Fishing and the weather remain hot across the Treasure\nValley as we march toward fall. An unfortunate side effect of the heat and\nextended drought is low water in several regional fisheries\u2014a topic I\u2019ll explore\nin an upcoming column. But in lakes, rivers and reservoirs that are holding\nwater, fishing has been quite good for crappie, bass, catfish and a number of\nother species. As you plan your August fishing trips, here are some pointers to\nkeep in mind: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have a Crappie Day <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Crappie fishing has been dynamite in recent weeks. My buddy\nCaleb and I caught 40 in short order at Owyhee Reservoir, and we likely could\nhave caught 100 (once we had enough for dinner, we focused on bass). I\u2019ve also\nenjoyed two very productive trips at C.J. Strike, where this year\u2019s crop of\nfish is loaded with 12-to-14-inch slabs. There are two basic strategies for\ncatching crappie: vertical jigging in deeper water (20-40 feet), or\ncasting\/trolling with crankbaits in shallower water (8-15 feet). Both have been\nproductive for me, with crappie-colored Ned Rigs and perch-colored Rapalas carrying\nthe day. Crappie are one of the best-tasting fish around, so my family has\nenjoyed some excellent, home-caught meals! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bass <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The bass bite remains very productive through these dog days\nof summer. Recent trips to Owyhee Reservoir, Lake Lowell and my favorite small\nfloat tube lake have produced good catch rates, mostly on soft plastic baits\nfished around weed lines, boulder fields, steep drop-offs and other rocky\ncover. The Zoom trick worm, the Strike King rage craw and the Ned Rig TRD worm have\nbeen some of my top fish-catchers, with a few fish grabbing crankbaits, spinnerbaits\nand jigs as well. Fish early or late in the day to avoid the heat\u2014that is often\nwhen the action is best, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Catfish <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n August might be the best month of the year for catching\ncatfish, which thrive in warm water. I am seeing spectacular catch rates in the\nSnake River as well as off the dams at Lake Lowell, with most anglers using\nworms, cut bait or chicken livers on the bottom. I had success catching big channel\ncats while exploring some new water on the Weiser River a couple weeks ago.\nTheir violent, head-shaking fights are a thrill, and smaller specimens (2-4\npounds) make for good eating. Tight lines! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fishing and the weather remain hot across the Treasure Valley as we march toward fall. An unfortunate side effect of the heat and extended drought is low water in several regional fisheries\u2014a topic I\u2019ll explore in an upcoming column. But in lakes, rivers and reservoirs that are holding water, fishing has been quite good for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1324","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\/1324","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=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1328,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/1328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}