The Boise Trip Part II

The day after the films, I went fly fishing at the Boise River running right through downtown Boise.  After attending some conference seminars in the morning, I headed off to a local fly shop called the Idaho Angler to buy some flies and a license.  As usual, I got lost en-route and had to stop at a local bike shop to ask for directions.  Much to my surprise, the bike shop owner was an avid fisherman.  Noticing my fly rod and reel, he asked, "Bro, is that a Sage?"  "Do you have a Lamson?"  Laughing, I explained my preference for Scott rods.   "Bamboo is the best anyway," he responded.  The guy gave me directions and some advice for fishing the Boise River.  

After arriving at the fly shop, I got some supplies and chatted with the guys about the local fishing.  They told me that though Idaho does not get the same press as Montana, Oregon, and Utah, the trout and steelhead fishing can be phenomenal.   Next time I'm there, I will be sure to fish the Owyhee, which is supposed to be similar to the Green River of Utah.  This trip, I only had a chance to fish the river in town. 

Though I did not catch anything in two hours at the river, I could tell that Boise was a fishing town.  Between the film audience, the bike shop owner, and the plethora of fly fisherman squatting over the prime water, it seemed as if everyone in the city fished.  

The Boise Trip Part I

Finally, the long awaited post on Boise, Idaho.  The trip began rather inauspiciously.  My friend Andrew and I spent over 3 hours in Washington, D.C. traffic on the way to the Baltimore airport.  Driving my pickup truck, a manual, in stop-and-go was not very fun.   We finally arrived at the Grove Hotel in Boise at 1:30 am, only to find out that the fine establishment had given away our previously reserved room.  Though "it was a policy he disagreed with," the attendant explained that the hotel purposely overbooked rooms to plan for cancellations.   The Grove decided to put us in "murphy bedrooms," box suites overlooking the local hockey stadium.  

The first day I attended all the conference events, trying to schmooze with other historians and learn from the presentations.  After the second day, however, I got a chance to attend the Fly Fishing Film Tour.   My father, who was also in Boise attending a conference, joined me.   What surprised me most about the event was the level of enthusiasm.  Over 200 people, ranging from young kids to retirees, attended the event in a stadium style movie theater.   It was a very different age range than the skiing films I have attended.  Only a few of the films were shown in their entirety.  River Poets and Equilibrium documented the threat posed by the Pebble Mine to the ecosystem near Katmai National Park.  The film tour also showed the trailer for Red Gold by Felt Soul Media.  I heard some boos when the preview showed the mine's spokesman trying to defend the enterprise.   If you have not done so already, please take action to stop the Pit Mine at www.savebristolbay.com.  

Something else that impressed me about the films was the focus on conserving wild species. In fly-fishing's history, this sentiment is very recent.  During the 1920s, for example, game managers at Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park replaced the native greenback cutthroat with introduced rainbows and brook trout.  Anglers from the East favored these species over the natives.  The AEG Film River Wolf features fly-fishing for the largest trout species in the world--the Taimen.  Taimen are only found in Mongolia and can grow up to five feet long.  Destinations covers an expedition into Slovenia to catch Marble Trout, a rare pearly white species.  Hopefully these films will cultivate angling interest in native species  so that they are not replaced by imports or harmed by habitat loss.  

No Fishing :(

Unfortunately no striper fishing occurred this weekend.  Out of pure stupidity, I planned the trip going out of Norfolk Virginia when I wanted to fish in the D.C. area.  Between torrential rain and the prospect of a three hour drive, my friend Mike and I decided to bag it and try again in May.  Our guide, Tommy Mattioli, was kind enough to let us cancel.  

In other news, I will be leaving soon for the Environmental History Conference in Boise, Idaho.  While there, I will visit the fly fishing film tour and report on what I see.  Hopefully when I return to Charlottesville, the brookies will be out in full force.  The streams have been helped by the recent rain and warm weather.  

Striper Fishing

I'll be leaving the computer at home for a three day weekend up with my friend Mike in Washington D.C.  We will be fishing for Chesapeake Bay stripers all day on Sunday.  I'll post pictures and stories when I return late Sunday night.  Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather! 

Rapidan River

Today was the "day off" between my comprehensive exams for a Ph.D. in U.S. History.  Given that I wrote about Herbert Hoover yesterday, I thought it fitting to go fishing today at the Rapidan River.  Hoover, upon assuming the Presidency in 1929, wanted to set up a retreat to escape Washington D.C heat and politics.  As a fly-fisherman, the Rapidan was a natural choice.  The river was and is cooler in the summer, devoid of mosquitoes, and full of brooktrout.  Hoover frequented the area and built a luxurious cabin near the headwaters.  I called up my friend Paul after handing in the first two exams and headed out.

With temperatures in the high 60s and sunshine, the Rapidan was gorgeous.  The fish are still a bit lethargic.  I had the best success dead drifting weighted nymphs upstream and swinging soft hackle while fishing downstream.  Since the Rapidan is only accessible by a fire road, I had a chance to try some off-roading in my pickup truck.  It was pretty impressive.  Tomorrow, I return to the exams. 

The Moorman's Solution

This evening I eschewed cocktails at a friend's place to hear the Rivanna Water Authority describe their new plan for Charlottesville.  Almost all the people who attended the water meeting were over the age of 65.  The scene reminded me of the polling place during the Virginia primary election.  Old folks have the time and interest to engage in issues affecting the community. It would be great if more people my age could could get involved.

The long-term Charlottesville residents told me about some of the changes that have happened to local rivers over the past thirty years.  Tremendous growth has put pressure on existing reservoirs and the Water Authority has had trouble planning for the new developments.  Some developers have not even informed the water authority of new housing sites.  Another problem is the lack of rainfall.  As one Trout Unlimited member said, "It just used to rain more."  

The Moorman's River has suffered from the lack of rainfall and increased demand.  It used to "roar" every Spring, but now just has enough to survive.  The river dries up in the summer and all the fish stocked in the winter die.  At the presentation tonight, however, the Rivanna Water Authority issued a plan for the Moorman's restoration.  No, the Sugar Hollow Dam will not come down, but the new goal is to equal "in-flows" with "out-flows."  This means that flows coming in from the North Fork of the Moorman's will equal flows heading out the bottom of the dam.  A small concrete barrier in front of the dam will come down, also increasing flows.  

The new plan is contingent on the enlargement of a dam at the nearby Ragged Mountain and a new pipeline connecting Ragged Mountain to the South Rivanna River.   Basically, the Water Authority is enlarging the capacity of one area to relieve the Moorman's.  Hopefully the plan will be completed while I am still in Charlottesville.  Charlottesville and the folks living in the city needs to come up with a plan of sustainable growth to ensure that water resources remain intact. 

A Little Practice

I have been rather lackadaisical with posting the past ten days or so.  I owe my friend Rob a post on hunting and I wanted to do a piece on the fly-fishing industry.  These will have to wait. Two excuses for this laziness.  First, I've got a rather nasty cold.  Second, I have my comprehensive exams coming up this weekend.  Four 8-hour exams to determine if I can move on to the dissertation stage of the Ph.D. process. Bleah! 

Anyway, I just got back from a run and some fly-casting.   I'm trying to fix my wristy-canted cast into some tight loops.  I've got a pretty sick double-haul, but my fundamentals are shoddy.  I'm also perpetually annoyed by all the people who say "Catch Anything" when I'm practicing outside. They all think they are so original and clever.  My friend Nick, out in Utah, once said in response, "Just Your Mother's Crabs ..."