Interactive Fishing Information Site Launched

Want to go fishing, but not sure where? Or what you'll find when you get there? The Idaho Department of Fish and Game Website has just the thing. The new Fishing Planner - http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/fishingplanner/ - is a fully-interactive search tool for information about fish, fishing and fishing-related activities in Idaho. It is similar to the department's Hunt Planner. Click on the blue Fishing Planner logo found on the Fishing page of the department's Website. It's simple. The planner shows users places to go fishing, with maps of how to get there and what they're likely to catch when they get there. Or anglers can search for places to catch a certain kind of fish, fishing waters within a certain distance of selected cities, or what kind of facilities they'll find when they get there. Anglers can narrow their search for special-rule waters, such as "no bait" or "no motors," or they can exclude special-rule waters from their search. There are three ways to get started: Search by the name of a lake or stream; search waters recommended by Fish and Game biologists; or search all waters. Under recommended waters, anglers can search by region, drainage, and county or within 5, 10 or 25 miles of a particular town-or simply browse a list of all waters. Click on 25 miles and then select a town, say Arco, and then hit "search" and the planner brings up three places. Select Athol and 31 places come up. One of those places near Athol is Mirror Lake. Click on the name and an interactive map comes up. Below that is a list of the fish species in the lake, and information about each species. The page lists any exceptions to general rules and seasons here. And it lists the available facilities at this lake, such as boat ramps, campgrounds, docks, access and toilets-at Mirror Lake restrictions includes electric motors only, but there is a boat ramp and dock. There's no campground or toilet. The only bad thing is you can't pack this in your tackle box. So check it out, and then go fishing.