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Saturday May 29th marked the Idaho 2010 general fishing season opener. The opener included much of our home water here on the "upper" Henry's Fork river. Anglers who came from near and far to fish opening day have had to contend with some of the worst early season weather anyone can remember. During the past week we have had snow, hail, sleet, rain (to call what we have been getting simply rain would be a gross understatement, more like deluge of Noah's proportion), wind and lower than normal temperatures. That's the bad news. The good news is, in spite of the lousy weather, the fishing during this past week has ranged from good to excellent. How well you did depended on what section of the river you were fishing on any given day. A general summation of the fishing over the past week is as follows.

Box Canyon: The "Box" has produced consistently good fishing during the past week on a variety of different rubberleg nymphs, beadheads and streamers. The salmon flies are trying to hatch but the weather has kept the adults from getting in the air and on the water. Keep your eye on the weather and if you see a break in the rainy pattern get on this section of the river as soon as possible. We could still get in on some great top water action that this super hatch is famous for producing.

Last Chance/Wood Road/Pinehaven: Opening day produced excellent fishing with March Brown, baetis and adult salmon fly imitations. Those fishermen who braved the elements and were on the water the day of the opener were not disappointed. A good number of 20+ inch rainbows were reported to have been hooked and landed with many more hooked and lost. A few days of excellent fishing does not make a season but this early season success bodes very well for the days ahead especially after the exciting season we had last year.

Riverside/Hatchery Ford: This wilderness section of the river has fished very well over the past week. Rubberlegs, beadheads, streamers and adult salmon fly imitations have all taken fish on this "off the beaten path" part of the Henry's Fork. I see no reason why this section of the river should slow down over the next week or so. The golden stones should be the next super hatch to show up here. If you do get a chance to fish here over the next few days to a week make sure you still have some adult salmon fly patterns with you. The fish will continue to look for the big bugs even if they have pretty much hatched and passed through.

Cardiac Canyon: "Ditto" as above on this wilderness section of the river. Several of our guides have floated this part of the river over the past couple of days and the fishing can only be described as epic. The salmon flies are still present and the fish are looking up for them. Forget your droppers, just tie on your favorite adult salmon fly imitation and have some fun. A word of caution: If you decide to float this part of the river do not drive to far down the launch road as you could get stuck in the mud.

Warm River/Ashton: This section of the river has produced good fishing for mostly small to medium sized trout and whitefish over the past week or so. Salmon flies, rubber leggs, beadheads, March Brown's, caddis and streamers have all produced good results here. The river has taken on some color over the past day or two due to the heavy rain but it has continued to produce fish and it should clear quickly as the rain moderates over the next few days.

Ora to Chester: This part of the river has probably been the most fickle over the past week. There have been some great days interspersed with some difficult ones. Nymphing with a variety of beadheads and streamers have produced the best catches but there have been some dry fly opportunities with March Brown's, baetis and caddis.

Below Chester: This part of the river is probably off limits for the next few days due to the influence of the Falls River which is raging due to heavy rain and snow melt.

Henry's Lake: The lake fished very well on opening day with a variety of leech patterns but fishing the lake has been very difficult over the past few days because of the stormy weather. In spite of the weather a few anglers have reported good catches fishing zebra midges on floating lines while fishing near shore.  Guide Jake Chutz caught over 90 trout there yesterday with two clients (really!).  The largest was a 26" hybrid.