News and information on BVFF conservation projects
Flows on the Owyhee have dropped for the year, and you can see the dramatic shift in water temperatures as they changed from running water through the power turbines to the bottom outlet works. Water temps were ranging from 50 - 55 degrees daily and have dropped down to 49 - 50 degrees. The reservoir is at critically low levels but thankfully we made it through the season without the power turbines pulling in warmer water from the "epilimnion" warmer surface layer.
BVFF has been working with ODFW, BofR and the Owyhee Irrigation District on a plan to switch outflows to the lower "outlet works" if needed. For more details about that, see our Conservation News Article
The cooler water temps will get the BWO hatches going, especially as we get cooler and cloudy weather. The cooler water will also trigger browns to start spawning, so if you go over to fish the Owyhee, please remember to avoid brown trout spawning areas. For more information on how to identify brown trout redds, see our Conservation News Article.
October is here, and it is one of my favorite months to fish. Hatches are picking up with Fall Caddis and Blue Winged Olives, and the trout have the feedbag on preparing for winter. But with October comes the brown trout spawning season. The exact timing of spawning depends on water and weather conditions but generally brown trout on the Owyhee start to spawn in October with activity peaking in November and tapering off into December. And on the Boise River in town, browns typically don’t start spawning until the first week of November.
Brown trout like to spawn in gravel that is ½” to 1.5” in diameter, in water that is 1’ to 3’ deep and has some mild current. The tail-out of a run is one of their favorite places, especially if it has gravel. Gravel tail-outs are also an easy place for anglers to cross the river, so it is important to keep your eye out for redds to avoid wading through them.
Redds can be identified by the gravel being rubbed clean as fish build their nest. Redds tend to be circular to oblong shaped and are about the size of a hula-hoop. If there is a large gravel deposit, then you will often find multiple redds built next to each other. Here is a photo of a group of redds at the end of a small side channel on the Boise River. Note the size of the gravel and how it has been rubbed clean. There is also a single redd built along the far bank.
Side channels and bank edges are another common area to find brown trout redds so look before you step into the river. Here are some photos of brown trout redds on the Boise River from last year, and a short REDD-U-Cational Video that shows some brown trout redds in a tail-out.
When you see brown trout working their redds, it is best to leave them to their task as we all want them to succeed and make more brown trout! That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go fishing. It is perfectly ethical to fish other sections of the river where brown trout are not spawning. There are plenty of rainbow trout that are snacking on the stray egg patterns and fishing in the deeper run below can be quite good. Last year the a pink salmon colored “Eggstacy” fly was my top egg pattern on the Boise River. I was amazed at how well the eggstacy material worked. Tim Camtasia has a nice video on how to tie it.
So get out and enjoy some fall fishing, but remember to watch where you wade. Brown trout redds are vulnerable for several months while the eggs are incubating--in our area that is typically into the month of March. Over time it gets harder to identify the redds as they silt-in from river algae and deposits, so it is best to avoid walking through gravel areas during the winter, especially on the Owyhee where there is so little spawning habitat. In 2019 BVFF worked with ODFW to put signs at vulnerable spawning locations to alert anglers. Watch for those signs, and tredd carefully.
Between 2015 and 2020 there was a concerning drop in the brown trout population on the Owyhee River in Oregon, particularly in the lower reaches between the tunnel and the concrete bridge 10 miles downstream. Several years ago the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) started looking into the causes to try and protect this precious fishery. The leading suspects were 1) Anglers wading through brown trout spawning redds; 2) Predation of brown trout fry; and 3) Excessive warm water temperatures.
To help address the first issue, BVFF worked with ODFW in 2019 and installed Redd Protection Signs at major spawning sites. To help reduce the chance of brown trout eating their own fry, ODFW increased stocking of rainbow trout fry in the river, which is why there has been a sudden increase in the number of rainbow trout being caught.
ODFW’s first review of water temperatures showed that the river stayed plenty cool for trout during the summer, all the way down to Snively Springs. But further analysis of historical water temperatures at the Bureau of Reclamation stream gauge (about a mile below the dam) showed that during the extended drought years 2013 – 2015, Owyhee Reservoir levels dropped to the point that the power turbines started pulling in some warmer surface water which caused increased water temperatures to be released from the dam. We estimate that water temperatures released from the dam in August of 2014 and 2015 were 60 – 65 degrees compared to the normal summertime 50 degrees. This puts water temperatures in the lower reaches of the river into the upper 70s to low 80s, which is in the lethal temperature range for brown trout.
