South Fork of the Boise Report

The Riverkeeper will  have new winter hours of operation effective  November 3rd, 2008

New Winter Hours

Slowing a little bit this week with the cold weather. The fishing has been decent, but the fish are no push overs. You really have to pay attention to the length of your leader (long and thin if you are dry fly fishing), wading (go slow), and fly selection (have insects to cover the whole hatch).

 Afternoons have been seeing  hatches of PMDs (a few still hanging around),  and Blue Winged Olives. Again, you must carry a full complement of patterns that imitate ALL of these insects like  emergers, adults, and cripples to be successful.  

When nothing is rising nymph fishing continues to be productive. Some popular combinations have been: large stonefly nymph (black, brown, or speckled olive) / Caddis Emerger; Copper John/ Rust Tungstud Nymph; Flashback Pheasant Tail/ San Juan Worm. All patterns should be fished deep on the river bottom. Use an indicator and split shot to get these flies deep and look to the areas where fast and slow water meet to find fish.

A Note on the South Fork Shuffle

They're back: those crazy South Fork Shufflers. That's right folks when the water drops, the break dancing begins. Evidently, some folks like to drag their feet and shuffle along the stream bottom in a repeated manner. This is done so as to stir up bugs and "chum" the water for themselves or their buddies waiting downstream. The problem is that this behavior rips up the bottom and does harm to the habitat (fish and insects). Interestingly, this behavior has been banned due to it's destructiveness on such famous rivers as the San Juan in New Mexico for example.

 When we first mentioned this behavior last year some were astonished that fellow anglers were willing to destroy the stream bottom in an effort to aid in their fish catching. Some, on the other hand, called me an elitist  and other things that I can't print here (always by email and always without signing their names in the email... real cojones eh). Well, armed now with a little more ammo than a sense of ethics based upon years of fly fishing tradition (it's not just my own opinion here folks) I am back on my soap box. Thanks to our friends over at WestFly we now know that this sort of shuffling behavior is not only unethical but illegal. Here's the WestFly Link: http://www.westfly.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=533916#Post533916

Here's the Fish and Game Link: TITLE 36, FISH AND GAME, CHAPTER 9, PROTECTION OF FISH
http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=360090002.K

 That's right folks, you can turn the offenders in. I for one, will be carrying a pen and paper to note such offenses and things like licenses plate numbers. Oh, and by the way, we usually have a video camera with us when we fish so be sure to shuffle like you were auditioning for Dancing With the Stars- might as well make a good show of it. Part of the joy of fly fishing is perfecting your skills over a period of time. Fly fishing is not a sport of immediate gratification where there are short cuts to replace time on the water. I know that in our " I have to have it now" society engaging in a hobby that may require years to perfect flies in the face of convention..... thank God fly fishing is anything but conventional!  Oh, and feel free to send the nasty emails but be advised that this year I am not going to just bite my lip and bear it. Rather, I think  I'll post those emails here on the site for all to see -it's only fair that I spread the love and let the fishing public respond to that kind of selfish behavior.

What's Hatching:

PMDs: Afternoons

Blue Winged Olives: Mid morning - Afternoons

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South Fork Summer Strategies DVD

Did you miss out on this year's South Fork Summer Strategies Seminar? No worries - we have all the info on slides and film. This is of course the same great material we covered in our comprehensive class this summer.

This DVD talks a lot about water types that are relevant at all times of the year. So if you need some great info to help find more fish this year, this is a great place to start. This 30 minute DVD covers all the bases. You'll get the following:

Suggested Fly Patterns:

Click here to see pictures of the suggested fly patterns

South Fork Hatch Chart

Recommended Gear

Mastery Series Trout/Panfish 7.5' $3.95 7.5' - 2 X 7.5' - 3 X 7.5' - 4 X 7.5' - 5 X

Scientific Angler's Fly Floatant $4.99

O-Ring Yarn Indicator $0.75 each

Purchase a South Fork Map

South Fork of the Boise Fishing Map $4.95

Submit Your South Fork Fishing Report