I spent the day at the Diane Moore Nature Center and Barber Pool with Brian Martin and Dennis Moore, reviewing the side channel and evaluating trout spawning habitat in the Barber Pool. We even did a little fishing!

When we arrived at 9am there were PMD Spinners, trico spinners and some caddis on the water, and there were a couple of anglers out fishing below the NYC Diversion Dam. We did a little seining and found good numbers of mayfly nymphs, some green netspinning caddis and a cranefly larva.

At the current flow of 630cfs, the water was up to the bottom stone on our Angler Access and it was easy to get down to the river.  The new side channel is doing well and was widened a bit from the high flows. The banks are very sandy, making the side channel bottom sandy in areas but we found several areas with spawning size gravels. The high water moved the woody debris around, but there is still excellent woody cover and we saw trout fry scattered throughout the side channel.

Floating down into the Barber Pool, we found 4 areas that had large deposits of gravel that look to be great trout spawning habitat. Once you get into the Barber Pool the water velocity slows down considerably and deepens. There is some bank-side woody cover that is available to fish at the current flows of 630cfs, but it may be out of the water in the winter. Water clarity in this section is much better than in town and you can see 6-8 feet.

There are 2 mandatory portages on the float from the Diane Moore Nature Center to Barber Park. The first is Barber Dam, which you portage on river right. There is a set of landscape timber stairs and then a long, but well developed portage trail around the dam site. The second is Eckert Diversion, which you also portage on the right. That portage trail is much rougher with boulders and tree roots to navigate through. Definitely best for smaller, lighter craft such as a canoe or kayak.

This Fall we will be wrapping up our angler access project, including adding hillside retaining along the path; Filling in the lower stone steps with roadmix; and Installing signage. Stay tuned for more details.

Troy Pearse
Conservation Director
Boise Valley Flyfishers
conservation@bvff.com