For a fun day of fishing we went to Milner Dam. Milner Dam is 11.1 miles West of Burley Idaho. The Recreation area there is large and wild. They offer camping for $5 per vehicle or a day-use pass for $3 per vehicle. The day-use pass offers areas with picnic tables, boat docks, fire pits, and vault toilets (the more permanent version of a port-a-potty).
This is actually my first year fishing in Idaho. Though visiting the Milner Dam makes me positive I’m getting a license next year too. Milner Dam is amazingly beautiful in a half desert half paradise sort of way. Some may find the ruff natural growth of the area an eye sore, but to me it is nature at its best. Milner Dam looks so rugged and unmanageable from a distance but up close it’s gorgeous and peaceful.
Driving in the roads are gravel and dirt. You can drive a car down these dirt roads because they are maintained fairly well. Don’t drive too fast though or you might have an accident because the roads are pretty narrow. On either side of the road is tons of sagebrush. In some areas lines of yellow flowers run along the road, while other parts have purple tipped sagebrush and other flowers.
Finding a spot to actually fish took a little time. Surprisingly for September there were quite a few people camping, especially in the spots with jumping fish. The first spot we found looked perfect. There was a fire pit and outcroppings onto the water. Unfortunately for us there were more rocks and boulders under the water than we imagined so…we lost our bobbers and had to re-rig our lines. Since we had unfortunate luck there on our first cast we decided to find a different spot. Continuing down the line we ran across Trout Point. We decided to pull off there and found this really cool spot that had a picnic table, and a little dock to sit on.
We took our chairs and tackle down to the dock and set out for some big catches. All around us you could see and hear fish jumping. We were thrilled thinking that we were gonna get some good catches. Not the case. We fished for about 3 hours and caught nothing but fun. Although, you might have better luck than we did.
After having such a good time at Milner Dam I decided to look it up. I found out some pretty interesting facts like:
It’s a Historical Site because it was on the Oregon Trail; it’s said that in some areas you can still see the wagon marks, I didn’t have my eye out for those so I have no clue where they are but I’m gonna keep my eye out next time. Milner Dam is one of the first to be built on the Snake River; it was built in 1904. Without this Dam farming (which is the main industry in this area) would be nearly impossible. Milner Dam is stocked every year with Catfish by Idaho Power and Milner Dam Inc. Milner Dam is also said to have Smelt, Cutthroat Trout, and Yellow Porch, Bass.
Sources: Personal Experience
Visitsouthidaho.com
Nwcoucil.org