Idaho Fish Report

Highlights from this week’s Recreation Report:

Time to report your hunt

Hunters have until Jan. 31 to report their 2019 hunts. If you purchased a tag, reporting is mandatory even if you didn’t hunt or harvest an animal.

Ways to report your hunt.

Upcoming shotgun skills, small game and predator hunting workshops

• Basic Shotgun Skills, Jan. 12, EE Wilson Wildlife Area, Monmouth
• Small Game Clinic, Jan. 18, EE Wilson Wildlife Area, Monmouth
• Bear and Cougar Workshop, Jan. 28, Denman Wildlife Area, Central Point

For more details and to register.

Whale watching on the coast

During the winter, nearly 25,000 gray whales travel along the Oregon coast on their way to the warm lagoons of Baja Mexico (lucky whales). This migration will continue until mid-January, and Oregon State Parks lists 24 whale watching spots along the coast where you can enjoy the show.

Best bets for fishing

• Recent rains have moved winter steelhead into many coastal rivers. Fishing will be best when water levels begin to drop after a good rain.
• Broodtrout stocking in Willamette Valley fisheries continues this week.
• As long as access permits, fishing for holdover trout can continue to be good in several waterbodies including Fish Lake, Howard Prairie Reservoir and Lost Creek Reservoir.
• Anglers have been catching fish through the ice on Phillips Reservoir, Lofton Reservoir and Yellowjacket Lake.
• Trout anglers should target the Crooked, lower Deschutes, Metolius, Klamath, Blitzen and Owyhee rivers, where fishing for native redbands is open throughout the year. Here are 7 tips for winter trout fishing.