Blog

Box Canyon: The “Box” has been fishing very well with adult Golden Stone imitations, small beadhead nymphs, rubberlegs and streamers. You might want to avoid the “Box” on weekends due to the large number of recreational floaters, but weekdays have been fine. In fact, I was shuttling a few of our guides vehicles last week, and I was shocked at how few people were actually floating the “Canyon” given the excellent fishing that has been available.

Last Chance/Railroad Ranch: The Last Chance section has been the place to be over the past couple of days due to the emergence of the Flavs. Fish PMD and Flav spinners in the mornings and evenings, and look for Flav adults mostly in the evenings. However, if it gets cloudy/overcast look for Flav adults as early as one or two in the afternoon. Fishing continues to be productive in the mornings and evenings with PMD spinners from the Islands downstream to the Third Channel. Look for Callibaetis spinners around Millionaire’s Pool and the Third Channel area from late morning to early afternoon. The Wood Road 16 area has been good early and late with PMD spinners and small, size 20, Black Caddis. Look for PMD adults mid-day and don’t forget your beetles, ants, and hoppers for this part of the day in this section of the river.

Riverside to Warm River: Nothing much has changed from my last report regarding this section of the Henry’s Fork. This is a great section of the river to get away from the crowds and enjoy some fun fishing in solitude.

Warm River to Ashton: Like the Box Canyon this part of the river has been very, very consistent. At this point of the summer, you can expect to catch lots of medium to small-sized trout and a good many whitefish. You may not catch the biggest fish of your life down here right now, but you will have action all day. No one technique is producing any better than another. This is the time of year that I think strictly dry flies, but if you don’t mind catching as many or more whitefish than trout, fish a couple of small beadhead nymphs under an indicator. Streamer fishing will generally produce the fewer but larger fish.

Ashton to Saint Anthony: I’m not going to say that you can’t catch fish down on this section of the river, but it has become mostly a morning and late evening affair down here.

Falls River: I was up on the Falls this past week and I had great dry fly fishing on Stimulators and Trudes, and I had the fishing all to myself. The water is still high for this time of year, but it is more than manageable. One word of caution! The mosquitoes were present in epic numbers. Don’t forget your bug dope if you decide to fish anywhere along this river.

Henry’s Lake: Henry’s is producing the best fishing in years. If you gave up on the lake because of the poor fishing over the past three or four years do yourself a favor and give it a try this year. I don’t think you will be disappointed. There is a large concentration of fish (and boats) around Targhee Creek. Fish chironomids under an indicator, or strip leeches, Mighty Mouse, PT's, and Renegades. The damsels have just begun, and should provide some great fishing over the weed beds.

Madison River (Montana): As incredible as it may seem, there are still salmon flies hatching on the Madison. The hatch is concentrated from Quake Lake down to the West Fork area. Look for the big bugs to hatch any day now between Hebgen and Quake. In addition to the salmon flies there are PMD’s, Caddis, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies and Epeorus mayflies also on the water. Water flows are now a little below average and the fishing has been excellent.

Yellowstone National Park: There are excellent fishing opportunities right now on the Gallatin, Slough Creek, Soda Butte and Lamar rivers in the park. Be prepared for crowds, and have an assortment of small attractor patterns, Grey Drakes, Green Drakes, Caddis and PMDs.

Box Canyon: Fishing in the "Box" continues to be very good. As I have reported in the past, this may not be the first choice for the dry fly purist but it is a place that tends to produce fish on a very consistent basis. This is not to say that you cannot catch fish on a dry fly, you just have to be more versatile when you decide to tackle the "Box Canyon". There have been some very nice fish taken on adult Golden Stone imitations along with adult Caddis imitations as well. The most successful anglers however are using two fly rigs that consist of a size #4 or #6 rubberlegs with a size #14 or #16 beadhead nymph as a trailer or dropper. Streamer fishing early in the morning or late in the evening has also accounted for some very nice fish.

