South Fork is Ultimate Winner Again of Fly Casting Tournament

Posted by admin on May 17, 2013 | No Comments

By Greg Clark

The 3^rd Annual Trout Unlimited Fly Casting Tournament was held at Eagle Island State Park on Saturday, May 11, and raised thousands of dollars to benefit the South Fork Boise River fishery. The event attracted over 150 people, among them team participants, sponsors, judges, volunteers, and spectators.

The Judges

The weather was unseasonably warm with temperatures easily above the 90 degree mark in the afternoon, however the winds were almost nonexistent most of the day and benefited all of the competitors.

Two rounds of competition were held. The morning had the Gold division with expert casters and some who wish they were experts. The afternoon round hosted the Silver division with people of various skills and experience, but united in having some fun and a little competition.

The seven Gold division teams, including one all women team (each comprised of four individuals) competed throughout the morning on fourteen

Janet Downey casts while the rest of the Idaho Angler team watches during the Gold division competition

land or water-based casting targets or “holes.” A team’s best three individual member’s scores per hole were then added together in comprising the team score. Just as in golf, lowest total score on the 14 holes wins.

While the competition among teams can get pretty serious at times, the main purpose was to bring fly fishers, flyfishing groups, and local businesses together and raise money for protection and enhancement of a fishery that everyone has a common interest in and can support…and making sure everyone has plenty of fun along the way. For example, here’s a comment from Whitefish Ed who was part of the Gold division team Whitefish Rules.

Contestant casts to one of the water targets

Last year’s 2nd Annual Fly Casting Tournament in 2012 kick-started the focus on flow management of the South Fork Boise River, and in late summer 2012 the first assessment was made of the effects on juvenile trout and on the macroinvertebrate community when the river flows are decreased.

Results from the 2012 work will be released this summer. Stay tuned to this website for information.

Work will continue in 2013 and following years to assess river flows on fish stranding with the goal of finding a flow management that can improve the fishery.

This year’s Tournament continues the momentum we have built for the South Fork Boise River fishery.

At the end of the Gold division competition, a delicious lunch was served, prizes were presented to the top three Gold division teams, and a variety of raffle items were won.

Gold division results:

Willowcreek Grill

1^st place – Team Willowcreek Grill (a repeat champion, pictured at left. L to R: J.D. Miller, Chris Gerono, Dave Klein, Graham McKenzie)

2^nd place – Anglers (Erik Moncada, Dave Gourley, Bret Bishop and Pete Erickson).

3^rd place – Otter Shrimps (Richard Prange, Jeff Barney, Marty Downey, Bill Hagdorn)

Silver division teams get the instructions prior to the shotgun start

The afternoon then included 12 Silver Division teams competing, including three all-women teams, and a good mix of returning competitors and new teams. Aileen Ellis from Team Trifecta has posted a report with her review of the tournament.

As the Silver division teams completed the course everyone returned to the shelter for a cold one and to hear some recognition and gratitude to all of the sponsors and the TU Ted Trueblood Chapter Board members for their contributions and tireless efforts toward this wonderful event. Prizes were presented to the top three Silver division teams and a heartfelt thank you given to all involved.

Silver division results:

The Bush Hookers

1^st place – Dr. Arave and his ringers

2^nd place – Amateur Hour (Bret Andreason, Andy Andregg, Jeff Tonkin, Bill Tonkin)

3^rd place – Bush Hookers (photo at left, Neal L to R

Immediately at the awards Dr. Arave showed he is a class act and he handed the 1st place prize, some top-rate fly line, to the 4th place team: the Better than TU team sponsored by the Boise Valley Fly Fishers. Dr. Arave also was a hole sponsor at the tournament.

The last act of the afternoon was a raffle was held for an NRS Gigbob personal fishing watercraft, donated by Idaho River Sports. It was won by Connie Martineau, who was tickled at winning the boat she really wanted!

Jo Cassin (L) and Stan Kolby (R) flank Connie Martineau, winner of the Gigbob raffle

If you participated in the tournament we would like to hear your experience and you can post in the comment section below. Thanks to everyone who supported the event!

Year Three Fly Casting Tournament benefits the South Fork Boise River Fishery

Posted by admin on April 30, 2013 | No Comments

The 3rd Annual Fly Casting Tournament is set for May 11, 2013, at Eagle Island State Park.

The cause remains the same: conservation of the South Fork Boise River wild trout fishery.

A day of competition and camaraderie begets conservation. Sponsored by the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Fly Casting Tournament attracts more than 100 participants plus an equal number of judges and spectators. All are there for the cause of the South Fork Boise River fishery. You can join in the event through participating on a team or as a spectator. Check out the Tournament webpage here.

Just as this website tries to demonstrate the number of different agencies and groups involved in the South Fork Boise River, the Fly Casting Tournament is also a showcase of cooperation. Some examples:

The Boise Valley Fly Fishers has become over three years the single largest financial contributor to the Fly Casting Tournament, and therefore to the South Fork Boise, by being a Gold Sponsor and fielding several fly fishing teams.

