Idaho Fish Report

One of the best bets for fishing right now due to the quantity and quality of the spring fed water.

Petric Canal is considered part of the Wood River and is catch-and-release for redband trout. Fishing is good throughout the river below the town of Fort Klamath to the mouth.

Best section is from Fort Klamath to Weed Road for brown trout. Grasshoppers are thinning out. Small mayflies are hatching and matching them can result in catching some of the smaller brown trout.

Best fishing is from a boat. Rapalas and spoons work well for brown trout. There is ample public property to fish on the Wood River at the BLM Wetland but access to the river is difficult due to an excellent riparian area.

Most boats launch at Weed Road and float to Petric Canal take out. Fishing kayaks can be launched at all the road crossings, the USFS day use area or Kimball State Park. The float from Fort Klamath to Weed Road can be productive but there are numerous dams and obstacles that need portaged. A typical drift boat cannot make it under the bridges. Water temperatures are still very cold, therefore there’s not much activity in the upper river.

Many redband trout are starting to migrate to stage for fall spawning. Take extra care when handling these darker fish. Also, all radio tagged redband trout must be released unharmed. Redband trout will have what looks to be fishing line coming from the abdomen. These fish will be 6-18 inches in length