Actually, that's probably only around McCall, but get this, there's also minus 6 degrees forecasted for Stanley on Friday. Meanwhile, temperatures are mild in southern Idaho, so welcome to spring in Idaho.
On the fishing front, that makes me go "hmmm," which is a technical fishing term for "I don't have a clue, but I am trying to come up with something smart to say."
So here goes:
The obvious - It's early and chilly, so don't expect anything to be red hot in the fishing world.
The less obvious - Rivers are producing some good fishing. You can find good dry fly fishing for trout this time of year if you pay close attention to hatches.
Spring is also the last hurrah for the steelhead run, and fishing can be really good if the river conditions and fish cooperate. You can pick a weekend and hope for the best, or carefully watch river conditions and when rivers drop and/or warm, get there asap.
The surprises - I'm hearing murmurs and legitimate first-hand reports about good early season fishing for reservoir trout, bass and catfish. The trout are no surprise, but bass is a little surprising. The first bass tournament of the season was at C.J. Strike last weekend; I heard the winning bag limit was in the 15-pound range and lots of fish in the 2-pound range.
There's another tournament at Brownlee this weekend, and I will be curious to hear how that one goes.
I'm heading into Hells Canyon to try my own hand, so I will have a first-hand report next week and a cover story on April 4 about early season bass fishing.
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