Blog

Box Canyon: Fishing in the "Box" continues to be productive with small beadhead nymphs and streamers. There is alot of moss and flotsom in the water so be prepared to spend some time cleaning off your rig during the day. A few of our favorite beadhead nymphs are red and black Krystal Zebra Midges, Pearl Crystal Pheasant Tails, red Copper John's, Red Headed Step-Childs and standard Pheasant Tails. A few of our favorite streamers are Sculpzillas, Sheila Sculpins, CH Double Bunnies and olive Big Gulp Sculpins.

Last Chance/Railroad Ranch: This section of the river has fished well with baetis, tricos, mahoganies and, on warm and bright sunny days, small (size 20) black ants. Some of the more productive areas on this stretch of the river include the area around the Log Jam, Millionaire's Pool, the Osborne Bridge area, Piney Point and the Wood Road. It's hard to beat any of the patterns that Rene has developed to imitate any of the afore mentioned insects. I might suggest you try his captive dun in BWO or Mahogany during these hatches. This is not a pattern that alot of anglers try but it has proven to be a very effective pattern for me when fishing over difficult fish (like all "Ranch" fish are).

Riverside to Warm River: As I have always repoted, this is a great section of river to escape to for some solitude and fun fishing. The fishing is uncomplicated and straight forward no matter what type of fishing you like to do. Dry fly, nymph and streamer techniques all produce fish here. The added bonus at this time of year is the spectacular fall colors. Reds, yellows and oranges captivate your senses at every glance. One word of advice at this time of year on this section of the river: BE BEAR AWARE!!!

Warm River to Ashton: This section of the river continues to surprise everyone. Starting with the salmon fly hatch and continuing through today this part of the river has produced consistent excellent fishing. Streamers, dry flies and nymphs are all producing excellent results. Lately the biggest fish have been caught on streamers but there have been some very fine fish taken on hoppers over the past month. Over the years fishermen have considered this section of river to be a nice place to fish for good numbers of fish but not very large fish. In years past a 14 or 15 inch fish was considered to be a real prize here. However, this year we have seen very good numbers of 16 to 20 inch fish caught on this section of the river. If you have not had an opportunity to fish here this year do yourself a favor and give it a try before the season is over.

Ashton to Saint Anthony: This section of the river has been a little slow to develope. There has been some baetis activity producing a little dry fly action for the guys who like to fish on top. The best fishing has been with nymphs and streamers especially from the Ashton Dam down to the Ora bridge. Look for this section of the river to get better as we get closer to October.

Henry's Lake: Fishing on Henry's has been very good to excellent over the past couple of weeks. All in all this has been a very good year for the lake after several slow seasons.

Madison River:  The flows are still high as PP&L has not been able to repair the dam at Hebgen. It appears that significant flow reduction is not in sight as stoplogs will not stay in the opening, indicating possible damage to the vertical channels designed to hold them. That being said, the river is fishing well.  Trout are rising along the bank to BWOs, caddis & terrestrials.  Nymphs and streamers have been producing some good fish.

Don't miss the Idaho premiere of the movie DRIFT on Friday, September 26th!

DRIFT @ TroutHunter - Friday, September 26th
All proceeds to benefit the Henry's Fork Foundation

A stunning visual journey, DRIFT combines the highest quality film production, world class flyfishing and an eclectic group of anglers to create the most definitive film about the sport to date.

DRIFT takes you on a cinematic adventure across the flats of Belize and the Bahamas, down the tailwaters of the Green, Frying Pan and the Big Horn, spey casting on the Deschutes, and exploring the exotic rivers of Kashmir, India.

Featuring Spey casters John & Amy Hazel, celebrated photographer and legendary angler Brian O'Keefe, salt water fanatics Ian Davis and Keith Paar, trout junkies R.A. Beattie, Adam Barker, Tommy Knight, Jordan Gage, Robert Boyce, Robert Eddins, permit specialists The Garbutt Brothers, the "Godfather of Bonefishing" Charlie Smith and TroutHunter's own Travis Smith and Jon Steihl.  For more on Jon & Travis' travels click here.

DRIFT began when destination flyfishing specialist Jim Klug joined forces with Drake Magazine Founder Tom Bie and 16-year Warren Miller Films veteran cinematographer Chris Patterson. Together they are Confluence Films, and their eagerly awaited release, DRIFT has certainly brought the genere of flyfishing entertainment to a new level. Photographed entirely on 16mm film and mastered in HD, with 5.1 surround sound, DRIFT looks, sounds and feels like no other flyfishing film out there.

DRIFT will be appearing in Island Park, Idaho at the TroutHunter on September 26th at "DUSK". YEP - we are doing an outdoor screening on the banks of the Henry's Fork behind TroutHunter, so bring a lawn chair and warm clothes. Weather permitting we will have a 16 x 20 foot outdoor screen set up for all to enjoy. All proceeds benefit the Henry's Fork Foundation - Tickets are $10 @ TroutHunter the night of the show. www.trouthunt.com 208 558 9900.

 

Box Canyon: Fishing in the "Box" continues to be very productive. Try streamers early and late and a tandem rig of small beadhead nymphs during the middle of the day. There is a little build up of moss on the bottom so if your fishing deep, like you should be, you will get hung up a bit. Some of our favorite patterns are Olive Sculpin Leeches, Olive Zonkers, Olive Sculpzillas, Olive Tung Head Minnows and Scheila Sculpins for streamers and BH Crystal Pheasant Tails, Tungsten BH Flashback Pheasant Tails, Black Krystal Zebra Midges and standard Brown Zebra Midges for the nymphs.

Last Chance/Railroad Ranch: Fishing on this portion of the Henry's Fork has been just about as it always is the last two weeks of August and the beginning of September. We have a number of different hatches going on but not any one hatch that is section wide and dominate. There are PMD's, Callibaetis, Tricos, a few Baetis and Mahogany's, Honey and Black Ants, at least two different types of caddis and Hoppers. At this time of year you pretty much have to come prepared to walk alot and be a true "Trouthunter".

Riverside to Warm River: This is still a great place to escape to for solitude and some great fishing with attractor dry flies and small nymphs.

Warm River to Ashton: This section of the river has been a very pleasant surprise all season long. Fishing has been excellent with streamers, nymphs and dry flies. Over the past week or so the hopper fishing has been great. If streamer fishing is your thing this section has produced some very respectable fish on a variety of streamer patters with the olive/white Double Bunny probably being the most productive.

Ashton to Saint Anthony: Fishing on this section of the river has started to pick up over the past week or so. Water temperatures have started to drop with the coming of shorter days and cooler nights and the streamer and nymph fishing has been good from early morning untill early afternoon. This section of river should just fish better and better as we move further into the month.

Henry's Lake: The lake has fished better this year than it has in years. Right now I would be concentrating on the areas around the various creek mouths especially if I were looking for a nice Brookie. Some of our favorite Henry's Lake patterns include California Leeches, Christmas Fly, Mighty Mouse and CBS Leeches.

Other Area Waters: As of today the Madison River over in Montana is under an emergency closure due to a mechanical failure at the Hebgen Dam. Flows have risen from 850 cfs to 3500 cfs and there is concern for the integrity of both Hebgen Dam and Quake Lake. Please call ahead if you are planning on fishing the Madison.