Some very close friends own a large acreage in Idaho through which a major Kamloops spawning tributary flows. They protect these fish as best they can by chasing the idiots who sneak onto their land to fish for them away, sometimes at gunpoint. Repeat offenders are prosecuted for criminal trespass.

I can assure you that they are much more fun to catch in the lake when they are bright and tasty in the summer and fall.

If you want to target large rainbows staging on their spawning beds then fish the Sauk or another up river special opener in March and April.