News and information on BVFF conservation projects and local conservation efforts.
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BVFF has been working with the Boise Flood District on ways to improve woody cover for trout on the Boise River. As part of that, they allow us to manage the wood in the side channel where we have done our gravel augmentations. Last Fall, volunteers helped clear a tree that fell in the side channel and secure some bundles of smaller wood in the channel to give young fish protection over the winter. We have added small woody cover over the past few years and continue to try new approaches. This last year Brian Martin led a team that secured some small woody bundles with some hemp rope, and they stayed much better, and as a BONUS it racked up a pile of small wood which makes for excellent cover for trout. Way to go Brian and Team!
One problem we have had in the side channel is when flows get low in the Fall, the public will push rocks into the entry to make it easy to cross to fish below the diversion dam. This reduces inflows to the side channel to the point brown trout have stopped using it to spawn.
A couple of years ago a small tree washed into the entry and the public repositioned it to make a crossing, which prevented rocks from blocking the side channel inlet. I would like to see if we can do something similar with a log that washed into our side channel this spring. Our agreement with the Flood District allows us to repurpose wood that has naturally floated into the side channel, as long as it doesn’t pose a flood risk. This new log would make a good temporary crossing at the inlet to the side channel. If we add the crossing log, we would also need to remove it next spring, before flows come up (hopefully--stashing it above the high water mark for use the following year).
If you are interested in helping with this project, please reach out to me at conservation@bvff.com.
Last Fall, BVFF started a 5-year project to study gravel migration on the Boise and Owyhee rivers. Club member, Jeff Jones, lead an effort to drill 200 pieces of river gravel and epoxy PIT-tags inside them. Three-quarters of these rocks were placed in the Owyhee River last Fall and late this winter, a group of BVFF volunteers placed the rest of them into the Boise River, along with a cubic yard of spawning-size gravel. The resulting “study plot” was six feet wide by twelve feet long and four inches deep. Tagged rocks were placed in a grid at three different depths: On the surface, two inches below the surface and 4 inches below the surface. The study-plot grid below shows the layout of the study plot, quadrant, size of rock (small, medium, large) and depth of placement (eg: -4 inches).
Our plan is to work with Biomark and use a PIT-tag reader each Fall over the next five years to see where the tagged gravel ends up. The result will give us insights into how long our previous Boise River gravel additions stayed in the side channel and if the Owyhee river gravel is staying in place well enough to warrant doing a second augmentation.
Because of low snowpack, this Spring’s flows on the Boise river were lower than usual, but they were also of similar magnitude as 2021—which was the year we did our first Boise River gravel augmentation. Which means where we find the gravel this Fall is a reasonable estimate for where the gravel we added in 2021 ended up after the first year. (click on any graphic or photo to see a larger image).
Summer flows on the Boise river typically run 800cfs – 1,000cfs, but because of the low snowpack last winter, water managers have already dropped flows on the Boise in town to 650cfs (which is a GREAT flow to fish—get out there!). At the end of June, I visited the side channel to take a look at the location where we added the cubic yard of gravel in a 6’ x 12’ rectangle. There was no visible rectangle of smaller gravels, but there were some smaller gravels on the inside bend where we placed gravel, but the further away from the bank you look, the larger the rock/cobble got.
Although I didn’t have a PIT-tag reader, I knew that in addition to the PIT tags, our rocks had a number written on them in permanent marker, to help us keep track of them while working without a PIT-tag reader. I scuffed my wading shoes along the bottom to clear off a strip and picked up a few small rocks. Low and behold, I ran into one of our tagged rocks! B-44…. BINGO!
Comparing the number (B44) to the grid of tagged rocks we placed, it was a rock that was placed approximately at the location where I found it, but at the bottom of the 4 inches of gravel--which means the higher flows this Spring moved the gravel that was on top of it (see the Boise River Study-Plot layout at the top of this article). It was tempting to dig through more of the rocks to see if I could find others, but I wanted to leave the gravel area undisturbed and wait until the Fall when we have the PIT-Tag reader.
Flows on the Owyhee won’t drop until mid-October at the end of Irrigation season. But I suspect that the gravel on the Owyhee hasn’t moved very much as we saw low spring flows this year. High spring flows occur less frequently on the Owyhee, so it will be a few years until we see what higher flows do.
