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Jon Stiehl fishing an epic PMD hatch on The Ranch. Photo by C. Robinson.
Fishing Report by Rick Smith

Box Canyon: Flows below the Island Park Dam are well below average for this time of year at 735 cfs. Average flows for this date are 998 cfs. 735 cfs is more than adequate for effective float fishing but is low enough for decent wading for the bank fisherman. The "Box" has fished well over the past couple of weeks with fisherman reporting good catches using a variety of small (size 16 & 18) tungsten beadhead nymphs, streamers and adult golden stone, PMD and caddis imitations.

Last Chance/Railroad Ranch/Wood Road 16: The "Ranch" section of the Henry's Fork has been living up to it's reputation as one of the premier destination flyfishing locations in the world for most of the 2009 season. After several summers of less than stellar fishing the "Ranch" is back! The overall numbers of fish are up significantly and the number of rainbows over 20 inches is almost hard to comprehend. In addition to increased numbers of fish, the mayfly hatches, that made the "Ranch" world famous as much as the free rising rainbows, are stronger this year than they have been in years. Presently there are PMD's, Tricos, Callibaetis, Mahogany Duns and at least two or three different species of caddis hatching on the river along with a small (size 20) black ant, a large (size 14) dark honey ant and your usual late summer beetles and hoppers. All of this insect activity has the fish on the alert and feeding from early morning until well after dark. Do not misinterpret this enthusiastic report to mean that the fish are any easier to fool than usual. There have been periods, especially when the ants, both black and dark honey, have been on the water when the fish have been less wary than usual but for the most part you are going to leave the water shaking your head over how incredibly selective these "Railroad Ranch" rainbows can be.

Riverside to Hatchery Ford & Cardiac Canyon: Fishing in these out-of-the-way sections of the Henry's Fork continues to be very good to excellent. Attractor dry flies and hoppers are producing some fun dry fly fishing for good numbers of small to medium size fish. You will have to fish deep with stone fly nymphs and streamers if you want to hook up with bigger fish.

Warm River to Ashton: This section of the river is still producing great fishing for small to medium size trout and whitefish using small (size 8 & 10) rubber legs, small (size 16 & 18) beadhead nymphs and attractor and terrestrial dry flies. Try stripping streamers to stir up those big browns that live in this part of the Henry's Fork.

Ashton to Saint Anthony: There has been some decent fishing down on this part of the river very early in the morning and again late in the afternoon and through the evening. This is the time of year to start stripping streamers on this portion of the river.

Henry's Lake: Fishing on the lake has been slow over the past couple of weeks but we expect things to begin to improve as we move out of the month of August and into the month of September.

Hebgen Lake (Montana): Gulper fishing on Hebgen has been excellent on those days when the wind doesn't blow before one or two o'clock. Rumbaugh Bay continues to produce consistent fishing with scuds, damsel nymphs and leeches.

Madison River (Montana): Fishing on that portion of the river below Quake Lake all the way to Ennis has been good and consistent with dries, nymphs and streamers. If you plan on fishing the Madison between the West Fork and Ruby Creek make sure you have a few Spruce Moth imitations with you.

 

Box Canyon: Flows out of the Island Park reservoir are slightly below average for this time of year at around 1000 cfs. Fishing in the "Box" continues to be very good with small (size 16 & 18) tungsten beadhead nymphs, size 8 rubber legs, streamers and adult golden stone imitations.

Last Chance/Railroad Ranch/Wood Road 16: There have been plenty of opportunities to cast to rising fish from the Log Jam down to Millionaire's Pool from eight in the morning until around noon and again in the evening from seven until dark. The fish are mostly looking for Flav and PMD spinners. There has also been good activity around the Gravel Pit area down to Piney Point. Again, the fish seem to be looking for both Flav and PMD spinners. The fishing down off of the Wood Road has been nothing short of spectacular in terms of numbers of fish and numbers of "Big" fish! However, the water is stained red with the blood of fishermen who have taken a good old fashioned butt kicking from those fish down there. There have been good hatches of PMD's, caddis, midges and still a few Flav's providing those fish with a smorgasbord of insect goodies in all stages of development. If you want to test your medal as a fisherman I suggest you give the Wood Road a try but don't forget your Valium.

Riverside to the Warm River: Fishing in this somewhat remote section of the Henry's Fork continues to be very good to excellent. We hosted several guided trips in this section of the river over the past few days and the guides reported excellent catches with dries, nymphs and streamers.

Warm River to Ashton: Fishing on this section of the river has been excellent with dries, nymphs and streamers. If there have been any complaints about the fishing here it has been that there have been a lot of small to medium size trout caught and a whole bunch of whitefish especially if your fishing with beadhead nymphs. No one has complained about the amount of action.

Ashton to Saint Anthony: Fishing down here has become pretty much a morning and evening affair. PMD spinners, caddis and midges both morning and evening.

Other area waters: Hebgen Lake (Montana): The Callibaetis fishing has been very good over the past couple of weeks. Fishing starts early and is usually over by one or two o'clock. Rumbaugh Bay has been producing very well with a variety of leech, scud and damsel patterns.

Madison River below Quake Lake: Fishing on this popular fishery has been very good to excellent with dries, nymphs and streamers from Quake Lake all the way down to Ennis Lake. PMD's and caddis have been the main hatches.