Category: Harrop’S Forked Tongues

  • A Big Winter

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    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…

  • A Winter Stop at TroutHunter

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    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…

  • Optimism

    Optimism

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    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…

  • End Days

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    In any year, the days of November hold special meaning to a Rocky Mountain fly fisherman. From mid-month on, each day on the water is treated as though it is the last, because it could be. I enter the month with brown trout on the brain finding it nearly impossible to resist what is possibly…

  • The Quiet Season

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    In a place where activity is dictated more by weather than the calendar, it was not extreme cold that brought the busy fishing season in Henry’s Fork country to a close. It was the absence of people that caused the TroutHunter Bar and Grill to close its door for the winter on October fifteen….

  • Fall Discovered

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    Through most of my memory the conclusion of the busy fishing season was as sudden and final as closing time in the local saloons. For decades the Labor Day holiday marked the end of visitor dominance on the Henry’s Fork and other waters in the Yellowstone region. For locals, September was the…

  • The Hatches of August

    The Hatches of August

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    It is not a stretch to call July the lost month for a significant portion of the Henry’s Fork. As in most years, the lower river fished as well as could be imagined with strong and reliable hatches through June. And as usual, this remarkable stretch faded into near dormancy around Independence…

  • A Guide Day

    A Guide Day

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    It is an exciting day that begins early at the TroutHunter fly shop. Normally, I am there as just another fisherman who, either alone or with my family or friends, would be fishing independently. However, at eight a.m. I have joined a dozen or so expectant anglers in preparing for a day of…

  • Summer

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    In the high country of the Henry’s Fork, it matters little that weather does not conform to the typical expectation of the season known as summer. Occasional morning frost well into June combined with periodic hail storms turn the Island Park landscape into a scene reminiscent of winter. It…

  • Salmon Flies and High Water

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    by

    René Harrop
    in

    There was never a question that we would see high water on the Henry’s fork in twenty eighteen, it was just a matter of when.Despite substantially higher winter release of water, Island Park Reservoir was filled to near capacity by late February. With a snow pack well above average and only about…