McCall Subregion Fishing Information

Weekly Fishing Report Updated: July 17, 2008 This report highlights a few of the best places to fish, what anglers are using and what they are catching. The information is compiled from regional Fish and Game fishery managers, local tackle shops and anglers.Other general regional information is available below. Little Salmon River: Closed July 1. South Fork Salmon River: After a fine fishing year, closed July 17. Cascade Lake: Smallmouth bass have been busy taking all kinds of offerings, even topwater gear. Perch fishing has been sporadic. Trout action should finally be taking off now. Mountain Lakes: Mountain lakes are finally opening up. Water is cold, so fishing may still take off rather slowly at higher elevations. Horsethief Reservoir: Horsethief has been the place to go in the area. Lost Valley has been quite good, as well. Trout fishing here has been excellent, and popular, this year. Local ponds, family fishing waters: Ponds have been stocked and providing good trout fishing. Ponds include Rowland Pond, Fish Lake, Brown’s and Cruzen Pond. Check out our Southwest Region Family Fishing Waters - McCall [PDF, 542 KB], with family-oriented fishing opportunities and simplified rules. Anglers must have a valid 2008 license and are reminded to check the 2008 fishing rules brochure for any restrictions and limits.

General Regional Information - Spring 2008

Horsethief is owned by the Fish and Game Department and is kept full of water throughout the year and is managed strictly as a family fishing water. Large numbers of rainbow trout are stocked in the spring after ice out to maintain good fishing. Trout fishing for 9-12 inch fish is usually very good to excellent in the spring. Typical baits for shore anglers include power bait, worms, marshmallows, salmon eggs, etc. Boats typically troll with pop gear and worms or park somewhere and use bait. Fly fishing from float tubes is also popular on this lake. There are also a few larger 12-20 inch brown trout in the lake that anglers (particularly fly fishermen) enjoy chasing around. These finicky eaters are typically located in and around the weed beds.

Yellow perch were removed from the reservoir in the fall of 2006 so don't expect to catch any yellow perch. IDFG does not manage for perch in Horsethief Reservoir as there are so many of them that they eat themselves out of "house and home" and consequently very few ever get large to keep. They also impact trout growth as both species compete for the same food. They can be quite a nuisance when trying to bait fish for trout. Please report any illegal introductions of fish into Horsethief or any other lake in Idaho that you may witness.

There is a no boat wake law on the lake so no water skiing is allowed. There are several access points around the lake and there is a maintained gravel road along side 1/2 of the lake. IDFG also has several, hosted campgrounds at the lake.

Typically shore fishing for rainbow trout from ¾ to 5 pounds is good to excellent in the spring. Anglers typically fish the beaches south of the Cascade city boat ramp all the way down to the Blue Heron Campground. Another good area is from the Sugarloaf boat ramp north to the point closest to Sugarloaf Island. Many people park at the old abandoned highway that goes into the water (1/2 mile or so before you get to Sugarloaf boat ramp) and walk up over the hill to the west and fish these beaches. These areas can be very productive during and just after ice out. The typical baits include marshmallows and worms, powerbait, salmon eggs, cured egg clusters, etc. Local sporting goods shops in Cascade can be great sources of information on what baits are hot that week as well as areas to try.

Trolling with pop gear and worms can be very productive in the spring for trout and coho salmon. Anglers need to experiment with different baits, depths and trolling speeds.

The yellow perch fishery is still in the restoration phase. IDFG personnel stocked over 850,000 adult yellow perch from 2004 to 2006 in an effort to overcome predation problems on young juvenile perch. These adult perch will hopefully produce enough young fish to feed all the predators in the lake with enough left over to provide a good fishery in 3 to 4 years. Rotenone (a chemical fish toxicant) treatments during the northern pikeminnow spawning runs up the North Fork Payette River and large trap nets set in the lake itself were utilized to remove large numbers of these predatory fish. Approximately ¾ of all adult northern pikeminnow in Lake Cascade were removed with these treatments. At this time we encourage anglers to release all perch as these fish are the building blocks to restoring this fishery.

Smallmouth bass angling can be very good in the spring and summer months for fish up to 18 inches. Rubber grubs and perch patterned crank baits can be very effective. Fish the rocky shorelines around boat ramps, points and other areas that have some type of bottom structure.

