October is a transition month for fishing conditions across\nour region. As cooler weather sets in and stream flows taper off in most local\nrivers, many anglers will turn their attention to trout until ice fishing\nseason arrives. You still have options, though\u2014here are a few ideas to get you\nstarted: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir (Walleye, Bass) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Walleye are on the chew at Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir\nsouth of Twin Falls! These fish are a cool, rare find in Idaho, and I recently\nchecked them out with local walleye expert Andy Fiolka. Fishing with soft\nplastic swimbaits against windblown shorelines is a good strategy, and fish can\nalso be coaxed out of deeper water by trolling crankbaits, bouncing crawler\nharnesses or vertical jigging. Expect to catch plenty of smallmouth bass while\nyou\u2019re at it. Trout and perch might also crash the party. Keep an eye on my\ncolumns in the Idaho Statesman and the Twin Falls Times-News for a deeper dive\non walleye fishing at Salmon Falls later this month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Owyhee River (Trout) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n October is a fabulous month for catching brown trout\u2014the\ntrophy species the Owyhee River in eastern Oregon is known for. Browns are fall\nspawners, and October is usually when big fish start congregating. They\u2019ll be\nactively feeding and will strike dry flies, nymphs, streamers, leeches,\nspinners, spoons and crankbaits. If you really want to get adventurous, large\nmouse-patterned lures and flies often attract big, aggressive browns. When the\nfish start pairing off to spawn, it\u2019s best to leave them alone (and watch your\nstep to avoid trampling nests). Brown trout are catch-and-release on the\nOwyhee. You can also catch fat rainbow trout, which often follow spawning fish\nupriver. Bring your Oregon license. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Brownlee Reservoir (Mixed Bag) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The harmful algae has dissipated at Brownlee, a Snake\nRiver reservoir on the Idaho-Oregon border. I have been hearing good things\nfrom bass tournament anglers\u2014crankbaits, jigs, swimbaits and spinnerbaits are\ngood choices this time of year, as bass are on the prowl for wayward minnows.\nIt\u2019s not too late to get into some channel and\/or flathead catfish, either.\nWorms, cut bait, Mormon crickets or deep-diving crankbaits should attract some\nbites. Crappie are another popular target at Brownlee. This year\u2019s class of\nfish includes some really big fish in the 14-inch range, and lots of smaller\nfish that aren\u2019t quite worth keeping. The big ones are usually enough to keep\nit interesting. Fishing vertically with panfish jigs or trolling with\nmedium-diving crankbaits are the best crappie strategies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Payette River\n(Trout, Bass) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two ways to fish the Payette, and fall is a great time for both. For whitewater trout stream fishing, try the stretch between Horseshoe Bend and Cascade. It\u2019s steep terrain, but there are some nice holes to hunt rainbow trout using spinners, flies or bait. Float traffic has slowed down and lower fall flows make for easier fishing. If bass and catfish are what you seek, fish between Black Canyon Dam and the confluence of the Payette and Snake River west of New Plymouth. Smallmouth are actively feeding as they prepare for winter, and they will eagerly attack minnow-imitating lures. Channel catfish are also a possibility\u2014fish with bait in deep current seams to tempt a cat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tight lines! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" October is a transition month for fishing conditions across our region. As cooler weather sets in and stream flows taper off in most local rivers, many anglers will turn their attention to trout until ice fishing season arrives. You still have options, though\u2014here are a few ideas to get you started: Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-685","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\/685","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=685"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":688,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions\/688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}