Harriman Ranch--anyone?

[jlo]

Anyone hit the Ranch for the opener? My guide buddy said it was insane--crowds and the fish. Any gossip? Slander?

[Robert w]

I drove by there on my way home from Henrys lake and there were mobs of people. I didn't see any bend rods. The guys at the fly shop said there wasn't to many hatches coming off. Robert W

[jlo]

I talked to my source up there and it's starting to pick up. Green Drakes will be early this year.

[Cor]

I was up there last week. There was no action on the Harriman Ranch when we went (three times in the evening...after 7 pm). I didn't hear of anyone having much luck on Harriman or the Box.

Ashton area was good, but I've seen it hotter. Saw one or two drakes, but not many. Lots of Caddis, PMD, and midge hatches. Our last day there I saw lots of StoneFlies, but SF patterns didn't seem to work.

Cor

[RAW]

Close to 200 fly fishers in the Harriman Ranch area. 48 cars parked at the mailbox for the hike in. Crowds will thin as rumors of it being overrated start to fly again. Two fly fishers from Japan on the river overlook by the Lempke monument were already shaking their heads and saying "overrated."

[moonflower]

Fished in Harriman SP and other sections of the Henry's Fork on June 29. Many people, a few Drakes around 10 am, picked up three bows on a GD emerger. At 10:45, everything shut down. The omnipotent fish of the river sent out the dive order, and all the other fishes obeyed. So we drove south to Ashton.

The wind started cranking at noon, 40mph +, and lasted until dusk. Luckily the wind was out of the south, so if you got your line in the air, it would be carried upstream, and line up for a good drift. Fished the afternoon just downstream from the Ora bridge, had two bows on red copper johns dropped of a rubber leg. Then at 4pm, we came across a pod of rising fish that were rising to the caddis and PED's that were being blown across the water. Landed two very nice bows, on an x-caddis pattern. Strong fish, long burning runs, and highly acrobatic.

At dusk, went back to the Ranch for the brown drake hatch. It went off at about 9:15 and was going strong when I left at 10:15. Just too dark, and a few moose decided it was time to feed in that section of the river. Landed two fish on spent wing brown drake patterns. Unfortunately, both of these fish were Whitefish. It was a challenging day on the Henry's Fork, just the way it should be.

Fish On

[jlo]

I was up there last Friday evening. There were a few fish up on drakes and more people than fish. Oh well. Public Service Announcement. If you are fishing on the Ranch be very careful when wading. Step on the gravel, not on the mud if at all possible. Sending mud down on other anglers is bad joo-joo, and I will strike down with mighty . . . I spent a good hour working one Oprah-ish fish and was totally denied. I cast 6 different bugs at him. Right at complete butt-ass dark-thirty, I tied on a parachute ant and the freakin' thing ate it--went on a kamikaze run straight at me, changed directions, broke off--bye, bye. God, I love that place.