News and Fishing Reports

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!