Year: 2019
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Waiting for Salmon Flies
On a river largely defined by its diverse population of aquatic insects, the giant Salmon Fly hatch ranks near or at the top of the most anticipated events on the Henry’s Fork.It is widely known that nature operates on the basis of its own calendar and clock. For this reason, it is impossible…
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Spring Creek Getaway
This past weekend Minori, Yogi and I headed north to the Paradise Valley just south of Livingston, Montana. We spent a couple of days at Nelson’s Spring Creek Ranch. We stayed at the lodge and fished the creek. I felt it might be one of the last times we would get an opportunity to get…
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Life on the Lower Fork
Although it bears only one name, the Henry’s Fork could be several different rivers over the first fifty miles of its length. This applies especially to the distinctive fisheries that exist above and below the majestic Mesa Falls. Whereas the iconic section upstream exists nearly exclusively as a…
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Spring Thaw
Fishing around the area over the past couple of weeks could be described as marginal at best. The reason is due to river/water and weather conditions. We have been in the middle of low to mid-level snow melt and spring rain showers. These events have caused water levels to rise, at times added…
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A Cautious Look Forward
In some years, weather conditions in late winter and early spring will allow our local waters to reveal tangible information that will support a degree of confidence in predictions pertaining to fishing in a new season. Twenty-nineteen is not one of those years. Most of the uncertainty relates…
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Report March 19, 2019
Spring 2019The official first day of Spring is still a couple of days away, and it cannot come soon enough. We have just experienced one of the most severe February’s on record. I have heard it said that we had the most snowfall over a 30 day period during February since 1995. I don’t know…
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A Big Winter
It is no secret that the upper Snake River plain is not immune to serious winter. In a typical year, the lower Henry’s Fork will experience at least three months when fishing opportunity is disrupted by accumulating snow and prohibitive temperatures. However, signs of relief from winter’s…
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A Winter Stop at TroutHunter
It is a different world in Island Park when the snows of deep winter pile high along the Henry’s Fork and human attention mostly shifts away from trout fishing. With highway traffic only a fraction of summer volume and most homes boarded up for the winter, the pace of life is slowed to reflect…
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The 2018 Season on the Harriman Ranch
Fishing in 2018 was better than in 2017. Between 15 June and 14 September, my clients and I landed 106 rainbows of seventeen inches or longer. The figure is almost twice the number we landed in 2017. (I shall not repeat the “seventeen inches or longer” comment as each fish I address met…
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Optimism
Like most others in the civilized world, I am not immune to the climate of negativity that clouds the general outlook. As a fly fisher, however, I am grateful to be entering a new year with a sense of optimism for the status of the Henry’s Fork as a trout fishery.With the same above average…