Tons of Water, ice is leaving

With over 200% of normal snowpack in the region, it's safe to say that we have water....everywhere. Fields are flooding, rivers are surging, reservoirs are full or filling, and ice is leaving or has left our stillwaters this week. 

Chickahominy: The ice is completely off Chick as of the last couple of days. Add to that, the pond has more water in it than it did after it filled in 2023. It is quite off color, too. I did fish the open water three times this past week and will say that I found it was fishing much slower than it did as ice was receding last year. There is no evidence of a winter kill, and I did catch fish each time, just found it slow. No fish over 18" were caught, but I'm sure there are a number of 20"+ fish to be found. 

Blitzen:  The river is running at 153 cfs as I type this, but has been seen flows around 700 cfs this past week, and much higher earlier. Anticipate more high water to come. Check the USGS website or other river flow apps before planning a trip to fish the Blitzen.

Malheur River:  If you didn't hear, HWY 20 was closed east of Burns a couple of weeks ago for a few days due to flooding of the Malheur. Most of that water was coming from the South Fork, and now all forks are pushing water downstream as the gates are open on both Warm Springs and Beulah dams. Check flows before planning any trip to fish the river.

Beulah Reservoir:  Current reservoir level is 64% full. I did hear that there was still ice present a week or so ago. No recent fishing reports.

Owyhee River:  Current flow is 3,850 cfs. The last I heard, people were urged to stay out of the area... 

Krumbo: No recent reports. 

BLM Ponds: Most will be either iced over or inaccessible. Don't anticipate accessing "off road" or higher elevation areas for several weeks.