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Coeur d Alene Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

North Idaho’s big water: Coeur d’Alene holds chinook, kokanee and a northern pike population that changed the lake.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
1,140 cfs
Air / High
55 / 57 F
Wind
NW 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 12419000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Coeur d Alene Lake feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The release below the dam is running 1,140 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 5 mph, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Yellow perchGood

Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

Tomorrow: Similar at 56 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Idaho requires a fishing licence from age 14, from $35.50 for residents. What a Idaho licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing walleye here? Check the size and bag limits with IDFG before you keep anything. The season dates for Idaho, read off the agency, are on the Idaho seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Spokane River near Post Falls (outlet).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 12419000.

9111,0051,0991,140 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp55 F
High / Low57 / 42 F
WindNW 5-8 mph
Pressure1015.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain21% cloud, 87%
Sunrise / Sunset07:18 / 17:44
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Coeur d Alene Lake this week

The best day on Coeur d Alene Lake this week looks like Wednesday Oct 28, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Wednesday, Oct 28 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM
Minor period
3:51 AM-4:51 AM
Sun
07:18 to 17:44
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 10 mph
Rain chance
87%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Coeur d Alene Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

When to come: the Coeur d Alene Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Coeur d Alene Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 68 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 66 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 67 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Idaho requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Idaho license. Chinook, kokanee and pike limits differ: check current IDFG rules, including harvest encouragement for pike.

Access

Independence Point and Blackwell Island (Coeur d’Alene), Harrison, Heyburn State Park; chain lakes access along the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes.

About this water

A 31,000-acre lake 25 miles long in Kootenai and Benewah counties, Idaho, fed by the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers.

Fishing Coeur d Alene Lake: the full guide

Twenty-five miles of Idaho

Lake Coeur d’Alene stretches 25 miles south from the city that shares its name, 31,000 acres of deep, clear water surrounded by forested mountains. The fishery has changed over decades: chinook salmon and kokanee anchor the coldwater side, while northern pike, introduced and now abundant in the southern bays and chain lakes, have become a destination fishery of their own alongside smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Salmon and kokanee

Chinook salmon, landlocked and feeding on kokanee, reach genuine size: troll large plugs and spoons deep, often 80-150 feet, near the main-lake structure. Kokanee themselves school through the summer at 40-80 feet and take small dodger-hoochie rigs. Both fisheries reward electronics and patience. Spring and fall bring fish shallower and within reach of less specialized gear.

Pike in the bays

Northern pike have flourished in the southern end: Windy Bay, Cougar Bay and the chain lakes along the Coeur d’Alene River hold fish past twenty pounds. Big spoons, spinnerbaits and dead bait produce, with spring the best window as pike move shallow to spawn. Idaho encourages harvest here to protect other species. Smallmouth work the rocky shorelines throughout the lake.

Access and the city

Ramps at Independence Point in Coeur d’Alene, Blackwell Island, Harrison and Heyburn State Park serve the lake. The city end is busy in summer with heavy recreational traffic; the southern bays and the chain lakes stay quiet. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes provides bank access along the river and chain lakes for anglers without boats.

Common questions

How big do the pike get?

Twenty-pound fish come from the southern bays and chain lakes every year, with spring the prime window.

Is the chinook fishery real?

Yes: landlocked chinook feeding on kokanee reach substantial size, though they require deep trolling gear and patience.

Where do I fish without a boat?

The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes gives bank access to the chain lakes and river, productive for pike and bass.

Is fishing good at Coeur d Alene Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Saint Joe River35 miLake Pend Oreille46 miNoxon Rapids Reservoir57 miPriest Lake71 miDworshak Reservoir72 miNorth Fork Clearwater River75 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 12419000 — Spokane River near Post Falls (outlet)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 47.5500, -116.8300 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.