With summer heat comes lethargic trout in some of the region’s smaller lakes and ponds.
To keep the fishing action going, Idaho Department of Fish and Game has planted hundreds of warm-water-loving catfish in four popular area ponds.
“We put 300 catfish each in Becker Pond and Riverside Pond (in Idaho Falls) and 300 in the Rexburg Nature Park pond and 900 in the Jim Moore Pond (near Roberts),” said James Brower, regional communications manager for Fish and Game.
Brower said the channel catfish are about 12 inches long. “Not huge, but they have the potential to get fairly big.”
He said a good way to fish for catfish is with a sinker and worm on the bottom of the pond. Because heat often drives trout to the bottom, anglers might also catch a trout from the bottom as well.
“One of the reasons we put catfish in ponds when it gets warmer is so there are some fishing opportunities,” Brower said. “They are still actively biting because catfish are way more tolerant of warm weather than trout are.”
Young anglers might enjoy the novelty of catching a different type of fish.
“I know that my kids like catching them just because they are a different looking fish,” Brower said. “They have big long whiskers on them and they enjoy that.”
