March is a great time to go fishing in Idaho. Ice fishing season is wrapping up, but our region is teeming with opportunities to catch trout, crappie, catfish, Kokanee salmon and more! Here are a few places to check out this spring: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hagerman Hatchery Area (Trout)<\/strong> Brownlee Reservoir (Crappie, Catfish) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re not opposed to\na chilly boat ride, early spring is one of my favorite times to fish Brownlee\nReservoir on the Idaho-Oregon border. Schools of crappie will be gathering near\nrocky outcroppings and coves. If they are in the biting mood, you can fill a\nstringer using small jigs tipped with crappie nibbles. Fish can be found in\nanywhere from 10 to 40 feet of water\u2014use a fish finder to locate the schools.\nTrolling with small crankbaits is another option for crappie. Prime bass season\nis still a few months out, but you might pick up a few fish by slowly dragging\njigs and drop shots in 15 to 20 feet of water. And don\u2019t overlook\ncatfish\u2014Brownlee is home to some monster channel cats and flatheads, and they\ncan be caught year-round on fresh cut bait, jigs and deep-diving crankbaits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Anderson Ranch Reservoir (Kokanee) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As of this writing, boat launches are ice-free at\nAnderson Ranch, and anglers are already enjoying some decent trolling action\nfor Kokanee salmon. Flashers trailed by white and pink hoochie jigs or wedding\nrings tipped with shoepeg corn are the way to go. Kokanee typically run\nshallower in cold water, so I\u2019d start looking for fish in 10 to 20 feet.\nRainbow trout and landlocked Chinook salmon are common bycatch for Kokanee\nanglers. Try trolling a larger, flashy lure just underneath the Kokanee schools\nto target Chinook, which average about 20 inches but can grow much larger.\nAnderson Ranch is also a quality smallmouth fishery, but I wouldn\u2019t expect bass\nto be very active yet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March is a great time to go fishing in Idaho. Ice fishing season is wrapping up, but our region is teeming with opportunities to catch trout, crappie, catfish, Kokanee salmon and more! Here are a few places to check out this spring: Hagerman Hatchery Area (Trout) The Hagerman Valley makes a great day trip, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-825","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\/825","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=825"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions\/828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tightlines208.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Hagerman Valley makes a great day trip, and it is loaded with quality\nfishing spots. The state hatchery area off Highway 30 is an awesome place to\nstart. Riley Creek, Riley Pond and the Oster Lakes are generously stocked with\ntrout, and anglers might also bump into bass, bluegill and even sturgeon.\nPan-sized rainbows are the most common catch, but there are some big fish, too.\nSpinners, spoons, crankbaits and flies are the best lures to tempt a trout, and\nbait is also popular with bank anglers. Try worms, corn, marshmallows, shrimp\nor Power Bait fished under a bobber or on a slip sinker rig. With easy bank\naccess and good catch rates, the hatchery area is kid-friendly\u2014and if the trout\ndon\u2019t cooperate, the little ones can watch and feed tiger muskies, sturgeon and\nhuge trout swimming in the viewing area next to the main parking lot. The\nviewing area also details which waters are available\u2014many opened March 1, but\nthe Anderson Ponds remain closed until July 1. Anglers can also explore the nearby\nSnake River, which offers good fishing for trout, sturgeon, bass and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n