TFO Great Customer Service

Those of you who know or who have fished with me know that I am a fan of TFO rods. I own a TicR and TicRx both 9' 5wts and my dad has a TicR also. Dad broke the tip off his rod a while and my neighbor Chad, broke the tip off hisrod on our last outing so I sent both rods in at the same time to save on shipping.

$25.00 a rod and 4 days later the rods are back with new tip sections. Great service and quick turn around, what more can you ask for?

Kudos to TFO.

Loosing the Railroad Ranch

There has been a flurry of posts on various forums and blogs about possibility of the State of Idaho shutting down Harriman State Park in a effort to cut costs. If the park is shut down under the agreement by which the land was awarded to the state, the land reverts to the Harrimans.

While I think it a pretty bone headed and shortsighted move, would the park being shut down cut access to the river?

If I understand Idaho law, no. The river is navigable and the public would still have access rights to the normal high water mark. Easy access across the meadows and along the banks could potentially be eliminated, but I do think that access from Last Chance and from the Osborne Bridge would still be legal. As the public has used the banks for the last 25 years there could also possibly be a public easement along the banks.

If I am off in my thinking please correct me.

New Idaho Cutthroat Wildlife License Plate

While I have the wildlife plate with the trout on them this new one is sure nice. Wonder when my tags expire so I can upgrade? ;)

http://www.klewtv.com/news/local/81191377.html

Think Snow

So for the most part the storms this season have parted around SE Idaho and left us with much below normal snow pack for this point in the season. While there is a couple of months of winter left the immediate forecast does not look too promising. Could be a dry summer.

Snow Report By Drainage for Idaho
http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wrds/nrcs/updatesur/update-id.sno

Other western states
http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wrds/nrcs/updatesur/updatesur.html

Feral Pigs

I just read that some "bucket biologist" released some feral pigs in the Bruneau desert area of SW Idaho. Feral pigs are highly adaptive, reproduce like fleas, and are incredibly destructive to the local ecology being both a vector for disease and trashing flora. These pigs they noted were most likely transported from California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is going to try to eradicate them through the winter hoping to impact the population before they are able to reproduce. If you are in the SW corner of the state and see any sign of the oinkers please report the information to the Idaho Department of Agriculture.

This is another case of somebody's personal selfishness like dumping lake trout in Yellowstone Lake. As the pigs can severely impact stream-side vegetation they could adversely impact trout habitat.

Put your christmas tree to good use!

Recycle it as trout habitat. Many of the local conservation groups, fish and game departments, TU Chapters etc collect clean fir, or spruce tree to use as habitat.

Here is a link for a program in the Teton Valley. http://www.tetonvalleynews.net/articles/2009/12/23/news/doc4b315cb83e8bf047395350.txt

I may post more links as I find them.