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Blackfoot Reservoir Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Blackfoot Reservoir in southeast Idaho: a reservoir of nearly 17,000 acres that Idaho Fish and Game stocks with triploid rainbow trout and lists for cutthroat trout, rainbows and smallmouth bass.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
43 / 47 F
Wind
SW 17 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Blackfoot Reservoir is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. Today brings cloud cover, wind SW around 17 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 47. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:34 PM-12:34 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Smallmouth bassGood

Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

Yellow perchGood

Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

Tomorrow: Similar at 48 F with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Idaho requires a fishing licence from age 14, from $35.50 for residents. What a Idaho licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with IDFG before you keep anything. The season dates for Idaho, read off the agency, are on the Idaho seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp43 F
High / Low47 / 35 F
WindSW 17-27 mph
Pressure1013.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 93%
Sunrise / Sunset07:49 / 18:31
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Blackfoot Reservoir this week

Today is the pick of the week on Blackfoot Reservoir, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:34 PM-12:34 AM
Minor period
4:29 AM-5:29 AM
Sun
07:49 to 18:31
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 18 mph
Rain chance
93%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Blackfoot Reservoir: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

When to come: the Blackfoot Reservoir calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Smallmouth bass
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Blackfoot Reservoir today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 17 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Idaho requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Idaho fishing license. See IDFG's current Southeast Region special rules for Blackfoot Reservoir; the 2023 published rules allowed 6 trout, no cutthroat harvest and no bass limits.

Access

IDFG lists a boat ramp, dock, toilets, a campground and accessible facilities; no motor restriction.

About this water

A reservoir of 16,887.9 acres on the Blackfoot River in Bingham and Caribou counties, Idaho (IDFG).

Fishing Blackfoot Reservoir: the full guide

A big reservoir on the Blackfoot River

Idaho Fish and Game's Fishing Planner gives Blackfoot Reservoir 16,887.9 acres in Bingham and Caribou counties, draining to the Blackfoot River, and marks it as a recommended fishing water. It lists a boat ramp, dock, toilets, a campground and accessible facilities, with no motor restriction.

What IDFG finds in its nets

The planner recommends cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and smallmouth bass. IDFG's 2025 surveys recorded common carp, cutthroat and rainbow trout, Utah chub, Utah sucker and yellow perch; smallmouth bass were last recorded in 2022 and mountain whitefish in 2021.

Stocking

IDFG stocks sterile (triploid) rainbow trout every year. In 2025 it released about 154,000 rainbow fry in June and about 82,000 catchable rainbows of 6 inches or more in September and October. Kokanee fry and fingerlings were also stocked from 2020 to 2022.

Rules to check

The Southeast Region special rules published on IDFG's eRegulations site (last updated January 12, 2023) allowed 6 trout at Blackfoot Reservoir with no harvest of cutthroat trout and no limits on bass, and closed the Blackfoot River and tributaries above the reservoir from May 1 to June 30. Confirm these in IDFG's current Seasons and Rules before you keep fish.

Common questions

Is Blackfoot Reservoir stocked?

Yes. IDFG stocks triploid rainbow trout each year: about 154,000 fry in June 2025 and about 82,000 catchables in fall 2025.

Can I keep cutthroat trout at Blackfoot Reservoir?

IDFG's published Southeast Region rules (2023 edition on eRegulations) did not allow cutthroat harvest there; check the current IDFG rules before keeping one.

What species does IDFG recommend at Blackfoot Reservoir?

Cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and smallmouth bass, according to IDFG's Fishing Planner.

Is fishing good at Blackfoot Reservoir right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Snake River (South Fork)38 miHenrys Fork61 miAmerican Falls Reservoir62 miBear Lake67 miSnake River79 miLogan River80 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 42.9000, -111.6330 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 6, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 6, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.