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Lucky Peak Reservoir Fishing Report

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

Lucky Peak: a Corps flood-control lake 15 minutes from Boise, stocked with kokanee and rainbow trout and drawn down every late summer.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Gauge
2946.38 ft
Air / High
47 / 58 F
Wind
WNW 16 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 13201500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Tap a marker for today's tip
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.

Lucky Peak Reservoir rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. The gauge reads 2946.38 ft, up 0.82 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind WNW around 16 mph, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 58. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:22 AM-12:22 PM and 10:52 PM-12:52 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Yellow perchGood

Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

Tomorrow: Similar at 58 F. 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 smallmouth bass 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 from Lucky Peak Lake near Boise, ID.

Gauge height, last 30 days

USGS gauge 13201500.

2945.552948.382951.202946.38 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp47 F
High / Low58 / 39 F
WindWNW 16-27 mph
Pressure1014.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 43%
Sunrise / Sunset08:08 / 18:47
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 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 Lucky Peak Reservoir this week

The best day on Lucky Peak Reservoir this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:22 AM-12:22 PM and 10:52 PM-12:52 AM
Minor period
4:47 AM-5:47 AM
Sun
08:08 to 18:47
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 18 mph
Rain chance
43%

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

Species guide

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

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. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

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. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

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. Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

When to come: the Lucky Peak 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
Smallmouth bass
Rainbow trout
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 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 Lucky Peak 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 77 F, wind to 20 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 78 F, wind to 15 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 77 F, wind to 12 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. IDFG 2025-2027 Southwest Region general rules: open all year; kokanee 6, trout 6, bass 6 (none under 12 in.); possession limit 3 times the daily limit.

Access

Corps lists boat ramps at Barclay Bay, Turner Gulch, Spring Shores and Robie Creek; Idaho Parks and Recreation runs Spring Shores Marina and Sandy Point as part of Lucky Peak State Park. Ada County Parks and Waterways maintains more than 500 docks, including those at the ramps and more than 80 boat-in sites.

About this water

2,766 acres (IDFG); Corps dam built 1949-1955; Ada, Boise and Elmore counties, Idaho; about 15 minutes from Boise (Corps). Lake level: USGS Lucky Peak Lake near Boise.

Fishing Lucky Peak Reservoir: the full guide

The reservoir

The Flood Control Act of 1946 authorized Lucky Peak Dam, a rolled earthfill dam about 250 feet high and 1,700 feet long at the crest; the Corps built it from 1949 to 1955 and still manages the dam and the land around the lake. IDFG lists the reservoir at 2,766 acres in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties, and the Corps counts about a million visits a year.

Kokanee, trout and bass

IDFG calls Lucky Peak well known for kokanee and rainbow trout, both supported mainly by stocking, and notes that some anglers target smallmouth bass; yellow perch and mountain whitefish are on its recommended list too. Its stocking table shows 206,990 kokanee fry on May 15, 2025, and several releases of triploid rainbows from March to October 2025. In summer IDFG advises fishing early or late to avoid the pleasure boats and water-skiers.

Water levels and ramps

IDFG says the lake usually stays near full pool from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Corps then lowers it: its July 23, 2026 notice set the drawdown to start the week of Aug. 10 at about 2 feet a day toward a winter pool of about 2,945 feet, and warned that boat ramps would be affected. Reclamation lists ramp-end elevations of 3,046 feet at Robie Creek, 3,040 at Mack Creek, 3,030 at the Barclay Bay high ramp, 3,016 at Spring Shores #2, 3,000 at the Spring Shores slips, 2,949 at the Spring Shores main ramp and 2,905 at Turner Gulch. The USGS gauge Lucky Peak Lake near Boise reports the level as gage height on the same elevation scale, so it compares directly with those figures.

Rules

Lucky Peak has no special rules in IDFG's 2025-2027 booklet, so the Southwest Region limits apply: open all year, 6 kokanee, 6 trout, and 6 bass with none under 12 inches. The Boise River below Lucky Peak Dam has its own section in the booklet.

Common questions

When is Lucky Peak drawn down?

Each late summer and fall the Corps lowers it to make room for flood control; in 2026 the drawdown began the week of Aug. 10, toward a winter pool of about 2,945 feet.

Which Lucky Peak ramp works at low water?

Turner Gulch, with its ramp end at 2,905 feet, is the lowest on Reclamation's list; the Spring Shores main ramp ends at 2,949 feet.

What fish does IDFG stock in Lucky Peak?

Kokanee fry each spring and triploid rainbow trout several times a year, according to IDFG's stocking records.

Is fishing good at Lucky Peak 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

Boise River15 miSouth Fork Boise River30 miPayette River30 miLake Lowell32 miAnderson Ranch Reservoir32 miOwyhee River61 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 13201500 β€” Lucky Peak Lake near Boise, ID
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.5285, -116.0312 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 8, 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 8, 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.