North fork of the Boise river

Even though the Southern half of the state of Idaho is mostly high desert we do have a surprising amount of quality fishing waters. From the mighty Snake River to the many lakes and ponds. Many of these waters are primarily for irrigation, but most have been stocked with a variety of fish ranging from Catfish, to Pan fish and bass, to Trout. There are also many ponds around that are stocked and maintained by the state for family fishing waters. These are also well stocked with Trout, Pan fish, and Bass. Some have Catfish and the one nearest my house also has a Large snapping turtle and Beaver living in it. The bottom line is there is plenty of fishing opportunity in the Treasure valley.

One of my favorite stretches of water to fish is the North fork of the Boise river. The Boise river has three branches. The North, Middle, and South forks. All three forks offer some great fishing with the Middle Fork offering some of the best Trout fishing in the State. There are always a lot of people fishing on the Middle fork. The South fork has some good fishing as well, but it is a lot more work to get to the fishing holes. The South fork is more well known for white water rafting.

The North fork is the least known of the three. There are very few good fishing holes that are easy to access and the fish are normally smaller than that on the Middle fork. There are mostly Rainbows in this fork, but you can find German Brown trout and Brook trout. There are also a lot of Bull trout in the Boise river and tributaries that are protected so when you come fishing in Idaho make sure you know what the Bull trout looks like so you can safely release them.

This time of year with the hot weather it is always hard to find a good fishing hole that does not have campers already setting on the beach that is easy access from the road. If you take the time to walk up along the banks into some of the small narrow canyons you will find some pristine water that gets very little attention and will produce some great fishing. On a day when the temperatures down in the valley soar to the century mark a trip up to the North fork will be a refreshing break from the heat with the temperatures running ten to twenty degrees cooler and a quick dip in the cool water will cool you off for sure.

During the gold rush of the late 1800's the Middle fork of the Boise drainage was the place to be in Idaho. There is still a lot of gold in them there hills today and that just adds to the draw of the Middle fork. If you get a chance to come to Southern Idaho take a day or two to check out the North fork of the Boise river. I think you will be glad you did.