Fish Hobo

I didn't start out to be a fish hobo is just happened. It took years of life's ups and down to create the fly angler I am today. When people think of hobo's they instantly picture a rail bum who's been riding the train for weeks, needs a shave and eats his dinner out of a can. Hollywood has ingrained into the public an image of a hobo as a dirty old man walking down the tracks with all his belongings hanging from the end of a stick which he carries across his shoulders. We know from the past that hobos hung out at places like Hobo Jungles. In my home town we had a place on the beach where the trains used to slow down called "Hobo Junction". As a boy I used to camp out there while fishing for surf perch and watch how the hobo live their lives.

Even as a young boy my interest in the Hobo life was one of fascination and intrigue. My curiosity peaked when I met my first fish Hobo. I was camped up on Piru Creek with my dad and my friend Wayne. Dad had taken us up the road along the creek and dropped Wayne and I off a few miles downstream so we could fish our way back to camp. Piru Creek is a small pocket water creek full of trout and the perfect little creek for a couple of novice fly anglers to leap frog around each other and catch plenty of trout. Back in those days when I was on a creek fishing for trout I had a one track mind and that was to catch trout.

Piru Creek runs through a steep canyon with lots of big rocks and pools so you have to be in pretty good shape to get around. Wayne and I had been hopping around doing pretty good, catching pan size trout when around a bend I came across a large plunge pool that was sure to hold some large trout in it. The problem was I had to work my way down the creek to a beach and cross the creek over a water logged tree that was laying across the creek to get into a good casting position. I could see Wayne back down the creek fishing some pockets working his way towards me so I was pretty intent in getting good position on the creek before he came up to me.

With my tennis shoes already soaked and the bottoms coated in sand I started to put my plan for crossing the creek into effect. As I climbed the log and started across everything was going perfect as usual. That is until I worked my way along to about the middle of the log. I didn't know it at the time but the middle of this log was extremely slippery and within a millisecond I had slipped and was on my way down into the creek. When you're fifteen years old you do things like that because you're unbreakable. Today I would never have even thought about doing something like that but at that age the consequences are bearable. Read More

Runoff

With only a few weeks left before the official start of "Trout season" I'm finding it more difficult than in the past to find good flowing water that's not blown out by spring runoff. With the abundant snow pack the West has acquired over the winter it looks to me that the runoff is going to last awhile. I've spent the winter and a good portion of spring tying flies and organizing my gear to get myself ready for a good season of trout fishing and I'm tired of waiting for the season to start.

Basically what options I have are some desert lakes and reservoirs that remain ice free during the winter and are not affected by spring runoff. Most states out west have high plain or desert areas that contain lakes that seem to manufacture large trout. I'm luck to live in Southwest Idaho where I'm close to many of these lakes and I live in an area where I have relatively easy access to reach these lakes with little effort.

On one such trip I ventured to the Duck Valley Indian Reservation on the Idaho/Nevada border in late April. Anytime you venture into the desert or any fishing trip in early spring you are always bound by the weather. In my case I was truly bound by the weather and the flu. I arrived at Mountain View Reservoir Thursday afternoon and the wind was so bad that any thoughts of fishing the lake with two foot white caps where thoughts strictly about fantasy and not reality.

Friday morning I awoke to 3 inches of rain and it wasn't until afternoon that it warmed up enough to give it a go on fishing. May and June are the perfect months to fish these desert lakes and I was lucky h to be feeling well enough to be out on the lake and catching nice size trout. Even though it was still cold the water temperature was warm enough to kick start most of the trout into some sort of feeding habit. Even though I was down with the flu and the weather was cold I still managed to make a pretty good fishing trip out of it.

Desert lake fishing may be your only option until the runoff starts to slow down or the water levels being released below the dams start to come down. As we get further and further along this spring the daily weather become more manageable at most of these desert locations and you can pretty much rule out the miserable weather syndrome usually associated with high desert lakes in the early spring. I'm planning a trip to Eastern Washington in the next week or two in order to fish a few desert lakes I've never fished before and only this time I hope not to have the flu and 3 inches of snow to contend with. But Mother Nature being what it is you can bet she'll have something else in store for me to contend with.

News

Forecast levels of Salmon in the Clearwater and Salmon River drainages have not quite lived up to their expectations during this year's season. The updated forecast predicts a recreational fishery harvest share of about 17,000 Chinook Salmon-about 5,000 in the Clearwater drainage, about 10,000 in the lower Salmon and Little Salmon rivers, and about 2,000 in the Snake River.

Work that is raising the road on Anderson Ranch Reservoir is still continuing. I don't think they will finish before the start of opening day which is the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. However you can still get there via Prairie road and what anglers have told me is the road is open and in pretty good shape. Even though the river is very high right now it is still possible to float it at 3400 cfs. If you do try and float it there are a couple of things to remember. It will be a short and dangerous float and if you plan on being successful at all you should anchor the boat and fish from shore whenever possible.

I just got a report back from a fly angler who ventured up the Middle Fork Boise River drainage last weekend and the report back is the river is raging. I would stay away from the Mountain Rivers this opening day. The runoff and snow pack is running about two to three weeks behind according to the latest snow equivalent levels. Your best bet is some of the High desert or plains lakes and reservoirs.

If I had to recommend to you a place to fish in the next couple of weeks I would probably tell you to search out a desert lake or head to Silver Creek Idaho. If you choose Silver Creek then you will probably see me there a bit more than usual. Silver Creek is a Spring Creek that is not impacted by our snowpack. The only thing you will contend with is the lack of biomass in the creek. The weeds, which provide cover, depth and a food source for the trout there, needs the water temperature to rise a few more degrees. In some ways it can make your fishing easier because the trout will be either tucked under the bank or in likely holding spots.

Fish Report

 

Most rivers and streams are in the middle of Spring runoff and you will find them for the most part unfishable.  However your best bet is to fish some of the lower in elevation lakes and reservoirs.  If you can get to a spring creek that would be your best bet because most spring creeks are immune to snow runoff.  Here in the West there are many desert lakes and reservoirs that are farley easy to get to and will offer you great trout fishing with out the dirty high water.  Some tailwater rivers may be fishable but you should check before making the trip.