So here we are Chad. This is Barber Park and today we're going to do one of the
more popular things that Boise has to offer and that is the Boise River.
A popular pastime in Boise Idaho one that I've done since I was a wee lad.
It's over 100 degrees, where do you go to cool down?
You just hop onto the river with your friends, you tie up in a big float
together and it's two hours of fun. So you've made it to Barber Park. This is
the spot, this is where you put in for the Boise River. This is also where you can
rent your tubes, your rafts, are offered here, make sure you have photo ID. You can
also of course bring your own flotation device. So this is Anne Morrison Park in
downtown Boise. This is where you're going to take out when you finish your
float of the Boise River. This is also where you'll drop off any inner tubes or
any rafts that you've rented up at Barber Park. Also this is where if you
need a shuttle you can catch the bus which is arriving right now. It's $3.00
per person, it arrives every hour on the hour. Come to Anne Morrison Park, park your car,
hop on the bus, three bucks a person, take the bus up, rent your stuff with
Barber Park, float down, drop your stuff off, pick your car back up. All of the air
stations here, there's several of them, they're all free. So you don't have to worry
about if you didn't air up your own raft, you can have free air basically.
One thing to remember when you get on the river, absolutely no glass. Whether it's
alcohol or not, there is no alcohol on the river. If you are 14 years or younger
you need to have a life vest. The other thing is wear shoes, wear some good shoes
you know like river shoes or smocks or whatever because you don't want to
jump out of the boat or have to get out of the boat and be barefoot. So this is a river
that you can definitely come to Boise, rent a raft, and hop on the river.
You don't need a guide or anything like that. You don't even need to know how a river
works. So as you can see behind me this is the extent of rapids on the Boise River.
There's three of these along the river, it's not much, you don't need rafting experience.
When I was a kid growing up on the river you would float the river or you'd just
ride your bike down the Greenbelt and jump off bridges, culverts, all kinds of
things on the river. This is the Baybrook bridge which is the most popular bridge
to jump off of. We're gonna head down to BSU and jump off a bridge that's even taller than this.
So here we are at the bridge to Boise State University right downtown Boise
the zoo's right there the parks right there. The float ends a little ways down
the river there at Anne Morrison Park. This sign right here used to say it is
illegal to jump off the bridge or no bridge jumping and that was a sign you
stood on to jump off the bridge. But they've changed that, now they have these
nice new signs which are basically jumping etiquette which basically says
don't jump on somebody in the river. So I am a safety person
safety first let's think safety people, I'm wearing my PFD. I'm going to jump off
this which is probably at least twice the height right of the other bridge
and go for a nice refreshing dip. Now you don't have to float the river, you're in
Boise you're in downtown you can just walk right down here and jump off the stinkin bridge.
Well Chad you survived which is good cuz I gave you about a 50-50 chance right there.
Well that's not good I gave myself 100% chance. I was safe, I knew how deep the water was,
I had been to the spot before, I wore my PFD that's good and you do look great in
your PFD very good call. Okay so that's the traditional way you partake in the
Boise River but our friend Chris has told us about this other way you can
experience the Boise River right after this quick break don't go anywhere we'll
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So that's one way to do the Boise River, there's another way you can do it as
well but it really it involves being here super early and can you guess what that is?
Chad what you got there. This is a net Jon. And that net is used for
wrangling cattle? Getting fish out of the water. Getting fish out of the water.
Yes the Boise River is a river with fish in it so we have paired up with Idaho
Anglers and our friend Chris Gerrono to take us down the Boise River. Now I've
never fished this river I've always done the traditional come to Barber Park you
know, get with the masses, float down. This is a lot different there's no one out here.
The shuttles aren't running, it's very quiet. Yeah I mean that's the beauty
of Boise is that we've got this gem going right through the middle of town
and it is a great fishery as well. The other thing is too you can fish from a
raft which is what we're doing today but Idaho Angler and Chris also guide
trips that are just where you go to certain places along the Greenbelt so
you don't have to be in the raft and do that but something if you're coming
in from out of town too. You roll in Call up Idaho Angler look them up online they
got everything like we brought nothing today except for a fishing license.
They got the rods, the reels, the flies, the brains, they know where to catch stuff.
All right let's get on the river. Who? Statue of Liberty.
Okay I forgot what the Statue of Liberty looks like. Now what do I do with
this hand? It's tangled, I'm already tangled and I'm on land.
Okay wow this is not going well so far.
We're here on the Boise River running right through town. Kind of look around you
can't really tell there's, can't really see any houses or anything like that.
Just kind of tree line to banks and stuff which is you know part of its charm.
And it's a you know the Boise River through town it's a great urban
fishery. You know number one the Boise River is a fairly, heavily stocked
stream. There's certain areas that they stock and certain areas they don't.
The areas that you don't you're gonna run into a few more wild fish and that's
where you tend to find some of the bigger fish.
Dude look at the size of that thing.
The fish and game lists when
they stock and how many trout. Typically it's
rainbow trout that they're stocking. Got myself a little rainbow trout.
Super big right. Thanks little guy, Chris tells me he's wild, he does look pretty.
There's been two rainbow trout caught that were 30 inches long. One of them
would have been the state record had the guy the kid not gutted it and taken it home.
You know there's not a lot of cities in the United States that have have an
amazing river that runs basically smack dab down the middle of it and has so many
recreational opportunities.
The Boise River, truly something that makes Boise unique and special and it
just wouldn't be the same city without it. Yes I'm a Boise native, grown up here.
This river is amazing this river goes right through town. Our recent government has
done a lot to clean up the river significantly since I was a kid and
we've got a great trout fishery like Chris was talking about. You can float
the river, fish the river, walk along the river, listen to the river and have this
wonderful jewel right in our downtown. Let's go back to the beginning though and
just talk about how I did catch more fish and you did. Chad got to go,
he got to fish first okay and everyone knows the earlier in the morning... You
know what that is? ...the fish are biting better... The world's smallest violin. ...and that's the only
reason he caught more fish than me. No it's because...
Yep that's exactly why.
All I can say is that our city would not be the same without this river.
You're very right Chad and for more adventures and how to plan them in Boise, in Idaho and
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