Why the poor fishing in Idaho

Question

I was recently in Idaho and tried fly fishing in various areas - small and large rivers. I was really suprised at how poor the fishing was. The only things I caught were some tiny (1-3") trout and some small brookies in the backcountry.

While fishing the Salmon River in Stanley, a local told me there was no chance of catching anything but tiny trout because that's all there is.

Does anyone know why the fishing is so poor?

Answer 1

I think a great deal of the problem is the long-running drought in the area, which has led to some pretty nasty "water-wars".

With the drought, the reservoirs are down, so many are holding back water to satisfy the needs of farmers and ranchers.  This reduces water flows in fishing areas to levels that cannot sustain larger fish.  That, coupled with over-fishing and a focus on trophy fish, leaves nothing but the smaller ones for us to catch.

It's a big problem all over the west.

Now, I personally have done fairly well fly-fishing for trout in Idaho over the past couple of years.  I did some fishing at a privately owned & stocked pond, and also on one of the tributaries to the Henry's Fork, plus the Owyhee River on the border with Oregon.  Got nothing smaller than 14 ", and the biggest was 22".  It helped greatly to have a guide who knew the river, and that I was in places without walk-in access, so they weren't being fished very heavily.

Answer 2

Maybe the rivers are polluted or there was a recent drought or flood on the books.Perhaps even a fish kill off due to bacteria.

Answer 3

It could be a number of things, low water levels, pollution, over fishing and no catch and release.

Answer 4

I dont have the foggiest idea but u might want to contact idahos fish and game and ask why, they are usually very handy. here is link to idaho's fishing report.

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/fish/re...