Henry's Fork

[Jason]

Hit the Fork this past weekend. There were so many bugs we had a hard time figuring it all out. Gotta love the Fork. Right now there have been some descent Flav hatches in the afternoon and evening mixed in with PMD's in sizes 16-20, Callibaetis, Tricos, and caddis. Our best flies were a CDC PMD downed wing pattern, rusty spinner, and a small size 20 trico spinner. The spinner falls were great. The key to fishing this time of year is to hunt for the trout. There were times when I didn't make a cast for 30 minutes searching for rising trout. Once you found one, a stealthy downstream approach was needed. Fishing was very tough as usual, but the fish that were caught made it all worth while. Last Chance, Harriman Ranch, the Channels, and Bonefish Flats are fishing the best. We did see some Golden's but nothing to get the fish going. The crowds were pretty much non-existent, but the weather and wind played havic on our casting. This is a great time to get up there to test your technical dry fly fishing. FISH ON!

[Fred]

Where are the channels and bonefish flats?

When I was there July 19 and 20, it was so hot and sunny that any hatch during the day didn't stand a chance. Early-morning and late-evening the caddis hatch was good and the fish would become more active. I fished near Harriman Ranch, by Island Park, near Ashton, and upstream from St. Anthony. I caught fish in all four sections, but they were either small or whitefish. In the evening on the 19th, the caddis hatch was good and produced the most fish near Harriman Ranch, but it started so late in the evening that I was only able to fish it for about 45 minutes.

I hear what you're saying about stalking the fish. It was my first time up there and had never fished a river as big, but slow moving as it was near Harriman State Park. You can really wade anywhere you want to. I didn't realize this. So, after the caddis hatch died down in the morning, I kind of walked around and try to figure out what to do. The slow moving water and thick weeds made nymphing impractical. Then, I noticed a couple fishing and they both had a fish on. Overheard her say that it was number 10. So, I watched what they did. Basically, they spotted a rising fish, waded over to it, and threw a dry fly until the fish either took it or went down.

I'm going back up in a couple of weeks to fish that area with the old man for a few days. I'm looking forward to trying it again. It's a challenging river.

Jason, tell me about the CDC dun you were using.

[K.B.]

Fred,

I was up there the same weekend. Friday afternoon from about 4:00 to 6:00, the Flavs were on. The clouds brought on a pretty good hatch. We were fishing the north end of Harriman and I hooked up a couple of nice fish using a #14 olive sparkle dun. Seeing those massive bows come up and swallow your fly is heart-stopping!

I played the first one for a few minutes before it separated itself from my fly, much to my anguish. The second broke me off almost immediately. Caught a number of smaller fish, but those two I lost still haunt me.

In the evening, the caddis were thick, but fish were taking PMD spent spinners.

Saturday morning and evening we fished the bonefish flats area. PMD duns in the morning and spinners in the evening, with a few flying ants thrown in here and there. The Flavs didn't really show. My buddy landed a nice 17 incher on the ant.

Sunday we fished the morning PMD hatch below Osborne Bridge. There are some deep areas down there . . . I took a short swim trying to get across the river. Again, tough but consistent, and we didn't latch on to any big ones.

Anyway, if your like me, once you been to the Henry's Fork, and particularly Harriman Ranch, you have to go back. I've already got my next trip planned for October.

K.B.

[Fred]

I heard that the flavs might come out Friday afternoon. From 4:00 to 6:00 when you saw them, I was fishing right across from Harriman Ranch and there were none. In fact, I ran into a couple from Provo. They were sitting on the bank waiting for a hatch. To their dismay, they had not caught a fish all day throwing hoppers and with no hatch, they decided to wait it out. I was fishing out in the deeper water to sporadic risers and caught a few small fish on, what the heck was it, sh-- I forgot. Anyway, about 8:00 the caddis hatch was getting thick and the fish were rising. Then, the fishing got a little better until dark.

[Jason]

Bonefish flats are located about a mile downstream from the log jam/Last Chance area. The river is about 150 yards wide at one point and it's slow calm moving water. There are some good fish down there. This is not a nymphing river unless you want to dredge the bottom in the Box Canyon or Riverside. It's pretty much a dry fly fisherie. In fact, the locals will shun you for nymphing the Ranch or Last Chance areas. Either way, it's all about stalking the fish and finding the players. If you only catch a couple fish in a day, consider it a good day. If you want to catch white fish or smaller fish, then focus on the small riffles with nymphs. The big boys will most likely be caught on dry flies in the flat calm water.