Salmon River

We’re starting to see more days with fishable water lately, and some die-hards are reporting Steelhead being caught. Our own Dustin claims to have caught one near here last week. We believe him, however we would like pictures, Dustin! Weather forecast for this weekend looks good for fishing the river- waiting until afternoon is always a good idea at this time of year as the slush will disappear as the day warms up. The water is too cold for the fish to be doing much moving, so target the deeper holes with drifted black flies such as leeches or buggers, or drift a small piece of shrimp with a corky.

This may be the only other fisherman you encounter on the river at this time of year.

Big Lost River

Flows are low and clear, so sneaky wading with long, light leaders and midge patterns are required. Small, buoyant Griffith’s Gnats with a size 20 Brassie underneath is a good start.

Mackay Reservoir

The ice fishing at Mackay has been good this winter, and continues to be so. Anglers getting out there early in the morning and jigging small jigs tipped with wax worms have been doing well. This writer likes to jig a Swedish Pimple with a small pink Rat Finkee tipped with a piece of mealworm underneath.

Kokanee, Rainbow Trout and Brook Trout can all be caught at Mackay Reservoir.

Area Lakes

Jimmy Smith Lake up the East Fork is still fishing well with anglers taking home good numbers of nice sized fish.

Williams Lake, up near Salmon provided a lot of fun fishing for this writer last weekend, with several large trout being caught. Jigging a small spoon tipped with bait near the bottom was the trick.