My thanks to all of our BVFF volunteers that helped tag and place the gravel. It is a very valuable study for our club, and other organizations in the Treasure Valley are equally interested in learning the results. I am looking forward to our gravel “Easter Egg” hunt this Fall. I want to thank Nick Porter at Biomark for his help with this project. We wouldn’t be able to track down these tagged rocks without his help.
Last year ODFW relocated approximately 400 brown trout from the top third of the river to the lower river, between Snively Gulch and the Concrete Bridge (by the Owyhee River Ranch), with the goal to improve the brown trout population on the lower half of the river.
Based on data collected last year from raft electrofishing and angler-reported tags, ODFW estimates that 58% of the relocated brown trout were found in the lower section of the river, 12% were found in the middle section, and 30% were found in the upper section. This is an exciting finding because it indicates a good number of those relocated brown trout decided to stay in the lower river last year!
In May, 2026, ODFW relocated a second set of tagged trout (both browns and rainbows) to the same locations. They are asking for angler's help by reporting any trout that has a yellow tag attached to their dorsal fin. ODFW will also electro-fish the river in August to do an adult trout survey and to look for tagged fish.
When you catch a trout on the Owyhee, please look for a yellow floy-tag attached to the dorsal fin (tags from last year will be covered in algae and harder to spot). Please note that the floy tags also have a phone number on them (833-273-7923). Please DO NOT report the phone number as the tag number. To be safe, take a photo of BOTH sides of the tag and report the tag number to ODFW at https://myodfw.com/tagteam. Here is a photo of a tagged brown trout shared by Matt Housel from VICE outdoors. Note the floy tag number “11531”.
BVFF is very excited about the initial results of ODFW’s brown trout relocation project, and we think it’s a great way to get some adult brown trout downstream where they can take advantage of the new gravel BVFF added last Fall!
Projects like these take time and effort and BVFF would like to thank Dave Banks and Kirk Handley for their continued efforts and support of BVFF projects. Here are two posters that ODFW Fish Biologist Kirk Handley helped BVFF make for our January Fly Fishing Expo.
Last year, the City of Boise invited stakeholders to a meeting to help develop a set of stories about the Boise River. There was a large group of people who have been working on the Boise River including Idaho Fish and Game, Greg Kaltenecker from the Diane Moore Nature Center, the Boise River Flood District 10, Trout Unlimited and Boise Fly Fishers.
Boise recently released their StoryMap which talks about the past, present and future of the Boise River and I’m proud to say that BVFF’s fingerprints are on it. I encourage members to take some time and peruse the Boise River StoryBoard—there is so much information there.
City of Boise: Lower Boise River Story Maps
StoryMap sub-sections that mention BVFF are linked below.
A few years ago we had John Casinneli from Idaho Fish and Game speak at a club meeting about the Fish of the Lower Boise river. He also gave the presentation to the Boise River Enhancement Network (BREN), who recorded it and made it available on YouTube. You can watch that presentation HERE:
Over the last 5 years, BVFF has done 2 gravel augmentations in a side channel of the Boise River. We can see that the gravel is no longer where we put it, but the question remains, where did it go!? Is it still in the side channel somewhere? We can see what looks like new gravel accumulations in the lower side channel, but is it our gravel? This was a question that led us to do a gravel tracking project.
Jeff Jones reached out to local company Biomark, who specializes in tracking things with PIT tags. They weren't sure if their PIT tags could be detected inside of a rock, underneath 6 inches of gravel. They loaned BVFF some tags and equipment to try an experiment and were were excited to report that we could! After several rock drilling parties we had 200 tagged pieces of gravel!
After our Owyhee Gravel Augmentation in October, BVFF placed 150 pieces of PIT-tagged gravel in 4 "study plots". Today, after receiving our Stream Alteration Permit from IDWR and USACE and permissions from Idaho DSL and Ada County, BVFF placed 50 pieces of PIT-tagged gravel in our Boise River side channel, along with 0.9 cubic yards of 3/4" round washed gravel. The plan is to use a PIT Tag Detector and sweep the side channel each Fall for 5 years, to see where the tagged gravel ends up. Observations will help guide future gravel augmentations.
