{"id":578,"date":"2019-07-16T23:33:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T05:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/?p=578"},"modified":"2019-07-16T23:36:49","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T05:36:49","slug":"fishing-report-july-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/16\/fishing-report-july-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Fishing Report: July 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From toothy tiger muskie at Little Payette Lake to angler-friendly flows in local rivers, there is no shortage of places to fish this month. Here are some cool fishing holes to escape to as Idaho’s summer heat sets in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little Payette Lake (Tiger Muskie) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As detailed my recent column<\/a>, tiger muskie season is on at Little Payette near McCall. These huge, toothy predators are one of the toughest fish you can tangle with in our region\u2014at a healthy 36 inches, the specimen we brought aboard my boat wasn\u2019t even big enough to keep! Muskies are wily ambush hunters who use Little Payette\u2019s abundant wood and grass cover to hide from their prey. Large spinners and topwater lures are the best baits, but getting one or two bites is considered a good day. Luckily, smallmouth bass enjoy similar habitats, and there are some big ones at Little Payette. Rapalas, topwater plugs and plastics are good choices for bass. It\u2019s best to stay muskie-ready by fishing with a steel leader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crane Falls Lake (Mixed Bag)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently stopped by this old favorite and put more than\n30 bass in the boat. Spinnerbaits and plastic worms were the ticket, as the\nbass have spawned and are looking to feed. Remember, Crane Falls has trophy\nrules on bass. If you\u2019re looking for something to keep, the lake also has\nstocked rainbow trout, perch, crappie and bluegill. Trout hang out in the\ndeeper, clearer water and can be targeted with flies, spinners, spoons or\ntrolling gear. Perch and crappie are often found in the transition areas\nbetween deep water and the weedy shallows. Target them with small crankbaits or\npanfish jigs tipped with worms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snake River (Bass, Catfish) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Snake River has really turned on, with hot fishing\nfor smallmouth bass and channel catfish alike. With flows as low as they\u2019ve\nbeen all season, anglers can scramble along the shoreline to find points and\nrockpiles to fish from. Fishing deep pools and eddies with soft plastic grubs,\nspinnerbaits and crankbaits is the best way to target bass. Use cut bait or\nchicken livers on heavier tackle to target catfish. You can also fish a live\nworm\u2014you\u2019re likely to catch lots of smaller bass, with a shot at a big\nsmallmouth or channel cat. Sturgeon holes are easier to identify when the river\ndrops, too, and anglers have been wrestling some nice dinos on the usual\nassortment of cut bait, squid and pickled herring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boise River (Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s nice to see fish being caught on the Boise River\nagain. Anglers are wrangling lots of rainbow trout and the occasional brown\ntrout or whitefish, mostly by flinging spinners, bait or flies. Panther Martin\nspinners in green\/orange or black\/gold are two favorites of mine.\nRainbow-colored Rooster Tails and silver Blue Fox are also popular offerings.\nFor the fly crowd, the go-to presentations are subsurface nymphs like the\nhare\u2019s ear, pheasant tail or copper John. Big streamers like a sculpin or\nmuddler minnow might entice a bigger brown or rainbow, especially late in the\nevening. It\u2019s a busy time on the river, with lots of floaters and other\nrecreationists around. Fish early to avoid the crowds! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From toothy tiger muskie at Little Payette Lake to angler-friendly flows in local rivers, there is no shortage of places to fish this month. Here are some cool fishing holes to escape to as Idaho’s summer heat sets in: Little Payette Lake (Tiger Muskie) As detailed my recent column, tiger muskie season is on at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-578","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\/578","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=578"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":581,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions\/581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}