HF: got a choice: warm to ashton, or ashton to below: comments?

[jdubya]

I have floated warm river to ashton res. and have waded below the ashton dam but have not floated. I am gonna do one of these on saturday. anybody been on these lately? equal floats?? lots of rocks to hit??

one problem with the warm to ashton seemed a lack of places to pull over and wade fish, while "they say" there are lots of gravel bars below the dam for that purpose. is that true???

[longrod]

Just passing on info from yesterday. The water level is great and the water is clean. You may want to stay away from below Ashton Dam unless you go below Vernon Bridge. It is closed from Ashton Dam to the vernon Bridge. Bring stoneflies. I mean big dries!!!!!!!! You will have alot of company this weekend because the big bugs are out. Who knows what this weather is going to do? If is stays cold the hatch will slow down. Maybe this will make up for my last post. The fishing was very good. Longrod

[castnblast]

I did the Vernon to Chester dam float late last week. It is an excellent float.

Check your email.

-castnblast

[Teewinot]

There are several places to pull over and fish below Ashton Dam, just don't miss the take out or we might not see you posting anymore. Watch for where Fall River comes in and then start getting to the left.

[Crosby]

The recent newspaper articles in the Post Register (Idaho Falls) about public access problems on the lower Henrys Fork at “Seeley’s” and Stone Bridge are only part of the story. Most anglers on the lower Henrys Fork seem to be unaware that virtually all of the access presently open to the public is actually on/across private land. Below the confluence of the Henrys Fork and Warm River the only publicly owned access points are the “take out” at Ashton Reservoir, the access at the southeast side of Ora Bridge (all other areas around the bridge are private) and the access at Chester. ALL the other access points are in private ownership. This includes foot access as well as boat launching points. A couple of the major landowners (personal friends of mine) have expressed serious concerns about continued public use of their property. This is a partly a result of the greatly increased use of their property for access, but more importantly, a result of increased abuse. The sad truth is regular users of the river are as much to blame as first time users. Regular users of the area are so accustomed to the access they seem to forget they’re on private ground. People need to be aware that their actions can affect us all. Don’t litter, don’t block roads, park only in established parking areas and most of all treat the area and owner with respect. These landowners are mostly farmers. When you block roads and gates, litter, camp without permission, maker your own roads and parking spots, bring unsupervised kids or pets -- then you are wearing out your welcome. A very good example, but not the only example, is a lower Henrys Fork “regular” (dark grey pickup with 1T plates) who always brings his dogs along for the fishing trip. He’s in the same place most of the time – on private land – enjoys his fishing but leaves his dogs totally on their own. Just this past week I saw both his dogs more than a mile away, out of sight of him, up the river, past the homes/lawns/gardens/pets of the landowner. If the fisherman continue to abuse the courtesy of the landowners they will soon lose the courtesy of the landowners and basically be shut out of the lower Henrys Fork.

[Trav]

Crosby,

Thanks for the info. This is a sad but true sign of the times. Unfortunately most people do not realize this until access is threatened or completely taken away.

I know this first hand with one of my other hobbies. People decide to take things into their own hands until areas are completely closed.

Again, thanks. Maybe the HFF could post fishermen friendly signs regarding your comments.

Trav

[Crosby]

Trav- not my comments- Mel from the Westfly board posted that- he lives in
Ashton

[Don]

jdubya,

I'll be up there this weekend. So if you end up going, keep an eye out for a claka with a dark blue and black stripe. I'll have my wife and daughter with me as well.

Anyone that has been up there recently I wouldn't mind hearing how it's been if you don't mind sharing?

worthingtondon@hotmail.com

Thanks for any info.

[jdubya]

thanks all: we're gonna do the warm river to ashton float. can't be more people and boats than there were on the Green the other saturday. can't be, right???

don, i'll look for you. we'll be in a woodie: I'll be untangling my brother's line....

[jdubya]

Good water on the Warm to Ashton float. Day started off cold as I locked my keys in the truck while arranging the shuttle. $30 lighter, 45 minutes later, we hit the river.

Saw Don on the river: looked like they caught some nice fish. Don should chime in but the funny thing was that even though the salmon flies were on the river, I never saw a fish take one. They would flop around on the surface like a downed hummingbird, but they would continue to float until I finally lost sight of them. That is a lot of calories to ignore!! Caddis were hatching: they were the consistent bugs for me of the day.

Still managed to hit nearly every rock on the river: I take pride in my work!!

[raposaNegra]

Some days on the HF during salmon fly season you could walk from bank to bank on the boats as they go by, and never touch the water.

[raposaNegra]

A great stretch to hit, that doesn't see as much traffic (if the salmon flies are up that far yet) is the stretch right below lower Mesa Falls. You can wade fish it or float it (but floating it involves lowering your boat down 200 yards of mountain side on a rope). I like walking up right to the base of lower mesa falls. Last year (when it opened) there were all kinds of Salmon flies right below the falls (now it is open year round).

[Stoney Clarke]

You need to stay a day ahead of the Salmon Fly hatch. They probably gorged a day or two ahead of time. I'm sure the constant sound of cracking wood vibrating through the water did not help.

SC

[castnblast]

Spent the morning up at Riverside; virtually no other fisherman and the stoneflies were popping. Fishing was excellent; however, just like Jdubya said...the fish weren't zeroing in on the adults. They were gorging themselves on the nymphs!

I gotta say though, wading this stretch is taking your life in your hands! I fell 3 times, once while trying to land a fish I fell face first, filling my waders completely with water! That scared me a bit! I am now considering getting some boots with aqua stealth soles, my felt soles didn't seem to help one bit on those polished rocks.

We floated from Vernon to Chester and then from Chester to Fun Farm in the afternoon and evening. Made for a long day of fishing, but had a ball and got into some nice fish.

There was a decent crowd on the Vernon float, but nothing like the Green!
I gotta say, the stonefly hatch is pretty exciting, ya know...big 'ol bugs flapping around temptingly on the surface, made me wonder why the fish weren't hitting them! Then again, the nymphs don't have those pesky wings that get in the way while swallowing:)

cast

[Don]

jdubya, It was nice to put a face with the name, and your boat looks great.

I had simillar experience as yourself when it came to the fishing. The fish were keyed into the caddis. My buddy that was fishing with me was new to fly fishing so I had him nymphing most of the day. After we were 3/4's of the way down I had a big trout come up and try to eat his strike indicator so we swithced to an adult stone fly trailed by a caddis. We had one take the adult stone and the rest of the fish came on the caddis.

You can tell they stocked the dam for Labor day already. After we floated we took the girls back to the hotel and went back up and waded in by the islands above the I-20 brige. We caught a lot of planter size bows. My buddy that was new to fly fishing thought it was great.

Sunday was too windy and cold to take the girls out so we just ended up floating the one day.

That river was as busy as I have ever seen it. But that being said it was only 1/4 of what the Green was 2 weeks ago.

[jdubya]

You need to stay a day ahead of the Salmon Fly hatch. They probably gorged a day or two ahead of time. I'm sure the constant sound of cracking wood vibrating through the water did not help.
SC

i would argue the opposite: they had not seen enuf of the bugs yet to know they were food! if they were stuffed then how come they were going for caddis which, per rise, were 1/100 the calories of one of those b52's?? the majority of the hatch was still below the dam (according to the shop owner). i bet by next weekend those fish in that stretch would cross the river for a downed hummingbird.

That was, by the way, the sound of my smooth, wonderful high density plastic bottom sliding over those nasty rocks: muffles the sound of my anguished cries "dammit robert, look out for those rocks!!"