Hook Points

Fishing Reports

CJ Strike: Crappie bite is on! Lots of comments, messages and phone calls about the several new Northland Tackle baits that we brought in from excited anglers that are catching like crazy. Try the Gumball jigs, Pan Candy Grubs and Mimic Minnows. All caught several fish this week. Bass fishing has been very steady for small to medium sized smallies on drop shots, tube jigs and 3.3 Keitechs. Just a simple mix of green pumpkin, perch and crappie colors like Keitechs Electric Shad will get the job done. Good bites reported on the Dry Creek Stubby tubes! Decent reports on Sturgeon up the river side on trout, crappie and Sturgeon Candy.

Boise River: Water is still moving swiftly but there are people fishing and catching. Heavier weighted bottom bouncing rigs with nightcrawlers are a good option. Drop shotting is such an effective way to catch trout and super underfished…with the faster water, a small selection of 1/8oz to 3/8oz will easily allow you to adjust quickly to the style of water you are fishing. A small hook with a Berkley Fat worm or simple minnow style bait like a Northland Pan Candy Leech - KILLER!! Please be CAREFUL!!

Brownlee: Water levels are RISING - up 8’ to 2058. Fishing for bass has been excellent! Look shallow and have a good selection of tube jigs, drop shots, 10-12’ diving cranks or lipless and you know I’m going to have a 3.3” Keitech. Let’s go in order with a Dry Creek tube in Mud Pie, Roboworm Electric Shad, Strike King 3XD Elite in the “Rosie” or “Chartreuse Baitfish” colors, Lucky Craft LV500 in Chartreuse Shad or Brown Craw and Electric Shad for the Keitech - pair it with a Cipher 3/16oz 2/0 head and not only will you hook up more, but your baits will last quite a bit longer! Crappie fishing has been steady and for those willing to fish larger baits - there are really good sized fish to be caught. Look around main lake points in 10-15’ of water for these larger fish. Tons of smaller fish up REAL shallow in VERY large schools. Look outside of those for the big ones. I’m going to throw 2.8 and 3.3 Keitechs or 2 and 3” Easy Shiners. Pick your favorite color but I’m probably going with Chartreuse or White. The Northland Pan Candy Minnows also present a slightly larger profile and would be a good option for searching for larger fish. Catfish bite is EXCELLENT! Traditional catfish baits will work - as will jerkbaits and Keitechs - just ask the bass crowd!!

Snake River: Good consistent action for bass on the river with most of the commentary being about plentiful but smaller fish. Take a look at a 3/8oz spinnerbait, Tungsten Finesse Jig, jerkbait and a 3.3” Keitech on a belly weighted EWG hook to keep you out of the grass. Catfishing has been good in shallow water.

Wilson Springs: Lots of smaller stockers being caught on Powerbait!

Lake Lowell: Great for some! Not so great for others and “Are there any fish in here?!” for a few. Lets try to get everyone into the “GREAT” category! Lowell is a moody one and even those that fish it all the time, know that lulls are just part of Lowell’s personality. In my Lowell arsenal, I would have a white spinnerbait, a Bluegill or Chartreuse and White chatterbait, a buzzbait, Senko on a wacky jig (Brian had success with this set up this weekend) and a flipping bait like a Yum Scutterbug or Spine Craw. Break the water you are fishing down…if you are in the weeds, are there points? If you are in the trees, are they in the wispy branches or up against bigger stumps? Are they on the edges of either of these forms of cover? Use the Buzzbait to cover water, use the Chatterbait and Spinnerbait to cover the open water and edges, use the Flipping bait to see what cover and how deep they are and have the Senko ready if you miss a bite or they want something a little slower and more subtle.

Cascade Reservoir: I fished here personally this past week and found the perch to be pretty darn easy to catch. I caught many of them while trying to bass fish on 3.3 Keitechs, Jerkbaits, Crankbaits and a Lucky Craft LV 500!! If it were me, I’d have a 3” Keitech Easy Shiner on a 1/8oz ball head, Northland Mimic Minnows in the Perch or Pink patterns and a 3/8oz blade bait. The bigger fish were in 10-15’ around points and in coves. We found several around docks - most were small. I spoke to a few anglers at the boat ramps and many caught several fish but were all small. I highly recommend larger baits!! I “accidentally” caught several large perch all day long on baits clearly intended for bass. Bass fishing has been a bit hit or miss. We caught them really well in the morning and after about 10:30 - struggled!! Baits I threw were listed above.

