Boise River: In Town

Fished the lower river below Eagle and all I can say is I am glad it was a nice day because the fishing was just that fishing not catching. I searched out some water that I had not ran a fly through before in hopes of finding some new glory holes. Can't say that I hit gold but I can say that there is some extremely nice winter holding water and great banks to run nymphs and streamers through. There was nothing happening as far as surface activity. I managed to see one small fish raise his nose above water.

Spent about half the day yesterday fishing some of the lower river through Eagle. We have been having some pretty awesome weather this winter, and it has made for almost a spring feel out on the water. If you are going to hit the Boise river in town you should focus your efforts on nymphing and streamers. The Boise is a river that is going to fish or it isn't. I found only a couple fish willing to sample my fly, however they were nice wild browns. Beautiful fish! The Boise has a good number of caddis on it so most caddis nymphs are going to work well.

Well now that the steelhead madness is gone you can focus back on the resident trout that call the Boise river home. The Boise river is a great nymphing river so if you rig up a wooly bugger and drop a small midge, caddis, pheasant tail, or hairsear you are more than likely going to find fish. If you stick to the easy access spots and bridges you should find your way with plenty of stockers. However if you put on your exploring boots and go find some water you haven't fished before I think you will suprise yourself with some quality wild fish.

Been hitting the river for a few hours each day. I have found that small trout nymphs such as prince, pheasant tails, and hairsears have been taking fish the past few days. Sizes #14-#16. Makes for a tough land but I think you will find yourself hooking up a little more if you run some standard fair through the runs instead of just the bright streamers and eggs.

Went out for a good part of the day chasing the chance at some stocker steelhead. Hook a few but unfortunately nothing came to the net. But the beauty of being on the Boise is we still managed to touch a few trout. Over all fishing was pretty slow today. A few BWO's out and some midges. As far as the steelhead it sounds like the stocking is over for the year so it's time to search out those few heads that got pushed around the river!! Tight Lines!

Took a few hours to myself and fished a strech of th Boise river by my house today. The BWO's were out and the fish where on them well. I was fishing a parachute pattern (#18) with a cripple pattern dropped behind it (#18). There were enough heads up I probabaly didn't need both flies but each pattern seemed to find it's mark on a handful of fish. Most fish were in the 12"-14" range, but managed to poke a couple in the upper teens. It's a good time of the year to catch some nice fish in town. The lower river below Glenwood holds good populations of adult browns and bows.

The steelhead season on the boise river in town has begun. Outside of battling the crowds you will find success nymphing glow bugs or any egg pattern. I throw a tandem rig with a glow bug and a psycho prince. You can also find success stripping and swinging streamer patterns. If crowds aren't your thing and you find yourself walking down or up river after browns and rainbows then you might want to try nymphing hairs ears, pheasant tails, and prince nymphs. I typically fish these in sizes 12-18.