FISHING The South Fork Boise River is nationally renowned for its trophy rainbows, with some trout exceeding 20 inches. (IDFG)
The Boise’s Crown Jewel
Tucked into the first set of mountains rising out of Idaho’s Snake River Plain, the South Fork is home to a trophy fishery for big rainbows. By Mike Wright
I
t may not be all that obvious, but when you travel through the arid terrain of Southwest Idaho you’re also driving by or near some of the best trout fishing waters in the state. One prime example of this is Boise and its suburbs. With more than half a million people residing in the area, it is
difficult to believe the trout angling is that spectacular. Odd as it may sound, a resident of Boise doesn’t even have to leave the city limits to get into some very good fishing. In fact, the third largest brown trout ever taken in Idaho (a 35-inch, 20-plus-pound monster) was caught within sight of the Capitol building. That’s because the urban portion
of the Boise River contains rainbow and brown trout, plus approximately 35,000 mountain whitefish. In addition, around 20,000 hatchery rainbows are stocked on a regular basis – even a couple hundred steelhead from the Snake most winters. With the catch-and-release philosophy prevalent in the Boise area, many of these fish remain in the river. nwsportsmanmag.com | MAY 2022
Northwest Sportsman 87
