Twin Lakes (south east)

[hunter12]

Anyone know if it is open for boats yet?   Are inspection stations set up?

[duksnfish]

Anyone know if it is open for boats yet?   Are inspection stations set up?

No they are not open and not sure when they will be.  I talked to a person who knows what is happening down there about a week ago and he was going to let me know if he heard anything but he said it's pretty quiet so far.  Normally it's not until right at Memorial Day give or take a few days.  I do know that they let the old camp ground host go do to issues between her and some of the campers and boarters the last couple years.  So, we all are going to have to wait for Twin and Glendale.  That goes for all the reservoirs controlled by those two canal companies. 

With the virus and with the social distancing and how they are set up for checks, and since Idaho still has social distancing requirements with gradual openings, I am willing to bet that the restrictions on those reservoirs will be even more stringent to protect the canal company employees.  It's a shame still that F&G still stock those fisheries and everyone cannot access them to fish.  I have been told by F&G that they are open to fishing from the banks by people so they will continue to stock them, but, they are not fishable by everyone.  Handicap folks or people who have handicap issues like i due do to leg issues, cannot fish the banks without getting hurt trying to get up and down the banks, so I just dont understand why F&G dont support the general public more and push this issue.  But, its been going on long enough that I dont think it ever will change now.  But, I do know this, Twin and Glendale did not get any seed money from the county down there due to the reduced number of people coming to Franklin county to recreate due to the limitations that the canal companies put on their waters so the amount of time that the waters will be open will continue to shrink.  It was predicted years ago that the economic impact would happen, but, at the time the canal company, the county and many business' didnt think it would make a difference.  It's amazing how much money sportsmen dump into a location but people dont believe it until it's gone.

Sorry I got on a rant, but, this one has gotten me for years and still does even though you can get inspected at Twin when it opens.

[meancuznalfy]

Lol, rants are good, let's others know what is happening at places they're not familiar with. What restrictions did they put on those lakes? I have read somewhere that it cost around $20 to launch a boat on Twin.

[duksnfish]

Lol, rants are good, let's others know what is happening at places they're not familiar with. What restrictions did they put on those lakes? I have read somewhere that it cost around $20 to launch a boat on Twin.

It's between the $20 and $25 to launch at both Twin and Glendale.  At Twin you can get your boat inspected for compliance with state law on spot, but if you are going to fish or recreate on Glendale, you have to have your boat inspected at one of the boat inspection stations, and down that way means going to Franklin or over to the boarder south of Malad. And then, once you get to Gendale, you have to pay your fee just to have them look at your sticker to make sure you were inspected. They wont get certified like they did at Twin Lakes to do an on site inspection, so it's basically a launch fee that Glendale charges.  The other reservoirs that are under management by the same canal companies, there is no one on site to do the inspection, but,  you have to leave proof of inspection in your window (the booklet that gets stamped at the inspections station) and if you dont, then the canal company can have you cited for trespass since those are private waters (supposedly - no one has taken this on because of minimum pool requirements on most of these reservoirs). And the Sheriff does make rounds and checks to see if you have been inspected, but, not sure how or if they do cite anyone without the canal company actually seeing you on the water without an inspection.

It gets spendy going down that way from up north way, Idaho Falls and even Pocatello to have to travel the day of your inspection, unless you want to get inspected the day before and not launch, and go back home. And then drive past Glendale to Franklin to get inspected then back track to go fish Glendale or another associated body of water.

A number of years ago, I tried to fight this restriction alone, I couldnt get any support to push on site inspections like Twin ended up doing, but, even F&G at the time just let it go through.  I understand they want to protect their waters from the mussels etc from coming in from Utah and other states, that is why there are inspection stations on the state lines, but, if you are in Idaho and havent left the state, you are incompliance with state law so why should you have to pay a launch fee for just looking at your sticker?

This whole thing got out of hands years ago, but, the Canal companies have pushed and won over a couple of local legislators down that way and they have their support.  Initially, Franklin County supported them and gave them like $10,000 a year seed money to get up and running because they thought it would help their economy, but, at least 2 or 3 years ago, Franklin County realized that the money was drying up because of reduced recreation visits to the county for water recreation and they stoped giving the canal companies this money.  I think this is why they have stopped opening up as early as they used to open and have started closing in August, much earlier than normal. They used to close after Labor day anyhow, where there still is great fishing to be had but, they stop inspections and actually block the ramps. 

The ramp at Glendale and the sportsmans access parking lot was actually put in with grant money on F&G prpperty in conjuction with the County years ago as was the boat ramp, but some how, the canal companies have been able to close the boat ramp even though, as I have been told by F&G, the ramp is actually on lands owned by F&G. So, go figure, just another head scratcher on this one.

i know for years Twin Lakes used to charge just a $5 day use fee to use Twin Lakes, ok that is fine, but once they started this sticker program and saw they could make a little money on the side of that, they then started charging I believe $20 a day for the inspection and to use the lake.

