As Captain Kyle Sandy motored away from Mile High Marina, the bustle of McCall faded into the peaceful stillness of our alpine surroundings. And after weeks of near-triple-digit heat in the Treasure ...

Every year during ice fishing season, I get lots of questions about Payette Lake in McCall. It is lesser known than Cascade, and fewer anglers fish it, but the giant Mackinaw trout that lurk in the ...

Aaron Goettsche, of Stansbury Park, Utah, was fishing solo on McCall’s Payette Lake on June 19 when he reeled in a lake trout, according to a news release from Fish and Game. The fish, which he later ...

Idaho Fish and Game says Dylan Smith landed this 41.5-inch long lake trout last month, breaking the previous record by two inches! Smith did release the trout back into the lake after taking the photo ...

For decades, rumors of a Payette Lake monster have percolated throughout the McCall region. Local natives long feared an “evil spirit” that dwelt in the dark depths of Payette, and there have been ...

Managing a large sterile lake with big, long-lived predators and a fluctuating prey species poses a big challenge for fisheries managers, and Payette Lake at McCall is the latest case where managers ...

MCCALL — Aaron Goettsche is no stranger to monster lake trout. An avid angler, fishing rod maker, and longtime veteran on Utah’s/Wyoming’s famous Flaming Gorge Reservoir — a world-renowned fishery ...

Utah angler Aaron Goettsche holds up a state catch-and-release record lake trout he caught from Payette Lake on June 19, 2025. The fish measured 42 inches long. A Utah angler caught a monster lake ...