Bruneau Dunes Fishing Trip

I have been looking forward to a relaxing trip with my Dad to one of my childhood haunts for a couple of months now. We have been to the Bruneau Sand Dunes several times but not for several years. With the truck all packed and the time finally here, I was absolutely pumped. We had planned a trip to this desert oasis a while back, two nights of fishing for bluegill and bass, with the possibility of a side trip over to another place fondly remembered from my childhood, Wickahoney Creek.

After arriving and setting up camp and hanging my hammock I read some and relaxed. The sun was shining and I felt GREAT! Dad rolled in and after parking and leveling his RV we were off to the small pond for some fishing.


Immediately upon shoving off from the shore I spotted a nice 14 inch bass and knew the day would be a good one. My Dad almost immediately pulled in a 16+ inch bass on a "bloody Mary" fly. I was fishing a small white popper and giggling like a little girl at every strike. Other flies we caught fish on were a white foam spider, a chartreuse wooly bugger and a bead head hair's ear nymph.

We fished the entire perimeter of the lake and each caught 30+ bass, mostly in the 12 inch range, as well as a big fat bluegill each. We were meat fishing, which is unusual for us, and came up empty though, as any bass you take has to be 20+ inches and with only two bluegill we decided to release them.




The next day we decided to head over to Wickahoney creek, a small desert stream in a deep canyon that we hadn't visited in 20 years. It is now in a wilderness area and we had no trouble finding it. Or at least finding where it used to be. It was dry and we mulled over how it could be dry in late spring. It wasn't a banner snow year in the Owhyee mountains, but somehow, that didn't explain the lack of water. None the less, the views were spectacular and we enjoyed the hike from the truck. From the rim of Wikahoney we made our way to the confluence on Wickahoney- Big Jacks Creek and wondered at the depth of the canyon and the rugged beauty of the desert.