Lava Hot Springs
Bert Williams - bswilliams63@gmail.com
Our July outing will be at the Lava Ranches Campground about a 15 minute drive from Lava Hot Springs. Location and activities will be provided to registered participants and will be coordinated by Bert Williams.
There will not be any cost to stay at the campground. We have room for half a dozen or more trailers plus campers and tent spaces. Trailers must be self contained and power is limited to the pavilion only.
The fishing opportunities are endless around Lava Hot Springs, Soda Springs and Preston. Options like Chesterfield Reservoir, Twenty-Four Mile, Daniels is usually fishing well, Hawkins is typically pretty good.
Support the new owner of the Pocatello Fly Shop at the following location: Snake River Fly - 252 N Main St. - Pocatello - 208-232-4776
If stillwaters are not your thing then the Portneuf River, Blackfoot River, and Lower Bear River are twenty to thirty minutes away from Lava Hot Springs. The Portneuf River in this area is looks and fishes like a spring creek, it has several public access points close by. The Blackfoot River above the Blackfoot Reservoir will have just opened July 1 st and will be in the middle of the annual salmonfly hatch during the outing. The Stocking Ranch (now owned by IDF&G) will be the best place to fish. The Lower Bear River has an excellent tailwaters fishery just outside of Grace, ID. A 5 mile stretch from the diversion dam to the power plant is a fertile tailwater, and planted rainbow trout thrive. For those of you with more exotic tastes 20 pound carp can be caught in the Blackfoot Reservoir and the Blackfoot River were it empties into the reservoir. These carp will be congregating around the mouth of the river as they prepare to spawn.
Fly patterns for local reservoirs; the damsel fly hatch will be waning and the dragon fly hatch will have started so damsel and dragon fly imitations will work. Leeches and wooly buggers are always productive. Some have had good success with Phil Rowley’s Searcher pattern. The last time the club was here I think there was a callibaetis hatch in the evening and we had some surface action.
Fly patterns for the rivers; with Giant stoneflies and Golden Stones hatching Sofa Pillow, Bitch Creek Nymph, and Stimulators would be a good choice. PMDs, Blue-winged olives and caddis will also be on the water at this time so you might want to have a few yellow sparkle duns, parachute PMDs, PMD Cripples, Olive sparkle duns, Pheasant tail Nymphs, CDC baetis, Hemingway and Goddard Caddis, and Emergent Sparkle Pupa.
Don’t forget your swimming suits because Saturday night after the BBQ we will go into Lava Hot Springs for a soak in the hot springs.
