Blog

Box Canyon: The Box has fished very well over the past couple of days and I predict it will continue to do so. Our guides are having their best luck fishing tandem rigs of rubber legs and smaller beadhead nymphs. We suggest black, brown, and coffee/black rubber legs in sizes #4 and #6 teamed up with size #14 and #16 tungsten beadhead Krystal Zebra Midges, colors red or black, standard Zebra Midges in red or brown, and Flashback Pheasant Tails. Yesterday several of our guides reported seeing adult salmon flies in the Canyon. We had thought that the cold weather we had last week may have put an end to that hatch but maybe not. I would not be in the Box without a few adult salmon fly patterns.

The Ranch: Yesterday was the Ranch opener. I guess the best way to describe fishing on the opener is SLOW. Do not despair! There were a few fish caught, mostly on March Brown, tan spent caddis, and beetle imitations. I believe the slow fishing is due to the late start to our summer. Four days ago it was more winter like here in Island Park than either spring or summer. The cold early summer has kept water temperatures cold and I believe this more than anything else has delayed our summer hatches of PMD's and caddis. I look for things to pick up in the coming days as water temperatures warm.

Riverside to Warm River: Fishing in this section of the river has been very good to excellent. Yellow Sallies, little olive stones, caddis and a few lingering salmon flies have produced for those hearty souls venturing into this wonderful stretch of the Henry' s Fork.

Warm River to Ashton: This section of the river has been a real surprise for those fishermen floating and wading this often maligned portion of the Henry's Fork. Not only has it produced consistently good fishing in terms of numbers of fish caught it has also produced some sizeable fish. Big rubber legs fished along the banks and drifted down the middle of some of the deeper runs continues to produce the largest fish but caddis, little yellow and olive stone, PMD, and attractor dry flies in sizes #12 to #16 have fooled a great many fish in the 10 to 14 inch class over the past few days.

Ashton to Saint Anthony: Because of much higher than normal flows through this part of the river this early season this section has also been a little slow to get started. However, we have started to see some consistent PMD hatches below Ashton over the past day or two and the fish are looking for them. Most of the fish taken over the past couple of days have been on nymphs with a standard pheasant tail, with or without a bead, consistently fooling fish. Big rubber legs and streamers are also producing. We are all anxiously awaiting a gray drake hatch this year but to date we have not seen any in fishable numbers. Stay tuned.

Other area waters: Firehole River (YNP): The Firehole has been running bank full and then some ever since the opener on May 24th. Still, the river has produced consistently with soft hackled flies fished through the riffles and PMD and caddis patterns. My favorite soft hackle fly is a beadhead March Brown Spider in size #14. Some of my favorite Firehole caddis and PMD patterns are the tan X-Caddis, an EZ Caddis, Harrop's tan Henry's Fork Caddis, and Harrop's tan Bubbleback Caddis, PMD Sparkle Dun's and Harrop's PMD Last Chance Cripple.

Madison River: The Madison continues to run high below Quake Lake but it is clear and fishable. Large stone fly nymphs, woolly buggers, and small tungsten beadhead Zebra Midges are producing. There has not been much in the way of dry fly fishing on the Madison but when the clouds roll in there are still some baetis hatching and the fish will feed on them.

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Rick Smith
TroutHunter
trouthunt.com
208.558.9900

My appreciation for Tennessee grew tremendously following my latest guiding experience.  My fondness for the state was previously based solely on a gentleman named Jack Daniels but now I have two more reasons, Trey and Jared.  Trey played ball for the Broncos, Jets, and Bills as a center, and Jared is currently a pediatric dentist in Dallas. The waiting list for single hot mothers who's children need dental work is a mile long at his practice.

When first  introduced to Trey the night before the trip, I immediately enjoyed his company.  We talked about the options for the upcoming day as I worked through about five Jacks on the rocks while trying to keep up with Trey's pace of cups of coffee.  Jared was not in town as of yet and when he called Trey to find out how the fishing would be, we told him the rivers were blown out and we would be primarily sightseeing.

The next morning I awoke to questionable weather conditions as it had rained all night.  Nervous,  as always before a trip, I met up with Trey and Jared at the TroutHunter and told them that although I was not really sure how the day would pan out, I would work hard to ensure we were in the right place at the right time.

Although I was feeling anxious, hanging out with a couple of guys that felt like old buddies took the edge off.  While feeding the fish at the Warm River overlook, the water appeared to be very off color from the rainfall.  Mentioning my concern to Trey, he said, "Don't worry, lets just fish." 

The salmonflies had been out on this particular stretch for the past couple of days and it had been good when the weather was. In Idaho, if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes.  As we were putting the boat in, the sun began to shine through the breaks in the clouds which lifted our hopes for good salmonfly activity.

