tomgamber
Well-known member
Not a stream. A seasonal reservoir. Little Camas Reservoir, halfway between Boise and Sun Valley. One of the most unbelievable days I've ever had fishing.
Lake had been dry for a few years. Drought. Sage and other dry brush grows fairly thick. Good snowpack for first time in 7 years. They stocked it in April with 6-8 inch rainbows. As the brush and vegetation break down on the bottom, incredible insect, mollusk, crustacean and smaller fish from streams now connected go crazy. These fish feed like crazy on this protein rich diet in cold snowmelt. Water is pretty much 60-something degrees through summer.
Just fished it on a whim on the way to Ketchum. From float tubes stripping red and black buggers. Was in the water maybe 2 minutes when my rod bent hard and down. After a good minute of little progress i turned to yell to my buddy, who was now 50 years away being dragged around by his own fish. But I could see the smile from there. We probably landed 20 or so fish that day. Kept a couple each. Instead of going the rest of the way to Ketchum, we went home and fired up the grill.
When we cut open the belly, you could not, in one hand, hold all the snails. Never saw anything like it. This was like a 20 steelhead day. I moved back to Pa. the following Feb. Drove past the "reservoir" twice. Once three years after on my first visit back and once 15 years later on my second visit. Just a big empty, sage covered camas. Crazy.
