Smallmouths Snake River System
By
Dave Langston



Smallmouths are on the take at this time on the Snake River from Massacre rocks down to Twin Falls. With the spawn just around the corner expect fish to get more aggressive as the water starts to warm a few degrees.

Bronzeback angler Bruce Thomas of Burley reports on action below Lake Walcott. “The bite is on, it’s not exactly dynamite just yet but as the water warms in the next week or so smallies will be super aggressive. But at this point we are still doing very well,” he says.

Like all avid bass fishermen, Thomas won’t give out his secret honey holes but he did says this, “any area on the river where springs are present and mud flats are nearby with rocks outcroppings you will find bass. From Massacre rocks down to Lake Walcott and also below the lake, this is all prime habitat for small mouth’s.

Thomas does say that it is about time that rule and regulations have changed in this part of the river system. “We were about to lose one of the best small mouth fisheries in the west. With anglers taking home fish up to six pounds dripping with eggs, our fishery was on the way to being destroyed,” he adds.

Idaho Fish and Game has changed the limit to two fish and both must be over 12 inches. And now is the time this rule comes into place. With bass preparing to spawn it is fairly easy for anglers in the know to take home a limit of fish in the four, five and six pound range.

Right now anglers using crawfish imitations like crank baits and also grubs are scoring. Bass are hanging in the 12 – 20 foot range but as the water warms a few degrees expect fish to go shallow from five to ten foot just off the rock piles and jetties.