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Idaho's Fishing Newsletter

Ryan Chris
October 01, 2024

Fishing Reports

CJ Strike: Bass fishing has really picked up at CJ with some good sized fish being caught! Seems like the Snake River side has been the more productive side for the bass. Cranking rocky areas has been working for fish in 10-15’ of water with Spro Rk Crawlers and Strike King 3XD’s. Ned baits, craw style baits on Texas rigs and larger minnow style baits like 3.8 Keitechs are good options right now as these fish are fattening up for the cooler months ahead. Pay attention to your depths as the lighting conditions change. Overcast can keep these fish shallower longer. Crappie and perch fishing has been decent! One customer reported (and sent me pics to prove it!) great fishing in 15-30’ for both crappie and perch with the bait of the day being the Hand Tied Panfish Jigs that we tie. There are a few left in the shop!! The fish are moving up and being caught a bit more shallow earlier in the day so bank anglers, you definitely have a shot at some nice panfish. Trout fishing has picked up considerably. Tough to beat a Flicker Shad or Salmo Hornet on the troll and Powerbait and spinners from the banks. As with the bass, let the sunlight help guide the depth you are fishing if you are throwing hardware or plugs at them. SEE NOTES BELOW REGARDING BOAT RAMP AND CAMPGROUND CLOSURE!

Boise River: Lots of good fish being caught in the Boise. Drift fishing with Ultralight Heavyweights jigs and Berkley Power Nymphs can be effective but my most recommended method right now is throwing crankbaits and jerkbaits. Shorter days and longer nights = winter is coming! Let’s eat…

Brownlee: Harmful Algae Bloom Warning In Effect. Water levels have been hanging out around 2047 - 2048 for the last few weeks. The Spring Ramp is still accessible - just have to use the old ramp. See the attached image for ramps that are still accessible. Fishing remains hot! Get out some hard baits and go run some rocky banks. You’ll get bit. I’d have a topwater and a jerkbait rigged up early and probably leave them on a bit longer than normal if it’s overcast. Probably go with a walking bait and a Vision 110 or the Idaho Rod and Reel Custom Purple. Tungsten Finesse jigs, Lunker City Hellgies on a Ned and a Roboworm on a drop shot would be tied up for me as well. Catfishing has been excellent and I’ve seen some really nice fall Flathead pictures! Look for banks with a good mix of sand, random boulders and small rock. Does not have to be deep! 10-15’ is enough.

Snake River: Sturgeon fishing has picked up considerably! Hearing about plenty of fish being caught in shallower water areas next to deep pools. Sturgeon candy, trout and squid have been the baits that I have heard about. Fished here myself this weekend for bass and had a blast. Dealing with TONS of grass! Look at throwing a Keitech on a belly weighted EWG and/or the Keitech Shad Impact fluke style baits on a Ryugi Limit 4/0 hook to combat that. Tungsten Finesse jigs in the rocky or sandy sections will work. Try a walking bait or popper! We had a lot of success on the Idaho Rod and Reel Custom Purple jerkbait but it’s not easy to throw around that grass - just gotta pick your casts and be patient (and careful) as you pick grass off the trebles. It was worth the effort as it landed the most fish my a significant number. Brian landed the biggest fish of the trip on a 5” Bull Shad.

Wilson Springs: Starting to hear that the grass and moss is dying off and that there are holes you can fish in between what is left. As I am not hearing much about this place, I will go check it out myself this week.

Lake Lowell: Fishing well!! Always bummed when the lake closes as I love catching bass this time of the year (see the notes from the City website about Lake Lowell below). Plenty of bank fishing though and I have always caught fish here with a wacky rig and a chatterbait from the banks in the fall. I kind of gave up a favorite bait of mine for Lowell last week and we sold out of Yum Dingers in the Sinful Shad color. Wouldn’t ya know it, a couple of folks that grabbed those caught a bass or two 😆! They are back in stock and a really great option this time of the year. I love a Chartreuse and White and/or Bluegill colored Mini Max Chatterbait with a Big Bite Baits Kamikaze Swimon trailer as well.