Horsethief Reservoir: No report this week.

Owyhee Reservoir: Lots of crappie being caught. As with Cascade - the larger fish have been outside/deeper than the large schools. Look out in 10-12’ for fewer, but bigger crappies. Small cranks, flicker shads on the troll, and I’d have no problem trying some of the new Northland baits under a float tipped with Crappie Nibbles. Bass fishing has been just ok for most with a few really good days mixed in. Don’t sleep on the smallmouth bite here right now - some decent smallies being caught on 10-12’ diving cranks, Ned rigs and Tungsten Finesse Jigs. For green fish - grab a spinnerbait, drop shot and a flipping bait and go look for some bushes!

Owyhee River: Starting to really look the the “O” that we are used to seeing. Still a bit off color but very fishable with stabilizing flows. Shad Raps and other small cranks are awesome right now. Try a Lucky Craft Pointer 65 along the 2’ and deeper banks.

Duck valley: Still fishing a bit tough which is surprising to me. I think a lot of it has to do with the wind making it tough to really get a bait in the water and being able to fish it well. On windy days, heavier rigs designed to fish baits like Powerbait off the bottom are good options - try a Carolina Rig! Trolling is usually a really effective way to catch them here but the few guys I have spoken to that have been trolling have struggled to get there on a day where the wind was being nice…

Lucky Peak Reservoir: Very similar report as last week. Some kokes and bows being caught - a bit smaller and late spawners…some issues with the food quality. A good friend of the shop recommends just canning the late spawn “white meated kokanee”. I am hearing that fish are being caught on top down to 10’ of water.

Arrowrock Reservoir: Good news bad news…Good news is we are starting to hear about kokes being caught! Bad news? They are small. Water is up 10% this week and I think that is definitely helping. I am betting that the reports for Kokes would be decent this week but we are dealing with a fair amount of wind all week - so that might make things a bit tough. We will see. If it was me, I’d be on my Windy app, get there early and fish around the South Fork. See what I can do before the wind really gets going.

Anderson Ranch Reservoir: Add this spot to your list for bass as they have been biting and we are seeing some decent sized fish! I’d take a Ned rig, crankbait, jerkbait, Finesse Jig and a Keitech. I’ve historically done well with just green pumpkin here. Black fishes well also. For the Kokanee, though the fish have been smaller - they have been very willing. Around Curlew to Lime Creek has been popular for a long time and for good reason. Fish on top with Kokabow Dodgers in whites, pinks and oranges.

QUICK THANK YOU TO ALAN WITH KOKABOW TACKLE FOR THE KOKANEE REPORTS TODAY!! THIS GUY JUST CONTINUES TO WORK SO HARD TO HELP THE COMMUNITY CATCH THESE FISH!

If you would like to book a trip with Alan, he is guiding through Fish and Fur Outfitters. Cost is $250 per seat - 2 person minimum and I can tell from first hand experience - if you want to learn how to get in the game - its worth every penny! He guides on Anderson and Payette Lake!

Local Ponds: Good time to go catch a bass! I’d have a Neko rig, chatterbait and a topwater!

Pop Up Customer Appreciation Lunch THIS WEEK!, Panfish Class, Hiring!

• We are so grateful for the support of this community and just want to take a second to say THANK YOU!! Please join us for a free lunch this Wednesday from 11 to 2. The Tower Grill will be here with pulled pork sandwiches! Please visit the shop first for your food voucher.

• PANFISH CLASS SOLD OUT in just a few days! Can’t wait to see you here on Thursday to listen to Jordan Rodriguez with Tightlines 208 talk to us about these awesome fish! 

• WE ARE BUSY! And we need more help…Idaho Rod and Reel is HIRING for a PART TIME position! We are looking for someone that is interested in a flexible schedule, LOVES fishing and has a huge passion for helping people create memories and catch more fish! This position is likely to be seasonal as there are natural ebbs and flows throughout the year. If you are interested, please email resume to [email protected].

