Henry's Fork of the Snake

[JohnScott]

Delightful weather today. Thought I would check out a section of the lower Henry's Fork that I fished last fall with very good results. It is below St. Anthony, and is very different from the upper stretches. This has proven to be brown trout water, almost exclusively. Out of well over a hundred fish I caught in this stretch last fall, only two were rainbows, the rest browns.

Upstream from my access.



Looking downstream.



Fished here from about 12:30 to 3:30, with the Pine Squirrel Cheater on a Class II full sinking line with a 9 foot 1X leader. Got some action in the first spot I fished, a small slot about half way across the river. Picked up a small brown and had a couple hits that did not connect.

Worked my way downstream about half a mile, hitting water that looked good. It was slow, but fairly steady, with mostly smaller browns, like 8-12", quite a few hits, and several fish in the 13-14" bracket.

The water was very clear, and the flows are low right now so wading is quite easy, except there are a few spots where you have to be careful not to get into deeper and faster water without a safe out. Almost made that mistake here a couple times last fall - didn't get wet, but sure thought I was going for a swim a couple times.

There was a strong midge hatch going on, mixed with quite a few blue wing olives. But very few fish up, not enough to go to a dry fly.

Ended up with a dozen or so fish in hand, several that escaped enroute, and quite a few hits, enough to keep it interesting. Will probably give it another go in the next week or so to see if it gets a good hatch with fish up. If it isn't any better than it was today, will probably just save it for the fall.

[joerogrz]

John I'm always impressed with your pictures and reports. I love the scenery. It reminds me of the scenery I see in old westerns. I'd love to be there to enjoy it myself.

[Wild One]

I also really enjoy seeing shots from close to home and reading your reports John. I hope you dont mind that I kind of live vicariously through you and your reports.

[JohnScott]

Joe and Ryan -

Glad you enjoy the pictures and reports. I enjoy writing about my days on the water as a way of reliving the moment, and sharing them with others who might not have had a chance to be out on their own river, stream, or lake that day.

John

P.S. If you look closely at just about the center of the second photo, you will see a bare tree trunk against the far bank. Between there and the two tall trees to the left, last September I had on my biggest fish yet. From seeing him just after he took the streamer and from the way he pulled, I guesstimated him to be 26-28", maybe more, of brown trout. He ran once, paused, and ran again. When I looked down, there were three or four wraps of fly line over the backing. The water below him, on the far left of the photo, is fast and deep. No way I was going to follow him. I figured that if I let him run again, I would lose him down there, or take forever landing him, and probably kill him in the process. I decided to hold him, if I could. He quickly broke off a 2X 10# tippet. He did leave me with one of the clearest ten second memories of my fly fishing life.

A couple days later, just below the far log on the near side of the river, I caught a 21" brown and a 22" brown on back to back casts. I could hold them, strip them in, and release them in not much more than a minute each. Tells you something more about that big hog that broke off. And about this stretch of the Henry's Fork. In the five or six times I fished it last fall, I saw only one other fly fisherman. He was in a drift boat, and did not touch a fish the entire time he was in sight. One of the reasons I like wade fishing, the chance to really work good water.

[mnklagoon]

john ,
it is so great to come home from a very long day and read your great fishing reports. its like an ongoing story book that never ends but is always happy! fishing just brings out the kid in me! anyway i just wanted to thank you for the enjoyment you provide.

chris

[JeffHamm]

Hi John,

Great report and great looking water. I'm curious, have you tried soft hackles on a floating line through those riffles? Looking at the photos you posted that would be my first approach, hence my curiosity (vicarious fishing can be fun you know! ha!)

- Jeff

[JohnScott]

Jeff -

Not yet - but it is an approach that would almost certainly produce some fine fishing under the right conditions.

During the fall, the browns around here are very aggressive and like meat. So I started fishing here with streamers, and have done so well I just haven't bothered to use any other tactics.

If I see fish up during a hatch, a soft hackle is a given part of the approach. Maybe next time I am up there ??

John

[JeffHamm]

Thanks for that John. I'm with you on the stick with what works approach; as they say if it ain't broke don't fix it! I would give SHs a go if you're there for a hatch, or even juston a warm sunny day with sporadic insect activity and clear water conditions. I've often found that's when SHs come into there own.

