Happy New Year! January is a prime ice fishing month, but mild\nweather is creating tricky access and lots of slush at many fisheries. Here are\nthe top options as of this writing (January 12). Stay safe out there, and\nremember that ice conditions can change quickly. I recommend fishing with a\npartner\/group, drilling test holes as you go and only fishing if you find at\nleast four inches of solid ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a friendly reminder, Idaho fishing licenses are based on the\ncalendar year, so you need a new one for 2023. In addition to tackle shops, you\ncan purchase a license online through the IDFG website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Horsethief Reservoir (Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I fished Horsethief over New Year\u2019s weekend with my young daughter\nand some friends. We found 8-10 inches of good ice, with a couple inches of\nslush and snow on top. Action was steady for pan-sized rainbow trout.\nHorsethief trout can be finicky biters \u2014 I like to use small-profile lures like\na teardrop jig or tungsten nymph tipped with a mealworm or waxworm. Rainbow\ntrout are the most common catch, but Horsethief also has brown trout, brook\ntrout and Kokanee salmon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ben Ross Reservoir (Mixed Bag) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I ice fished Ben Ross for the first time in early January. We found\n10-14 inches of solid ice, with one caveat\u2014the edges were extremely soft. We\nmade it on, but other groups turned back when they saw how bad the edges were.\nBringing planks is highly recommended! Once we got on, fishing was excellent.\nWe caught more than a dozen bluegill, several trout, a few largemouth bass and\none big crappie. Our best action was in 20-25 feet of water using small\ntungsten jigs and spoons tipped with waxworms. Note: I have heard similar\nreports about deteriorating edges from Mann Creek Reservoir and Salmon Falls\nCreek Reservoir. Planks (2x4s or similar) are likely the only way to get on\nwithout getting wet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lake Cascade (Perch, Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The warm spell is causing messy conditions on Cascade, with inches\nof slush on top of the ice in many areas. The best action is on the north end\nof the lake, where anglers are catching both perch and trout. Perch-colored\njigs, spoons and jigging Rapalas are usually the way to go at Cascade, and it\u2019s\na good idea to have some bait rigs out, too. For the latest reports, stop by\nTackle Tom\u2019s or call (208) 382-4367<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Magic Reservoir (Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The recent drought has taken a toll on Magic, which was once a\nhigh-volume fishery for both trout and perch. Only the southern portion of the\nlake has held water in recent years, and dried-up spawning grounds have all but\neliminated the perch. The good news is there are still plenty of rainbows, and\nthe fish are big, averaging over 2 pounds. Jigs and spoons in red, white or\npink are a good place to start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Warm Lake (Trout, Kokanee) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Warm Lake has safe ice, with plenty of snow and slush on top.\nAction has been decent for stocked rainbow trout and small Kokanee salmon.\nBrook trout, bull trout and Mackinaw trout are also possible through the ice,\nbut they are much less common. For the latest conditions, or to book an\novernight stay at Warm Lake (the best way to fish it, in my opinion), call\nNorth Shore Lodge at (208)\n632-2000<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mountain View Reservoir (Trout, Perch) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mountain View Reservoir on the Duck Valley Reservation has safe\nice and is fishing well for good-sized trout and occasional jumbo perch. It\nrequires a separate permit ($18 per day or $100 for the season). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dog Creek Reservoir (Not safe)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It sounds like Dog Creek has frozen over, but I have yet to see a\nreport of safe fishing conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Payette Lake (Not safe)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Payette is one of the last lakes to freeze. It does have some ice,\nbut not enough to fish on yet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy New Year! January is a prime ice fishing month, but mild weather is creating tricky access and lots of slush at many fisheries. Here are the top options as of this writing (January 12). Stay safe out there, and remember that ice conditions can change quickly. I recommend fishing with a partner\/group, drilling test…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2167","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\/2167","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=2167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2169,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167\/revisions\/2169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}