Northwest Fishing Reports

Well this section is also supposed to be for ice fishing. I know this has to be the last thing on everybody's mind since were coming up on July.

But who out there ice fishes?
Favorite bait?
Favorite lake?
What species do you fish for?
What lakes offer will rent and auger? ice fishing hut?

I have never iced fish. I have always wanted to and for the last few years Iv told everyone this is the year. I even have an ugly ice. Its the tiniest ugly stick I have ever seen and its spooled with the special ice fishing line.

I haven't been ice fishing long enough to have any favorites yet. But I do think its a lot of fun.

I Ice Fish once every two or three years. I used to do it all the time.

Favorite lake - Devil's Lake North Dakota.

Favorite bait is a frozen minnow or wax worm.

Species are fat perch, walleyes and the occasional show of a Pike.

I have never ice fished in Washington but I would love to. I know nothing freezes on this side but I have heard Rufus Woods does.

It is a lot of fun if your catching fish. If you aren't catching fish at least you can be a kid again and go sliding around on the ice. Kind of like when the fish aren't biting in the summer and you say oh well might as well go swimming.

Good fishing.
Joe

Joe Heater wrote:I Ice Fish once every two or three years. I used to do it all the time.

Favorite lake - Devil's Lake North Dakota.

Favorite bait is a frozen minnow or wax worm.

Species are fat perch, walleyes and the occasional show of a Pike.

I have never ice fished in Washington but I would love to. I know nothing freezes on this side but I have heard Rufus Woods does.

It is a lot of fun if your catching fish. If you aren't catching fish at least you can be a kid again and go sliding around on the ice. Kind of like when the fish aren't biting in the summer and you say oh well might as well go swimming.

Good fishing.
Joe

I have heard good things about Devils lake. But Rufus woods dosnt freeze as far as I know of. It is probally the best winter fishery for trout though

I've been ice fishing since I was a kid and really enjoy the solitude it can bring. I usually fish for panfish and kokanne here in the panhandle. Never tryied for much else. I use just glow hooks and maggots, and not much else. I have a little ice hut to stay out of the elements, and also have a heater to stay warm if the temp is fridged. I have my own ice auger, its an 8 inch and works just fine. Just make sure of the ice thickness, I've went through once at Rose lake at the CDA chain lakes, and it wasn't fun thank goodness it was in only 5 feet of water. I won't go out unless there is a good solid 4 inches of clear ice, its not worth the chance for a cold bath. Sounds like fun with the temps running around 100 degrees right now. Good Luck.

I've ice fished at Fish Lake near Lake Wenatchee. All we caught were a few tiny perch and bunch of bullheads using worms. It's a lot of fun though and you don't need a cooler for the beer!

The place we stayed at (I can't remember the name) let you use an auger for free.

Im from michigan , and when i was in high school my buddy and i would go ice fishing maybe 4-5 time over the winter . He owned an ice shanty so it made the experience kind of plesent ..however i didnt think about all the things that could have gone wrong back then(young and fearless) .. Now that im 32 i would be safe in saying that i dont ever plan on ice fishing again , i just remember hearing that loud crackling sound from the ice and i just cant get past that ... All im trying to say hear is that if you choose to ice fish be very very careful and i do suggest to still wear a life jacket ... BBD

I usually go ice fishing over at the same Fish Lake that Drewp was talking about. My friends and I usually catch a ton of perch and also a lot of rainbows. Most of the perch that we catch there are about 8-12" and the bows average about 10-14". I usually use a variety of small jigs tipped with a piece of real night crawler or a power maggot. Sometimes I will also use small jigging spoons.

Insd Spokane/Lincoln Hog canyon and 4th of July will freeze up enough every couple of years for good ice fishing, so does Elokia. Fish in Chelan has already been mentioned, its a great lake because it always gets good ice, and I like being able to ride my snowmobile to tow my gear out on the lake

if you go to google videos, it has some cool ice fishing videos. mostly for perch.

I ice-fished for the first time this year (I moved to Yakima from Olympia). I fished the aforementioned Fish Lake once, and North Elton Pond a couple of times. North Elton is kind of a neat little fishery. It's right outside the town of Selah, maybe seven or eight miles out of Yakima. It's open from December to March (Washington's only winter-only lake I do believe). They stock it with jumbo trout, and the limit is two a day.

I did really lousy ice-fishing; I caught no trout or perch. I did manage to land some decent pumpkinseeds from North Elton though (yep, they bite even when it's 18 degrees out). I asked a gentelman who limited at Fish Lake why I was doing so lousy and he said it was because I was fishing too close to the bottom. He recommended fishing about 7 or 8 feet down in 15-feet of water, whereas I'd been fishing two feet off the bottom everytime. I'll be ready this winter!

The aforementioned Fourth of July Lake is also a winter only lake. I think I might drive up there this winter to try it out.

I have ice fished once on Bull Prairie in Oregon. I only caught one trout but it was a chunky 15" trout.

Well I ice fished alot in Wi.. Even bought a Vexlar before i moved here .. Awesome fishfinder for fishing straight down... in 100 feet of water you can watch your lour go straight down to the fish .. the lure is a diff color on the machine than the fish .. you can put it right in their face and if it disapears set the hook.. Since your that far down you cannot feel the fish take it .. Alot of fun.. Only peace of ice fishing equipmant I brought with me .. I just could not leave it .. incase I got a chance to go again ..great for perch and other pan fish ...

I've fished a few lakes in winter in the Spokane and Colville areas. The ice on the lakes west of Spokane can be very iffy. Hog Canyon and 4 of July freeze most years but it takes a good long cold spell to make for safe ice.
Newman Lake will have thicker ice but use caution. It needs a good long cold spell to be safe too. A few warm days above freezing can change things quickly.
Eloika Lake has good ice usually from Dec to late Feb. Temps in north Spokane county will average 10-15 degrees colder than in the rest of the county. I have often seen snowmobiles out on it and once saw a pickup.
Williams Lake near Colville is a winter only lake, open from Dec 1 to March 31. It has good solid ice too and had some nice trout in years past. Pierre Lake near the Canadian boarder has lots of ice and has trout and kokanee.
I have heard Bead Lake has good winter fishing and has some big burbot too. But access is very limited now days.

I've only caught perch and trout while ice fishing, probably because thats all I was fishing for. I use a glow hook or a jig with a worm or grub. I like 4 inches under me before I go out on a lake. Less will hold you, but better safe than sorry. Under water springs boiling up warmer ground water can cause thins spots. So can other things like beaver runs. I ran a trap line for beaver and muskrats in the 80's and learned this the hard way. I took an unexpected bath one January day when it was 15 degrees. Wasn't fun. Lucky for me the water was only 5 feet deep or I wouldn't be here today.

fourth of july for 18-22 inch rainbows. starts dec 1st. upper scootney in franklin county for warmwater species, plus, a lesser known whitefish fishery on the lower end. its coold in the basin, but well worth it with slabs of fish available.

Began ice fishing again last year, for the first time in 10 years, due to a colder winter that made good ice. Fished Hog Canyon lake. The boys and I got lots of trout on suspended salmon eggs.

My partners and I are talking about expanding our efforts this next winter, provided we get good ice again. Maybe Eloika, Silver and Twin Lakes in addition to the "winter only" lakes in the Spokane area. Will be looking for crappie, perch, other panfish

Will use meal worms and mousie grubs on Swedish Pimples and "teardrop" jigs. They were always very effective for me in the past. I don't see any reason they won't work in Washington