News and Fishing Reports

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 way, fished OK. Big stonefly nymphs fished deep and streamers were the ticket for opening day and should continue to be the flies of choice over the next week. The water in the upper Henry's Fork, though high, has remained clear and fishable. However, access to the river in the Wood Road 16 to Warm River section remains difficult to impossible due to lingering snow and extremely wet and muddy road and trail conditions. The water in the Warm River to Ashton section is high and off color but it has fished well over the past week, including opening day. Again, stonefly nymphs, combined with a smaller beadhead nymph, has produced fish, as has streamers. A few adult salmonflies were spotted and a few few nice fish were even caught on the big dries. If the weather warms up for a few days, expect the salmonflies to pop. The Ashton to Chester section is high and off color but has produced a few fish with big stonefly nymphs and streamers. Fishing below Chester is pretty much impossible right now due to high flows and dirty water. Henry's Lake opened Saturday to mixed reviews. I talked to several fishermen who said they had great luck fishing various scud patterns and big Chironomids. I also talked to a number of fishermen who said they had a real slow day for the opener. It looks like our season is going to be a little slow to get going due to the above average snow pack we had this winter and a cool and wet Spring. However, all this water bodes well for the coming season and should produce excellent water conditions throughout the Summer and into the Fall.
-Rick Smith