February marks the final month of reliable ice at many local\nfisheries (although some will likely stay frozen into March). Ice conditions have\nimproved thanks to colder temperatures, especially at higher elevations. As you\nplan your trips, here are some destinations to consider. As always, I recommend\nfishing on at least four inches of ice, using the buddy system and drilling test\nholes as you go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Payette Lake (Mackinaw Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Payette currently has six-plus inches of solid ice, with\nrelatively little slush and snow on top. Payette offers the unique opportunity\nto catch massive trophy fish through the ice\u2014Mackinaw trout that can surpass 40\ninches long! It is not, however, a high-volume fishery. If you go, expect to\nput in a lot of effort for a small handful of opportunities (catching one nice Mackinaw\nis a success). Most anglers use white tube jigs tipped with a piece of cut\nsucker, pikeminnow or Kokanee. Spoons, swimbaits and bucktail jigs can also be\neffective at times. Mackinaw are often found in deep water, anywhere from 60 to\n90 feet, so electronics are vital. Public access is tricky at Payette, so many\nanglers fish near the marina in town. Hiking to explore other areas can pay off\nwith better quality fish. I recommend releasing large lake trout, which take\ndecades to reach trophy size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mountain View Reservoir (Trout, Perch) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With low water conditions hampering efforts at Magic and Mormon\nreservoirs, the Duck Valley Reservation has been home to the most consistent\ntrout fishing this hardwater season. Mountain View is the go-to ice fishery,\nand it has been producing solid catch rates on 15-to-20-inch rainbows. Anglers are\ncatching trout on jigs and dead sticks with shrimp, cut bait and worms. Big\nperch are also possible (perch pattern lures are a good bet for both species).\nIf you go, get there early\u2014the bite often dies off by late morning. Duck Valley\nrequires a separate permit, which cost $18 per day or $100 for the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lake Cascade (Perch, Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It has been a good perch season at Lake Cascade. The fish\nare actively chasing minnow patterns like jigging Rapalas and, as usual, there\nare plenty of 14-to-16-inch jumbos being caught. Also as usual, they are hard\nto get to on foot, with the majority of the fish being found in 30-plus feet of\nwater out in the old river channel. The good news is the ice and slush\nconditions have improved, and snowmobile travel is a lot easier than it was\nthroughout most of January. Don\u2019t overlook the trophy trout possibilities at\nCascade. I always like to have a trout rod or two out while I\u2019m jigging for\nperch, and big rainbows often add some excitement to the day. For the latest\nreports, stop by Tackle Tom\u2019s or call (208)\n382-4367<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other Options<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Magic Reservoir continues to produce low numbers on rainbow\ntrout, but they are usually big\u2026Horsethief remains a consistent bet for friendly\naccess and pan-sized trout\u2026For multispecies action, try Dog Creek Reservoir\nnear Gooding or Ben Ross near Council. Both are home to bass, trout and a variety\nof panfish\u2026Bear Lake on the Idaho\/Utah border has frozen and provides trophy\nopportunities for Mackinaw trout and Bonneville cutthroat. Stay safe out there!\nTight lines! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February marks the final month of reliable ice at many local fisheries (although some will likely stay frozen into March). Ice conditions have improved thanks to colder temperatures, especially at higher elevations. As you plan your trips, here are some destinations to consider. As always, I recommend fishing on at least four inches of ice,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2214","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\/2214","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=2214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2216,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions\/2216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}