We started out with a stonefly nymph hanging off of a balloon indicator, and hit the banks.  Within no time there was a fish in the boat and it was "Game On!"  Although we hit spurts throughout the day that seemed a little slow, those moments were soon negated by another large brown or rainbow. Many were shaped like footballs from eating bugs that were, according to one of the anglers, the "size of small children".  Back in the day, Trey was able to snap a football with one hand. Today he had to hold most of his trout with two.

Over the next two days, Trey and Jared made my life very enjoyable and easy, nailing each and every cast precisely within an inch from the bank.  All I had to do was row and net fish.  As a guide, they gave me a great deal of credit, but the fact is that it is a team effort.  There are three of us in the boat,  no one person can take all the credit.  There is no "I" in team.

It takes everybody, it's 3 guys. Obviously without the fishermen's line doing well we're not going to do well as a boat, but we're just one of the parts, one of the spokes, and it takes all parts from rowers to line to netters to fisherman...

We'd had two days of fabulous conditions and great fishing. While heading back up the hill on the last day, we jammed out to our allotted fifteen minutes of rap featuring DJ Quick, P Diddy, and Notorious BIG.  We were very happy that on this trip we didn't need to be here yesterday, and the big one didn't get away.

Thanks for a great trip you guys!

Marty Reed

Anglers that came to the Henry’s Fork over the past ten days or so were able to find excellent fishing if they were flexible and willing to move around a bit. Warm River to Ashton section was exceptional a week ago. The salmon flies were out in good numbers and the fish were on them. The water was running a little higher than normal and it was off color but that didn’t put the fish off at all. Most of the fish were taken on big ugly nymphs and a few took adult imitations. As the hatch moved upstream the few hearty souls that ventured into the Cardiac Canyon section, either by boat or foot, enjoyed several days of great fishing on both nymphs and dries. About the time the big bugs had moved into the Riverside to Hatchery Ford section of the river the weather changed and pretty much put the hatch on hold. This was the time to be in the Box Canyon where fishing was good with big rubber leg nymphs and streamers. All during this same time frame Henry’s Lake was ridiculously good with our guides reporting 10-30 fish per angler days.

On a personal note, my wife and I were treated to a float on the river two days ago. Marty Reed was our host/guide for the day. An early season float with Marty has become a yearly event for us and we look forward to it all winter long. I approached this day with some trepidation because last year's float with Marty was off the map and would be hard to repeat. I had one of the best days of salmon fly fishing I had ever experienced in my life and I just didn’t want to get my expectations too high so that somehow I would be disappointed at the end of our day. I was also a little worried that Marty may have spent all of his “mojo” over the previous week or ten days. In the vernacular of the guides, Marty had been "on fire". He had put his clients into so many fish, and big fish to boot, that I was afraid that the trout gods might be ready to put a hurt on Marty and bring him back to reality. No biggie! A day on the river with Marty is a kick in the head regardless. The first half of the day started out pretty much as I had feared. I could tell that even Marty was starting to get a little edgy and my wife was beginning to push. I quickly figured another cold can of red and white would take off the edge and we could all loosen up a bit and shake that monkey of last year off our back. Well, I’m not going to give the credit to the red and white for knocking that monkey to hell and back. It was Marty’s great guiding instincts that turned the latter half of the day into a slug fest with several of the biggest rainbow trout I have encountered anywhere. I have spent the last 33 years of my life in the fly fishing industry and I have met, known, or worked with or for some of the most respected and best fishing guides in the country. Let me tell you that Marty ranks right up there with the very best for reasons that are to numerous to mention. We have some great guides here at TroutHunter but, If you have never been on a guided trip or you are a seasoned veteran looking to broaden you experiences , do yourself a favor and see if we can arrange a day with Marty, you will never regret it. As for the rest rest of our guides, I have heard great second hand reports from plenty of clients.  They might consider taking me fishing once in a while so that I may speak personally to their skills as well (hint, hint)...

The 24th annual Henry's Fork Day is June 21, 2008.  It is largest event for the Henry's Fork Foundation, the voice of the river.  Please support the Foundation and attend this event.  If you are interested in donating cash or auction items, it would be greatly appreciated.  Call Rich at 208.558.9900 or e-mail rich@trouthunt.com.

ALL DAY
Silent Auction & Raffles

7:00 - 10:00 AM
Pancake Breakfast

7:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Best of the Henry’s Fork
Open Casting Competition

10:00 - 11:00 AM
Membership Meeting

4:00 - 10:00 PM
Beer, Wine & Cash Bar

6:00 PM
Prime Rib Dinner

7:00 - 7:30 PM
HFF Program & Awards

7:45 PM
Silent Auction & Raffles Close

8:00 PM
Live Auction    

9:00 PM
Drawing for Clackacraft Boat                            

Live Music by The Fish Camp Boys