ENDLESS SPRING

Opening weekend for the fishing season and Memorial Day weekend is commonly regarded as amateur hour for the outdoors.  The thinking person stays home for the weekend and avoids the traffic and crowds.

The South Fork Boise River is blasting 4,000 cfs at Anderson Ranch Dam.  The river is more than two feet higher than a typical summer flow.  That makes for a fast float.

The water flows are going to remain high in the South Fork Boise for some time.  The charts above show the amount of snow at Trinity Mountain and the snow course marker shows snow has continued to accumulate through the spring.  Comparing the 2011 numbers to 2010 and 2009 there is a clear difference in the amount of snow on the mountain at this time last year.  On average the mountain has about 30 inches of precipitation at the end of May.  This year the precipitation sitting there is the equivalent of 43 inches of water.  And typically it will have to come off between now and the end of June.

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It appears the mountain snow across Idaho holds a similar story for fishing our rivers. Water levels are high and stream fishing opportunities are meager.  The flat water options are about all that’s out there that can be explored.