Bring on the Hardwater!!!!!

[Rob]

Nice!  There must have been 60-80 peoe out on Lake Cocolalla Saturday.

[Southpole]

Took the wife on her very first ice fishing trip.  We drove 2 hours down to Elk Creek Res, near Elk River, Idaho.  Ice was probably 16 inches thick.  Had a blast.  The Elk River Lodge had a fun tournament, 199 people entered.  Top prize was $1,000.  We ended up catching 9 trout, 5 rainbows and 4 Brook trout.  Wife caught 5 and I caught 4.  We won a couple of raffle prizes.  Weather was really nice, no wind and about 38 degrees.

That’s super cool Machias! That sounds like a good time.

[Southpole]

The husband and I did a recon mission to curlew lake today to get our bearings for tomorrow’s fishing. It looks like 9-11 inches for ice. We were going to walk it but knowing there’s plenty of ice I think we’ll side by side it instead. We talked to a couple of really nice guy’s from Spokane out there, they actually had caught some pretty decent large mouth bass which was surprising.

[Southpole]

Well, gave it our all on Curlew last week and part of this week. First day was decent, found a good spot with lots of consistent schools swimming through and some random trout cruzin’ by. Got slow after 11 which was frustrating because the schools were still there but would not take our night crawlers which was all we had. I knew there were a few members here that have successfully fished Curlew so I got some good bait advice from them after a few more super slow days. Finally our last day, we got out there before day light, snowing, correct bait and quiet ice and as fast as we could get our gear down in the water we were reeling them up one after another. I was impressed with the sizes, they were super fat and heavy. Good times.

[Southpole]

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[Southpole]

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[7mmfan]

Excellent. That's a pile of good eats right there.

[KFhunter]

Awesome 

[Machias]

Very nice!!!

[Machias]

Going to try and find some pike the next couple of weekends and maybe try some burbot up by Bonners Ferry.  Temp is going to plummet next week so should get a few more weeks of good ice.

[Southpole]

Going to try and find some pike the next couple of weekends and maybe try some burbot up by Bonners Ferry.  Temp is going to plummet next week so should get a few more weeks of good ice.

Pulling a pike out of the ice would be pretty exciting! We might take advantage of the cold snap next week too. It will probably be the last hardwater trip for us this year 

[buckfvr]

Deep fried perch fillets, fresh potato french-fries, and half gallon tartar sauce and Im in.

[NRA4LIFE]

Going to try and find some pike the next couple of weekends and maybe try some burbot up by Bonners Ferry.  Temp is going to plummet next week so should get a few more weeks of good ice.

Pulling a pike out of the ice would be pretty exciting! We might take advantage of the cold snap next week too. It will probably be the last hardwater trip for us this year 

When we were just pups yet, my buddy and I were jigging for panfish on one of the local lakes and we only had a small hand auger that drilled a 4-5" hole.  He thought it was a good idea to put out a couple tipups we had with some shiners we had caught. A flag goes off and he latched onto a huge northern.  It's head came out of the hole and I grabbed it but it would not fit through the hole.  I was not letting go.  He grabbed the ice axe and starts chopping away to enlarge the hole.  After 10 minutes or so we finally got it through.  I am glad there were no cellphone cameras then.  That would have been a comedy special on it's own.

[Southpole]

Going to try and find some pike the next couple of weekends and maybe try some burbot up by Bonners Ferry.  Temp is going to plummet next week so should get a few more weeks of good ice.

Pulling a pike out of the ice would be pretty exciting! We might take advantage of the cold snap next week too. It will probably be the last hardwater trip for us this year 

When we were just pups yet, my buddy and I were jigging for panfish on one of the local lakes and we only had a small hand auger that drilled a 4-5" hole.  He thought it was a good idea to put out a couple tipups we had with some shiners we had caught. A flag goes off and he latched onto a huge northern.  It's head came out of the hole and I grabbed it but it would not fit through the hole.  I was not letting go.  He grabbed the ice axe and starts chopping away to enlarge the hole.  After 10 minutes or so we finally got it through.  I am glad there were no cellphone cameras then.  That would have been a comedy special on it's own.

 

[Machias]

Be careful out there. 

https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-man-falls-through-ice-drowns-in-priest-lake-while-fishing/article_cd9b0a8e-98d6-11ec-9d39-2fc2a268010f.html