Motorized and Non-motorized boating are allowed April 15 to September 30. Human-powered boats are allowed 200 yards in front of the Upper and Lower Dams between October 1 and April 14. The rest of the lake is set aside for migrating and wintering wildlife.

Cascade Reservoir: Good fishing for everything that swims in Cascade right now. Perch are biting Flicker Shads, Salmo Hornets and Shad Raps. Customer had a PHENOMENAL DAY (their words) with the Fire Bug color of Salmo Hornet. I’ll attach a picture below as it is a very cool bait and has a serious resemblance to a Zip bait I like to throw…Simple nightcrawler rigs are also catching perch like crazy and a simple jig head tipped with a bit of nightcrawler can be deadly when cast from the banks around rock piles. Don’t forget the Ned rig for the perch. They like to hang out around the bottom and will pick up darn near anything that moves and that fits in their mouth. Look at the Lunker City Hellgie - not many throwing it but should be!! Very effective bait! Lots of really nice trout are being caught on the same lures mentioned above but I’d add a simple Wedding Ring with a smiley blade into the mix or a Kokabow Spinner. For the bass, cranking and topwater can work early and then I’d be looking at switching to Carolina rigged flukes or Keitech Shad Impacts, 3.8” Keitechs on a ball head as well as Ned rigs and drop shots.

Horsethief Reservoir: Open again for day use! No report.

Owyhee Reservoir: Hearing some great things about the crappie fishing at the Owyhee. 15-20’ seems to be the sweet spot and while guys are having success trolling, vertical jigging on top of schools seems to be working very well. For that, try a jigging rap or by using a slightly heavier jig head with your favorite crappie soft plastic. Slowly drifting with 2 or 3” Keitech Easy Shiners can be deadly. Look at inside edges of the longer main lake points. Bass fishing has been excellent with crankbaits and football jigs. Look for big flats with a mix of rock, sand and boulders and cover water. I don’t target the deep and steep stuff right now. Maybe I should but sure seem to find good fish on the more gradually sloping stuff 💪.

Owyhee River: Great fishing on the Owyhee. For the fly guys, hopper droppers (yes I throw hoppers in October…especially if they have a bit of Orange on the belly to imitate a certain bug that can’t fly well and shows up in October 😉), BWO, Caddis and PMD’s are what I’d have a good selection of. Midges are always around but not my favorite thing to throw…Old Dude eyes don’t see them as well as they used to! If you are going to throw hardware, that’s a great idea…small cranks and jerks are awesome at the Owyhee in the deeper tail out sections and in some of the long slow meandering sections. You’ll find a lot of fish right up against the banks right now. So careful getting in!

Duck valley: From the TRIBAL WEBSITE:

September 17, 2024 –Colder temperatures dropping down has increased the fishing activity, less than two weeks ago the temperatures were in excess of 70 degrees, and current readings are registering 55-60 degrees, quite a significant drop. All three reservoirs have been productive to anglers; however, moss build-up has congested many off-shore fishing spots. Open water lay further away from the shore in some areas.

Lucky Peak Reservoir: No Report this Week.

Lucky Peak Dam and Lake - WallaWallaUSACE | Boise ID

Lucky Peak Dam and Lake - WallaWallaUSACE, Boise, Idaho. 3,635 likes · 640 talking about this · 1,128 were here. Striving to deliver operational excellence in flood risk management, responsible...

www.facebook.com/LuckyPeakLake

RAMP LEVELS AT LUCKY PEAK!!

Arrowrock Reservoir: Reports still trickling in and it sounds like the fishing is spotty. Mostly trout and small smallmouth bass being caught. Trout have been on the troll with guys running Kokanee gear - dodgers and spinners from Kokabow. Kokanee should be starting to pick up soon for the late season bite. There are a lot of bass at Arrowrock! A Ned rig, drop shot or Keitech should keep you entertained for quite a while here!

Anderson Ranch Reservoir: No report this week.

