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No, fishing season is not over. It is never really over, depending on how hardy and diverse an angler chooses to be. Yes, Silver Creek is now closed, the Big Wood is now closed, the South Fork of the Boise is now closed. Don’t worry, because the Lost River remains open year-round now as well as the desert stretch on the Little Wood River. There is a lot to do—anglers just need to head out and find it.
The Lower Lost River is the best available trout fishing right now. It is a great time of the season to fish over there, but anglers need to stay aware of two things. First, stay up on the CFS. Currently, the flows are just over 200. The flows are good to wade fish up until about 300 CFS. Much more than that and anglers need to really be good at wading, and strong.
If the flows remain below 300 CFS, the second thing to be aware of is spawning rainbows. Be on the lookout for clean-swept gravel patches. These are redds, and it is where the fish deposit their eggs. Stay off of these spots and leave the fish alone that are sitting on top of them or near them. These are fish trying to spawn, and they don’t need a hook or a prolonged fight while they mate. They don’t have the energy reserves this time of year to spawn and be caught. The fish spawn at different times, so you can still fish pools, and rising fish for pre- or post-spawn trout.
If you go, expect to see Midges and Baetis. Fish the appropriate nymphs and dries for these bugs. You can also fish the color red, as the water stratus will begin to fill with random eggs being flushed downriver.
Other places to fish include Magic Reservoir, which is an excellent spring fishery from shore, float tube or boat. Carey Lake is open for bass and bluegill. The Snake River has a really fun skinny water carp fishery. The Little Wood can be a good place to see the desert bloom and swing a few Streamers. Anderson Reservoir has a really fun bass fishery near the mouth of the reservoir in the spring. Boats are helpful if you go.
Beyond these spots, lakes, reservoirs, ponds and canals all remain open, so get your Google Earth out and explore Idaho.
Happy fishing, everyone!