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It has been a cool, wet, windy spring across southern Idaho.\nWhile the added rain (and snow!) is a welcome sight, the spotty weather has\nmade it difficult to plan fishing trips and establish consistent patterns,\nparticularly with warmwater species like bass. Still, there are good fishing\nopportunities to be had for those willing to brave the elements (or lucky\nenough to catch the occasional bluebird day). Here are some ideas to get you\nstarted as you plan your upcoming trips: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Snake River (Bass, Catfish) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve said it before, and it bears repeating: some of the\nbiggest bass of the season are the first ones caught, particularly when it\ncomes to smallmouth on the Snake River. Big, spawning-sized adults become more\nactive more quickly than their smaller counterparts as they prepare to spawn. I\nrecently made a quick stop to fish some new territory along the Snake, and struck\ngold with a personal-best smallmouth that weighed six pounds! Slow-rolling\ncrankbaits\u2014I like red crayfish patterns, in particular\u2014is a favorite\nearly-season smallmouth pattern for me. Catfish are starting to stir as well. I\ncaught an eight-pound channel cat moments after releasing my monster smallie,\nand anglers are starting to find good catch rates on cats using cut bait,\nshrimp and other bottom baits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Local Ponds (Mixed Bag)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ponds are great spring fishing options for a couple reasons.\nFor one, Fish & Game stocks thousands of catchable-sized rainbow trout during\nthe spring months, providing ample opportunity for anglers to catch trout on\nspinners, spoons, crankbaits, flies and bait. Bass, panfish and catfish are\nalso common in many local ponds. Most importantly, ponds provide easy,\nconvenient access, allowing you to hit short windows of good weather or make a\nspontaneous trip if conditions are favorable. Best of all? There are dozens of\npublic ponds to explore across southern Idaho. Get out there and give them a\nshot! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Brownlee Reservoir (Bass, Crappie, Catfish) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Brownlee has been a good mixed-bag spot this spring, with\nanglers catching bass, crappie, channel and flathead catfish. The bass, which\nare mostly smallmouths, are moving into shallow coves and can be caught\ntargeting points and rip-rap banks with crankbaits, jigs and jerkbaits. Brownlee\u2019s\ncrappie schools are not as plentiful as those found at C.J. Strike or Owyhee\nReservoir, but there are quality fish to be had if you can locate them. And catfish\nare always an option at Brownlee. Target channel cats with cut bait, shrimp or\nworms on the bottom. The larger, less common flatheads prefer moving prey like\na deep-diving crankbait. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Boise River <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The river has come up a bit, but it\u2019s still in fine shape\nfor chasing rainbow and brown trout with spinners, spoons, Rapalas, flies or\nbait as of this writing. With the drought conditions, it probably won\u2019t swell\nas much as it usually does in spring\/early summer, but do be mindful of the\nflows. High, muddy water on the Boise usually means it\u2019s best to turn your\nattention elsewhere. Tight lines! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It has been a cool, wet, windy spring across southern Idaho. While the added rain (and snow!) is a welcome sight, the spotty weather has made it difficult to plan fishing trips and establish consistent patterns, particularly with warmwater species like bass. Still, there are good fishing opportunities to be had for those willing to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1758","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\/1758","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=1758"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}