While we only added around a cubic yard of gravel today, it's location should be good for rainbow trout spawning this April/May. Given the lower snowpack, we don't anticipate high spring flows, which means the gravel is likely to mostly stay put this year.
For more information about our past gravel augmentations, see these articles:
LESSONS LEARNED
BVFF continues to work on trout habitat improvements in the side channel, including working with the flood district to improve woody cover for trout. We have had the opportunity to accompany Idaho Fish and Game on a couple of their fall trout fry surveys, and it has been gratifying to see good numbers of rainbow and brown trout fry in the side channel.
Going into the first gravel augmentation we thought that gravel was the lone missing ingredient for trout spawning. But what we have observed is that side channel connectivity is just as important as gravel--as without adequate water in the side channel, brown trout do not spawn. The IDF&G trout fry surveys have also highlighted the value of woody cover to trout fry.
IDAHO WATER QUALITY WORKSHOP
Last week, BVFF shared details on our gravel tracking project at the the Idaho Water Quality Workshop. BVFF and Trout Unlimited also shared details about Boise River gravel augmentations done over the last 20 years, including observations of gravel movement. We put together a poster for the March 2026 Idaho Water Quality Workshop that highlights some of our observations of gravel movement in our side channel (shown below).
It is impressive that a volunteer organization has been able to put together this gravel tracking project. Special thanks goes to BVFF club member Jeff Jones for his efforts to lead the project --it would not have happened without his expertise and leadership. We would also like to thank Nick Porter and Biomark for their partnership on designing and participating in the study. And Zack Kirk from Ada County for permission to put some gravel into the side channel for this study.
The Barber Pool Restoration Project Proposal has been released for public comment. BVFF is very excited about the potential improvements to the Barber Pool and contributed $10,000 to the feasibility phase of this project. Project restoration goals include restoring a side-channel and adding significant amounts of woody cover, which would benefit the fish population in the Barber Pool.
You can find the full project proposal on their website. Their proposed plan starts on Page 101. Here is a figure from the study that depicts the recommended plan.
OPEN HOUSES
There are Two Online Open Houses to go over the Report and answer any questions from public. We encourage members to participate, learn more about the project and make comments.
Session 1 - March 11, 2026, 1:00 to 2:00 PM (MT)
+1 503-207-9433,,940891064# United States, Beaverton Find a local number Phone conference ID: 940 891 064#
Session 2 - March 11, 2026, 5:00 to 6:00 PM (MT)
+1 503-207-9433,,254329498# United States, Beaverton Find a local number Phone conference ID: 254 329 498#
In February, BVFF volunteers worked up at the Intermountain Bird Observatory Diane Moore Nature Center, improving woody cover in their side channel. Greg Kaltenecker, the Director at the Diane More Nature Center, identified fallen trees to be used and notched into the bank, using a technique from the Wild Trout Trust's CHALKSTREAM HABITAT MANUAL . The wood provides both cover for fish as well as protection from bank erosion. Greg commented to me that IDF&G and the City of Boise have both been very impressed with the amount of woody debris/cover in the side channel. Greg has a habitat class at BSU and students meet at the side channel on Fridays. BVFF worked with them twice in February to get the wood in place before flows on the Boise River come up in March.
MANY THANKS to our AWESOME volunteers who worked their BUTTS OFF! Dey Fishies Thank You!
Day 1: John Rogers, Mike Wiedenfeld, John Shrum, Dave Asker, Eric Landis, Jack Truschel, Chris Gerono, Troy Pearse, Brian Martin, Mike Stahl, Steve Conrad, Clinton Stonich. And a shout-out to Greg Kaltenecker.
Day 2: Klaus Kissman Eric Landis Jack Truschel Ken Fugate Troy Pearse Gregory Evans Chris Gerono Tim Opp Mike Wiedenfeld Mike Stahl Steve Conrad Steven Dykes and another shout-out to Greg who gets in there and works hard along everyone else.
