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Deer Lake Report
Stevens County, WA

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03/01/2009
Other
Rainbow Trout
Maggots
Jig
Morning
03/03/2009
1
1147

So to celebrate opening day out in Deer Lake my buddy drove up from spokane to do a little ice fishing. We walked onto the lake from a friends association on the SE corner of the lake called Wanakiwin. We went out about 8:30AM and fished till about 2PM. We had a gas auger and drilled about 4 holes when the damn thing died on us. (It's now in the shop!) They were all about 15 yards apart and about 60 yards from shore. (This is a popular trolling line during the summer for bows!) Wouldn't you know in the 5+ hours we spent on the lake we never got one bite. We tried: maggots, wiggler worms, perch meat, powerbait, jigs. etc. We saw about 3-4 other parties out on the lake. Judging from their silence nobody else was catching any fish. This was confirmed later when a dept. of fish and game person walked up on us and checked out licenses. She said it was due to a high barometer reading in the area. Has anybody ever heard of this affecting the bite? Anyway, we finally got to set up my clamshell that I bought from a guy on craigslist and with a small propane heater we were fishing in style in our t-shirts! Alll we were missing was the fish. Had a great time courtesy of some good coffee and some Yukon Jack. Might go back out on Thursday or Friday if the ice holds up after all this rain. It was about 2 feet thick so I think we might be okay.

They opened the lake early this year in hopes that some of those pesky Lake Trout might get caught. (The devour the stockers when the lake gets stocked!) If anybody has any tips on how to catch those bad boys through the ice I'm all ears. We were fishing in about 20 feet of water. The center of the lake is about 8- feet deep. However, I'm not about to walk out to the center...It's a BIG lake!

The attached photos are us on the ice and what my Clam Shell shack looked like from a friend house who is about .5 of a mile away on Deer Lake.


Comments

Augwen
3/3/2009 9:25:00 AM
If you want to try for the Macks, I would try using a "Flutter Spoon". Tie it on and let it drop to the bottom. Bring it back up about 2' and let it drop back down. If you are not getting anything, move it up in the column and try again. They seem to prefer something with green on it. If you have a "glow" lure and/or spoon, that will work also.
Anglinarcher
3/3/2009 10:52:00 AM
Ice fishing for the lakers can be difficult without a fish finder, but Augwen's comments are dead on. I might suggest a variety of jigging options, to include soft baits like Sassy Shads, spoons like the Cyclops are great jigging spoons, and don't be afraid of tipping them with some bait. In Colorado we would use sucker fillets, but I suspect that any meet would work just fine.

Also, I found lakers through the ice to be different then summer, their locations can change a lot. Look for any structure, in 40 to 60 feet if Deer has that depth and structure. Lakers can really hold tight during tough times, like HIGH BARAMETRIC PRESSURE. Yes, high pressure, or low pressure, can really put the ice bite off, especially with Lakers. Other times, I have caught the smaller lakers, the two to 6 pound youngsters, in as little as 10 feet, especially if there is a food source for them there. This spot seems best when you have had low, but stable, pressure for about 3 days or more. This Thursday could be hot.

I find the suspended lakers to be the hardest to find, but some of the biggest ones are found suspended over deeper water. The problem is that they are often neutral to negative feeders, and are hard to provoke.
nycfishguy
3/3/2009 5:50:00 PM
I want to thank both Augwen and Anglinarcher for their tips. The lake in the center is about 75-80- feet deep. (my original post had a typo) I'm actually planning a trip out this Thursday - so - we'll see if my luck changes. I'll let y'all know if it does with a NEW report!
Anglinarcher
3/4/2009 8:34:00 AM
After last night storm in Spokane, I hope Deer Lake was not impacted. If they had the thunder storms, with all of that hail and rain, fishing could be pretty bad tomorrow as well.

Fish shallow early in the day or late in the evening and look for a forage bite. Fish near sharp drop offs, near any structure you can in deeper water if the shallow early bite does not materialize.

And most of all, good fishing;-)
rhodes
4/7/2009 11:33:00 AM
learning summer techniques, and locations will aid greatly for ice up. Location, Location and location. There are some nice vertical

drop offs, 50,60 feet that probably would produce. your pictures did not show me that area.


bye Bob
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709