Last Chance/Railroad Ranch: Wow!!! This is the most famous section of the Henry's Fork and this past week to 10 days has shown us all just why. It all started with the arrival of the Brown and Green Drakes and has continued to impress with the hatching now of the Flavs and PMDs. There were many large rainbows taken during the Drake hatches and although these two super hatches have started to wind down I still would not be out there without a few Brown or Green Drake patterns in my box. Especially spinner imitations. As hard as it might be to believe the fishing seems to have gotten even better with the hatching of the Flavs and PMDs. Look for the spinners to be on the water around 8 to 9 am and fish them untill the PMDs begin to hatch around 11 am. The Flavs can show anytime after about one pm, and depending on the weather, can continue to hatch all afternoon and well into the evening. Over the past couple of days there has been a bit of a lull in the action from say 4 to 6 pm but things start to pick up again around 6 or 7 with the arrival of the spinners in the evening. Fishing has been good throughout the "Ranch" however, the best action has been from the top of the Islands down to the Osborne Bridge and from Piney Point downstream to Pinehaven.  Last Chance run has started to come alive recently. Layne Hepworth reported landing five big fish in one evening on Flavs.

Riverside to Warm River: In my opinion, this is the beginning of the best time of the year to fish this section of the Henry's Fork. Access to this part of the river is limited but that is a big part of the appeal of being on this section. This is the time of year to head into this section of the river with a box full of dry flies, mainly attractor flies like Royal Wulff's, Stimulator's, Lime and Royal Trudes and various adult caddis imitations. Relax, enjoy the surroundings, and be ready to catch a bunch of fiesty rainbows.

Warm River to Ashton: This is still a great section of the river to have a wonderful day of floating and fishing. No matter how you like to fish, streamer, nymph or dry fly it's all happening down here.

Ashton to Saint Anthony: Things have stared to slow down on this section of the Henry's Fork. However, there are still fish to be caught on Caddis, PMD's, Yellow Sallies and Gray Drake spinners. Best results have been early in the morning and again latter in day.

Henry's Lake: Henry's is back! Fishing on the lake so far this year has been excellent. A good winter snow pack coupled with a late spring thaw has produced just the conditions every Henry's Lake fisherman has been wishing for for the past several years. Other area waters: Madison River (Montana): The river is still flowing several hundred cfs higher than normal for this time of year but the water is clear and the fishing over the past week has really started to take off. The big event right now is the hatching of the Salmon flies. As of today they are spread out from Three Dollar bridge downstream to the Ruby Creek area.

-Rick Smith

When I awoke to the morning call to prayer I realized that Island Park, Idaho was a long way away.  It had taken us 32 hours of travel including an obligatory wide stance photo op at the stall made infamous by Idaho Senator Larry Craig.  This celebration of absurdity prompted the first brush with authority for a camera check.  This was to be a harbinger of the omnipresent law and order scene we would encounter throughout Kashmir.

Upon disembarking our plane in Dehli, the olfactory impact was immense.  Hot, humid, and musky.  As planned, our guide for the adventure, Maqsood, was waiting to lead us through the throngs of eager porters looking to make a few quick rupees.  Wearing the traditional Muslim dress and cap, Maqsood briefed us as we made our way to our hotel.  His statements often ended in “en Shallah” (God willing) as he assessed  the weeks fishing prospects. Maqsood had everyone excited for the following morning’s flight to Kashmir’s summer capital, Srinagar, and what lay ahead in the rivers that drained the worlds ultimate mountains, the Himalayas.

Our plane and its gorgeous staff descended out of the clouds revealing a landscape much greener than I had anticipated.  The mountains below tree line were covered with forests and emerald valleys of orchards and rice paddies.  The countryside’s pastoral appearance from a few thousand feet was purged upon landing.  I had pulled out my camera to take a picture of the massive construction going on as the Srinagar airport was being renovated to accommodate international flights. I was quickly reprimanded by a member of the local military that photos were not allowed.  While peace is returning to Kashmir, the conflict is still in the minds of the Indian military personnel of which there are over 1 million stationed in this border state with Pakistan.  I observed that while this was primarily a civilian airport, there were numerous barracks and fortifications surrounding  the landing strip.

