Priest Lake Mackinaw (video)

I moved to north Idaho in September 2016 and the Priest Lake Mackinaw fishery quickly became one of my favorite. A career opportunity for my favorite fishing partner recently brought me back to Washington state but I did manage a trip back up to Priest before leaving. I hope you enjoy!

I moved to north Idaho in September 2016 and the Priest Lake Mackinaw fishery quickly became one of my favorite. A career opportunity for my favorite fishing partner recently brought me back to Washington state but I did manage a trip back up to Priest before leaving. I hope you enjoy!

If only there were more people in Idaho to enjoy this!

I just came on the Idaho forum to see if anyone had tips for Stanley lake lake trout.

Do you have any tips for lake trout that see a lot of pressure and are definitely are eating Kokanee? There are 30-40 pound fish in this lake and I haven't been able to get any to bite the normal lake trout gear I use.


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I highly recommend giving the Shimano Lucanus jigs a shot. They are spendy but worth it in my opinion. I was skeptical until I tried them and my catch ratio jumped 5 fold. Just something about the action on those jigs. The glow chartreuse and white or blue and white work well at Priest where the primary diet of those fish is kokanee and shrimp. I do recommend upgrading the factory hooks to size 1/0 Big River Bait hooks by Gamakatsu just use a 50+ braid to tie those in it. Its super easy.



Tipping your hooks with Pikeminnow, sucker, or perch (if legal) really ramps up the bite but nightcrawlers will work. Anise scent works well too. Even with fish spread out I've done really well targeting single marks on the fishfinder and catching them using the above setup.

Good luck!   

I highly recommend giving the Shimano Lucanus jigs a shot. They are spendy but worth it in my opinion. I was skeptical until I tried them and my catch ratio jumped 5 fold. Just something about the action on those jigs. The glow chartreuse and white or blue and white work well at Priest where the primary diet of those fish is kokanee and shrimp. I do recommend upgrading the factory hooks to size 1/0 Big River Bait hooks by Gamakatsu just use a 50+ braid to tie those in it. Its super easy.

Did you try these on PO and were they effective.

I highly recommend giving the Shimano Lucanus jigs a shot. They are spendy but worth it in my opinion. I was skeptical until I tried them and my catch ratio jumped 5 fold. Just something about the action on those jigs. The glow chartreuse and white or blue and white work well at Priest where the primary diet of those fish is kokanee and shrimp. I do recommend upgrading the factory hooks to size 1/0 Big River Bait hooks by Gamakatsu just use a 50+ braid to tie those in it. Its super easy.



Tipping your hooks with Pikeminnow, sucker, or perch (if legal) really ramps up the bite but nightcrawlers will work. Anise scent works well too. Even with fish spread out I've done really well targeting single marks on the fishfinder and catching them using the above setup.

Good luck!

Awesome, thanks. I'll definitely give these a shot and let you know how they do.


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Yes I found the Lucanus jigs to be extremely productive at Priest Lake but never fished them on Lake Pend Oreille as the netters have reduced fish densities so much it really wasn't worth it. I like them because they glow and are heavy enough to get down to the fish in a hurry. Here is a pic of how I run mine with the Big River Bait hooks.

Great video Tyler. Is this fishery mainly a Spring thing? I really want to try this in either Idaho or Central Oregon.

Great video Tyler. Is this fishery mainly a Spring thing? I really want to try this in either Idaho or Central Oregon.

Year round on Priest. I actually enjoyed fishing them in the fall (Octoberish) when they move up to 60-90'. They are pretty aggressive year round. Just don't catch any big ones. I'm still trying to catch up to you on your AOTY points ;-)

Great video Tyler. Is this fishery mainly a Spring thing? I really want to try this in either Idaho or Central Oregon.

Year round on Priest. I actually enjoyed fishing them in the fall (Octoberish) when they move up to 60-90'. They are pretty aggressive year round. Just don't catch any big ones. I'm still trying to catch up to you on your AOTY points ;-)

Haha. I don't think you'll have any trouble passing me, there's lots of fishing left. Thanks for the info. Fall is probably better for me anyway. I also want to fish Rufus from the kayak. Done it from shore but I think a kayak would have way more options.

Yes I found the Lucanus jigs to be extremely productive at Priest Lake but never fished them on Lake Pend Oreille as the netters have reduced fish densities so much it really wasn't worth it. I like them because they glow and are heavy enough to get down to the fish in a hurry. Here is a pic of how I run mine with the Big River Bait hooks.

Hmm maybe I'll use lighter braid from the lure to the hooks than my mainline.... wouldn't want to lose a $20 lure.


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Yes I found the Lucanus jigs to be extremely productive at Priest Lake but never fished them on Lake Pend Oreille as the netters have reduced fish densities so much it really wasn't worth it. I like them because they glow and are heavy enough to get down to the fish in a hurry. Here is a pic of how I run mine with the Big River Bait hooks.

Do you use the 3.75 oz,5.25, or 7?



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Nice video!  Thanks for sharing.  I will have to give those jigs a try down here.  I've been catching mine with Pline 3/4 oz Laser Minnows.  The lake I'm fishing isn't as deep and the water is pretty clear so I'm having to use 10 lb braid with a 6 lb flouro leader.

Bret