- Jeff

[JohnScott]

After getting a few things squared away this morning, decided I would take a chance on the weather on Henry's Fork, north of St. Anthony. Turned off to Chester Dam to see what the water looked like. Better weather than forecast, cool but only a light breeze rather than the winds predicted, and better water than expected, what with the run off getting started.

Haven't really fished this section of the river before. Which is odd, because several years ago I was on a survey team with Fish and Game and we electroshocked this section. We boated hundreds of bows, browns, cuttbows and whitefish, with lots of bows over 18" and browns to 21". So I've known all along that the fish were in here, I just never bothered.

This is actually the third riffle I fished, but gives a good view of this section of Henry's Fork.


Started about 2:30 with the pine squirrel streamer. Had only fished for a few minutes when quite a few fish started rising. Enough to go to a dry fly. Put on a size 18 biot bodied parachute bwo and got some action. Caught two bows on the bwo, and had several looks, but then they quit on it. Put on a soft hackle p.t. ( thank you, Jeff ), and quickly caught a nice bow and missed one that really hit it hard but didn't hook up.

This bow is about average, maybe a little on the smaller side, but really healthy.


The hatch changed from a light bwo emergence to a good caddis hatch. Put on an Xcaddis and got nothing. Changed to a sparkle caddis emerger. Several more bows and a whitefish. Then a brown trout.

Decided to try the gray CDC biot bodied caddis. Bingo. Several bows took it fairly quickly. Most were in the 13-14" range, but a couple larger fish did come to hand.

Things started slowing down where I started, so I headed downstream. Found a nice riffle with fish up. Fed a good number of bows and a smaller cuttbow the CDC and biot.

Company and competition - resident osprey.


Something caught my attention, just on the edge of my peripheral vision. Looked up in time to see the end of a big splash, and as it settled, an osprey's wings, then body took shape just above the water's surface. It rose, with a nice trout in its talons, big enough to really weigh it down. It took off upstream with its cargo, not gaining more than about ten feet altitude in the first hundred feet. Then it got up some steam and started climbing. Not too long before it was out of sight.

Went back to fishing. Slowed down, so I moved downstream again to another riffle. This one was rather shallow, and there were fish rising regularly. Still had on a CDC / biot caddis. Took some really nice bows, and then a cuttbow, then some more bows, and lost several along the way.

The cuttbow was not the biggest but it was the strongest fish I landed all day.


Finished about 6:00. It had really quieted down and it was time to head home for some dinner. Ended up with a Henry's Fork grandslam - bows, a brown, two cuttbows and a whitefish. Somewhere around 25 fish altogether. One of the better days I've had on the Henry's Fork. Guess I'll be going back.

[JohnScott]

Today was just about a carbon copy of yesterday - same time, same weather, same gear. Except the fishing was really slow for the first hour or so. At least there was some new company on the river.



Had a really good caddis hatch starting about 3:00 today.



The trout must have slept in late, or been full up from yesterday. Very few up even with that kind of hatch going on. Finally did find a spot where there were a good number of fish rising regularly. Fished the gray CDC biot caddis exclusively, in sizes 16 and 14. The caddis looked more like 14's, but the fish liked the smaller ones better. Maybed I tied them better ?? Caught seven in one place and moved on.

This was one of the prettier bows today. The fly looks better in this picture than on my fly tying desk.



Found another spot with a fair number of fish up. Seemed like I really had to work hard to catch some of them, but ended up with half a dozen, including a brown.



Moved on upstream, heading for the truck, when I came to a nice spot to finish the day. Not much going on, just an occasional rise, but the water looked so good I had to try it. Caught three smaller bows just fishing the water. Then a nice fish came up about 12-15 feet in front of me. Third cast - bingo. One of the bigger fish of the day at about 17". That sure was a nice way to end the day.

Finished with about fifteen bows in hand and one brown. Was hoping to catch a whitefish, of all things, to get a picture for the record, but no such luck. Both yesterday and today, about half the fish were ones I targeted after seeing them rise, and half were ones caught while fishing the water.

Yesterday, I had the place to myself. Today there were a number of people around. Chatted with a fellow from Bozeman for a few minutes while he was waiting for his partner, from Ogden, to catch up. They had drifted the section above Chester yesterday and today, and had done well. Yesterday it was all subsurface for them, but today they had good action on caddis dries.