I could go on and on on this because as I said, years ago, like 9 or 10 went to a meeting or two and sent letters to them and also tried to talk to the local legislator down there as well as F&G and I got no where with my attempts to do something.  I suggested at the time to put an inspection station at the Inkom gap weigh station and that went no where, but, as I hear now, F&G supports this but it's now Idaho DOT that does not like it or wont let the State, yes another state agency, put up an inspection station on the south bound weigh station. Go figure that one out.

If there were an inspection station at Inkom, it would allow a huge number of recreation folks to stop going south towards Preston to get inspected without having to travel clear to Franklin or to the North bound lane of the interstate south of Malad. You actually have to travel into Utah get off the interstate turn around and come back up the interestate to the rest area to get inspected.  Thats just rediculous and is also a safety issue doing turn arounds like that.

So, I will stop there, but, where you cant get all of the water recreation people to come together to support pushing some sort of resolution to help the pubic, even pushing f&G to stop stocking the reservoirs if we cannot fish via a water craft, then it will continue to impact a heck of a lot of use who love to fish and just recreate on the water.  So, go enjoy what you can when you can but dont expect Twin or Glendale to open until probably around Memorial Day this year if not later due to the virus.

[wiperhunter2]

Wow, that is total BS but it just goes to show you what can happen with only a few folks fight for the rights that we all take for granted. When our tax dollars go to pay for those boat ramps and the fish put in those lakes, then to have such a small group to control those lakes,  that is wrong. I know the population in those areas are lower than closer to the bigger cities but if we could get some bigger group, like trout unlimited(not likely), or another sportsmans group to give their help to issues like this, it could help. The only other option would be to try a raise awareness about this situation by contacting locals, that might use these lakes the most. It is doable but would take a lot of leg work, resources and time that most of us do not have. I wish this board had a larger following, if it did, it might be able to help with issues like this but at this point that is likely a pipe dream.

[meancuznalfy]

Wow, I agree that is total BS. Horrible that the canal company has gotten away with robbery. $20 a day to launch a boat is ridiculous. Those are great fishing lakes that probably won't be open until at least the end of May or June, maybe a bit longer, have to see how reopening the state goes. It's a shame that the canal company doesn't see that being a little less greedy that would actually bring in more money to the county. I understand $5 a day usage fee isn't bad. I wonder how many locals fish there, they need to boycott fishing the lakes, if the canal company starts losing money they might rethink they're strategy.

[duksnfish]

Years ago when all of this was just starting to ramp up, and this board had a much larger following, I posted a ton of information on here but it didnt generate a lot of following or help. It's just how it goes with any of our natural resource issues all the way from trying to get duck hunters to agree on a hunting season or to push back against outfitting and guiding for waterfowl and turkey.  To try and get some push back on this issue.

Like I said, I understand the concern around the  Quagga Mussel and the damage it can produce, but, yes, the launch fees are rediculous and it's a way that the canal companies are trying to recouperate monies that they say is due to them for allowing the public to use their Private Waters that are supposed to be for irrigation but they have allowed fishing and other water recreation to take place for years.

I and some others really pushe a lot of different, win win situations, at least we thought they were back then, but, we got no where.  If i remember correctly, and it has been years ago, there was support from I think it was Bass Masters group to do something other than the current fee structure. It isnt cheap to drive from Idaho Falls or even Pocatello for a day fishing or recreating in Franklin County by the time you figure in your gas, meals, oil, etc. And to top it off, you cant get your boat inspected at Franklin generally until 7 am and the same at Twin Lakes - 7 am.  At least at Twin, you are actually at the water to launch, but if you are going to use one of the other bodies of water, by the time you drive to Franklin get inspected and drive back, it's generally between 8 and 830 before you can even launch and you waste a lot of good fishing time just driving.  Yes you cant even launch until inspected.  I have launched at Glendale after getting inspected the day before earlier than the 7 opening, I just leave my book open on my dash for the person at Glendale to be able to see that I was inspected, but, they nail you for their money even before you put foot back on the dock when you are done fishing or boating so you still have to pay.

I still think to help those of us on the upper end of the valley, above Inkom Weigh station, the inspection station going south at the weigh station is still a super idea, but, it would have to be open before 7 otherwise we stilll dont get on the water until way after 9 by the time you get inspected and drive south. 

I really think F&G need to support the Idaho Sportsmen and women who pay one hell of a lot of money into this State, and push the legislature hard to exempt Idaho Boats from having to pay for this activity because we have already paid when we get our boat stickers, we pay for the invasive weed inspection and as long as we stay in the state, we are obeying Idaho Law on the Quagga Mussel and others. But, so far that has not only fallen on deaf ears, but, F&G gets hammerd so bad by the legislature, unfairly over everything, that they really dont pull much weight any more and sportsmen in Idaho loose every time due to politicians who have more weight pull to the real locals such as around Franklin county than any of the rest of us.

