By: Jeff Smith

What a wild start to the year it has been. We here at Fins & Feathers hope everyone is staying safe and healthy as we are about to step into summer times. We have been seeing a slight increase in boat traffic on area lakes over the past couple of weeks. June is typically a very productive month in the fishing world. It seems like almost everything is starting to pick up, whether you like big lakes, little lakes or rivers and streams. Hope everyone is able to get out there and enjoy some time on the water.

CDA Lake pike fishing has been awesome. Lots of fish being caught either trolling or throwing lures even a little bait fishing is still going on. Husky Jerks have been our lure of choice the psat few weeks and probably will be in the next couple weeks. The Johnson silver minnow with a trailer is also a great lure to throw at the pike in the shallow areas.  4 to 10 foot of water has been the target area you should just be starting to see some of the weeds start growing so look for those.

Smallmouth bass are starting to move in shallow throwing crankbaits and some tube jigs, as well as some senko worms. You will find them around rocky and sandy shorelines as well as around some of the shallower docks around the lake. The bass are starting to move up on beds which makes them easier to target. Remember to try and throw some of the bigger spawners back. This fish are a blast to catch this time of year.

Kokanee fishing is off the charts again this year we are seeing some of the biggest Kokanee we have seen in years for this time of year. The Fish have been ranging from 13″ to 16″ already. The bite has been steady on the South end of CDA down towards Powderhorn bay and east point. As time goes we will starting seeing those fish work there way north and start biting in the more typical areas that we are use to on the north end of the lake. If you want action now head south and you will find some dandy Kokanee.

Pend Oreille Lake has started heating up for the Rainbows. They have been biting on the surface with the planner boards and setting the downriggers pretty shallow. Fly’s and Apex’s have seem the be our lures of choice. We have seen and caught some really nice fish this spring/summer so far. Looking to be a great year for nice Rainbows again. Mackinaw are just starting to bite on a more consistent bases, finding the bottom with small dodgers or some plugs. We have also been jigging as well our preferred method is using a drop-shot rig seems to be very affective.

We are able to offer guided trips right now and boy fishing has been fun either Coeur d Alene or Pend Oreille you cant go wrong. Hope this helps a little if you got more questions come on down and see us and we can get you all lined up.

Stay safe and see you on the lake

Jeff Smith

Fins & Feathers