Local Ponds: Some decent bass being caught and lots of trout in the urban ponds. For the bass, try a Bull Shad or other larger swimbait! The big bait game is perfect of big slow pond bass…

Shop News - Steelhead Class, Future Classes, Rod News, Addicted, Damiki

Tons of questions about when we will be getting more of the shop rods!! We are working on them!! This is a huge undertaking for a small shop. It’s a very expensive and time consuming process that I think is WELL WORTH IT! Part of what makes our shop unique is the custom products that we manufacture and how we determine what we make is simple - we identify areas that we know we can improve your fishing experience. Our tungsten products come with good hooks, our drop shot weights with buried clevises, our Finesse Jig with a premium skirt and BKK hook, our hand tied jigs and bladed jigs are on Gamakatsu hooks and we use the best skirts available, you get the point! We believe these rods are second to none and will be at a price point that competes with rods twice their price. We hope to have some rods back in stock IN OCTOBER! Pre-ordering will be available. And wait until you see what else we did 😉!
Hells Canyon Guide Cody Ard will be teaching a class on How to Catch a Steelhead on October 3rd, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm in the Idaho Rod and Reel Learning Center. THIS CLASS IS FREE! Cody has YEARS of experience guiding for and catching these awesome fish and is one of the absolute best steelhead anglers I know. Baits, locations, movements
Damiki Heads and Baits scheduled to arrive on Tuesday - along with Flukes, Scented Jerk Shadz and more.
Steelhead baits and floats from the Addicted Fishing Brands in Stock this Week!
COMING SOON! Fall Bass Fishing Classes!
Steelhead Anglers! Hand tied steelhead jigs are coming soon!
SECOND CHANCE RAFFLES COMING SOON! If you didn’t win something in our grand prize raffles…don’t give up just yet…
There are a FEW Mystery Tackle Boxes left…Trout, Crappie and Bass flavors.
LADIES ONLY CLASSES COMING SOON! Can’t wait for you to meet our newest instructor!! She has years of experience with multiple species and techniques!! Excited to have a 100% Ladies Only Class coming soon!
Keep an eye out for something new…TACKLE TALK TUESDAYS coming soon!
IN STOCK NOW: Dry Creek Tubes, Bubba Pro Series Scales, 7” Flukes, Lucky Craft Sammy’s, G-Juice, Salmo Hornets, Jointed Flicker Shads, Bite Me Tube Jig Heads, Bite Me Ned Rig Heads, Spin-n-glows, Damiki Blade Baits, Damiki jig heads
CUSTOM COLOR SOFTBAITS ONLY AVAILABLE AT IDAHO ROD AND REEL FROM MAJOR MANUFACTURERS COMING SOON!
CRAPPIE and TROUT fishers…custom rods built just for you coming SOOONN!!!.
Custom Rods…something very cool is coming 😉
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

THEY’RE ON THE MOVE!

Technically Speaking...

Must Know!

Local and National Fishing News…and other “Stuff”

Very COOL!

MK Nature Center in Boise welcomes five Upper Columbia River sockeye salmon

On Sept. 20, five Upper Columbia River sockeye salmon arrived at the MK Nature Center in Boise—and yes, they had a little help from the tanker truck. Come on down to the nature center and see these big fish for yourselves!

idfg.idaho.gov/article/mk-nature-center-boise-welcomes-five-upper-columbia-river-sockeye-salmon

Good to know!!

Heads up hunters and anglers: Idaho Power closing North Park campground and boat ramp at C.J. Strike on Oct. 1

Idaho Power’s North Park Campground and boat ramp on C.J. Strike Reservoir will close from Oct. 1 through December while the company upgrades the docks between the park and the nearby U.S. Air Force Marina.

idfg.idaho.gov/article/heads-hunters-and-anglers-idaho-power-closing-north-park-campground-and-boat-ramp-cj-strike

New Drop Shot Tricks

Current Trout Stocking

Fish Stocking Forecasts

td {width: 33%; max-width: 33%; } This report highlights the monthly fish stocking schedule. Unless noted, fish listed below are all 10 to 12 inch rainbow trout. Stocking of all waters is tentative and dependent on river/lake/pond conditions; dates may change due to weather or staffing constraints. The table below shows schedules for all known forecasted stocking and up to the last month's recent stocking schedules. It may take two weeks for stocking data to appear as Historical stocking information. Your patience is appreciated.

idfg.idaho.gov/d7/fish/stocking/forecasts?rid=3

Crappies!!