One way to stop giving money to the Franklin County area water ways, is when you register your boat and purchase your boat sticker, stop recognizing Franklin County on your sticker as where you use your boat most.  That give a lot of money down that way when you put them on the list.  Give your money some place else and then when they ask the state for money for waterways, there wont be much for down there until they start to listen a little more to those who are actually using the waters instead of every tom, dick, and harry who think they should be able to tell us how to use it and for what.

There I go, once again I got on my rant, but, it still has a soar spot in my mind from way back when I got beat up so bad for trying to get this stopped.  But, they won and continue to win even though we all comply with state law when we purchase our boat stickers.

---

I looked back at my old posts, and in 2008, this first started to take place around the Preston area.  In 2016, I even tried to get a petition to present to Marc Gibbs and others against what was going on.  Those are on my past threads if anyone wants to look them up.  I was even told by at least one local down there to give it up and to buy some shares of water down there then I would have a say in how the water was managed other wise to forget it because fishing to him wasnt important, it was irrigation water.  Any how, if you want to see more, click on my user name and look at my past posts, you will get some from down that way that arent associated with this issue, but, I think you can pick out the majority of them.  Good luck.

[wiperhunter2]

I hear ya on the rant part but it's about all you can do when you see injustices like this. We see it all around us and it's what drives some folks into politics, just to stand up for our rights. I think most of us totally understand the Quagga Mussel issues and no one is complaining about protecting our waterways but lets get real, there has to be a compromise between that water users association and the sportsman, so that this can work for everyone. With the amount of time and expense put out, just to go out of your way to fish these lakes, you would think they would try and make it a little easier. I'm sure it is a numbers game to them, likely because there simply isn't enough people fishing these lakes to justify adding an extra inspection station. I remember when you brought up this issue years ago, I thought something would change with the amount of time and effort you and others spent, trying to come up with an answer, it's really too bad nothing was accomplished. I'm sure if they had one or two bass fishing events there every year, the kind of money even a small event would generate, would change their minds but IMO theses lakes are just to small to have any big tournaments there. You would think for the few months a year these lakes are open to the boating public and the amount of money they are charging to launch there the water users could come up with some plan to fix this problem. I know no one likes to pay higher fees, just to fish waters like these but with the amount of out of you way driving, to get an inspection and not being able to get an early start, I would think some would be willing to pay a little higher price to launch there, if the water users would pay to have an inspector on site there at least at one of those lakes, just or at few months they are open. I'm thinking a 25 or 30 dollars fee, just for the purpose of paying someone to be there for the inspection during the Summer. That would be and extra 5 or 10 dollars that would go to pay that person doing the inspection and if the water users kicked in another $5, they could justify it because of the additional boats that came there. They could even do a trial run at it for one season just to see if it worked out. It would be a decent Summer job for someone. Even if this idea did not appeal to the water users, you would hope that something like this would.

[meancuznalfy]

Unfortunately, I'm afraid things will not get changed as the canal companies are backed by farmers and ranchers that have a lot of influence in the government. I agree that there could be some sort of compromise between all users to make the inspection process less painful and a little cheaper.

[duksnfish]

Wiperhunter2, the part is, the Consolidated Canal Company that has Glendale pays several people to just sit there and check to see if you have had an inspection.  The state has offered to certify their employees to do inspections like they have chosen to do at Twin Lakes, but for some unknown reason that has never really been flushed out or given a reasonable explanation, the Canal Company decided not to get their employees through an inspection program by the State. Seems really stupid to me.  And I do think that recreation and fishing activities would go up and many folks would not object as loud as they do now and the county would once again show a little up tick in the economy if they did the on sight inspections.

Here is the really ironic part of this whole thing.  Oneida Narrows, who really stands to loose so much more should the Quagga Mussel get into their water system and shut down the power generating due to the mussel, does not require such inspections but relies on the current state law  to keep the system clean.  And it works.  I remember the canal companies back when, saying give it only a few years and Onieda will get the mussels and then see who is at fault.  Well, here we are years down the road and Oneida gets the same users, and more that the canal company waters get and it's still clean.  So go figure that one out and get the canal companies to justify that one.  And ask the Senetor for that area to show how the canal companies are any different than Oneida waters and why there is a ton of State money dumped into the canal company coffers to help stop the mussel yet nothing goes into the Oneida water system and it is still clean?  Just try to figure that one out.

I know it's not going to change at all, and I am sorry that this started out asking if Twin was open yet or when, and it turned into this, but, this needs to be brought up now and again and F&G needs to really start looking how and where they spend our tax dollars and monies gained through the sale of fishing and hunting equipment etc. and start enforcing some of the agreements they have with these canal companies including minimum pool and the agreements they had when they put in these public access points and equipment for use by sportsmen and all water users.

But for some reason, this has stopped being an issue for them and it just continues to move down the road as if everything is hunky dory. 

Just enjoy were we can boat and fish at any one given time/day and be glad we can still get out dispite this nasty virus.