08-15-2021, 03:08 PM
Although I live in Utah and do all of my fishing in Utah these days, I am originally from Idaho and will always be an "Idaho spud" at heart. As a kid in Idaho Falls, I spent almost every summer day tromping along Willow Creek where it ran through town before emptying into the Snake below John's Hole Bridge. I floated grasshoppers back into the concrete culverts wherever the creek ran under a road. And I probably caught more 2-3# rainbows before my family moved to California...when I was about 10...than many modern anglers catch in their whole fishing careers. When I returned to Idaho to visit family a few years later I found that my beloved Willow Creek had been turned into Ririe Reservoir and no longer ran through Idaho Falls. I could have refilled the now empty creek channel with my tears. Well, not really.
I have made many return fishing visits to Idaho over the past few decades (too many). Most trips were with the pretense of visiting family members that were rapidly thinning out with age. But as soon as the required visiting was over I was off to some fishing spot...like Salmon Falls, Magic, Mackay, Henry's, a spot on the Snake or one of my favorite "trickle creeks" where I still enjoy yanking out small brookies.
I have enjoyed reading the posts on the Idaho board and have been sorry to see the decline in activity. But I have seen it before. While living in Arizona I started and ran the Arizona board for BFT. Started out well, after some footwork and publicity to make local anglers aware it was operational. There was no "Bookface" or similar then, but there were small local forums that focused on fishing certain areas...or targeted specific species. And gradually, most of the folks who came to play on BFT drifted back to their former playrooms.
We witnessed the same thing with the California board. Again, it started out strong, but gradually spiraled down to nothing. You'd think California would have huge potential. And it does. But there must be a bajillion other fishing-oriented websites in the entire state. Many of them are very area-specific...or species specific...and California is like a separate country with both fresh and salt water. The available fishing techniques and species are endless. A single statewide generalized forum like BFT just didn't provide the same warm fuzzies for most Cal anglers' fave fishing activities.
Idaho is not nearly as large as California. Nor does it have the sheer number of anglers. But it is divided up into recognizable geographic zones that are difficult to cover adequately in one single website.
I suspect that one of the things that makes Utah more successful is that a large percentage of the angling population lives along the "Wasatch Front"...all within a hundred miles of each other. And most Utah anglers fish a lot of the same waters for the same species so they have more in common than a more diverse population. Sure, we have members who live in other areas...and they contribute valuable and appreciated info...but most members are in either Ogden, Salt Lake or Provo areas...and Cache Valley.
What is the answer? Don't ask me. I only know the questions. At least I think I do. I don't always remember so good at my advanced age.
I have made many return fishing visits to Idaho over the past few decades (too many). Most trips were with the pretense of visiting family members that were rapidly thinning out with age. But as soon as the required visiting was over I was off to some fishing spot...like Salmon Falls, Magic, Mackay, Henry's, a spot on the Snake or one of my favorite "trickle creeks" where I still enjoy yanking out small brookies.
I have enjoyed reading the posts on the Idaho board and have been sorry to see the decline in activity. But I have seen it before. While living in Arizona I started and ran the Arizona board for BFT. Started out well, after some footwork and publicity to make local anglers aware it was operational. There was no "Bookface" or similar then, but there were small local forums that focused on fishing certain areas...or targeted specific species. And gradually, most of the folks who came to play on BFT drifted back to their former playrooms.
We witnessed the same thing with the California board. Again, it started out strong, but gradually spiraled down to nothing. You'd think California would have huge potential. And it does. But there must be a bajillion other fishing-oriented websites in the entire state. Many of them are very area-specific...or species specific...and California is like a separate country with both fresh and salt water. The available fishing techniques and species are endless. A single statewide generalized forum like BFT just didn't provide the same warm fuzzies for most Cal anglers' fave fishing activities.
Idaho is not nearly as large as California. Nor does it have the sheer number of anglers. But it is divided up into recognizable geographic zones that are difficult to cover adequately in one single website.
I suspect that one of the things that makes Utah more successful is that a large percentage of the angling population lives along the "Wasatch Front"...all within a hundred miles of each other. And most Utah anglers fish a lot of the same waters for the same species so they have more in common than a more diverse population. Sure, we have members who live in other areas...and they contribute valuable and appreciated info...but most members are in either Ogden, Salt Lake or Provo areas...and Cache Valley.
What is the answer? Don't ask me. I only know the questions. At least I think I do. I don't always remember so good at my advanced age.