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Where to go in September
#1
[fishon][fishon][fishon]

Hi all, I am heading to Idaho from San Diego and doing a little road trip. My wife and I love fishing and cant wait to test the waters out there. I hear the fishing is suppose to be amazing and we love fishing trout.

I am curious if you all have any suggestions where we should go to fish, especially free (with license of course). I am thinking of bringing a small 14ft canoe with us and a few rods rigs with 4# and 6# test spinning outfits. I just bought a bunch of fly tying stuff and hope to bring it along and practice at camp, tying mostly nymphs and streamers.

So anyways, if youre still with me, do you all have any recommendations for where we should go? We have about 2-3 weeks for our trip. So far, our plan is a week or so in Yellowstone and Grand Teton then heading over to Coeur d'alene, then south to McCall and Stanley, Craters then possibly home. Hoping to mostly boondock in the national forest and find some water to fish in the mornings/evenings with some relaxing in the afternoon.

What kind of lures/equipment should we bring to be best equipped to bring in some fish? And any sights/places we shouldnt miss while here? We thought about Galcier NP, is it worth it in september?

Thanks for all your help!
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#2
Don't feel ignored. You've just described an area of the state that I'm not familiar with that time of year. I would think that the easily accessible high mountain lakes would be fairly fished out by September. The larger lakes will be beginning to cool, but I'm not sure if they will be cool enough for fishing to improve by then.

You will be headed into a beautiful part of our great state. Home to legendary trout waters. Henry's Lake, Henry's Fork, South Fork of the Snake river, and many others. Island Park Reservoir may be producing well by then. I see that Curt69 has started catching again. I don't know if he is catching from the bank or from a boat. Some of the nicer fish in that part of the state will like take you to school with 4 and 6 lb fishing equipment.

Picture posted below is an example of what is possible from Henry's Lake.

Best of luck.
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#3
In the McCall area you might try Upper Payette Lake or Goose Lake. Nothing huge, but decent sized. You could try Cascade Lake by the city ramp for perch. They sometimes begin hanging in that area in the fall. All three areas have great camping opportunities. Good luck. Mike
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#4
You might add Warm Lake 26 miles east of Cascade. It is a beautiful mountain lake that is well stocked and not heavily fished. It has a campground near the lake.

Stanley Lake in Stanley Basin is another nice possibility. I don't know much about it as a fishery. The area is very pretty and could be on your way to the Craters.
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#5
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have noticed that the quality of fish is much better in most of the reports ive been reading through. I am used to fishing small "rivers" (more like creek/run off) and alpine lakes where a trophy is in the 5# range and the norm is less than 1#. We frequently go down to 2# and 1/64oz jigs.

What pound test are you all using to target those bigger fish? Is braid common? I think if I switching the 6# rods over to some 12# braid so I can put some heavier leaders if need be. Suggestions with campgrounds near by are awesome!

Thanks again for the info.
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#6
I've heard that magic reservoir is good for nice trout in the fall and it has a nice perch population in it .
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#7
On the Idaho Fish and Game website there is a fishing planner within that site for all of Idaho. For the southeast corner of Idaho there is Element Outfitters. They have a website and within that website is Lake fishing report. In addition, you could Google in Fly Shop in Idaho falls and I'm sure they would give you a fish report. Also Google in Orvis Fly Shop in Coeur d'Alene Idaho and Fins and Feathers tackle shop in Coeur d'Alene Idaho along with Black Sheep Sporting Goods. All of these tackle shops would be a very good resource for you. Sportsman's Warehouse all throughout Idaho support in Anglers guide.com website. If you get into Washington State you could Google in Northwest fishing reports...and some on adjacent States. Hope this helps. Tight lines always and good luck!
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#8
For east Idaho get familiar with jimmysflyshop.com for reports and tips on good flies throughout the region including Yellowstone. I’d recommend strongly hitting the Henry’s fork of the snake from warm river down to fun farm bridge (several sections in there and check the regs for what I’m talking about) for some chances at big fish and just nice scenery. A little further north in the island park area there’s good fishing along the Henry’s fork but dig a bit more information before trying to float. There are areas you don’t want to get into. I’d recommend the south fork of the snake but it’s not really good for a canoe float in my opinion but call jimmys flyshop and I bet they will have great ideas for walk in fishing. If you want a more like home feel with small stream fishing try birch creek north of mud lake. Lots of willing smaller fish there. A trophy is 1#. Another stream to consider is the Teton river. I’m not familiar with it much but I hear good stories from it. Again jimmys would be a good resource. Between Boise and McCall there’s the payette river and the weiser. The weiser is small but I had fun early summer catching some small trout. No information on courdelene area. As for glacier national park I’d definitely go there if you can. Not for fishing necessarily but because it’s just truly incredible! I enjoy it more than Yellowstone or Grand Teton. The scenery is breathtaking. However be prepared for snow (that actually applies all these areas but definitely in glacier). We got sleet there the first time I went and that was the second week of August. Finally be bear aware on this trip if you’re camping. And please don’t pet the moose, ride the buffalo, or leave the designated trails if it says not to (anywhere in the parks). We have enough medical business from those kinds choices already this year. Seriously though this sounds like an amazing trip and I hope some of this information helps.
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#9
Thnaks all for the great information. I have a lot of experience camping, including bear country. From what I understand, in yellowstone at least, that we can keep coolers in the car as long as its out of sight. Is that the case in Idaho in general? Yosemite, they dont want any food/scent in your car either because the bears are just terrible and not scared of humans.

Thats a great idea about checking out local fishing shops. That was my plan too when we got into any bigger towns. We dont have a lot of exerpeince with the canoe and probably will keep it out of the rivers, just some paddling around on some slack water/lakes if we find some.

Ive been tossing Glacier NP around for awhile in my head. If we have time, I think we will try and make it. I was thinking of driving the magruder corridor or Glacier and thought I had made up my mind but now im back to square one. Im glad we didnt book anything so we will have flexibility to just check out the beautiful state.

I did see the videos/reports of the drunkard who was taunting moose.... Tourists can be the worst. I hope to leave a better impression.
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