Fishing Report For Island Park Reservoir, ID

Current Report: Good To Very Good

Fly fishing is not covered in this website, but rainbow trout are being caught on plenty of other lures and bait.

SUMMER. Summer is here to stay, the water temperature is in the 70's, and rainbow are staying deeper, 50 to 60 feet deep. Trolling, using downriggers or leaded line, and drift fishing with bait, are currently the most productive methods. Anglers fishing from the bank are using heavy weights, on a Carolina rig to get baits into deeper water.

FALL. Cooling water temperatures again draw rainbow trout shallower. Anglers are catching them 5 to 10 feet deep on points, rocky structure, humps, and anywhere baitfish are gathering. Now that they had a full summer to grow, there are some bragging size rainbow catches, with 4 to 8 pound fish caught with some regularity. Small spinners, spoons, miniature crankbaits and swimbaits are catching trout, as are salmon eggs and prepared baits.

WINTER. When Winter sets in, and the lake freezes over, ice fishing is quite popular here. Jigging spoons and jigs tipped with bait are catching nice limits of rainbows. Most rainbows hold 4 to 8 feet below the ice.

SPRING. As water begins to warm in early Spring, stocked rainbow trout move from their deep winter holding areas to shallow, warmer water. This is a great time for fishing from the bank. Most rainbows are being caught from mid morning to late afternoon, during the warmest water of the day. A wide variety of small spinners are catching most of the fish.

Current Report: Good To Very Good

SUMMER. This lake is notorious for great kokanee fishing. In Summer, downriggers or leaded line are the two primary methods for catching them here, while trolling. Kokanee school up and hang out over deep water, usually above some type of structure. The ideal water temperature is mid to low 50's. Kokanee will normally be holding around the thermocline, which typically varies from 35 to 60 feet deep. Worm harnesses and wedding ring spinner setups are popular when trolled behind a 4" dodger. Locals are tipping these baits with shoepeg white corn, PowerBait, Z-Man Scented ShrimpZ, or live nightcrawlers to helps attract bites. Trolling these baits between 1.2 mph and 1.8 mph is a good speed for these kokes.

FALL. During Fall, kokanee migrate into spawning grounds, which can be along the shoreline of the lake, or upstream in rivers and tributaries. In the weeks just prior to the spawn, they will gather in sizeable schools near the mouths of these inflows. The spawn typically occurs between late August and early February. Casting or trolling spinners, spoons, or kokanee rigs works well during the spawn.

WINTER. When ice fishing in Winter, kokanee are typically caught from 20 to 30 feet below the ice, where their food source is located. On occasion they move considerably deeper. Ice jigs, spoons, PowerBait, ShrimpZ, shoepeg corn, nightcrawlers and maggots are popular ice fishing baits here.

SPRING. During late Spring kokanee typically move close to the surface where phytoplankton blooms become more abundant, providing a rich food source. Kokanee will feed heavily on this plankton until surface temperatures reach the high 50's. Casting or trolling spinners, spoons, or kokanee rigs works well during this period.

Current Report: Good

SUMMER. Fat yellow perch here feed primarily on small fish and invertebrates. Spinners, underspins, small crankbaits, mealworms, nightcrawlers and maggots are catching perch in slightly deeper water. Seek them out around 5 to 10 feet deep, near drop-offs and areas with weeds and other vegetation.

FALL. Fall finds yellow perch feeding aggressively and migrating toward Winter holding areas, often in the deeper pools, of areas where rivers and creeks flow into the lake.

WINTER. The cold of winter drives perch deeper again in search of food and stable water conditions. Areas around tributaries and inflowing creeks are ideal Winter holding spots. Perch are being caught when holding as shallow as 8 to 10 feet under the ice, but may also hold in as deep as 40 to 50 of water. Fishing for perch through the ice was slow this year, but anglers still caught a few using using mealworms, maggots, and nightcrawlers.

SPRING. Perch spawn in Spring when the water temperature warms to the mid 50's and mid 60's. Anglers at this time begin to catch them shallow using spinners, underspins, mealworms, maggots, and nightcrawlers. Vegetation and rocky areas attract yellow perch searching for a meal.