Black Canyon 4/9/11

Be very careful when fishing Black Canyon. Not only was the fishing poor and the water off color but around 1:00 I got a text message from another guy that was fishing down there. They had released an extreme amount of water through the dam at about noon. He was out in the river standing on a rock and very quickly the rock was under water. They do weird things with that river and while they do it fishes very poorly and can become very dangerous. Check the Pacificorp website before you leave to check stream flows. If the flow is more than 100 CFS, don't bother. I don't know where I will be fishing in the coming weeks, but there are a few local creeks that are spring fed that should be pretty good. Utah folks will wait for Chesterfield to open up and I will wait for 24 Mile reservoir. Hopefully the Portneuf will blow out soon leaving the river much cleaner and the fishermen much happier.

Fishing Report March, 4 2011

Cold and windy between Lava and Mike's. Took my boy out to the river and only saw one fish. Water color and clarity were very poor even with the low flows. Very little bug activity, I saw a few midges coming off about 3:00 but no fish moving, not even in the foam lines where the usually hand out. Next time I think I will fish higher even if I have to walk some to get there. Some good reports up toward Croney's but will have to check that out another day. Blue wings should start moving in the next month or so especially if we get some 50 degree days. I will be stocking the box with small pheasant tails, emergers, cripples and spent wings waiting for the spring action to begin. It should be really fun in the next month or so as long as the flows come down a little.

Fishing Report Jan. 29, 2011

Idaho has changed stream seasons and regulations. Check them out at http://idahofishandgame.org. The changes are wonderful and many of the streams that have previously been closed are open under catch and release regulations.

I have recently fished "chalkstream" and have picked up good numbers of fish on the surface and fishing nymphs and streamers. The water is a little off color but there are good numbers of fish finding midges in the foam lines, and the fish seem to be active subsurface. Micro leeches, wooly buggers in purple and olive and the green bomb have all picked up good numbers of fish. Fish seemed to be more active closer to town.

Fishing Report 6-22-10

There are a few reports coming from the Portneuf of good hatches of PMD's and some good fish being found. Water levels are slowly declining and clarity on the upper river is improving. Most of the area creeks are finishing their runoff stages and are fishing well. I have fished Toponce, Eight-mile and Georgetown creek in the last week or so with good success in each of them. The fish don't seem to care much what you throw at them as long as it is small and dry. Water temperatures are still cold right now, this might be the best it gets on some of the creeks as water temperatures will surely increase.

Fishing Report 6-8-2010

I have really enjoyed trying to find new water to fish when the streams are turbulent. I have found some success in the very top end of some of my favorite creeks. I also recently discovered a new stream near Pocatello with some monster browns in it, it was extremely brushy but fished very well in the deep holes drifting a San Juan. The Portneuf is off-color and high with very little bug activity. I would have to rate it at a double ghaaagh, right now. The very top of Toponce fished very well. Monday, I fished Paul's reservoir near the Montana line with Tobee and had a great time even though the catching was slow. Tobee taught me a new leech pattern that apparently is prettier than it is useful, but should be a very productive pattern.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

After a very long 2 years of working on a Master's degree it is finally finished. It is mostly with disgust that I even look at the computer after being attached to it at the wrists for such a period of time, but I am now ready to continue in the blogosphere. This is the weekend that we all wait for; the weekend when creeks, rivers and streams open in Idaho yet are mostly too high and cloudy to fish. There are a few secret places however that seem to clear up and remain fish-able in the early season. These out of the way places are held dear to my heart because they are so few and far between.

Since August 2009 I have fished a grand total of 5 times and at no time did I feel like any of those trips were noteworthy. Now I enter the game again with nearly three months until school starts again and life gets turned on its head. Memorial day weekend is a time when we can reflect and honor those that have served. It also happens to be the weekend I get to call myself a fisherman again. I hope I can keep my priorities straight.

Bear River 1/30/2010

I am back in the game. It seems like forever since I have fished, because it has been. One of the saddest events of my life happened on Halloween, 2009. While on a family outing to the creek, I fished a little and played with the kids we all had a great time. About a week later I got done with school and was going to head to the river for one last hurrah, and realized that I must have left my chest pack up at the creek that fateful Halloween day. Long story short it has taken some time to replace even a portion of what I used to carry in that bag, and I now have just enough to get back in the game.

I have fished Black Canyon twice this winter both times with encouraging success. For the most part the fish were taking midges both times that I have been in the canyon. This has been good for me because my midge fishing was something that really needed some work. Today was beautiful, the temperature was cold but the fish were very active. In an attempt to see what the fish really wanted to eat I fished nymphs, streamers and midges. The winner of the day by a long shot was a #16-20 Griffiths gnat.