Lower Cramer Lake, Idaho: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Lower Cramer Lake is a Custer County water, in Idaho. What surrounds it is rolling bush. It covers about 6 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Sun Valley lies 40 miles from the water. Ketchum follows at 40 miles, then Hailey at 49 miles. Water in the same corner: Middle Cramer Lake 0.2 miles, Upper Cramer Lake after 0.4 miles, Profile Lake 1.6 miles, Lake Kathryn after 2.1 miles and Hidden Lake 2.2 miles. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lower Cramer Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Across Custer County, recorded fish include rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and Chinook salmon. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Lower Cramer Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between December at about 16°F and July at about 51°F, the water has a wide range to work through. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late May. From about late May to around early November, expect open water on the long-run figures. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Lower Cramer Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Middle Cramer Lake, 0.2 miles away. Nothing here settles the position at Lower Cramer Lake for certain.