Looking for a place to fish in Idaho

[Ducky]

OK call me greedy. We live in N Central Idaho by the Clearwater river and have incredible steelhead, salmon and yes even kokanee fishing in and around Dworshak reservoir. In the nearby rivers and streams we also have incredible cutthroat trout fishing and just about everything else you could want to fish for except Tiger Muskie and Pike. So my question to you all is do any of you know of any good lakes to put a boat in to do a little Muskie fishing here in Idaho. I heard Chain Lakes up by St Maries or Cdl is good for Pike but we wanted to try our luck at a little Muskie fishing as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Ducky

[Anglinarcher]

OK call me greedy. We live in N Central Idaho by the Clearwater river and have incredible steelhead, salmon and yes even kokanee fishing in and around Dworshak reservoir. In the nearby rivers and streams we also have incredible cutthroat trout fishing and just about everything else you could want to fish for except Tiger Muskie and Pike. So my question to you all is do any of you know of any good lakes to put a boat in to do a little Muskie fishing here in Idaho. I heard Chain Lakes up by St Maries or Cdl is good for Pike but we wanted to try our luck at a little Muskie fishing as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Ducky

Ducky,

Call the Fish and Game and they will point you the right way. I always found Idaho F&G to be quite good.

Hauser Lake just East of the Washington Border is the holder of the State Record Tiger Muskie. I would suggest that it would be worth a drive.

[Lucius]

Anglearcher is right, hauser is probably your best bet. I know blue lake is another spot, but I think it only allows non-gas motored boats on the lake. Here is the link to a few others.

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/apps/stock ... am_nam.cfm

[Ducky]

Thanks Fellas, Appreciate the information. Yes IDFG is pretty good at steering you in the right direction. I just don't have to many IDGF connections up in the Northern half of the state in the Panhandle. We have our sights set on Hauser lake and are looking for Boat regulations on that lake now. Do any of you know if they have a size limit to the boats you can put in on Hauser lake? We have a 22' Duckworth which is perfect for the Clearwater river and Dworshak but don't know about Hauser lake.
Thanks Again
Ducky

[Fish-N-Fool]

Hey Ducky,
There are many lakes in N. Idaho that are good pike fishing and a quite a few good musky lakes. There are a few lakes that have both also but they are smaller lakes. Some of the best Pike lakes are the Chain lakes, Hayden, Twin and CDA. As far as Muskies the best place is Hauser lake for sure, but Shepard Lake, Blue lake and Freeman all have tigers in them. Freeman and Blue also have pike in them. AS far as your boat goes you could launch it in C.D.A., Hauser, Hayden or Twin with no problems. The others are a little to small with poor boat launches I think your boat would be to big to get around in the Chain lake as well as it can be very shallow in some areas. If your not set on Fishing Idaho, the best Pike fishery around is just over the boarder in Washington on the Pend Orielle River. It can be a bear to launch in some places (Like the one at Oldtown) in the spring do to the heavy current. Hayden is one of my favorite lakes and is a good Pike lake, as well as SM and LM bass. If you want any other info just PM me as I fish all of these waters a lot and know most of them very well.