Bead Lake Fishing in Pend Oreille County, Washington

• Overview

  Bead Lake lies in Pend Oreille County, in Washington. Land around it is lake country bush. Surface area runs to roughly 725 acres, so plan for one area rather than the whole. With 9.1 miles or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Size puts it in the front rank of our Pend Oreille County list. Start from Newport, 9.1 miles down the road. Then Priest River, 12 miles, and Sandpoint, 26 miles. A border sits close enough to be relevant to the paperwork.

• Where to Fish on Bead Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. County-wide records name rainbow trout, tench and cutthroat trout. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. On Bead Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect August to average close to 64°F, with January the cold end at about 24°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Break-up comes around late March, and the run that follows is short and strong. The open-water window runs from around late March to about early December in an average year. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. On Bead Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. The nearest alternative is No Name Lake, 1.1 miles out. For Bead Lake in particular, ask before you travel.