Idaho Fish Report

Fishing should be good.


Kokanee salmon: Fishing is fair to excellent. Fish are mostly in deeper water, but some anglers have been catching kokanee in shallow water (10 to 20 feet) in the early mornings. Schools of fish are moving deeper (40 to 65 feet) and are picky about lures. Try starting out with silver-colored flashers and pink and orange lures. Keep mixing it up until you find the right combination. If the schools are deep, try jigging with a small jigging spoon or trolling by just above the school.


Rainbow trout: Most anglers report good fishing. Spoons, jigs, crankbaits and common trout baits (like worms) work well from the shore or a boat. We've received reports of small schools cruising the shoreline. Fishing is good off rocky points and inlets, and in the backs of some of the bays. Anglers are also catching rainbows while fishing for lake trout, kokanee and bass.


Lake trout: Fishing is fair to good. You can find schools, small groups and single fish anywhere, but anglers are mostly catching them in deeper waters. If you mark a group, try holding position and then drop a vertical presentation, like a jigging spoon (chartreuse) or three-inch tube jig (white). Tip your lure with a small chunk of sucker meat and vary jigging activity until you learn the fish's behavior. You could also try trolling through, or just above, the school and along the shorelines as the fish cruise for food. Try different crankbaits or brightly colored spoons. Deep trolling right on the bottom with small, white crankbaits or flatfish is also working well. Please keep your limit of small, tasty lake trout. It reduces competition among species and helps both the lake trout and kokanee fisheries.


Smallmouth bass: Fishing is good to excellent for the smaller fish in the surface waters and larger fish below. Just about any kind of bass lure is working well -- including flies, grubs, wacky worms, crankbaits, spoons and toppers.


Burbot: Anglers report good fishing starting just before midnight in 50 to 75 feet of water and moving shallower. Burbot will hit during the day, generally in the deeper waters (around 75 feet). They become more active, however, during the evening and twilight hours when they move into the shallows to forage. Try fishing for a few hours, starting around sunset, along the rocky points, cliffs and the old channels. You'll want to fish the bottom or just slightly above it. You should use just about anything that glows (spoons, tube jigs, curly-tailed jigs, minnow, jigging spoons) and tip our lure with some type of bait. (Cut bait, like sucker meat, is recommended.) Worms with a marshmallow placed about 6 to 12 inches above the weight have worked recently. Place your lure or bait within inches of the bottom and recharge the glow frequently. It is common to catch a fish immediately after recharging and dropping a lure. You'll help the Flaming Gorge fishery (including kokanee) by harvesting as many burbot as possible. There is no limit on burbot.