Northwest Reel Life April 2023 Volume 2 Issue 9 - Flipbook - Page 35
the last 2 years and it is awesome
bass water for sure. It has many
sloughs (about 20) along its 25
mile journey from Lake P.O. to the
Wash/ID. boarder. At full pool the
LM load up in these backwaters
to spawn which is going on right
now. Morton and Cocolalla are 2 of
the most popular but I like some
of the lesser know sloughs like
Gypsy Bay and The sloughs from
the Old priest river channels. The
Smallies inhabit all the moving
water on the river, but there are
some good boulder fields down
near the town of P.R. that really
produces big fish year after year.
5. Dworshak Res. Idaho
Dworshak is the #1 place to
go west of the Mississippi if
you want to catch the biggest
Smallie of your life. The 3rd
largest Smallmouth ever caught
anywhere in the world, was
caught here and it has produced
many 9 lb. plus fish. However it
is not an easy place to learn or
catch fish at, as it is a very deep
and cold body of water. Typically
dropshotting in 80 to 100 feet of
water is the norm here, but fish
can be found in the shallows at
times here also.
4. PEND OREILLE RIVER, BOX
CANYON RES. WASH.
Box Canyon near Newport Wash.
is one of my premier Bass fishing
waters. It has produced hundreds
of giant Smallies for me over the
years, as well as my 3 personal
best, at 7lb, 6 ½, and 6 ¼. It not
only has great Smallmouth
fishing, but produces some nice
Largemouth as well. I was just out
on the river yesterday and had
a hay day landing over 15 ditch
pickles between 14 to 18” I also got
a bonus 16” River Turd .
3. LONG LAKE, WASH.
Long is one of the best
Smallmouth waters in Eastern
Wash, and should definitely be on
your to do list. The area from Nine
Mile Dam down to The State Park
produces some good fish and the
flat in front of the park is prime
Ditch Pickle waters. The rocky area
known as “The Cove” at Fisk Park
is another prime place to catch
them River Turds,
2. LAKE COEUR D’ALENE, IDAHO
One of the best things about Lake
Coeur d'Alene, besides the natural
beauty and prevalent wildlife, is
the fishery's diversity. Professional
bass anglers Brandon Palaniuk
and Luke Clausen both grew up
fishing CDA and it undoubtedly
helped shaped their fishing styles
thanks to the many options
the lake provides. 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. In general, the lake's
northern and middle sections
are deeper and rockier, with clear
water. In contrast, the northern
bays and southern parts are
shallower and includes water that
is a little more stained, with more
grass, shallower water, and plenty
of backwater lakes in the south.
1. BANKS LAKE, WASH.
Banks Lake, part of the Bureau
of Reclamation's Columbia Basin
Irrigation Project, was created in
1951 by damming the north and
south ends of the Columbia River
channel known as The Grand
Coulee. This long, skinny, 27,000acre lake, ringed with basalt cliffs
and talus slopes along its 90 miles
of shoreline, produces some of
Washington's best smallmouth
and largemouth bass fishing and
it's open year around.
The spring largemouth bite
begins to heat up in May. The
males combine feeding activity
with their search for appropriate
nesting sites so the successful
fisherman will prowl for prime
nesting habitat. One of my favorite
sections of the lake is the Devils
Punch Bowl. It has some shallow
coves on the S.W. side that provide
good spawning habitat. Also look
for smallies in that area on the
old submerged roadbeds that
runs through it and along the
lakeshore. These sites often consist
of raised roadbeds with deeper
water to each side, which provide
good spawning beds and deepwater protection for smallies.
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