Warm Lake is stocked every spring with large numbers of 9-11 inch rainbow trout. Shore fishing can be very good in the spring months again using the typical trout baits mentioned above. Many boat anglers park in some of the shallower areas of the East and South side of the lake and fish with bait which can be quite productive. Some of the weeded areas of the lake hold some nice brook trout that can be caught with worms. There are some bull trout in this lake so make sure of your catch before you keep any brook trout which can look similar to bull trout. Check the fishing regulations booklet for information on how to tell the difference between the two. Trolling the typical pop gear and worm can be effective as well for trout and there are kokanee in the lake that can be caught using pop gear and a maggot or white corn. Kokanee can be found from the surface all the way down to 100 foot deep so special equipment (downrigger, keel weights, etc) is needed at times . Warm Lake does not usually see large crowds of anglers and is a very beautiful area to spend a weekend. Because the lake is cold and quite deep in spots trout have lots of places to "hide" therefore fishing can be slower here than in places like Horsethief but none are more aesthetic.

Corral Creek Reservoir is stocked each spring with catchable size rainbow trout. Yellow perch were chemically removed from this reservoir in the fall of 2006 which resulted in improved growth, survival and angling success for the stocked rainbow trout.

Smallmouth Bass fishing improves as the water warms. Water temperatures over 50 generally means better bass fishing as fish start thinking about spawning and move into shallower water. Also, remember that Oxbow Reservoir has a special bass regulation of "no harvest until July 1. After July 1st the limit is two bass, none of which can be between 12 and 16 inches. Good bass fishing in these two reservoirs is usually about two weeks behind the peak in Brownlee as they warm up more slowly. Jigs with plastic grubs and tubes in smoke and red flake or smoke and green and blue flake and crawfish colored crankbaits are the preferred lures for smallmouth bass. Casting the jigs very close to shore and working them back slowly along the bottom out to 20 - 30 ft deep is usually a very reliable technique.

Good crappie fishing in these two reservoirs is largely dependant on crappie numbers in Brownlee R. When crappie numbers are high in Brownlee more crappie come through and over the dam which is where most crappie caught in these two reservoirs originate. Again crappie fishing generally improves as water temperatures increase with the peak temperatures being in the low to mid 60's. Brownlee usually has better crappie fishing than do these two reservoirs.

Channel cat fishing in these the reservoirs can be exceptional in the spring and summer months. Look for underwater flats near creek inlets and along the main channel and calm eddy areas next to stronger current areas. The commercial catfish baits work well but probably the best bait is cut bait and fish entrails. Next time you catch a mess of crappie save a few to cut up for catfish bait. Fish the bait right on the bottom.

Steelhead Fishing closes May 15th.

Spring chinook salmon season will open April 26. The daily, possession, and season limits are per day, 9 in possession, and 40 for the season. We expect a large number of surplus fish this year. For more information see the Idaho 2008 Spring Chinook Salmon Seasons and Rules brochure!

Largemouth bass fishing is typically slow in the spring but as the water warms into the 60s and 70s the fishing also heats up. Most of the bass caught are in the 12 to 16 inch range with an occasional fish over 20 inches and 5 pounds being taken. Bluegill and crappie fishing has been very spotty in the last few years and is probably due to the large numbers of larger bass that use these fish as forage. Remember that C. Ben Ross Reservoir has a special bass regulation of "no harvest until July 1". After July 1 the limit is two bass, none of which can be between 12 and 16 inches.

This reservoir is typically very good fishing for trout from 9 to 16 inches in the spring. Typically there is no access to the lake until early May due to snow. The lake is stocked in mid May with several thousand 9 to 10 inch rainbow trout which keeps fishing good through the summer months. Trolling for trout with pop gear and a worm can be quite productive as well as the standard bank fishing.

Lost Valley was chemically treated last fall, after it was drained for irrigation purposes, to remove the stunted yellow perch population. The reservoir had a large number of small yellow perch (4- 7 inches) that were typically too small to keep. Most perch in Lost Valley never grow larger than 7 inches as they reproduce very quickly, producing lots of small fish that eat themselves out of "house and home". Yellow perch need a very large lake such as Lake Cascade to be able to grow larger than 6-7 inches. They also impact trout growth as both species compete for the same food. They also can be quite a nuisance when trying to bait fish for trout.