Over the last two years, BVFF and ODFW have been researching the water temperature issue. We found that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license for power generation at the Owyhee Dam requires that outflows be managed to ensure water temperatures needed for trout in the river below. Using this information, ODFW has been able to successfully negotiate with the Owyhee irrigation district to change dam operations to pull from deeper in the reservoir when needed. Luckily with our super-wet spring the Owyhee reservoir levels were higher than anticipated so it has not been a problem this year, but we are very happy to have this agreement in place and are thankful to ODFW for their work to help alleviate another warm water event and protect the brown trout on the Owyhee River.
The brown trout population on the Owyhee river continues to recover, although the lower river is recovering slower than the upper river, partially because of having less spawning habitat. Our club’s gravel augmentation project this Fall will give brown trout new places to spawn and hopefully will increase the population of brown trout on the lower half of the river.
Special thanks go to Kirk Handley and Dave Banks at ODFW for their ongoing efforts on the Owyhee river. My personal thanks go to BVFF member Forrest Goodrum for his help digging through the FERC dam licensing documents and to Ryan Hedricks from the Bureau of Reclamation for his help understanding the Owyhee dam operation and being a liaison between the different groups.
by Brian Martin, Leave It Better Coordinator
We are looking into a national river adoption program that began in Illinois on the Mississippi River by an organization called Living Lands & Waters. Check out their website at https://www.livinglandsandwaters.org/. This is a river stewardship program designed to keep our waterways clean providing a healthy environment for fish to thrive.
Our plan is for BVFF to adopt a 1-mile section of the Boise River in the area of our gravel augmentation in Garden City. From there we hope to partner with the cities, counties, and other jurisdictions from the Highway 21 bridge/diversion dam down through Star and possibly further. Each mile section would be adopted by a concerned organization or group. The Women Fly Fishers of Idaho have already expressed an interest in adopting a section if we get the ball rolling.
This is a huge undertaking and will take a while to come to fruition. If you have contacts in any of the governmental jurisdictions along the river corridor let us know. Together we can plant the seed of this idea in their minds and watch it grow.
Your help is always appreciated. If you would like to volunteer for any of these projects, let us know or go to our website and register when they are posted.
By Troy Pearse
FISHERMAN ACCESS TRAIL
BVFF has received a grant from the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation to build a formal fisherman access trail at the new Diane Moore Nature Center. The access trail will formalize a current “social trail” that is causing erosion and give anglers a formal path to the river while stopping bank erosion and protecting native habitat. We will be working with the Intermountain Bird Observatory to create signs to educate users about the Nature Center and Barber Pool conservation area. It will be a 2-day project in early October. Stay tuned for more details. We will need a good number of volunteers to help build the access trail.
NEW SIGNS
In August BVFF volunteers installed Trout Habitat and Anti-Litter signs along the restored side channel at the new Diane Moore Nature Center, located between Barber Park and Lucky Peak. The signs look great, and we are very excited to have the very first anti-litter signs on the Boise River. We are hoping to be able to leverage them into more access locations in the future.
We were joined by Link Jackson, local outdoor enthusiast who designed artwork for the Side Channel sign, as well Greg Kaltenecker from the Intermountain Bird Observatory who has been leading the development of the Diane Moore Nature Center. Thanks to our volunteers: Scott Lenz, Randy James, Klaus Kissman , Jack Truschel, Jon Fishback , Jose' DeSousa, Tim Opp, Johnny Rogers, Kent Christensen, Brian Martin , George Butts, Jeff Jones and Troy Pearse.
BVFF has received a $3,000 grant from Fly Fishers International (FFI) to help fund our gravel augmentation project on the Owyhee River. We have also applied for a $2,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and will hear from them by the end of October. My thanks to BVFF member Forrest Goodrum for his help in submitting for the FFI grant.
The gravel augmentation is planned for early November, which is the beginning of the “work window” for doing in-river work in Oregon. We have targeted the lower end of the river for the augmentation because it has much less suitable spawning habitat and less brown trout spawning activity. If all goes well, this gravel augmentation will improve the productivity of the lower river and make for much better fishing in years to come.
Keep watch for volunteer opportunities in early November to help with the project. It should be quite a show to watch the gravel-slinger truck shoot 100 cubic yards of gravel into the river!
One of the unfortunate realities of fishing is you break-off and lose fishing line and flies/lures/hooks, and those monofilament remnants and hooks can cause problems for birds and animals. When you break-off, it is good to try and retrieve what you can. And while out fishing, it is good to be on the lookout for wads of discarded monofilament and pick them up—just be careful, as there can be a hook at the other end, and you don’t want to hook yourself! Fishing line is especially hazardous to birds, who sometimes pick it up to line their nest, and mono caught in trees is especially dangerous to birds who get trapped in it and die. To help encourage others to pick up monofilament, please take a photo of your “find” and post it to our Facebook Group Page. If you’re not into Facebook, you can email me the photo (conservation@bvff.com) and we will post it for you.
