Staying at Cabin on Priest Lake (Sandpoint, Priest River: rental, school, restaurant)

[HoustonHostage]

We are going to Priest Lake next week staying at a friend's cabin for 7 days. I am looking for places to see around there, places to hike, things to experience, how to fish there, etc... I'd like to be able to show my wife how beautiful the area is and have her thoroughly enjoy our trip. Any "must-dos" this time of year in that area??

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Where are you staying on the lake? It's pretty good sized, the drive around can take a while, it will help with giving you pointers.

Huckleberries should be getting ripe at the lower elevations (at least they are at my place).

You might want to go for a drive on some of the forest service/state roads in the area-there is a lot of beautiful country you don't see from the pavement. If you can find a rental place, ATVs offer a great way to check out the backroads without beating your car up.

Given that you have a week, Sandpoint is worth a trip.

Most of the fishing in Priest is for Lake Trout (Mackinaw) I believe. You really need a boat and downriggers to get to them. It might pay to hire a guide for a day, we did so a few years ago and had a great time. There might be more for shore fishing down on Priest River.

Here's somewhere to look: http://priestlake.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid =1 (broken link)

Misty might have more to add.

[HoustonHostage]

Thanks for the info. We will have boats, not sure about downriggers. I did a little research on the fishing and it looks like you have to troll with your lure 6 feet off the bottom.

What is Sandpoint and why is it worth it?

The ATV deal sounds like a great idea!

I know that the cabin is on a shoreline close to one of the islands if that helps. You can swim to the island.

[fearnofish]

Originally Posted by HoustonHostage

We are going to Priest Lake next week staying at a friend's cabin for 7 days. I am looking for places to see around there, places to hike, things to experience, how to fish there, etc... I'd like to be able to show my wife how beautiful the area is and have her thoroughly enjoy our trip. Any "must-dos" this time of year in that area??

If you havent already gone let me know and I can tell you all about fishing on Priest Lake.. It is one of the best fisheries around. Ahh what the heck I will put it here for anyone else to see.

On Priest you will find Mackinaw aka Lake Trout. These fish will eat about anything as we demonstrated one day by trying to find a lure they would not eat and were unsuccessful in doing so. The fish range from 5lbs to well over 20 lbs and you can catch 30 or more on a good day and our worst day, with one exception was 5. One day we got skunked somehow but that was only one day out the years we have been fishing there. Assuming you have a boat and a good fish finder you can motor around until you find a nice school of fish and either sit on top of them and *** or troll around in that area. You will be fishing on/in the bottom for these fish. When we troll we usually run our downrigger balls in the mud therefore you have ot be sitting there constantly adjusting your depth and watching the strain on your downrigger line. This is a good way to hang up and loose your set up but you catch a lot more fish this way than you do if you run your ball 10 feet off the bottom like some do. That way still catches fish though so whatever what you want to run your ball is your choice. As for lure my all time favorite is about a 5 inch rapala that is chartrurise (no idea how to spell that word ) with orange stripes on it.

Trolling for the fish is fun but jigging is awesome when you get on a good hold of fish. To do this just use a good glow in the dark *** and a cut of meat of somesort. We usually use perch fillets that we caught the days before we went to Priest. You will most than likely be jigging in 150 to 200 feet of water so have a rod/reel that can support that but also with a good enough tip to feel/see the bites.

I would suggest you call Fins and Feathers at 208-667-9304 for the latest updates and where to fish. Good luck!

[mistyriver]

Priest Lake is paradise. You won't need to do anything, just enjoy. Bring bug spray though...the no-see-ums are horrible (see my Demon Gnat thread). Unless something has changed in the past couple of years, no one rents ATV's...too high a liability. We looked extensively when my brother in law came here from Indian a to elk hunt.
ToyMan's link is a good one.
Oh yeah...try to get up to Upper Priest...it's even more beautiful. Hill's and Elkin's Resorts are good places to eat...also the Chimney Rock restaurant. Cavanaugh Bay is a good place to sit on the deck and kick back with a beer and a plate of BBQ.