Is it just me or for the shore fisherman do the fish seem alot smaller this year...I am completely lost this year on why i cant seem to catch anything of size...Im sure alot of u are thinking to urself...well u prob arent very good anyways...that maybe the case but atleast out of what luck i have had in the past i have caught some nice fish...Just a curiosity question...

Are you targeting any specific specie? Lake, stream or river and what part of Idaho?

The salmon run was good, we caught some nice fish a couple weeks back.

Zilch

Nothing specific Bass Catfish what ever we can get to bite on the days we go out. Im in the southwest region on the snake bout an hour from boise on the oregon border. Just seems things are slow this year and smaller. and yes i have had sever friends tell me how the steel head and salmon runns were awsome this year.

We will be heading down river to Corn Creek the end of Sept after the early steelhead. We like to go early before all the traffic of hunters/fishermen join the regular fishermen. Fifty miles of one lane road can be a bugger.

Zilch

Yes it can and usually is...Well good luck to ya

We hiked into Hat Creek Lakes for a couple days last week and my wife and I landed 92 trout. The largest being 19". We used a barbless #4 hook so most would be caught on their lip. It worked as only five of them were hooked deep and we ate them, all others were released to catch another day.
During the trip in and out we saw a bear, 27 elk and 7 deer. It was a great trip.

Zilch

very nice...were are these lakes located...i have only hiked seven devils and white clouds in my day and both were excellent trout fishing...as for me fishing has pretty well come to a close for me this year...i went out to brownlee at the end of august...didnt catch or have a single bite in the res dropped down below and caught 4 decent bass...hope to return to the mt again but raisin a baby makes it tough

Access from either Hat Creek Road north of Ellis or Morgan Creek Road between Ellis and Challis. We hiked in from the Morgan Creek side.

Have either of you guys fished Brownlee Res? Some great crappie fishing and huge catfish. The bass fishing isn't bad either. Went there last year for the first time and we caught over a 1000 crappie in four days only kept 300. Got to get back just ate the last I had. We fished the Powder River arm out of Richland, Or.

Harry

I generally try to fish brownlee several times a year...any where from steck park/Huntington on out to the dam its self...this year i didnt fare to well on the sizes of anything caught on that stretch of the snake but then again i dont have a boat usable at the time...my best crappie fishing was up at oxbow bout 1/4 from the dam...other than that i think the best bass fishing i had all summer was on the weiser river were we had to pull the little 12ftr alum over half way...however word from a area resident of brownlee res said the fishing was picking up again due to cooler weather...

well zilch sounds like a new area of idaho im gonna have to explore some time soon...sounds kinda like the bolder chains up in the white clouds...crazy good fishing in those high mountain lakes including two trophy cut throat lakes...

I have not fished in Brownlee since 1991. I went with a friend from Enterprise and we fished the Powder River arm. I need to get back there next year when the crappie go on the bite.

A friend claims the sturgeon fishing is picking up now below the dam at American Falls. Does anyone know about that?

Zilch

wish i could help on that...my sturgeon informants were two bosses i had but havent talked to either in a couple of years...

I am too busy for sturgeon this year, but hope to have time next year.

We went down river to Corn Creek trying for steelhead with no luck. A boat was several miles down from there and had one fish, still a little early I guess. Thirty five miles of rough dusty road makes me think twice about going back until we get some rain.

Hmmm...i had heard a couple of weeks ago that the fall run had started real early but hadnt heard anything else from anyone doing any good...but ya rain always makes for a better travel on dirt roads...im on a non fishing dry spell right now havent been out since august 28th...all i know is the trout fishing in creeks right now is pretty good...i have a buddy that went up to Sumter last weekend and caught some 40 trout below the dam...

We are swamped with ranch work that needs to be done before the snow flies and that put the fishing on hold. No rain in sight so we may not even try for steelhead until most of the "Killer B's" leave. Those are the 4 and 8 B plates that show up in droves to fish/hunt at the same time. It is a rat race, so we like snow and cold to make them think of home.

all sounds like much fun...i think i would rather deal with the fellow Idahoans the the Washingtonians and Californians when it comes to the rat race...but hey what can ya do...it is what it is...i might try for some large mouth this weekend at a small nearby lake...as for the trout i been hearin bout lately will probably not happen this year...

We get very few nonresident fishermen here in the fall, and most of those use outfitters and float the river. A few bank fishermen come from Montana and all those I have met have been good people. I visited a friend near Priest Lake last year in November and you would think you were in Washington state if you looked at all the license plates. I am glad I live in eastern Idaho.

my experiences with nonresidents on that side of the state have always been good...they are all very friendly and share alot of the same opinions and views as many of our extreme outdoors man enthusiasts...its always great to b in good company with these types of sportsman wither it b on the water or around a campfire...im definitely not lucky with all of that living in southwest Idaho...    

We hiked in to another high mountain lake over the weekend and it was windy with mini whitecaps all over the lake. We did manage to catch around thirty trout with several in the 16-18" range. All were released but one, we needed a meal.
Now we are waiting for the steelhead.