BOAT OR WADE?
Pend Oreille is a giant lake and best fished with
a boat, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch
smallmouth from shore. The best time to do just
that is during the pre-spawn and spawn because
the fish are shallow at that time. In fact, on
windless days you may be able to spot those fish
from shore and make a play on them. One of the
best places to fish from shore is off the Pend Oreille
Bay Trail, which follows the lake and offers access
to a couple miles of good water with abundant
structure and broad flats. As the water warms in
summer the bass go deep and your wade-fishing
options decrease.
If you have a boat, use it, even if it’s just a
kayak. The first year I fished Pend Oreille I did so
from a kayak and caught lots of fish. In fact, there
wasn’t much water that I wanted to fish that I
couldn’t reach from this modest watercraft.
Small skiffs are good smallmouth tools for Pend
Oreille, but the bigger the boat the more ground
you can cover. No matter how large your boat may
be you have to respect Pend Oreille. The wind can
kick up quickly so you always need to check the
weather before heading out. When fishing from a
small boat I don’t go out if the winds are forecast at
10 miles an hour or more. Larger boats can handle
that wind, but there’s a cutoff point for everyone.
With a boat you can fish smallmouth all
summer long, in any depth of water, wherever you
choose, which means you can get away from heavy-
use areas and find your own little dreamworld
somewhere on the lake.
LAKE PEND OREILLE’S WORLD-CLASS
SMALLMOUTH BASS
Here at Lake Pend Oreille we have an incredible
smallmouth fishery that is greatly overlooked by
most fly-fishers. Many local bass experts believe
the next state-record smallmouth will be caught in
Lake Pend Oreille. With spring approaching, now is
the time to gear up and take your shot at the big
ones. See you on the lake. w