Last year BVFF fielded a Gold team including notables like Marty Downey, Tom Labreque, Craig Estell and Gino White. The club also put two teams in the Silver division.

As the longest continuing fly fishing club in the Boise area the BVFF have time and again stepped up for the South Fork Boise River. And their presence at the Fly Casting Tournament is evident.

A stand out contributor to the event is Idaho Angler. In their third year as a Gold Sponsor the fly shop has helped provide cash donations, prize winnings as well as great connections for putting together teams.

Shop owner Rick Williams helped with the original course design in 2011.

With the 20-year anniversary of the store being celebrated on May 4, the week prior to the Fly Casting Tournament, it’s a good time to reflect how this business has become an establishment specialty shop with professional staff who know the South Fork Boise River.

Not to be surpassed is the support from Anglers fly shop and owner John Wolter.

John has great customer connections which brought more fly casting teams to the tournament than any one else, and Anglers provides Gold Sponsor support with financial and merchandise contributions. John has established credibility not only with the Anglers shop but also with informed insight how to fish the South Fork Boise River during the summer. We’re not going into details here so you will have to ask him yourself.

The success of the first Fly Casting Tournament in 2011 contributed the funds that made possible the completion of the Pierce Creek reconnection to the South Fork of the Boise River. A culvert is gone, a new steel bridge crosses Pierce Creek and wild trout have access to tributary spawning habitat.

The 2nd Annual Fly Casting Tournament in 2012 kick-started the focus on flow management of the South Fork Boise River and in late summer 2012 the first assessment was made of the effects on juvenile trout and on the macroinvertebrate community when the river flows are decreased. Results from this work will be released this summer.

Work will continue in 2013 and following years to assess river flows on fish stranding with the goal of finding a flow management that can improve the fishery. The 3rd Annual Fly Casting Tournament will be a critical piece to funding the conservation work on the South Fork Boise River.

A geology tour of the South Fork Boise

Posted by admin on April 7, 2013 | No Comments

As the South Fork Boise is currently closed to fishing now is the time to dip into stacks where we can find out a thing or two about the general area where the South Fork flows. This installment is a geology tour. At Idaho State University they have lots of geology information posted on line, including the Guidebook to the Geology of Central and Southern Idaho. In that book is the chapter “Cretaceous and Tertiary Intrusive Rocks of South-Central Idaho,” which includes a tour of the South For Boise River canyon area.

This geology tour begins with the road approaching Anderson Ranch Dam and goes downstream to the Cow Creek bridge where you drive from the South Fork back to Highway 20. Included is a side trip from Cow Creek Bridge to Danskin Bridge.

A couple of notes. The zero point for the tour, shown as 0.0, is the intersection of Sun Valley Road and Main Street in Ketchum. So the tour approaches the South Fork Boise from the east. Secondly, the interval mileage is shown in parentheses. Here goes: Continue Reading…

Fishery Population Status II: The Big Sort Continues

Posted by admin on January 24, 2013 | 2 Comments

The 2012 South Fork Boise River fishery population sampling by Idaho Fish and Game shows a continuing population size structure that has lots of small fish and large fish making up the raw sample, but few middle sized fish. And the numbers of medium sized fish are too small to explain the numbers of the larger fish. Below is the graph showing the 2012 population distribution by size in 2012 compared with 2009 and 2006:

Fish between 200 and 400 millimeters - roughly eight to sixteen inches in length, are Continue Reading…

Fishery Population Status I: 2012 the latest sampling numbers

Posted by admin on January 15, 2013 | No Comments

Idaho Fish and Game biologist Joe Kozfkay came to the January 9th meeting of the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited with an update on the South Fork Boise River fishery, showing the 2012 trout population appears stable or increasing depending on fish size.

As manager of the Southwest Idaho Region’s fisheries Kozfkay came loaded with data and historical information in his Powerpoint slide show. And he explored many facets of this river resource we all cherish. Over the next few posts we will break down the information. This update looks at the overall population densities for the latest samping efforts.

Like any good drama, the results were held until towards the end of the presentation, but it was well worth the wait as Continue Reading…

January 9th unveiling of 2012 Status of South Fork Boise fishery

Posted by admin on January 6, 2013 | No Comments

Joe Kozfkay, Idaho Fish and Game Southwest Regional Fisheries Manager.

The Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited meeting will feature Joe Kozfkay, the Southwest Regional Fisheries Manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Joe Kozfkay will introduce himself at the meeting, and provide a brief discussion of past monitoring efforts on the South Fork of the Boise River, presenting results from 2012 population estimating efforts, and lastly will be available to discuss other IDFG programs and activities.

Population monitoring is a key component of fisheries management. A variety of techniques may be used to gauge population status and trends for salmonids in mid- to large-size rivers.

IDFG crew doing the South Fork Boise River population survey electrofishing in October 2009 -- photo by Whitefish Ed

In the South Fork of the Boise River (SFBR) downstream of Anderson Ranch Dam, IDFG employees utilize canoe electrofishing on a tri-annual basis to monitor trout and whitefish populations. Population assessments were completed in mid-October 2012.

