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Winter weather has arrived, and with it, many anglers are\nturning their attention to ice fishing. Several lakes across Idaho are already\nfrozen over and fishable, and with cold temperatures in the forecast, local\nfavorites like Lake Cascade and Horsethief Reservoir won\u2019t be far behind. Whether\nyou prefer ice or open water, here are some tips for planning your December fishing\noutings: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Henrys Lake (Ice Fishing)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I love Henrys Lake for two reasons: it is usually the first\nIdaho lake to freeze over, and it offers unbelievable fishing for trophy\ncutthroat and brook trout. Henrys usually freezes in November, but ice was behind\nschedule this year. My friends and I made our annual\ntrip<\/a> the first weekend in December, and even then, the ice was barely thick\nenough. We packed light and played it safe, and boy, did it pay off. Dozens of\ntrout came through the ice for us, including multiple fish over five pounds!\nWhite was our most effective color, and while actively jigging definitely\ncaught more fish, we did pick up some bonus catches on dead stick bait rigs. Henrys\nis a shallow lake, and most of our catches came in 6 to 12 feet of water. Get\nthere early! Popular spots fill up quickly, and the early morning bite is traditionally\nbest. From the Treasure Valley, Henrys is about five hours away\u2014tough as a day\ntrip, but perfect as a weekend getaway. If you\u2019re looking for a place to stay,\ncheck out nearby Sawtelle\nMountain Resort<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Local Ice Report <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Henrys is one of several eastern Idaho fisheries with safe\nice. Closer to home, we are still waiting. I predict Horsethief and the remote\nRiddle Lakes south of Bruneau will be fishable by New Year\u2019s. Cascade will\nlikely follow in early January, along with Warm Lake and Magic Reservoir.\nPayette Lake in McCall is usually the last to freeze\u2014we often have to wait\nuntil February. As always, use caution and be safe. If you aren\u2019t sure how\nthick the ice is, drill test holes as you go. At least four inches of clear,\nsolid ice is what we\u2019re looking for. Get all the details on how and where to enjoy\nice fishing in our region by taking my next fishing class, Ice Fishing\n101<\/a>, in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Boise River (Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I find myself fishing the Boise River more often in wintertime. With short days and cold temps, it\u2019s nice to be able to get out for a couple quick hours on a sunny afternoon. Based on my recent trips and reports from friends, catch rates are averaging 2 to 4 fish per hour\u2014mostly rainbows, with occasional browns mixed in. Flows are angler-friendly, and the holes are usually obvious. Drifting a night crawler typically catches the most fish, but you can also get them on streamer and nymph patterns, spinners and Rapalas\u2014minnow imitations might up your chances of catching a big one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n C.J. Strike Reservoir (Panfish, Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Old reliable C.J. Strike continues to produce. Anglers are\ncatching trout and a few Kokanee on trolling setups, while crappie, perch and occasional\nbonus catches are the norm for vertical jiggers. Most panfish anglers\nconcentrate their efforts around the Narrows. Diehard bass fishermen are still\npicking up fish on finesse patterns, including drop shots and Ned Rigs. Unless we\nget a crazy cold snap, C.J. should remain accessible by boat throughout the\nwinter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Winter weather has arrived, and with it, many anglers are turning their attention to ice fishing. Several lakes across Idaho are already frozen over and fishable, and with cold temperatures in the forecast, local favorites like Lake Cascade and Horsethief Reservoir won\u2019t be far behind. Whether you prefer ice or open water, here are some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1511","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\/1511","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=1511"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511\/revisions\/1514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}