We completed our compulsory paperwork and headed to the House Boat New Jacqueline on Lake Nigeen near the heart of Srinagar.  Shortly after pulling out of the airport, we experienced for the first time what was to be a daily adventure, the Kashmiri Cab Ride.   With horns blaring our drivers attacked the streets.  There were no stop signs, street signs or speed limits, but plenty of cars, people, cows, motorcycles, dogs, rickshaws, and chickens.  After observing the travel in the area, the attack mode made sense. Without being aggressive one would be lucky to get to a destination slowly.  If unlucky you might not make it at all.  The breakneck pace only added to the overwhelming activity, color, and noise of Srinagar.  I was accompanied in the back seat of the taxi by my good friend and fishing partner for the week, Travis Smith.  Our heads swung frenetically back and forth swinging attempting to take in everything we could.  A bus covered in bottle caps…a cow eating from a garbage pile…a beautifully colored sari… “hey look a real burka”…“was that an entire family on a motorcycle with no helmets?”…“does everyone here have a cell phone?”

Before we knew it we had arrived at the House Boat New Jacqueline  and our entourage for the week had begun to unload our bags and carry them to our new accommodations.  While we struggled to refuse the service and assist with the unloading, we were quickly put in our place as guests and backed off.  Maqsood had arranged a Shikara boat ride to the local Mosque named Hazratbal, famous as the last resting place for a beard hair of the prophet Mohammed.  The sunset was beautiful behind the domes of the mosque and we were soon dozing off as our captain paddled us back home.

When the Mughal Emperor Jahangir was told his partying days were over and he need to dry out he decided he to leave the plains and head to Kashmir.  According to the medicine of the day, the climate in Kashmir was perfect to heal an ailing liver.  In the early 1600’s he built a Mughal Garden in Verinag, birthplace of the Jhelum river.  Around the spring head he built a stone pavilion.  Today the spring head is similar to the head waters of the Henry’s Fork at Big Springs.  There are big, fat trout eating bread balls, crackers and chips, and they are off limits to fishing. This was familiar territory.   

About half way to Verinag from Srinagar we picked a guy up at a military check point.  Originally, I thought he was a hitchhiker, but turns out he was the first of many fishing officials we were to meet up with over our trip.  The daily fishing official was always some guy we picked up off the side of a crowded road.  How he knew where we would meet or when remains a mystery to me.  We took a short tour of Jahangir’s oasis, after which it was time for tea. 

Ali  was the designated camp cook and prepared tea for us about 6 times a day.  He would boil the water and tea and add lots of powdered milk and three generous handfuls of sugar.  However, this tea time seemed a little more serious.   A few more fishing officials had joined the scene and the banter between the officials and Maqsood appeared to be getting a little heated.  Things finally died down.  A few more sips of tea, and it was finally time to wader up and get down to business.   Today we would be fishing the town beat.

Approximately 30 people gathered as we began the process of getting into waders and assembling rods.  Some of them would talk and visit.  Others would just stare. 

Navigating the culture and the landscape requires the assistance of Maqsood Madari. There isn’t a fly shop, there isn’t a lodge, you can barely find a cold beer, and I still don’t know if I ever saw a reliable map, but there was Maqsood, our driver on a Kashmiri cab ride to the ultimate in fly fishing adventure. The Verinag, the Aru, the Ahar, and the Dumal. We fouind fish in them all. Rainbows and Browns left behind when the British decided that getting out of India might be a good idea. Now the trout remain with only a few local and far less travelling fly fisherman to angle against them. Bring lots of flies and lots of lead for the rivers here rage with the momentum of tumbling 20,000 feet down the mountains where they are born. Snag and you are breaking off another rig, a misstep may send you downstream for miles. But don’t forget your license or the local fishing officials will be shaking you down for baksheesh.

