Coeur d'Alene Lake in Kootenai County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Coeur d'Alene Lake in the Kootenai County part of Idaho. The surroundings are farm and woodlot. This is big water, about 49.8 sq miles, and in a wind it behaves like a small sea. The water reaches back into a network of arms, each one worth a session of its own. Among the waters listed for Kootenai County, none is wider. The nearest town is Coeur d'Alene, 9.4 miles away. Dalton Gardens follows at 13 miles, then Post Falls at 14 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Coeur d'Alene Lake

  Depth is on record at 220 ft. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. County-wide records name rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, sockeye salmon and channel catfish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Take Coeur d'Alene Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year August sits at 66°F and January at 30°F. The season stretches long at both ends here. In milder years the edges alone go, and the middle never sets. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. The season on Coeur d'Alene Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public access is on record for this one. Records list it as a dammed water rather than a natural one, which shows in the shape of the basin. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. The nearest alternative is Thompson Lake, 5.2 miles out. Treat Coeur d'Alene Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.