Lake Pend Oreille Fishing Report 6.1.17

The lake level is rising, and the fishing has been great! Smallmouth have just about finished spawning and are hunting for some quick protein.

The Smallies I have been finding are eating crawdads, perch, and juvenile kokanee. Stripping flies along sharp drop-offs in 5-10 feet of water has been the ticket.

Check out Dillon's special bass fly: Dill's Pickle. 

My go-to flies have been Chartreuse Bushwacker, #4 Hot Flash Minnow, and an Olive Creek Crawler Crawdad. I haven't had much luck in terms of topwater action just yet. However, I know that will change any day (if it hasn't already).

Now lets talk Pike. The Pike fishing has been hit and miss. Mornings have been slower than the hot afternoons.

This is great for the lazy fisherman because you get to sleep in, and have a great relaxed breakfast. In my opinion, the best fishing has been from 1-4 pm. As the water temperatures warm up, the pike have been moving into 3-4 ft. flats.

The Pike will move into the shallows and back of sloughs to catch a little sun before they start feeding again. This is a great opportunity to tie on a gnarly 6-10 inch flashy fly, and slow strip it over these water wolves.

You can check out what flies we have for sale here.

Not every fish will eat the fly, but generating an aggressive strike hasn't been too difficult.

All you need is floating fly line, and an 8 weight fly rod. Wire leader or heavy monofilament is greatly recommended. Just remember that Idaho Fish and Game do not want Northern Pike in the lake, so do your part and take a few home for dinner. They're delicious!

Learn how to correctly rig your leaders for pike here.

If you need more guidance on where and how to catch Smallmouth or Northerns on the fly, stop by our Ponderay fly shop, and we will fill you in.