When you first think of the state of Idaho, what first comes to mind? Maybe it is potatoes or big mountains. But, if you are a bass fisherman, you should be thinking of bass fishing. There are plenty of great fisheries in the state, but none are as well-regarded as Lake Coeur d'Alene, also known only as Lake CDA.
The secret about the fishing on Lake Coeur d'Alene was officially revealed after Bassmaster magazine ranked it as one of the Top 10 bass lakes in the country in 2012. It has since made a few more appearances on its annual list.
The glacial lake, located in Idaho's Panhandle, is a phenomenal fishery with beauty to match the great fishing.
The Lake Coeur d'Alene Experience
Besides the natural beauty and prevalent wildlife, one of the best things about Lake Coeur d'Alene is the fishery's diversity. Professional bass anglers Brandon Palaniuk and Luke Clausen grew up fishing CDA and undoubtedly helped shape their fishing styles thanks to the lake's many options.
There are few places in the country where you have a shot at catching a trophy largemouth and smallmouth on the same day, but Coeur d'Alene is one of them. Local tournament results prove that five fish limits over 20-pounds are not uncommon, with many in the mid-20 pounds and sometimes approaching or even exceeding 30-pounds.
Most of these are bags of largemouth with an occasional eight or even nine-pound fish weighed in, but six and seven-pound smallmouth swim here and are caught occasionally. Smallmouth in the four and five-pound classes are much more common and are caught throughout the year.
The picturesque lake is surrounded by mountains and features pristine rocky banks for smallmouth and shallow backwater lakes, plentiful grass, and submerged wood that is perfect largemouth bass habitat. Add in plenty of docks, multiple creeks and rivers, and offshore humps; there are many different places to catch a bass.
Surrounding the lake are multi-million dollar homes owned by famous athletes and celebrities, but plenty of wild animals also exist. Bald eagles are commonplace, and moose sightings are also prevalent. It is a unique mix; part American wilderness and another part American financial success.
Fishing Lake Coeur d'Alene
At around 30,000 acres, CDA is a good-sized lake but not massive. Over 100 miles of shoreline on the main lake and several connected bodies of water all hold bass.
The lake's northern and middle sections are generally deeper and rockier, with clear water. In contrast, the southern part includes a little more stained water, with more grass, shallower water, and plenty of backwater lakes.
Speaking of lakes, the Chain Lakes is a must mention here as they are located just off of the Coeur d'Alene River. It is a group of smaller lakes with popular bass targets of Anderson, Blue, Black, Killarney, Swan, and others. They are generally shallow and filled with grass and lily pads, but each has its unique characteristic and tends to be the "hot lake" at certain times.
The southern section of the lake around the city of Harrison gets much of the bass anglers' attention as most tournaments are based there. The area surrounding the boat launch and further south into Round, Benewah, and Chatcolet lakes are all popular bass fishing locales.
Techniques by Season
The diversity of cover and the ability to target both largemouth and smallmouth leads to various methods to produce fish on Lake Coeur d'Alene.
Spring
The spring on CDA is when most of the massive limits of fish are weighed in. Much of that is done shallow with largemouth. Techniques like flipping and pitching are always productive, as are lures like square bill crankbaits, ChatterBaits, spinnerbaits, and a Senko.
For smallmouth, crankbaits, jerkbaits, and swimbaits are three excellent choices that allow anglers to move quickly and cover ground.
The spring spawning season typically lasts much longer than in some regions due to the lake's varying water temperatures. The water temperature in different parts of the lake on the same day is often massive due to currents from the various rivers and runoff from snowmelt. Because of this, bass can be caught in different spawn phases in April, May, June, and even July.
Summer
Besides being a popular fishing spot, Lake Coeur d'Alene is also a trendy place for pleasure boaters. That can make for rough waters on the main lake, but the fishing can still be excellent.
Frog fishing for largemouth can produce some true giants, and the smallmouth bite in deeper water with finesse techniques can be very productive. Both species will also annihilate a topwater walking bait early and late in the day.
Fall
As winter approaches, fish in this region hear the alarm and know it is time to feed up before the cold comes. This makes for some excellent fishing for both species. Smallmouth can be caught in many different ways, with finesse rigs producing under sunny skies and paddle-tail swimbaits being one of the best ways to fool them in low light and windy conditions.
Largemouth can also be caught with swimbaits, and there is usually a good bite flipping and pitching the remaining grass, wood, and docks.
Winter
During the winter season of December 21st to March 20th, bass anglers would be hard-pressed to have great success catching bass. The cold North Idaho climate lends itself to dormant bass, but they could still possibly be found in deep water with blade baits if you are up for braving the conditions.
Lake Coeur d'Alene is genuinely one of a kind and one of the best bass fisheries in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the country. The chance to catch a trophy fish in such a beautiful location is something that any bass angler would love to experience.
