Author: René Harrop

  • A Quiet Time

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    Though gradual in arriving, the warning signs are there. And the vicious cold front invading Island Park in the last week of October came as no surprise to anyone with a meaningful history in this small mountain hamlet.With most seasonal residents having escaped to warmer clime and the…

  • A Ticking Time Bomb

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    The sizable sediment event effecting the Henry’s Fork below Island Park Dam on September eleven might have become old news if not for the fact that the river has continued to run dirty at that location since that time. Of course, this is of grave concern for anglers who fish this highly…

  • Extremes

    Extremes

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    To say that August was a month of extremes for the Henry’s Fork fishing community might be an understatement. With release from Island Park Reservoir far above recent maximums, unusually high-water levels marked all but a few days in the month leading into fall. While noticeably disruptive to…

  • Warm Days on the Henry’s Fork

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    With the rays of a low angled sun filtering through a shimmering cloud of transparent wings, the day holds promise. You must rise early to catch the Trico spinner fall on placid water coursing slowly through broad meadows that are now beginning to assume the auburn hue of an approaching autumn. In…

  • Escape to the Water

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    As a year-round resident of the Henry’s Fork, I am given opportunity to access its riches in all seasons. Because there is more to existence than fishing, the quality of life in this remote community also hinges on a unique element of safety that in recent years has actually superseded the…

  • Cautious Emergence

    Cautious Emergence

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    It is with caution that the Henry’s Fork fishing community has emerged from the strict limitations enacted by the State of Idaho in response to COVID-19. Long considered to be the unofficial beginning of summer, the Memorial Day Weekend was greeted by a twelve-hour snow storm that left…

  • A Slow Awakening

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    There is nothing unusual in the gradual building of human activity along Last Chance Run on the Henry’s Fork when winter finally nears an end at nearly seven thousand feet elevation. It is normally April before snow bound water rested for nearly six months becomes the focus of angler attention as…

  • The Road Ahead

    The Road Ahead

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    Though not without lingering snow and chilling temperatures at times, the long journey to spring through another Henry’s Fork winter has reached an end. This proclamation is based upon the signs of awakening observed along the river rather than a date on the calendar and much of what appears…

  • Light at the End of the Tunnel

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    While far from bearing significant characteristics of real spring, the arrival of March brings a sense or release from the suppression of deep winter on the Henry’s Fork. With daylight stretching toward twelve hours, which exceeds a December or January day by at least twenty-five percent…

  • After the Storm

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    In winter, nearly any visit to the place I call home for six months of the year carries a sense of excitement, but the last drive to Island Park was more of an adventure than I had planned for. Though only thirty-five miles in distance, the trip from St. Anthony to Last Chance was not…