By Casey Santee
csantee@journalnet.com
AMERICAN FALLS — As a storm broke below American Falls Dam last week, several species of fish began to jump in the sunshine like popcorn in a hot kettle.
Trout, carp, small-mouth bass and other varieties made criss-crossing ripples on the green surface of the Snake River before the rain returned. Best of all, since it was a weekday afternoon, I didn’t have to stand elbow to elbow with other anglers just to get my line in the water.
I started on a rocky bank along the north side of the dam, where the bass were going hyperactive in the shallows.
Having no experience whatsoever fishing for the species, I began with my favorite trout lure, a yellow and red Panther Martin with a silver blade. On the third cast, I hooked and landed a 10-inch bass. It hit just a few feet in front of me as I was about to pull the lure out of the water and cast again. Within the next 15 minutes, I caught another two bass, which were carbon copies of the first. The last fish struck a red and white Mepps Aglia, which I switched to hoping to attract larger fish.
Dave Teuscher, regional fisheries manager for Idaho Fish and Game, said his department hasn’t stocked small-mouth bass in the area for about 10 years. He said that the population of the fish in the Snake River below American Falls Dam to the Walcott area has flourished without any help in the past decade.
Teuscher said that limits for small mouth bass changed this year for that stretch of river to encourage anglers to keep smaller fish rather than trophy-sized ones. Previously, anglers could keep six bass over 12-inches in length. This season, the limit is two of any size.
He said the biggest bass in the area range from 18-20 inches in length.
After a half hour slowdown in the action Wednesday, I caught my final, and biggest bass of the day. It was about 13 inches long and weighed slightly more than a pound.
As a trout fisherman, I had set out hoping to land a lunking brown, cutthroat or rainbow, but I must admit that the bass put up a good fight.
With some butter, a splash of white wine and some salt and pepper, it didn’t taste bad fried up in a pan either.