Joe’s Fishing Hole:Trout Derby winners announced | Outdoors

Saturday’s winners were: 1st Place – Rafael Velasco took home $2,545 with a fish measuring in at 25 3/8 inches and 5 lbs 10 oz., 2nd Place – Jeremy Neill at 24 3/4” with the heaviest fish of the weekend at 6 lbs. 12 oz., and 3rd place was taken by Joe Bliss at 23 5/8”. In the longest perch category, which was winner take all, the winner was David Gassel who took home $4,290 for a 12 ¼” perch!

Sunday saw Jerrid Holland taking first place and $1,650 with the longest fish of the day at 23 1/8”, Tom Hansted came in second with a 22 7/8” fish and Todd Compston took 3rd place with a 22 1/4 inch fish. Sunday’s perch winner was Matt Loup with a 12 1/8 inch fish and a $3,070 prize purse.

It’s a tale of two lakes right now, with Wild Horse Reservoir holding at about 15 to 16 inches of ice and South Fork Reservoir which has about 80% open water. You can ice fish on your ATV at Wild Horse and you could fish from a boat at South Fork.

With the open water at South Fork, the waterfowl have moved in and are in their spring plumage. Swans, ducks, geese and a variety of other birds are in their best plumage of the year. A mature bald eagle is even hanging around, so, if you like to take photographs of birds or just add some new ones to your life list, now is the time to head out there for some great birding.

WILDHORSEVery little change here as the ice is averaging 15 to 16 inches of good clear ice with about an inch of snow on top to make walking easier. There is little snow along the shorelines so snowmobiles aren’t recommended. Fishing for trout continues to be good using PowerBait or worms fished about four to six feet below the ice though a few are being caught throughout the depths. Trout have been averaging 15 to 20 inches with a few in the 20+ range. Perch fishing has been crazy good for numbers but most are smaller and it takes a lot of catching to get a few keepers. For perch fish within a foot of the bottom in 25 to 35 feet of water using small plastic jigs tipped with a piece of worm. A slight jigging action occasionally helps. That being said, perch have been caught in all depths of water using just about any bait or presentation. If you are catching mostly small ones, move as they generally school by size. Those anglers willing to move and punch a lot of holes in the ice eventually start catching keepers, but not a lot of them. The ice skating rink by the state park boat ramp is in great shape so bring your skates. The State Park Campground is open on a first come first served, with the loop closest to the boat ramp open for campers.

SOUTH FORK RESERVOIRAs of Thursday, Feb. 23, South Fork was about 80% open water with very unsafe ice on the north and eastern shorelines. Fishing has been fair to good for spin, bait and fly rodders along Jet Ski Beach where the open water meets the shoreline. Bait anglers seem to be having the best luck with worms floated off of the bottom. Spin anglers report good luck with gold Kastmasters. Fly fishermen report that fishing has been fair to good for smaller trout with an occasional fish in the 15 to 20-inch range. Most are being caught with chironomid (midge larva) patterns fished under an indicator. Black, olive or purple wooly buggers and leech patterns have also caught fish.

JIGGS/ZUNINO RESERVOIRAlmost dry and no fish.

WILSON RESERVOIRNo recent report but expect similar conditions as at South Fork. With the expected warming trend next week expect muddy 4WD spring driving conditions on the way up. The water level going into the winter was very low so it may not be worth the trip.

RUBY LAKE NWRWith the recent snow and wind, Harrison Pass is closed again and anglers should take Secret Pass to the Refuge. With the colder weather there has been some ice buildup but still plenty of open water in the collection ditch for fishing. Fishing has been fair to good for 13 to 16-inch fish depending upon the day and location on the ditch. A few in the 20 + inch range are occasionally reported. Chironomid patterns such as zebra midges, Yankee buzzers, chromies and ice cream cones should work. Other flies such as Leech patterns, balanced leeches, crystal buggers, #14-16 hare’s ears, and #16-18 PT nymphs and chironomids under an indicator are recommended. Very small dry flies have also been effective on warmer afternoons. Size 16 to 20 elk hair caddis, blue winged olives, ants and Griffith’s gnats should all be effective. Spin anglers should be using small spinners in black or olive with contrasting yellow or red colors. The ice left at the boat ramp is unsafe.

JAKES CREEK/BOIES RESERVOIRJakes Creek has approximately 11 inches of good ice but no signs of recent fishing activity. There is one to two inches of snow and the road is in good shape.

COLD CREEK RESERVOIRCold Creek Reservoir was salvaged so that water control structure could be fixed to prevent leaking. When the control structure is fixed, the reservoir will be filled and NDOW will begin rebuilding the fishery in spring or summer of 2022 depending upon water conditions.

CAVE LAKEThe water levels continue to drop at Cave Lake in an anticipation of renovation efforts on the dam in this year. The lake is closed to fishing at this time. NDOW conducted a fish salvage in December and moved some very nice brown trout ranging in size from eight to 25 inches into Comins Lake. A few of the larger brown trout were pushing seven pounds. Cave Lake is closed to fishing due to shorelines that are very soft and dangerous due to the complete saturation of the soil as the lake is drained. By draining the lake, it should shave a couple of years off the re-building of the dam and cut costs tremendously. It will also make the project much safer for those performing the work.

COMINS LAKELittle to no change here. The ice at Comins is ranging between 10 and 15 inches of good hard ice, averaging 13 inches. The surface is still very slick. Nightcrawlers seem to be the bait of choice though some anglers also appeared to be doing well using PowerBait. Soft plastic jigs tipped with a worm should also be effective. Pike anglers have had some success using artificial minnows or spoons jigged through the ice for 12-to-18-inch fish. Anglers, please note that NDOW has placed radio tags in several Northern Pike. These pike will have an orange Floy tag near their dorsal fin and a small antenna (~ 7 inches long) coming from their stomach. Please return these fish to the water for research purposes. All other pike should be humanely dispatched. There is no limit on the pike.

ILLIPAHAt last report there was eight to 12 inches of good ice with some slick ice on the surface. Traction devices on boots are recommended. No recent report from anglers but expect good fishing for trout in the 12 to 15-inch range. The usual nightcrawlers or PowerBait should work here as well as dark colored soft plastic jigs tipped with a worm.

The road to Angel Lake is closed for the winter and the lake is ice covered and there will be no more fishing reports until late spring or early summer depending upon snowfall this winter.

Alpine lakes are frozen over and there will be no more fishing reports until late spring or early summer depending upon snowfall. Travel into the high mountains at this time is not recommended due to avalanche conditions.STREAMS

Not much change here as many streams are still mostly covered in ice due to overnight temperatures in the teens. Flows are similar to last week and shorelines are snow and ice covered and very slippery. Access can be iffy to many of these waters, especially in the afternoons due to springlike muddy conditions, so leave a trip plan and go prepared to spend the night. Anglers need to go into Idaho to access the Bruneau and the Jarbidge. As of Feb. 25, the East Fork of the Owyhee near Mountain City was showing ice but expect flows around 30 to 35 cfs, the Bruneau River is also showing ice but expect flows around 20 to 25 cfs, the Jarbidge is another water showing ice, but expect flows between 5 and 10 cfs. Salmon Falls Creek is flowing at 63 cfs, Lamoille Creek also showing ice but expect flows around 5 cfs, the South Fork of the Humboldt at a low 9 cfs, Cleve Creek showing ice but expect flows around 4 cfs, Steptoe Creek at 1.9 cfs and Kingston Creek at 2.5 cfs.