Stillman Lake in Idaho County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Stillman Lake in Idaho County, Idaho. Around the bank it is mixed forest. This is a pocket water of some 3 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Most waters listed here for Idaho County are larger. Hamilton sits 54 miles from the bank. For a city, Boise is 157 miles off. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Stillman Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Species logged across Idaho County include rainbow trout, Chinook salmon and cutthroat trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. At Stillman Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 54°F on average, December about 18°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. The lid tends to go about early May and return around mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Anyone fishing Stillman Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Macarthur Lake sits 1 mile off and takes the overflow. Signs at Stillman Lake carry more weight than any list.