Fishing at Goat Lake, Idaho County, Idaho

• Overview

  This water sits in Idaho County, Idaho. Rolling bush runs right down to the water. Small at around 3 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Most waters listed here for Idaho County are larger. Supplies mean a trip to Grangeville, 55 miles off. Boise sits 147 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Goat Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for Idaho County list rainbow trout, Chinook salmon, cutthroat trout and bull trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Goat Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 59°F, the coldest about 21°F. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about mid April. On average, mid April opens the water and late November closes it again. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Goat Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Should this one be busy, Sheep Spring Lake is 0.7 miles off. For Goat Lake in particular, ask before you travel.