Fishing Dry Creek Reservoir in Owyhee County, Idaho

• Overview

  Look for Dry Creek Reservoir in the Owyhee County part of Idaho. This is lake country bush ground. It covers about 4 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. You are 52 miles from Mountain Home. The big place round here is Boise, 73 miles distant. Also within reach: Antelope Flat Reservoir 2.3 miles, Dry Creek Reservoir at 2.5 miles, Turner Reservoir 5.2 miles, O X Lake at 9.3 miles and Twin Lakes Reservoir 9.9 miles. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Dry Creek Reservoir

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Draw-down through summer strips the margins, so follow the water out. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Across Owyhee County, recorded fish include rainbow trout, great basin cutthroat trout and smallmouth bass. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. Dry Creek Reservoir responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 66°F; the cold one sits at 23°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Break-up comes around early April, and the run that follows is short and strong. From about early April to around mid December, expect open water on the long-run figures. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Anyone fishing Dry Creek Reservoir regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. Public mapping marks it as seasonal water rather than permanent. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Antelope Flat Reservoir is 2.3 miles distant. Check the current arrangement for Dry Creek Reservoir.