News and Fishing Reports

“Fall Trout Hunting on Henry’s Lake” by René Harrop There is something bordering on sinister when a half dozen top Henry’s fork guides are joined by still water master Gareth Jones from Wales and one of Japan’s most aggressive and effective anglers, Masa...

Box Canyon: Water releases out of the Island Park Dam are at 260 cfs. Normal releases for this time of year are 735 cfs. As you can see the water levels are presently far below average for this time in October. At 260 cfs it is very difficult to float the "Box" without punishing your...

By Rick Smith Box Canyon: Water releases from the Island Park Dam are slightly below normal at 600 cfs (725 cfs is average for this time of year). At this flow there is still enough water for floating but it is at a level that allows good wading opportunities for the shore fisherman. ...

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...

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

Box Canyon: The water releases from the Island Park Dam are a bit higher than normal for this time of the year (1390 cfs). Fishing in the "Box" continues to be very good to excellent. The most productive fishing has been with small, size 16 and 18, tungsten beadhead nymphs. Some of...

Box Canyon: Water releases from the Island Park Dam remain well below normal for this time of year. Present flows out of the dam are at 625 cfs which is about 300 cfs below average. These lower releases have made for some great fishing conditions for both the float and wading fishermen. The...

Box Canyon: Flows out of the Island Park Dam are now at 650 cfs which is a bit low for this time of year. Fishing continues to be good in the "Box" with rubber leggs, small beadhead nymphs and streamers. There have been golden stones hatching in the "Canyon" over the past...

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

Box Canyon: Fishing in the Box has been OK since the opener on May 23rd. At 1350 cfs the flow is above average for this time of year but the water is clear and very fishable. There have been a few salmon flies spotted down below the confluence with the Buffalo but not enough of them to get...

"A Message of Spring" Words and Images by René Harrop As the original fair weather fisherman, the Osprey’s autumn departure from the Henry’s Fork warns of winter’s arrival. Always the first to leave with the approach of cold weather, Osprey do not return...

The month of March arrived like a lion. We have had two really substantial snow events over the past two weeks adding greatly to our winter snowpack. Presently, Island Park is reporting in at 95% of average precipitation and over the divide in Montana the Madison is coming in at 95%, the...

Snowpack figures for the area have declined slightly since my last report. Current figures put the upper Henry's Fork at around 91% of average through the 24th of February. The same is true for the Montana side of the divide with the upper Madison coming in at 87%.  All things considered...

A Henry’s Fork Forecast for 2009 by René Harrop For more than a decade, members of the scientific community have attributed draught related trout mortality to inadequate water flows. If this assumption is correct, anglers should expect to see considerably improved trout numbers...

I can't believe that one full month has already slipped by in the new year. We here at Trouthunter would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support in 2008 and look forward to seeing and visiting with you in 2009. Now that the election is over, the holidays are past and...

Box Canyon: The "Box" continues to fish well with streamers and small (size 16 to 20) beadhead nymphs. Presently the flows are at 220 cfs which is great for wading or those individuals with pontoon boats but it's a little skinny for drift boats. Last Chance/Railroad Ranch: Fishing...

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...

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...

Box Canyon: The "Box" continues to produce good fishing. Best results have been with small beadhead nymphs and streamers. Try streamers early and late in the day and nymphs from late morning through the afternoon hours. For streamers we suggest Sculpzilla's, Olive Zonkers, Olive...

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...

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...

Box Canyon:  The "Box" continues to produce great fishing day after day after day.  Granted, this is not the first choice for a serious dry fly fisherman.  However, if you are an avid nymph fisherman, or you don't mind fishing two fly rigs under a strike indicator, this...

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...

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...

Saturday, May 24th, was the Idaho general fishing season opener and anglers across the state were greeted with high, and in most cases, muddy water due to the Spring snow melt. The Henry's Fork was no exception. In spite of the higher than normal flows the Box Canyon, which has clear water by the...

Each Spring Rene, Marty and I manage to get out on the water in late May for a few hours.  The ritual, which is always met with great anticipation, is predictable:  We meet at TroutHunter and buy a few gigantic orange flies, proceed to the Grubstake to load up on Natty Lites and ice, then...

Historically we no longer expect to add to snow pack levels after the 15th of April.  What we have by mid-April is all we should expect to get.  However, as I write this report a huge storm is coming across the border from Canada, it is expected to arrive sometime during the next 24 to 36...

We are more than 80% into our 2008 snow season and snowpacks are still looking very good. The latest figures for the Henry's Fork drainage puts us at 111% of average for our snowpack and 106% of average for water content. Over in Montana the most recent reports show the Madison River drainage at...