Fishing Jacks Creek Reservoir in Owyhee County, Idaho

• Overview

  Jacks Creek Reservoir belongs to Owyhee County, Idaho. Height above sea level is 5,725 feet. Surface area runs to about 18 acres — small enough to read in one session. The full circuit measures close to 1.0 miles on foot. Nearest town is Mountain Home, 53 miles off. For a city, Boise is 81 miles off. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Jacks Creek Reservoir

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Reported across Owyhee County: rainbow trout, great basin cutthroat trout and smallmouth bass. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Work Jacks Creek Reservoir in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year August sits at 66°F and January at 25°F. Fishing continues through most of the calendar, with quiet spells rather than closures. In a normal year the cover is thin and short-lived. March through May is the strongest run, with October and November a second stretch. Jacks Creek Reservoir fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Public mapping marks it as seasonal water rather than permanent. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Sewell Reservoir, 7.1 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Jacks Creek Reservoir in what we hold.