Every year, as a part of river channel maintenance, the Boise Flood District removes dozens of trees that have fallen into the river. This is necessary because the Boise River runs through an urban area and must be managed to stay inside its current banks so it doesn’t wander off course and destroy houses or city infrastructure. For example, here is a picture of damage done where the river carved out the bank and greenbelt, near some houses by Lake Harbor a few years ago. Removing trees helps reduce flood risk because it is easy for them to wash up against a structure like a bridge piling and divert water out of bank at high flows, which could cause a flood event. You can find out more details about the Boise Flood District’s operations at their website www.boiseriver.org
An unfortunate side effect of removing fallen trees is it takes away cover for fish—especially young fish who need that cover to hide from predators like diving mergansers, blue herons and larger fish. Over the last 10 years I’ve been fortunate to have discussions with several fish biologists from Idaho Fish and Game and one thing they all have reiterated to me is they believe the lack of woody cover on the Boise River is limiting the number of trout fry that make it into adulthood.
Over the years, the Boise Flood District has been evolving their operations to be more fish and tree friendly, as described in this News Story. BVFF has been working with the flood district for the last 5 years. And while some may see them as a destructive force, they have shown us that they are river stewards who care about the Boise River. They have helped us with 2 gravel augmentations and have partnered with us to develop a program to avoid brown trout spawning areas as they use large excavators in the river for their annual winter maintenance work.
Last year BVFF partnered with the Boise Flood District and Idaho Tree Preservation Co to pilot a new program on the Boise River to try retaining a tree that had fallen into the Boise River, instead of removing it. Over the last year we monitored the tree it to make sure it stayed in place during spring and summer flows and were pleased to see that it held well and there are signs that the riverbank erosion is starting to recover. Here is an article with more details about that project.
This fall Jeff Jones and I floated the Boise river to review new trees that had fallen into the river which might be a good candidate for being retained by the flood district. We wanted trees that were: 1) Still semi-attached—which will help them stay in place; 2) In an area that is adjacent to good trout spawning habitat; 3) Fallen at a downstream angle, and help deflect flows from the bank; and 4) Are located in a wide section of river and are not a hazard for floaters. We were able to identify three additional fallen trees in the same general zone as the first tree, just above and below Glenwood bridge. Having the trees in a central zone makes retaining and monitoring the trees much easier.
Today (Jan 14, 2026), Boise Flood District 10 worked with Idaho Tree Preservation to retain the 3 trees. BVFF is extremely grateful to Boise Flood District’s willingness to try new approaches like this to manage the river. We are also thankful to have Idaho Tree Preservation’s support on this project. Having a master arborist involved has been the key to making it work. Retaining the trees is expensive, but Zeke and Idaho Tree Preservation have been generous and donated a good amount of the work to the club. Our thanks to Boise Flood District, Idaho Tree Preservation and Idaho Fish and Game for their ongoing partnership on this project.
We are working on some signs to place at the Willow Lane and Glenwood floater access points, to help them understand that this section of the river is designated as a “float at your own risk” section and is not maintained the same as the upper floater zone—which is stripped of all woody cover to make the river safer for the multitude of summer floaters. We have permission from King County Washington to leverage this sign and hope to install them in the next couple of years.
In addition to these new trees in the Boise River (what is often called Large Woody Debris), last Fall, BVFF volunteers worked to improve woody cover in the side channel where we have done 2 gravel augmentations by placing bundles "small woody debris" to give fish cover over the winter. My thanks to the volunteers who continue to help improve the woody cover in our side channel: Dave Asker, Steve Contrad, John Hofland, Jeff Jones, Brian Martin, Gary Westerfield, Jose' DeSousa, Tim Opp, John Shrum and Darcy Hartz. Here are some pictures from that BVFF Side Channel Maintenance project.
We had some GREAT river cleanups this year, along with our friends at VICE Outdoors, Boise River Guides, and the Boise River Enhancement Network (BREN). Our thanks to all the volunteers who came and helped take care of the Boise and Owyhee rivers!
As we move into a New Year we want to take a minute to thank the individuals who help take care of our waterways every time they go fishing by picking up some trash. You are our #FillTheNet Heros!
Tom Old, Tim DeMarco, Glenn Anders, Ken Fugate, Greg Hitchcock, Jake Heusinkveld, Daniel Macca, Dennis Moore, Johnny Rogers, George Butts, Troy Pearse, Matt Housel, Sean Read, Kelly Gunter, and Dave Spencer.
To help inspire others to take care of our waterways, we ask that people “Lead By Example” and post a #FillTheNet photo on BVFF’s Facebook Group Page. Afterall, if no one sees you do it, how can they be inspired to do the same? I know many of you #FillTheNet but aren’t into posting on social media. That’s OK—we know you are out there doing good, and we salute you too!
