Warm River ID

Fishing Fishing Reports
1

Warm River is a tributary to the Henry’s Fork east of Ashton, ID. It is a spring creek, with the mainstem forming for many miles above the old Fish Hatchery, supplemented by Warm Springs. There is nothing but wilderness between the river and Yellowstone National Park. On the way in this afternoon, I had to pass this meadow.

Then, as I approached the Hatchery, I was greeted by a moose in the middle of the river. Unfortunately, by the time I could get out of the truck to get her photo, she had moved to the far side of the river.

The mainstem of the Warm River heads back up this canyon for miles. Over the past several years, I’ve fished about five miles of it, starting at the hatchery and heading upstream for several miles and accessing it at a point further up and then fishing down a couple miles. It is quite a delightful dry fly stream with lots of bows, mostly 8" to 12", and brookies, mostly 6" to 9".

The river usually runs crystal clear and low, but today it was really off color and quite high. I hiked about a mile upstream and tried fishing for a few minutes, but then noticed a BUNCH of mosquitos on both legs and arms and decided I didn’t want to deal with them. Good fishing conditions would have outweighed the inconvenience of the mosquitos, but fishing was not going to be fun up there today.

Warm Springs flows out of the hillside just below the hatchery and puts 200 CFS at 50F into the river. Its not really clear in the photo, but the difference between the water from the mainstem in the foreground and the water from the spring is quite remarkable.

I wandered downstream about a quarter mile and met some folks from Utah who were taking a lunch break. They had fished for a while down from where they were taking their break and had only caught one small bow between them. Another fellow was fishing that area and had caught a dozen or so typical Warm River bows.

The couple from Utah mentioned that about a half dozen grizzly bears have been spotted quite recently upstream from the old hatchery. Maybe I should send a thank you note and a pint of fresh blood to those mosquitos ??

2

Great post; thanks a bunch… :slight_smile:

3

again i am amazed at the paradise that you live in! love the pictures an story john, as usual!
chris

ps. buy some bear spray!!!

4

It surely is beautiful country! Thanks for sharing John.
Mike

5

Chris -

The FIRST priority in this area is bear spray. It is always in the outer right hand bottle holder of my day pack. It is the one thing that I love to buy and hate to use !!

John

6

John,
In ‘77’, we hired a Guide from Mike Lawson’s Shop and he took us to the Warm River. I have a photo on the wall of a rainbow in the grass, that I caught that day. On another un-Guided trip, my wife and I waded a few miles downstream from the source and we walked the old railroad tracks on the way back to the truck. She was more than upset with me because she had very heavy waders on during the hike back.
Doug

7

Doug -

Do you recall if you fished upstream from the hatchery, or downstream ?? More likely, a guide would fish below the Warm Springs because the river is so much bigger there, and the spring creek effect so much more pronounced. Also, there are bigger fish downstream, and some brown trout, to boot.

I’ve fished a lot of the water from the hatchery downstream to Bear Gulch, which is about five miles. Very different water and fishing from the upstream section I was on yesterday.

My wife and I hiked the old railroad grade from the Bear Gulch area up to just west of the meadow shown in the first picture at the end of May five years ago. Saw two gray wolves. Had binoculars and watched them for about ten minutes as they made their way around the perimeter of another large meadow. Quite a treat. A few days later we went back, and saw another one.

John

8

John,
It was below the springs. I don’t remember a Fish Hatchery? Were was it?
Doug

9

It’s been closed for years, but it’s location is right where the water comes out of the side of the mountain. (See John’s fourth picture) The small stream joins it there.

10

John Great post. At 50 f that spring is not really that warm. I had a 300 gallon per hour warm spring on my property in Cranbrook BC that came out of the ground at 72f. After the juneau earthquake It stopped for two months then finally started up again.

In Banff National park Alberta there is a hot springs and marsh that supports a thriving population of tropical fish like swordtails, guppys and many other tropical fish. Placed there many many years ago by some unknown person.

What wonderful country you live in even with the grizz.

If you always travel with bear spray I’m sure it would drive off those puny Idaho mosquitos. :roll:

It doesn’t work on Northern Alberta mosquitos though, we often used to see the Airforce f-18s dogfighting with them to sharpen their top guns.

11

John,
On both trips to the Warm River, we never caught anything bigger than a twelve inch rainbow. I’m sure the Guide took us there because it was my wife’s first time fly fishing. She never let me forget that day for 32 years! :slight_smile:
Doug

12

Doug -

For all the times I’ve fished both up and down from the springs, I’ve only caught a few fish over 12".

In the area I “scouted” the other day, I did get the biggest surprise of my fly fishing experience. Expecting to catch only bows under 12" and brookies under 9", I hooked into and landed a 17" BROWN TROUT. He had to get through two beaver dams to get where he was holding. But I suspect all the brookie dinners he had available made it worth his while. Only brown trout I’ve seen or heard about in that section of the river.

The hatchery was a very small one. There is a cabin still there ( available as a rental to the public, through the Forest Service, I believe ), and an old barnlike structure which housed the hatchery operation. If you didn’t know that is the purpose it served, you would never think it had been a hatchery.

Gnu Bee -

The name Warm Springs and Warm River do seem a bit strange for a 50F spring creek. Wet wading it, especially in early summer just down from the springs, that river is anything but warm. As I recall, the river was not named for the temperature of the water, but the fact that it never freezes, even in the coldest winters, which fact is due more to the gradient down to the Henry’s Fork than the water temps.

I would use a $35 can of bear spray with an 8 second supply on mosquitos while in the middle of grizzly country ??? NOT LIKELY !!!

Also, I’m one of those fortunate people who is not typically bothered by mosquito bites. When I brushed off my legs the other day, they were both smeared with blood ( not a full pint but enough to notice ) from the happy little critters. Haven’t had an itch from any of the bites, which aren’t even really noticeable.

John

13

Please John,
For the sake of those of us who follow your reports religeously, use some repellent. Not bear repellent. 'Skeeter repellent. Even if they don’t bother you that much, West Nile virus is not uncommon in our area, and it’s effects on several of my friends and aquaintances are debilitating. Dope up Bud.:smiley: Nice pics, of one of my favorite places. We had a girls camp at the old hatchery several years ago, and floated the first quarter mile below the springs on inner tubes. Happy Hypothermia. Brrrr.

14

Lew -

Appreciate the concern. But I really can’t stand skeeter sprays. Almost rather use the bear spray on the bugs than DEET and its equivalents.

Very few places I fish present that kind of “hazzard.” If I think it is likely that I will run into them, I wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt. If the fishing is good, I’ll take what I consider a minimal risk. If the fishing is not good, I walk fast enough that the mosquitos are not a problem.

John

Jim told me that Bruce found himself in the presence of a grizzly up in Yellowstone in the past week or so. He called out to get the bear’s attention, which he did, and then backed away calmly and avoided an encounter. Not that Bruce was calm, but he did keep it together.

Not sure why there are so many grizzlies down in the Warm River area this year. They have been reported in the general area east of Ashton every year recently, but not in those numbers, at least from what I’ve heard.