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Pend Oreille Lake Report
Bonner County, ID

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Details

07/17/2016
76° - 80°
Trolling
Kokanee
All Day
66° - 70°
07/19/2016
4
5315

Melissa and I headed to the panhandle this last weekend to drop her grandmother's ashes in Lake Coeur d'Alene on Saturday. I trailed behind 2 pontoon boats full of family members for a brief but sweet ceremony. We dropped flowers in the lake in front of her lakefront cabin then spent a couple hours trolling for Kokanee afterwards. Didn't spend long there as the Kokes were all BABIES and we felt guilty even hooking them. Not a lot of fishing but a pretty special day.

On Sunday we headed to Pend Oreille to chase after some of those elusive giant Kamloops rainbows. We trolled the local favorite Jenny's flies behind 8 in flashers at 150 - 250 ft on downriggers and added a weighted third line with an Apex resembling a small Kokanee. After 4 hrs without a bite we headed to the beach to let the dogs play and stretch our legs a bit. When we headed back out we swapped over to Kokanee gear and had a great time the rest of the afternoon. Landed 14 Kokes and even put a "baby" Kamloops in the boat on a Kokanee hoochie!

The views, beach, calm water and Kokanee fishing made this trip an easy 4/5. Would have given it a 5 if the trout fishing was better but I can't complain. That lake is a big, deep monster and I think probably a little luck is involved catching a 20 pound rainbow. Just gives us more reason to head back!


Comments

downriggeral
7/20/2016 8:06:00 AM
Thanks for the report Rocketvet - Good looking kokes how long are they?
manukabay
7/20/2016 11:58:00 AM
Thanks for the report. LPO is my home lake. You're probably not going to get a Kam this time of the year. Fall is best.

I recognize where you're at from the pictures. That whole end of the lake is just beautiful and Bayview is a nice launch too. I love going fishing down there just because of the scenery. And there are usually tons of bluebacks in that whole area as well as the east side of the lake near where the various creeks dump in.

Next time you're in the area, give Hayden Lake a try. The bluebacks are an early spawning strain and they get much bigger than the Kokes in LPO and the meat is reddish orange and tasty. Hayden's fish will be turning red here in 2-3 weeks though, and fishing slows considerably. June and July are the hot months. Fish between English Point and Yellowstone point if you make it there.

LPO will be good for bluebacks well into October, when they start turnin red.
Rocketvet
7/20/2016 12:10:00 PM
Thanks for the tips Manukabay! The Kokes we caught were in the 11-12 in range at Pend Oreille. 6-8 in babies at Coeur d'Alene. We'll give Hayden Lake a try sometime for sure. We launched from Garfield Bay. Are the Kamloops just too deep t I target right now?
Mark Bove
8/8/2016 1:02:00 PM
That "baby Kamloop" is a westslope cutthroat. They are closed to harvest.
EnsPulver
8/15/2016 1:52:00 PM
What indicators are you using to id the cutt.?
Mark Bove
9/12/2016 3:09:00 PM
Idicators:
-Spots are more numerous toward the posterior of the fish
- Mouth extends well past eye
-Coloration of the fish is indicative of an ad fluvial West Slope Cutthroat, not a sexually immature chrome colored Gerrard rainbow.
-Photo does not show slashes, which can be fainter in lake fish, but If I where to inspect the fish with 100% certainty this fish would show faint but visible cutthroat slashes.

I am 99.999999999 percent certain that this is a west lope cutthroat.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709