News and Fishing Reports

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