Almost Dry Bed Time!

[Bardic]

OK, not very sportmanlike, but they shut off the dry bed (Rigby/Ririe area) every April. So for the first week or two You can take the fish just about any way you want to:

Hook, hand net, throw net, by hand. Still need a license and they ask that you abide somewhat by number limits (of any size) so everyone has a chance, but they are all going to die anyways. So they might as well get eaten and any small pools might as well be stripped clean.

There are a lot of Whitefish, and it may not seem like the trout are there, but there is nothing like pulling up a net with 25 whitefish and 5 or so nice trout. And you can always smoke the whitefish.

Some pics below from last year, nothing huge, but it was fun with the kids.

Edit for 2011: Resurrected because it was easy and people can see the fun we had last year
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[mudsucker]

What and where is this dry bed, besides around Rigby?

I got in on a salvage on a canal around Shoshone one time. It was a fun way to spend a warm summer evening. We chased a big brown around a little hole for 30 minutes before we got him. He would crawl behind rocks and bury in mud, really crafty.

April will be a little cooler for netting, but I'm sure the family will enjoy it. And whitefish are always good.
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[windriver]

You have to hit it just right when the pools form but before people strip them clean. I enjoy digging helgramites out from the rocks then I put them on a hook with my fly rod. The browns love them and it is a little sporting.

Windriver
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[BS]

Can you catch them and put them back in the river?
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[windriver]

I really don't know. I think that would be great if their was an arriated tank nearby where we could put the fish.

Just make sure you don't put back any rainbows.[cool]

Windriver
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[Cotton_Released]

Here's the IDFG release:
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/apps/releas...ewsID=5370

And here's what it says about transporting live ones:
"Any fish caught must be killed immediately," Shackelford said. "If I catch you carrying live fish in a bucket, you will receive a citation."
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[MMDon]

It's a good time to turn over rocks and get bait!
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[tob04002]

Can somebody guide me where the dry bed is? I live in Rexburg and have heard of this event, but can never figure out where to go.. I might just be missing it, but either way I need to figure out where it is...
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[Belasko]

check out the above posted link. It describes where and also says that there are maps of it available at the I.F. F&G office.
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[Bardic]

Thanks for that Link, It doesn't specify if a throw net is allowed: a hand net is, and a seine net isn't, and it's kinda in between. So we'll see.

Also, you'd be surprised how small a puddle can be and still have fish. There was a little one about 7 feet across and no more than 1 foot deep. We pulled some small trout and white fish out, then left for a while because we couldn't find anything else.

Some other people came and waded through it pulling a few fish out, and when we came back we caught an 18" brown trout that had been disturbed from it's hiding place on the bottom.
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[tob04002]

Is it usually combat fishing at the dry beds?
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[Bardic]

If I go during work I don't usually see anyone. Evenings and weekends there are a few of the deeper holes that are easy to get to and have water the longest, so one or two other groups are around.

The 2 main places I fish are:

Head into Rigby and at the Subway/Fiesta Ole head East on the Ririe Highway. Take a left on 4200 (north), you'll have a jog right and left and right ahead is a bridge over the dry bed. just before the bridge take a left (east) and a little ways down the road after a curve you will be a a big head gate. Park and pick a hole. I believe it has water the longest of most any hole.

The second place, instead of turning left at 4200 just keep heading east. When the road curves right to go to Ririe, just go straight. At the 4-way stop you can see a bridge ahead and one to the left. I've had more luck left, but I check both places.
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[dustponds10]

This is for sure my neck of the woods. there are 4 nice holes here and you can get to 3 pretty easy. Some new home and land owners are kind of anal but other then that it is all good. The hole that gets hit the hardest is where the bruges cannel head gate is and it is called teh Catwalk. It gets slammed so I try to stay away from there, but there are always nice fish that come out of there. I have seen 6+ pound browns and 5 pound bows and cutts come from there. I like to fish the next hole down from there. If you take Hyway 48 from Rigby and head east when the Hyway turns keep heading strait and you will see the dry bed right away. keep driving around the next two corners and there is the 3rd hole you can park there and fish and walk up stream or you can keep driving and hole #2 is just around the bend in the cannel. Hole four is a bit harder to get to because of private land owners. One inparticular. Its a trailer house and you wont miss the distinct colors. He has been know to fire 22 cal. into the air to scare people away but it is totally legal to fish it if you want to take the time to walk or ride to it. Hole #4 holds some of the nicest fish as well. It is locatedabout 1/2 a mile from 3 and around a couple bends in the cannel. Hope that I didnt confuse anyone. Right now collecting bait fish is awesome as are the helgermites. Good luck and if you really want a black or brown woolly bugger with a trailing hare's ear will also wield fish.
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[sloppyjoe]

Went up today and there is still way too much water. Maybe tomorrow it will be better.
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[Bardic]

My wife made me drive to Boise today, so I'm kinda glad there is still lots of water, needs to last until the beginnig of the week at least, which shouldn't be a problem.

Tha Catwalk is the one on 4200 W. It's kinda my favorite because it is easy to get to, but you are right it gets the most people fishing it.

Also, the guy who lives right north of there is very nice, He said that hole is sometimes deeper than a lot of people think (but I think it can change with sediment deposits). A week after people stopped coming by one year he went down because he noticed birds flying around, There was still water down a deep hole and there were still huge fish in it. More than he had room for.

Thanks for the directions to those other good holes.
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[sloppyjoe]

Checked it again today, still a little too high. A buddy went out tonight though, and said some ponds are starting to form. It is starting to shape up though and will probably get slammed this weekend. I am thinking about braving the crowds and heading out tomorrow.
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[tob04002]

I will be up there tomorrow first thing in the morning for sure to check things out.
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[mudsucker]

My 8yo has an ear infection. You guys have fun. [frown]
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[tob04002]

I hit the dry beds today. I only found one good 'pond' that contained some fish in there. The only other people I seen there was a few little kids. They had their wading boots on trying to catch some whitefish by hand in a really small pond... I let them use my net for a minute and they caught 2 whitefish right away. They were pretty excited.

In the nice pond that looked fishable I caught 4 trout and 1 nice whitefish. I kept the trout. I caught 1 small cutthroat, 1 small brown, 1 medium (16 inch) brown, and a large brown (20 inches)!! I can't wait for the other water to go down to go and catch some more! The 20 incher pounded my worm and it took me a few minutes to land him!

Here are some pictures...
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[Bardic]

We finally had some good luck, Early in the week was cold and windy and the beavers were splashing around everywhere, Today was warmer and calm, and we actually managed to pull some fish out at the catwalk.

Here's the biggest one we caught, 16 inches, but not bad for a throw net.

The owner of the house was out today so we talked a bit about all the huge 15"-20"+ that were still down in the bottom after everyone had stopped coming last year. He pulled a few out, but others still died due to lack of oxygen. So if I can I plan to go back a few more times.
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