It is great to see like-minded organizations cleaning up our waterways, like LivingLandsAndWaters.org and FishForGarbage.org. I’d also like to recognize people who are posting #FillTheNet photos on other Facebook Group Pages. Matt Housel and Greg Hitchcock have been great at not only leading river cleanups but leading by example by posting #FillTheNetPhotos of themselves and their clients on the Boise River Fly Fishing with Vice Outdoors page. This Facebook Group page is a great fly fishing resource and I encourage you to check it out.
We know that many people get angry about the trash—and we do too. But when I’m out there, I don’t think of it as picking up trash after others. I think of it as taking care of a resource I love. This year, my New Year’s Resolution is to try and reduce the impact of our sport by picking up more “Fisherman Trash”—looking for items like worm containers, fishing lure packaging and especially broken off fishing line, as it is harmful to birds who try to use it for nesting material—like this nest we found last year at Eagle Island State Park when we did a mono cleanup. Broken off fishing line also gets wrapped around bird legs, necks or beaks. This summer, Brian Martin reported finding a Merganser on the Boise River with a broken off fly leader wrapped around its beak (with a fly still attached). And last year Greg Kaltenecker sent me this photo of a dead Blue Heron that he found at the Diane Moore Nature Center with fishing line wrapped around its foot. These are sad examples of how fishing line can be harmful to wildlife.
OUR 2026 #LeaveItBetter CHALLENGE TO YOU
We challenge you all to take on a New Years Resolution to look for fishing line when you are walking the river banks (on the ground, or in the trees/bushes) and pick it up. It is fishermen's trash, and as fishermen, it is our responsibility to remove it.
Thanks for your ongoing commitment to #LeaveItBetter. Your actions inspire us. Your #LeaveItBetter Team,
George Butts Johnny Rogers Troy Pearse
#IfYouBuildItTheyWillCome!
Less than 60 days after BVFF placed gravel in the river in October, ODFW biologists Dave Banks and Kirk Hanley confirmed that brown trout have used it for spawning! While initial surveys in November showed no activity, the December spawning survey confirmed the news we were hoping for: 22 new brown trout redds in the project zone!
Validating the Count: Dave and Kirk conducted surveys in both mid-November and mid-December. The lack of redds in November actually proved to be a valuable baseline. Because the biologists saw no spawning structures in the new gravel during the first pass, they could be confident that the 22 distinct redds found in December were fresh constructions made by spawning fish, not just "lumpy" gravel left over from the project work.
Immediate Results: Twenty redds were located in the new gravel section below Sand Hollow Creek, with two more found in the tailout below the bridge a mile downstream. Kirk Handley noted that he was very pleased with the placement of the gravel, confirming that volunteers put it exactly where he would expect fish to spawn.
The Challenge of "New" Gravel: Identifying these redds required a trained eye. Typically, biologists spot redds by looking for "clean" gravel patches where fish have scrubbed away the river's algae. Because our gravel was only added in mid-October, it hadn't yet grown that algae layer, meaning the "clean spot" indicator wasn't visible. Instead, Kirk and Dave relied on identifying the structural shape of the redds—the tell-tale depression and gravel tailspill.
What This Means for the River: Kirk told me that he and Dave weren't sure if the browns would find and use the gravel this year given the late timing of the augmentation. Seeing them adopt it so quickly is a massive win. He emphasized that establishing better spawning habitat in the lower river is a key step in helping the population rebound from environmental stressors like warm water events or Saprolegnia fungus.
See the Full Story at the Expo: We will be featuring the Owyhee Gravel Augmentation project at the BVFF Booth at this year's Western Idaho Fly Fishing Expo (January 30-31). ODFW is helping us prepare posters with more details about spawning trends and their fish relocation study. Stop by the booth to chat with the project leaders and see the data for yourself!
A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who worked on this project—especially the volunteers who run the Expo. BVFF's Fly Fishing Expo is 100% volunteer-run, and 100% of the proceeds go to BVFF's fly fishing education, access and conservation projects.
Help Us Do More:
More Info:
In case you didn't see it in the previous club Hackle Bender newsletter, here are a few articles about the Owyhee Gravel Augmentation project.
