Well folks, it has been HOT. With all this record-setting,\n100-degree nonsense, not all outdoor activities are fun, safe or accessible.\nBut there are multiple ways to beat the heat while fishing. Read on for some\nJuly tips and destinations. And be sure to hydrate and come prepared for extra-warm\nconditions! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alpine Lakes <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n July is a prime month for hiking into Idaho\u2019s beautiful\nmountain lakes. There are literally hundreds to explore\u2014if you live in the\nTreasure Valley, the nearest options include the mountains above Cascade,\nMcCall and Idaho City. For more adventure, explore the Sawtooths near Stanley. There\nare lots of things I like about alpine lakes. The scenery is second-to-none,\nand the mountains are a great place to spend a weekend camping in Idaho\u2019s\nnatural beauty. Fishing tends to be pretty good, as the fish have a limited feeding\nwindow (many alpine lakes are covered in snow and ice for months each year). There\nis also a cool list of fish to catch, many of which aren\u2019t found at lower\nelevations. Cutthroat trout, brook trout, bull trout, golden trout and artic\ngrayling are some of the top targets. I even caught a 38-inch tiger muskie\u2014my first\u2014out\nof a mountain lake this summer! For trout fishing, flies, spinners, spoons,\nRapalas and bait are solid choices. The fish usually aren\u2019t too picky. If you don\u2019t\nhave a fly rod, using a fly and bubble bobber rig is a great way to get in on\nthe topwater action. I recommend packing in a float tube whenever possible. Shoreline\naccess is often tricky at alpine lakes, so having a way to get in the water\nwill provide a lot more options for exploring the lake and finding the best\nfishing spots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bass Fishing <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the great things about bass is they don\u2019t mind the\nheat! I\u2019ve been having great trips on both largemouth and smallmouth bass\n(although I\u2019ll admit, the bite is usually best early and late in the day, when\nit\u2019s just a tad cooler). In the Snake River, crayfish imitation crankbaits have\nbeen the ticket for catching smallmouth. I\u2019ve also had solid largemouth trips\nat Paddock Reservoir, Ben Ross Reservoir and Crane Falls Lake. Spinnerbaits and\nsoft plastics fished around weed lines, submerged trees and other prime cover\nhave been my primary fish-catchers, along with occasional topwater action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other options <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Panfish like crappie, bluegill and pumpkinseed are usually\nquite active in the summer months, and there are dozens lakes and reservoirs to\ntry. Trout fishing in the rivers has been ok\u2014flows are high, but not as high as\nusual because of low water conditions. I catch trout (and pikeminnow) in\nslower-moving stretches of the Payette River this time of year. And I haven\u2019t done\nmuch catfishing this summer, but the bite is there. Lots of cats are coming out\nof the Snake and Brownlee Reservoir, usually the result of bottom fishing with\ncut bait, worms or chicken livers. Tight lines! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well folks, it has been HOT. With all this record-setting, 100-degree nonsense, not all outdoor activities are fun, safe or accessible. But there are multiple ways to beat the heat while fishing. Read on for some July tips and destinations. And be sure to hydrate and come prepared for extra-warm conditions! Alpine Lakes July is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1289"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1327,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289\/revisions\/1327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}