Jon's & Travis' Excellent Adventure in Kashmir was featured in the groundbreaking flyfishing movie DRIFT, now available on DVD.

More than five decades separate my first float through the Harriman Ranch and a pleasant July morning in 2008. An invitation to join my TroutHunter partner Rich Paini and his fellow Henry’s Fork Foundation Board member Robert Dotson was too tempting to refuse given recent reports of exceptional fishing deep within the interior of the State Park. It was also an opportunity to observe first hand the status of trout habitat, a subject that has been on the minds of many who share concern for what appears to be a declining fishery in this world renowned water.

What originally was planned to be a six or seven hour float turned out to be an all day affair of nearly twice that length of time as the usual stout breezes failed to make their midday appearance. Insect activity began at about ten a.m. with an amazing array of mayfly spinners including Flav, PMD, Callibaetis, along with a sprinkling of Green and Brown Drakes. Good numbers of Yellow Sallies and a few caddis contributed to the early mix, and we separated in Bonefish Flats to pursue individual cruising trout in water never more than knee deep. The near complete absence of aquatic vegetation made close approach an impossibility thus necessitating many presentations that stretched to near maximum casting range. While low in number, our hook ups were all impressive with most fish being eighteen inches or longer.

By early afternoon, the action switched to a strong emergence of Flavs which seemed to increase the number of available targets. A light breeze brought a beneficial riffle to the surface which allowed a significantly closer approach. Still, the trout were not easily fooled and however minor, every success was fully earned.

Six p.m. arrived with a sparse appearance of the big brown drakes near the bottom of the Avenue of the Giants. It was at this point that Rich landed his best fish of the day on a Flav Emerger. Well in excess of twenty inches, the bright hen was as beautifully conditioned as any I have ever seen landed in this part of the Ranch.

Robert received a good soaking in the front of the skiff as Rich selected the slot beneath the Ranch Bridge that delivered the most bounce in the heavy water directly downstream. Otherwise, we settled back to enjoy virtually the same splendid scenery that I remember from boyhood as we drifted with full intention of completing the float without interruption. A sizable flock of several dozen Pelican watched almost menacingly from a large fir snag as we approached the Millionaire’s Pool near park headquarters.

The volume of emerging Brown Drakes began to intensify as the water slowed and widened but we were successful in resisting the tempting rises that began to appear with greater frequency. However, that would change when the Ranch buildings loomed near as we reached the islands above the water best known as being the favorite of the Harriman family.

The sight of a half dozen extremely impressive rise forms on river right in upper Millionaires was all that was required to shatter our collective resolve. Rich anchored the boat at a small island, and we again separated to stalk big cruising trout under the lowering sun. With familiar anticipation, I crept into a position that would allow a few shots at the upstream fish as it fed into range. The plan worked to perfection as the big ‘bow inhaled the Brown Drake Cripple on the first drift. Another fat hen, it was a near match to Rich’s earlier fish. No better ending could be scripted and I called it a day on that note. Fastening the soggy fly to a rod guide, I settled back to watch Rich and Robert work the remaining risers and to enjoy the spectacular view that will never fail to move me. An hour or so later with daylight fading rapidly, Rich was expertly maneuvering the skiff through the boulder strewn rapids above the take out at Osborne Bridge. Beers and sharing stories with TroutHunter guides Brad Miller and Travis Smith took us to sunset on a very special day for us all.

While concern for the Ranch and its struggling wild rainbow population was not diminished, our drift through this historic water left us with a renewed sense of gratitude for an experience that is seldom if ever equaled in terms of its ability to bring joy to the heart of an angler. Anyone who desires enlightenment to the realities of the Ranch fishery and its status as a wild life sanctuary should make this float.

Although different in numerous ways from its peak years as world class trout water, the Ranch experience continues as an incomparable source of spiritual vitality, and this is worth protecting.

-René Harrop