Post by ShadowCaster on Dec 23, 2013 23:11:33 GMT 8
Henry's Fork, Idaho. July 2013.
The Henrys Fork of the Snake River is widely considered to be the best trout stream in the United States.
Because its fly hatches are prolific throughout the season, many fly fishermen argue that the Henry's Fork is the finest dry fly water in the world, although its rainbows are remarkably selective and shy.
Its fishing is extremely difficult, in spite of the fact that its trout feed freely almost every day from March to October. The free-rising rainbows are a challenge, and during the better fly hatches the Henrys Fork is becoming a Mecca for experienced fishermen.
The Henrys Fork is born in a rich basin that lies behind the Teton Range in eastern Idaho. Its principal sources are the outlet flowages of Henrys Lake, the southwest drainages of the Yellowstone country and a series of gargantuan springs a few miles below the Targhee Pass into Montana.
The fishing is good throughout its river system, although the best sport and the most productive waters lie above the Mesa waterfalls, particularly on the stretches known as the Box Canyon,
and the famous Railroad Ranch :
Both the Box Canyon and the Ranch are unique stretches of river that are legendary among fly fishermen.
I had the chance to fish this piece of legendary waters on a hot summer weekend in June of 2013. The Henry's Fork area and the adjacent Yellowstone National park is such a unique geographical setting that I had decided to explore and fish this area on my own mostly without a guide. I rented a rustic and minimalist cabin by the waterside for the weekend, so that I can wake up to the prolific hatches that stirs the trout into frenzy.
I fished the still-water upstream of the Box Canyon on the first morning. Island Park Reservoir was formed in 1938 when a dam was constructed for irrigation purposes. Its tailwater flows into the now renown Box Canyon. While the Henry's Fork is predominantly a Rainbow Trout fishery between the Box Canyon and Mesa Fall, Island Park Reservoir holds a healthy population of Brown Trout as well. My strategy for the Reservoir was to leverage on the morning hatch at sunrise and sight cast from the bank and from a rented boat to marauding pods of Browns and Rainbows feeding on the Mayfly emergers.
After several changes of fly patterns, a #16 BWO emerger seems to work the best and I managed to land and released seven good size Browns and Rainbows within a span of 90 minutes.
But once the hatches stopped, the rising trout disappeared without a trace. But all is not lost, as my attempts to dredge the lake bed with a heavily weighted Wooly Bugger continued to produced decent trouts.
The Box Canyon beckons next. The only good way to fish the famous canyon is via a drift boat due to the fast waters and difficult access down the canyon walls. This is the only part of Henry's Fork where one without his own drift boat has little choice but to fish with a guide on a drift boat.
Casting from a pitching and moving drift boat is akin to hitting a moving target while in a moving vehicle. You have a few seconds to spot a location where you think would hold a trout, then decide where you would put your fly. And you probably would not get more than a few seconds to cast your fly with a minimal of false cast into that spot, mend your fly line, and hopefully get a few seconds of drag free drift. But when you get everything right, the Box Canyon will reward you.
Downstream of the Box Canyon is the stretch of waters that is considered the Mecca for a lot of fly fishermen. Known as the "Graduate School of Fly-Fishing for PH.D. Trout", the Railroad Ranch of Henry's Fork is a true gem of western United States fly-fishing. Attempting to catch one of the Railroad Ranch's well-educated trout can be one of the most satisfying feats in an anglers life. Anglers come from all over the world to test their fly fishing skills on some of the most selective trout on the planet.
Its hatches can be so prolific that one wonders how the fish could ever find your fly in the continuous raft of living and spent aquatic and terrestrial insects. At first glance, the river looks sluggish and flat but a million currents, from fast to still, tear at attempts to get a drag-free drift. The weed beds, rocks and substrate variances all enter into the factoring. The trout has many food choices and even when you are able to imitate their foods exactly, they often frustrate you by feeding in a rhythm all their own or by cruising as they feed, not coming up at the same place twice.
I fished the Ranch in the middle of a Calibaties hatch in the afternoon where huge pods of Rainbows were rising everywhere, sipping in everything on the surface except my fly... The Ranch was every bit as tough as legend has it. After going though no less that a dozen dry flies in my fly box, I prove no wiser than the seasoned Ranch Rainbows. This was my last fishing day on the Henry's Fork and I was getting my butt kicked badly! I eventually gave in to the dark-side in the late evening just before sunset at 9pm and added a #16 cock-tail nymph dropper below my dry fly to see if the fly-fishing gods will take pity on me and reward me with a consolation. And they did.
While a Ranch Rainbow on nymph is indeed a Ranch Rainbow on fly, I know I'll never sleep well until I return and take one on a dry fly... I'm haunted by Henry's Fork...
