Fishing Near Boise Idaho

[emerger]

Hello All,
I have to be in Boise for work mid-October for a very limited time. I have to work Friday evening October 14th and am done by Saturday at 1pm. I am leaving to return to Cali that Sunday at 6.30pm. That leaves me time to fish Saturday afternoon/evening and most of Sunday. Just wondering if anyone has any knowledge of the rivers near Boise or has any suggestions regarding which river/s may be best to check out. Looking around on the WWW, it seems that the Boise river may be a good option since it seems to have some nice fish and is close to town. Not sure which fork or section fishes best of the Boise, but I'm also fine with driving a bit to find better fishing/scenery. It looks like the Big Wood, Salmon, Owyhee and Silver Creek may be close enough to get to with the limited time. I know a lot of you have done some travelling to chase down the troots, so would be glad to hear if anyone has any suggestions or where to go or where to avoid.
Thanks in advance,
AB

[mems]

Aloha AB, it was a couple of years ago, but I stayed in Boise for a soccer camp I coached at. The boise runs right through town. You can fish there, but I would drive up to ketchum and fish the Big Wood just north of town there is a camp ground and lots of access there. Silver Creek is over the hill and you could fish the little wood as well. Silver creek has big fish, but you need to get a float tube and the fishing is technical, long leaders small tippett and educated fish. The Big Wood has nice sized fish in it and is easily waded, should be low water when you are there, good luck and have fun, Mems. P.S. check in the fly shop in ketchum for what is hatching, but I would just chuck some big wooly buggers and go for the big fish.

[mark]

PM sent emerger........

[Dan LeCount]

The South Fork Boise runs through a canyon just a short drive from there and fishes great. You can also drive to the Owyhee in eastern Oregon and its also a great fishery.

[JayDubP]

The Boise River "In town" runs right through town and is a good C & R.

South Fork of Boise is about 2 hrs away and is best floated plus this time of year the fish have seen tons of flies and fly lines.

Middle Fork of Boise takes about 2hrs to get to good fishing -- the local fly shop will tell you the best way to drive in, because the most direct way on a map is a curvy, washboard dirt road that might cost you a new front end alignment.

Best fly shop in Boise is Idaho Angler Fly Shop on Vista Ave-
http://www.idahoangler.com/ They do have some fishing reports on their website.



Trout Lies has about the best overview of local fly fishing waters-- best place to start your search.

http://www.troutlie.com/content/about-us they have short fishing reports on most of the local area waters.

[TroutNoDoubt]

This thread caught my eye as my daughter is applying to Boise State. I'll keep these recommendations in mind if she ends up there!

[Mike O]

I like the malad just below the gorge off the interstate about an hour east. Have fished the boise at Barber Park on the east side of town...done well there as well.

That time of year, the Payette river can fish well if the storms haven't muddied things up...go up around Garden Valley and along the highway on the way up there.

By far the prettiest water up there is the Salmon river from Stanley to Challis. Not too far away. First place I ever actually matched a hatch...size 12 "Adams hatch"

The Weiser River is really close as well, and while I have never fished it it looks REALLY fishy up just west of McCall.

If you just wanna catch fish, no questions asked, as amny stockers as you want ( i stopped counting one day at over 100 in 3 hours), then you want the niagra springs/thousand springs area. I can give you direct location, just PM me. This is the BEST place to take kids as well. It's about 2 hours away east of Boise.

Mike

[Dan LeCount]

T
South Fork of Boise is about 2 hrs away and is best floated plus this time of year the fish have seen tons of flies and fly lines.



Huh, didnt seem that far the last few times I fished it, and didnt seem that tough. Im probably not the best judge of distances and maybe we just hit it right. It fished just like the Truckee River in that canyon stretch so was second nature for me being a Truckee resident. We walked the bank, the drifts were far, but do able with a solid roll cast. Picked up some nice bows around 20"long that were deep along seams on caddis pupae and a few smaller fish on EC caddis in the slower/calmer runs.

[emerger]

Thanks everyone for all of the great information. I think I've got it narrowed down a bit. Wish I had more than a day and a half to check out all the great water. I'll try to get a report out when I get back to let you know how it goes.....although I got back about a month ago from an unbelievable remote AK float trip and I still have no pictures on the triple dub to show for it. In any case, pretty psyched to toss some dries and huck the big durties to see what I can find in Idaho.
Cheers all, and thanks again for the great info.
AB

[Charlie S]

Then there is the Owyhee River, just over the border in Oregon...about a 1.5 hr drive away. This fish is over 20" long....skinny this year but lots of them.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/UkiahCharlie/P92200062.jpg

[emerger]

Thanks again everyone for the information. Went to the high desert in nearby Eastern Oregon. The fishing was pretty unbelievable. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so didn't get any pictures, but thought you may enjoy a report anyway. Got there around 4pm saturday afternoon and drove the road looking for risers.....and there were plenty. Weather was in the low 70s and sunny. Bugs were coming off everywhere...midges, mayflies, and a few caddis. Matching the hatch was a bit tough so I swung a caddis emerger and that was all that was needed. Risers were all over and the fish were definitely on the grab. Seems like it got dark around 7.30 so for the last 30 minutes I threw a mouse and went 1 for 3 before calling it. Next day, Sunday headed back in the morning. Thunderstorm rolled through in the morning so I drove around a bit to check the river. Caught a few in between showers on a slick throwing size 20-22 midges. Then waited out a bit more lightning. Around 10:30 lightning stopped so I went out on a nice curve with a cut bank. Showers stopped for a short bit and fish were rising to BWO's and midges. Caught a lot of smaller fish, and it started raining which turned off the risers so I switched to streamers....and never changed back. Threw big sculpin and articulated streamers for the rest of the day. It was pretty unbelievable fishing as most of the streamer fish were 16-18" with a couple of 20 inchers thrown in. Broke my rod on a fish at 2pm and called it a day . Other than that, saw a bald eagle, coyote in the morning and a rattlesnake on Saturday. All in all-a great day and half of fishing a small desert river. All of the fish I caught were browns.....and none of them fought like the sacto river rainbows.
Thanks again everyone for the information. Since I forgot the camera this trip, here's a pic from earlier this summer.....

[emerger]

one more try