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)

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!

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.

The netting crew look like a bunch of larcosse defenders playing with the long sticks. Photo from 2006.

UPDATE:  Additional information on the marking run at the westfly.com message board.

A dispatch from long-time South Fork angler Bill Eastlake:

It’s finally getting to fall fishing time! A bit of drizzle and a bit of cooler temps might make fishing better and get us out of this long hot smoky summer. Fishing in mid September on the Owyhee and South Fork was good, but it was still too warm and hazy for ideal human activity.

By the way, the South Fork looks like an Alaska river during salmon spawning season.  I believe the Zimowsky piece on kokanee above Arrowrock and below Anderson Ranch Dam seriously underestimated how many fish there are. I don’t think I had ever seen more than two or three orange kokanee in the South Fork over a weekend before this year.

Last week they were paired up in good gravel and building redds, lots of them. We counted groups of 20 or so in several spots. There were assorted few in almost every place we fished. There were dead ones floating by, marooned on shore, etc, all over the river.

One shallow area above Cow Creek that I favor at low flows for trout had so many kokanee I didn’t bother to cast for trout. There must have been at least a hundred! It was unbelievable to see so many kokanee. I guess that means good populations of salmon for Arrowrock next year, but I really thought they were “in the way” of trout fishing.

After an opening weekend of fishing season where the South Fork was running at 3,000 cfs the flows have dropped to 1,700 cfs, ending May with a normal boating flow.

Some may complain about flows at 3,000 cfs or higher, but these water volumes are necessary for a healthy river.  The flow spike at 6,000 cfs should have helped bring more changes to side channels and river banks, perhaps rearranging some sections of river bottom, routing sediment and creating new holding areas for fish and bugs.

Anderson Ranch Dam is 94 percent full and inflow is very close to the outflow.  In fact, it looks like Anderson Ranch will not completely fill this year.  Ironic, after a winter with the most stored water in the system.  But it was a complicated run-off, and Continue Reading…

Snowpack can and probably will continue to accumulate in the Boise mountains but it’s time for a snapshot where things stand for the 2012 conditions.  We have lots of water, both in the reservoir at Anderson Dam and in the mountains above. We will start with the mountains: Continue Reading…

For many or most, the rods get stored away and skis are out for the winter.  Angler use on the South Fork Boise River is light through the winter months until the fishing closes March 31.  But through this phase the weather brings its own changes to the river.  A rain on snow event is the type of winter event where water flows and erosion can affect the South Fork Boise River.

An ice & water jam at the top of Anderson Ranch Dam

Continue Reading…

The US Geological Survey (USGS) last year issued a science report on the use of laser technology to help exploring the depths and shape of the South Fork Boise river channel from the air.

The report (.pdf) carries the complicated but self-evident title of Evaluation of LiDAR-Acquired Bathymetric and Topograhic Data Accuracy in Various Hydrogeomorphic Settings in the Deadwood and South Fork Boise Rivers, West-Central Idaho, 2007.

It sounds and is complicated.  And NASA is involved too.   Continue Reading…