03-26-2008, 06:16 PM
Many people with boats fishing below the dam will often tie there boat off along the shoreline to fish. There are some who anchor in the middle off the river a couple hundred yards downstream of the dam. From the shoreline I can cast with my sturgeon rod just about anywhere I wanted to fish. A boat would help with fighting a fish though. If I wanted to fish for sturgeon below the dam in late May I would avoided Memorial Day weekend and try fishing a weekday and also look into fishing at night. I live in Pocatello and when I want to fish for sturgeon I drive past American Falls to fish the Snake in SW Idaho.
After the fishing season opens on Memorial Day weekend it will be very crowded below the dam. I believe there are 300+ anglers fishing below the dam on the opener every year. This leaves little room for guys with sturgeon rods. Finding room to cast will be difficult and when fighting a sturgeon it would be even worse. Trout anglers would not all be happy about moving their lines so a sturgeon angler can fight a fish.
The water below the dam is never muddy from run off in the spring. However, it does get muddy in September and/or October if the reservoir is very low. Here is a link to a graph that shows that shows the river level below the dam.
[url "http://www.usbr.gov/pn-bin/graphwy.pl?amfi_q"]http://www.usbr.gov/...in/graphwy.pl?amfi_q[/url]
The amount of water coming out of American Falls Dam is mostly affected by irrigation demands. Irrigation demands are always high in late May and early June.
There is a good current below the dam. The uneven rocky bottom makes getting an anchor stuck a possibility. If you have experience anchoring in strong currents and know your limits you shouldn't have any problem.
Good luck.
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After the fishing season opens on Memorial Day weekend it will be very crowded below the dam. I believe there are 300+ anglers fishing below the dam on the opener every year. This leaves little room for guys with sturgeon rods. Finding room to cast will be difficult and when fighting a sturgeon it would be even worse. Trout anglers would not all be happy about moving their lines so a sturgeon angler can fight a fish.
The water below the dam is never muddy from run off in the spring. However, it does get muddy in September and/or October if the reservoir is very low. Here is a link to a graph that shows that shows the river level below the dam.
[url "http://www.usbr.gov/pn-bin/graphwy.pl?amfi_q"]http://www.usbr.gov/...in/graphwy.pl?amfi_q[/url]
The amount of water coming out of American Falls Dam is mostly affected by irrigation demands. Irrigation demands are always high in late May and early June.
There is a good current below the dam. The uneven rocky bottom makes getting an anchor stuck a possibility. If you have experience anchoring in strong currents and know your limits you shouldn't have any problem.
Good luck.
[signature]