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Portneuf River

Posted on: October 12, 2007

By
Dave Langston

Fall has arrived in south east Idaho and sportsmen are heading into the hills looking for deer and elk but smart outdoorsmen know that this is the magic time to be on the water. All species of fish are gorging themselves at this time of the year preparing for long months of ice and frigid temperatures.

Local anglers are cashing in on the bite and the Portneuf River is providing anglers with rainbows and browns up to a few pounds with the occasional cutthroat.

At this point of the game spinners are your best bet in orange, reds, silver and gold colors. Clear days provide anglers with just enough sunlight to accent the colors off the spinners making them very visible and attractive to trout. You can expect the water to be low and clear unless we receive a fair amount of precipitation.

“We fished from the Pebble Creek Bridge south to the lower river west of Lava Hot Springs and landed over 30 fish within a few hours,” says long time Pocatello angler Dave Boyd. He does say that most of the traditional areas up river were tough though. “More of the classic stretches near Whiskey Mikes seemed to be hit hard and fishing was definitely slower but we still caught fish using orange Panther Martins,” adds Boyd.

Reports from anglers do have me concerned about the cutthroat population. Even though this area is managed for the delicate cutthroat fishery, we only landed one this outing. In years past the fishery seemed to be thriving but the lack of reports concerning this native fish has me concerned.

The bright side of the river has to be the rainbow and German brown population. With anglers practicing catch and release these two fisheries are thriving. “I can’t complain landing 30 rainbows in a three hour period, the fishing was outstanding,” says Boyd. He reports that the majority of the fish landed came from the section of river directly below the motel west of the town site.

You will find that browns and rainbows provide anglers fast action during this time of the year. Again, concentrate on more of the out of reach areas and ask landowners if you can fish the river below Lava Hot Springs, some of these areas are often overlooked and hold monster rainbows and browns.

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About Dave Langston

Outdoor writer Dave Langston resides in Chubbuck. He grew up in the Midwest and south fishing and hunting across the country.

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