Spring is a magical time on the rivers and streams of Southwest Montana. Trout slowed to a virtual standstill by the frigid temperatures of winter awake from their dormant state to feed on the bounty of insect hatches that mark the changing of the season....

Bear River Oneida
By
Dave Langston...

I say lets have a fishing competetion. SE Idaho, you can go from Chesterfield to american falls. You can fish from boat to from the bank, use worms to lures even power bait. Have a entry fee, have the competetion down to one thing pounds. Have it a 3 day event every fisherman would have a judge with them. We could make our own rules, sub- divisions, species division, we could run wild with this. Get fish and game involved, our local pros, fly to bait fishing this could be fun, all ideas and comments are appreciated. steve

By Casey Santee
csantee@journalnet.com
Restoration and conservation efforts on the Bear River have Idaho’s population of Bonneville cutthroat trout on the rebound after decades of decline due to irrigation, habitat damage, overfishing,...

So you think you know how to age a fish, do you? Not so - even the "experts" get fooled.

Wyoming Game and fish Department fisheries biologist Bill Wengert, a 35-year veteran, found out just how tricky it can be to age a fish recently when he caught a lake trout on Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

"I was ice fishing in the Big Bend area when I caught a lake trout weighing a very skinny two and a half pounds and measuring 22.75 inches in length," Wengert said. "The fish...

By Dave Langston We all talk about the fish that got away, hey were anglers and we are proud of our catch and sometimes the fish we lost somehow turns into the next world record if we could have just landed it.

Bass, trout,...

Staples for Spring in Western Montana
By Corey Fisher

Once upon a time, the word "skwala" was only uttered in hushed whispers in fly shops and bars around Missoula. Tales of...

Most Idaho anglers are dreaming of wild rainbows and cutthroat sipping flies off the surface of cold-water rivers and reservoirs among spectacular scenery in Idaho's backcountry.

Well, bass don't sip anything, and for scenery, how...

Sturgeon…Bliss, Idaho
By
Dave Langston...

By John Bulger jbulger@journalnet.com BEAR LAKE — The three Idaho Fish and Game biologists wade slowly through the frothing creek that spills into Bear Lake, two carrying nets while the lead man sweeps a wand slowly through the water. One netter surges towards movement in the water and deftly captures a huge trout that has been stunned by electroshock....

By Casey Santee
csantee@journalnet.com
After driving for what seemed like an eternity on a series of dirt roads that wound through rural Bingham County last Saturday morning, my son, Sage, and I arrived at remote Brush Creek....

Headed out yesterday to Crystal springs and Mctuckers ponds. I left the fly rod home. I decided to just sit back and watch the water while fishing with worms. This is almost a sacred religious for me to do. Actually this was the first time in well over 7 years I left the fly rod home. To put it simple I missed my fly rod that day. Crystal springs is small but is a beautiful place with yellow cannarys flying around and the 6 inch trout jumping out of the water for the mayfly. With nothing but a can of worms and one lure(a mepps)I set out to fish. I had 2 bites and this was around 5 in the afternoon. The worms and the mepps both failed me. I tried long casts, I tried short casts, I tried around...

By Lance Frazier
Logan Herald Journal

LOGAN CANYON — You know those holes you’ve fished on the Logan River, the ones that looked so promising yet failed to yield a single...

Howard Bruderer fights a nice salmon near Riggins, Idaho.

By John Bulger jbulger@journalnet.com
POCATELLO — “I am haunted by waters.” These final words of Norman Maclean’s celebrated work, “A River Runs Through It,” always move me, regardless of the number of times I read the novella. Perhaps it was because, for 20-plus years, I lived in Missoula, Montana, plying the same waters Maclean wrote about fishing more than a half-century before. Maybe it was the sentences that preceded the finale — “Now nearly all those I loved and did not understand in my youth are dead” — which appealed to my Irish maudlin sentimentality. But mostly, I think it identified something within, put words...

Spring is finally here and even with low temperatures fishing is getting off to a good start on most reservoirs for cold-water species. Heck, I even got reports of ten pound plus rainbows taken at American Falls reservoir this past weekend. But for warm water anglers what species is first to take an offering thrown in the water? Catfish, and they become aggressive as soon as they prepare to spawn in the early spring.

Some of the biggest fish are taken during this time of the year. Down south during the January and February spawn, cats up to 40 pounds are taken regularly and...

It has been raining for the past 2 weeks now. This is great for Idaho, with the low water levels and all, but for we fisherman when the rain comes where can we go. Well I think we need a coffee shop for sportsman. I know Lee Aikens used to have one but with the passing on to a lot better fishing waters and hunting grounds the coffee shop came to a halt. I heard a rumor about a western states sportsman possibly opening one but I haven't heard to much about it. I did however came up with a solution Portneuf Outfitters. Yes, Roger has a new location in Old Town Pocatello. Roger moved about three stores down to the corner. Every Tuesday and Saturday they, Rogers fly tyers, have open fly tying....

By
Dave Langston



I am a spin fisherman. I don’t...

By Casey Santee
csantee@journalnet.com
AMERICAN FALLS — As a storm broke below American Falls Dam last week, several species of fish began to jump in the sunshine like popcorn in a hot kettle.
Trout, carp, small-mouth bass and other varieties made criss-crossing ripples on the green surface of the Snake River before the rain returned. Best of all, since it was a weekday afternoon, I didn’t have to stand elbow to elbow with other anglers just to get my line in the water....

I get to come home for x-mas break, I plan on doing some ducking and gooseing just wanting to know about the numbers of birds in the aberdeen area. please send me an e-mail at sole_soaker@yahoo.com

By Dave Langston



The Portneuf River from Chesterfield reservoir to Inkom is a favorite of many local anglers and...

By Lance Hebdon
For the Idaho Press-Tribune
Kids spread out on the dock and soon the bobbers were sailing through the air. Within less than 10 minutes of arrival, two of these novice anglers had caught their first fish, a hatchery...

This pic is of a nice andromadous rainbow/stealhead my buddy Rick Bush (king of the river!) hooked last fall. This fish was feeding right at the head of a classic log jam pool. He went for a Blue Fox spinner. size #10 in pink. I know this site is for the Rockies but if you are ever out this way be sure and hit up the Olympic Peninsula!

By
Dave Langston


WOW! What a great start to a 2009 season...

McTucker Creek Management Area
By
Dave Langston...