George Butts is leading a new project to build and distribute mono-collector tubes to local area lakes and fishermen access points. The current design of mono-collectors has several issues, including birds building nests inside and getting trapped and the public thinking they are “trash collectors”. We are investigating new designs to help alleviate these problems and plan to submit for an Idaho Fish and Game Community Challenge Grant next Spring to fund building and servicing new mono collectors.
Imagine if every time you hit the stream, you make it a little bit cleaner. Imagine if you go fishing two times per month, you could effectively take twenty four bags of trash from the wilderness each year. Now imagine if 100 people build this new habit. That’s twenty four hundred bags of trash from the wilderness. Now imagine of we get to one thousand anglers, then ten thousand anglers.
These Trout Hero mesh bags are great to have on the river to pack out trash. And Pescador On The Fly will send you one for FREE! Be a Trout Hero! To get your very own mesh bag go to Pescador On The Fly and use code TROUTHERO at check out.
In past years, BVFF has joined other organizations in river cleanup events on the Boise and Owyhee Rivers although we have organized a few ourselves. Beginning this fall, we will have a cleanup event planned for late September or early to mid-October. It will be on the Boise River in Garden city at the section where we did the gravel augmentation. Keep an eye out for details as we approach that timeframe.
One thing we want to avoid is becoming known as the Boise Valley Trash Cleanup Club nor do we want to overburden you with far to many events like this. There’s fishing to be done.
For future river cleanup events, we plan to have two categories: BVFF Sponsored Events and Informational Events. They’ll be distinguished on our website under Events based on these categories. Here’s a further description:
1. BVFF Sponsored Events – these will be events either we organize or events put on by organizations that focus on the rivers and actually get into the water. These include VICE Outdoors, Indianhead Fly Fishers, and BREN and the Golden Eagle Audobon Society mono cleanups. Consider these thoughts:
a. Safety is paramount. You determine what is safe for you. If you are not comfortable with any action, don’t do it,
b. We will do cleanups in the spring and fall, before and after irrigation season raises the water to unsafe levels,
c. We want to get into the water where the fish live. We will need some folks in waders as trash collects in tree branches and strainers. When anyone is in the water, they must have a partner on land who is willing and able to enter the water to assist in any way. Carry a cell phone to call for help before you enter the water,
d. Waders are not necessary for all who volunteer. There’s usually plenty of trash on dry ground,
e. These events will be posted on our website and will have a “Register” button,
f. I’m sure I’ve omitted some thoughts. Please send me any that you have to brian@lfprinc.com.
2. Informational Cleanup Events – these will be events put on by organizations that don’t get into the water. They usually cleanup along the greenbelt which is beneficial as it keeps that trash from going into the river. On our website you’ll see these events posted under Events as informational only and they will not have an option to register. Here’s an example of an event coming up.
Another Boise River cleanup being held by the radio station "River Boise". This one is August 13th, meeting at the Greenbelt parking lot at Marigold/Glenwood. They have some fun prizes and SWAG for folks. Consider volunteering. More info and a link to sign-up in their post below.
Sign up for our NEXT River Restoration with Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co.! River clean-up is 8/13 at Fish Park off Glenwood, after-party at Ironwood Social. We'll have tons of prizes at the after-party, including concert tickets, swag, and a beautiful red cooler. Everyone 21 and up is eligible to enter for the Leinenkugel canoe full of brew, given away at the final clean-up September 10th! Please sign up today.
Thanks for everyone's help to Leave It Better Than They Found It.
Brian Martin BVFF #LeaveItBetter Program Lead
How are you all? I hope your summer has been filled with travel, adventure, family, and friends. And FLY FISHING!
Can’t forget that. I’ve had the opportunity to fish with several BVFF members on the Owyhee and the Middle Fork of the Boise. We’ve had some terrific outings: caught some fish (I’d tell you the size, but you wouldn’t believe me) and have gotten to know each other a little bit better.
As I’ve driven the roads into each river and parked my car, I notice trash here and there. I must admit, I don’t always stop to pick it up, though I often do. I encourage you to take a few minutes from your fishing outings to pick up what others have left behind. Here are a few ideas:
Be sure to take a picture and post it to #FillTheNet and #LeaveItBetter, the BVFF website, BVFF Blog, or send it to George Butts. Your example is needed to encourage others to follow. As to the swag that George sends, if you don’t want it, just let him know.
Thanks for everyone's participation. If we all pick up a little, it adds up to a lot.
Brian Martin BVFF Leave It Better Program Lead