Cooks Lake Fishing in Pend Oreille County, Washington

• Overview

  Cooks Lake stands in Pend Oreille County, Washington. The country round it is lake country bush from end to end. Small at around 7 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. It is a small entry by Pend Oreille County standards. Some 13 miles away sits Newport, the nearest settlement. For a city, Spokane is 48 miles off. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Cooks Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Records held for Pend Oreille County cover rainbow trout, tench and cutthroat trout. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Cooks Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 63°F, the coldest about 24°F. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Ice-out usually falls in late March, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Open water usually runs from late March until about early December. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. On Cooks Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Should this one be busy, Mystic Lake is 1.7 miles off. For Cooks Lake in particular, ask before you travel.