• Idaho Rod and Reel is excited to introduce you to Richelle Miller with Venturely! What an awesome woman this is and she has put together an AMAZING WOMENS ONLY BASS TOURNAMENT at a local private pond! This will be held on June 21st and is going to be such a cool event! Idaho Rod and Reel is donating prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place - rods, reels and some awesome tackle!! Contact Richelle at [email protected]. Cost is ONLY $60!!!!

• Lots of HOW TO Videos COMING!! Can’t wait to share these with you!

• WE ARE OUT OF STOCK ON MULTIPLE LINK AND IMPERIUM RODS!! THE FOLLWOING ARE IN STOCK:

  • Imperium Spinning, L Fast - Green Blank

  • Link ML Spinning, 7’1” Extra Fast, Cork Grip Only!

  • Imperium Ultra-light panfish rod - NOT MANY LEFT!!

  • 7’5” Heavy Fast Casting - with Lowell open, these are going quickly

  • 7’6” Link Tech Casting Rod, ML Fast, Cork and Graphite Grips Left

• The TVB Bass Fishing Club is holding a raffle to raise money for their club. They are raffling off a Browning X-Bolt 6.5 PRC 26” Barrel with Tri-Pod. Tickets are $20/piece or 6 for $20 and only 200 tickets will be sold! Can be seen in the shop!!

• Idaho Bass Masters Club is raffling of a Springfield Armory 1911 Garrison and 300 rounds of ammo with all of the proceeds going to fund their youth tournament prizes. Last year this tourney had over 60 kiddos!! Tickets are $20 a piece and 6 for $100.

• New and In-Stock this week: Reaction Innovations Plastics, Owner Wacky Hooks, Chatterbaits!, Daiwa Tatula Elite Rods, War Eagle Spinnerbaits, Panfish Plastics, BKK Hooks

• NEW HATS ON THE WAY!! 3 New Designs!

• Bait and equipment reviews coming…along with some How To’s….

• Is there something you’d like to see in the shop? Email me at [email protected]…one random suggestion just might end up winning you a prize.

Worth Watching

Must Know!

Technically Speaking...

Tons of good info!

Local and National Fishing News…and other “Stuff”

Trolling?

Local Fish Stocking Reports

SPRING CHINOOK DETAILS!

Steelhead Dam Counts

Steelhead Reports

How to fish a Carolina Rig

Trolling for Kokanee! This is a Local Youtuber!

Shallow Catfish!

CHECK OUT IDAHO ROD AND REEL’S NEW WEBSITE - idahotacklebox.com!!

Hells Canyon Sturgeon

A little laugh for ya 🤣 

How to use a slip bobber…great for crappie RIGHT NOW!

Fluke Fishing!

Downriggers for big Kokanee

You had me at “Dumb”…

Dang I love these!

New in the Shop

Northland Tackle Deep Vee jig Heads

BKK Armor Point Hooks!

Catch Spotlight

Submit your own entry to be featured in Hook Points to: [email protected], Subject: Catch Spotlight

John caught small fish once…he was 3.

Great catch Ethan! 3+ pounder!!

Damon doing what Damon does best…yanking bass out of Lowell!

Lisa is back in action and catching!!

Charlie found one that CHOKED a Cipher ball head!

John battling cancer AND BIG BASS!! Love you brother!! Keep on keepin’ on.

Good to see Kekoa back on the board!! Great dude with a great catch!

Cairns family is on ‘em! Well…everyone but Josh 🤣 

Murrays doubled up!! Don’t let the pic fool ya…Erin’s is bigger, Cody just has long arms.

Well…ya caught one Jeremy. That is definitely a fish. 😂 

JJ with a big ol’ smallie!!

Kiefer and son with their first Dino!

Great catch Es!!

Atta boy Bronson!!

Michael proving that all fish love Senkos!

Brian caught dinner! (BTW…one heck of a carpenter if you need one!! Like one of the best I’ve seen)

Check ol’ Levi out!! Found one!

Zach and his young ones KILLING IT!

Look at that dork! Caught a perch on a lipless…#skills 🤣 

For Kokanee Guide Services - check out my good friends!! You will love your trips with them!!