The Ted Trueblood Chapter meeting will be at the MK Nature Center, behind the IDFG Headquarters Office, 600 South Walnut. Fly tying starts at 6:30 pm with the regular meeting/program beginning at 7:30. Hope to see you there.

Salute to Whitefish Ed – 2012 Man o’ the Year for 2012

Posted by admin on December 30, 2012 | No Comments

For the year 2012 southforkboise.org salutes Whitefish Ed for his devotion to the South Fork Boise River fishery and his early work to call attention to the stranding of young of year trout when the river flows are abruptly reduced in late summer. Previous posts have reported the details here about the concern that changes in flows could be affecting survival of juvenile trout, and then the follow up study where anglers and agency biologists worked together to assess the effects. Information on the results of the work is forthcoming in 2013 but for now let’s tip the hat to Whitefish Ed who initially called attention to this concern and inspired others to get the ball rolling on a study.

Whitefish Ed gets instructions from IDFG biologist Art Butts during the stranding study on September 17, 2012

Didymo: A Future Thing to Worry About?

Posted by admin on December 12, 2012 | No Comments

Back in January a question to Idaho Statesman outdoors reporter Pete Zimowsky brought up the didymo topic.

Q: When I was fishing on South Fork of the Boise River last month, I’m almost positive I saw some “didymo” on rocks along the bank.

It was like I thought I saw on the South Island of New Zealand.

CONCERNED ANGLER, email

Zimowsky responded that Idaho Fish and Game has confirmed presence of didymo in locations along the South Fork Boise River. And that it has been there for a number of years. The entire question and answer is here.

So, is didymo the next thing to wring our hands about? What do we know and need to know about this diatom (algae) that goes by the latin name didymosphoenia geminata?

Fortunately it appears the attention to this problem is going to escalate and in early 2013 there will be the International Didymo Conference to be held March 12-13 in Providence, Rhode Island. The national Trout Unlimited organization is a sponsor. Information about the conference can be found at the stopans.org website here.

What information we have on the South Fork Boise River and didymo appears to be largely anecdotal at this point. Some long-time anglers recall a particularly bad episode or two in the early 1990s. In fact 1992 and 1994 come to mind, and those were years where the summertime flows were reduced early in the summer because Anderson Ranch Reservoir was running out of water in those drought years. Some early 2000 drought years also saw a return. Correlation with water flows is only part of the picture, and perhaps an international conference can help shed light on this topic and what to do about it.

For more information there is a pretty good page that EPA has put together here.

FUTURE FISHERY: Fry Monitoring Assesses Recruitment

Posted by admin on November 18, 2012 | No Comments

In addition to the population survey that Idaho Fish and Game conducts every three years on the South Fork Boise River, there is also an effort to track the status of trout fry in several locations along the South Fork Boise River.

In late October a small crew was led by Art Butts from Idaho Fish and Game along with volunteers from Boise Valley Fly Fishers and the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited. They monitored trout fry in six locations spread a few miles apart.

A section of the river would be measured for a 33 meter transect. The photo at left shows a portion of the river right (we are looking upstream so it’s on your left in the photo) portion of the South Fork just upstream of the confluence with Rough Creek. This is just upstream of the slide area where a January 1996 landslide formed a backwater along the South Fork.

Since Art was the guy who knows what he is doing with electricity he manned the backpack electroshocking unit. The three volunteers handled the nets, and as fry would emerge from the river bottom they would be netted and put in the five-gallon bucket. The larger photo above shows the method.

The next step in the process was counting and measuring each of the trout that had been netted and put in the bucket.

Each trout was counted and measured with a ruler. Total numbers are each site were recorded as were the measurements of all the fry.

The age zero trout were then put in the second bucket (both buckets held water of course) so they could avoid double counting or losing track of the number of fish.

This process was repeated for a total of six different sites. The data collected at these sites match up with previous fry monitoring activities in years past.

Over time we hope to get a better sense of the juvenile fish populations in the South Fork Boise River and what issues they face with flow and habitat management along the river.

As lay people we were interested to see these fry are in very shallow water and for the most part on or in and among the interstices of the rocks on the bottom of the channel. And they were right along the bank or shoreline. In places where there was better brush cover along the bank there appeared to be more dense numbers of these little fish. The more open areas seemed to have fewer fish.

Tagged population survey

Triennial Trout Tracking

Posted by admin on October 17, 2012 | No Comments

Idaho Fish and Game crews are this week and next undertaking their triennial fish population survey of the South Fork of the Boise River.

Photo from the 2006 electrofishing survey.

The last such survey was in the fall of 2009 when results showed a large number of smaller 100 mm or 4 inch (2 year old) trout in the system. In fact, the numbers were very high for the small fish so it will be interesting to see if the demographic bulge makes its way through the age class distribution.

Electrofishing surveys have occurred every three years since 1994. In previous posts we have detailed the changes observed in fish population estimates, such as number of fish per kilometer. We have also paid attention to size distribution of the fish found in the river.

We expect the marking run to be completed this week, and the recapture run early next week. Then the numbers will be crunched and we will begin to hear results sometime in 2013.