforts for late fall? Thanks for the info, it is much appreciated.

I've caught Macks at varying depths above the bottom on Pend Oreille but everwhere else I've fished the bottom. At Bead Lake I fish about 10' off the bottom and had my best luck in 40' - 70' of water. I like to move the weight up and down frequently letting the weight bounce off the bottom and kick up mud. I've caught most fish when my lure was moving up or down or when the weight had just bounced off the bottom.

In the finger just outside of the boat launch and before you reach the overhead powerlines, I've seen many fish stacked up on the bottom. However, I have had trouble catching them. They may not be macks.

Use downriggers or I've also caught them with a tee swivel. Use a 5' leader to a 12 - 24 oz weight and a 5'+ leader to a flatfish. Troll just fast enough to give your flatfish good action. I prefer 1 mph. The lure of choice may change from year to year so try different colors and sizes of k lures and flatfish. Also use kwikfish line to tie on a small piece of kokanee or pikeminnow. Otherwise use some Anise oil which smells like kokanee.

Since there has been a long cold winter and cold morning this spring, you may want to start you trolling in very shallow water - even 10'. Then work your way out to deeper water. When you catch one turn around and make a couple of passes before moving on. Two weeks ago at Priest Lake, we caught a 20# in only 40' of water. We were seeing a lot of sign at 30 - 40' of water. We caugt and released over 25 macks that day. The other macks were 1 - 5#s from depths of 40 - 200'. We did have to move around the Lake to find them and once we did we stuck to that area.

I believe you can catch burbot year round by jigging but I've heard of most of the big ones being caught in the winter, ice fishing. Andy told me that last winter someone caught a 28#er ice fishing on Bead Lake. It barely fit through the hole.

Stop in at the sportsmans store in Newport and talk to Andy. Its across the street (East of) from Safeway.

Thanks for the tips, hopefully I can test them soon.

My Father and neighbor were out on Priest Lake today. The water is warmer which pushed most of the Macks out of their spawning area and out of the shallows. Bead Lake is not far from Priest and is about the same elevation.

Macks spawn in the fall and may hang out in shallower water until the surface water melts and warms up. Thats when they go to deeper water. In mid October at Lake Pend Oreille, shore fishing can be successful for Macks because they come in so shallow.

I'm going to try my luck with this lake again this year. I cannot remember where I got the information about the gates last time. Does anyone remember where to find that information? Anyone know when the gate opens or if its already open?