Fishing conditions remain ideal across much of southern\nIdaho, with a wide variety of species and waterways available. As we hit the\nsweet spot between summer and fall, here are a few destinations to keep in mind:\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big Wood River (Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An often-overlooked fishery about two hours northeast of\nBoise, the Big Wood River offers some of the finest trout fishing in the region\nthis time of year. With angler-friendly flows, a pair of waders or swim trunks\n(disclaimer\u2014there are leeches) is all you need to fish virtually any hole on\nthe river. The holes tend to be obvious and productive, too, as much of the\nriver is too shallow and fast-moving to hold many fish. Wild rainbow and brown\ntrout are the target species, and there are some dandies. I recently made a\nquick stop off and caught two 14-inch browns and two 17-inch rainbows flinging\nRapalas and spinners on my ultralight rod. Flies would certainly catch fish,\ntoo. Hopper patterns should be money this time of year, along with streamers,\nleeches and bead-head nymphs. Watch your step wading, as the brown trout will\nbegin building their redds and spawning by the end of September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Alpine Lakes (Trout) <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last call for fishing in the high country! Chilly nights will make\ncamping uncomfortable before long, so don\u2019t delay. Idaho has dozens of mountain\nlakes to explore\u2014check out the Sawtooths<\/a>, the\nwilderness above McCall<\/a> and the Rainbow\nLakes Trail<\/a>, just to name a few. Wherever you journey takes you, the strategy\nfor catching cutthroat, rainbow and brook trout is usually pretty standard.\nThrowing small dry flies, hoppers and bead head nymphs almost always gets some\nattention, and you can\u2019t go wrong flinging small spinners, spoons and Rapalas,\neither. For my money, it\u2019s worth it to pack in a float tube<\/a>, which\ngives you free roam of the lake instead of competing for limited shore access.\nDon\u2019t ignore small inlet and outlet streams! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lake Lowell (Bass, Catfish) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The water level is dropping at Lake Lowell, but\nlate-season fishing can be very productive. As the water recedes, the weed line\nand other vegetative cover are left high and dry. Bass\u2014which become aggressive as\nthey sense the end of the feeding season approaching\u2014will hold to underwater\nrock piles, dams and other submerged cover. Target them with crankbaits,\nswimbaits and soft plastics. I\u2019ve also caught late-season catfish at Lowell\nusing worms, garlic marshmallows and other scented baits. Like many lakes in\nour region, Lowell sometimes experiences algae blooms. Algae won\u2019t affect the fishing\nmuch, but it\u2019s a good idea to stay out of the water and leave your pets at\nhome. Boating season closes Sept. 30. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sagehen Reservoir (Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For an alpine feel without the hike, try Sagehen Reservoir north\nof Boise. This small lake is generously stocked with rainbow trout and offers\nboat access, decent shore fishing and dozens of campsites right on the water.\nIt can get crowded in the summer months, but getting out in a boat or float\ntube relieves the congestion. Trolling seems to be the most productive\nstrategy, with anglers towing flashers trailed by wedding rings, hoochies or\nspinners tipped with worms or corn. Stripping leeches from a float tube or\nfishing bait on a slip sinker from shore should also attract some\nattention. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fishing conditions remain ideal across much of southern Idaho, with a wide variety of species and waterways available. As we hit the sweet spot between summer and fall, here are a few destinations to keep in mind: Big Wood River (Trout) An often-overlooked fishery about two hours northeast of Boise, the Big Wood River…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655","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\/655","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=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":656,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions\/656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}