Pro Tips

For more than a decade, members of the scientific community have attributed drought related trout mortality to inadequate water flows. If this assumption is correct, anglers should expect to see considerably improved trout numbers in

the coldest months, and severe icing is less likely to occur when flows exceed 300 cfs. Logically, hatch producing insects will also benefit from these improved winter conditions.

 

Combined with a nearly full reservoir, an adequate snow pack will likely produce spring flows that are similar to last year. Higher levels in late May created ideal conditions for the salmon fly hatch, and the resulting fishing for big trout was the best in recent memory.

 

Higher water levels should also encourage greater dispersal of trout below Box Canyon from Last Chance Run on through Harriman and the Pine Haven stretch.

 

Upstream from St. Anthony, the lower Henry’s Fork has been spared from severe icing that marked last year’s extended winter. Access to the river, including boat launching facilities, should not be delayed beyond mid March which is at least a month earlier than last year. I expect to be fishing Midges and the first Baetis hatches by that time as well.

 

While there is guess work in any prediction, it is extremely comforting to see the positive signs that have been missing during so many winters of the recent past. Water is the gift of life to our fishery and 2009 appears to be the recipient of this vital necessity.

 

Rene’ Harrop    

In the proper season, my thoughts and attention are dominated by the big rainbows of the upper Henry’s Fork where copious hatches of great diversity dictate the refined application of a 3 or 4 weight rod. The constant disciplines of patience, concentration, and determination come into full play when the engagement involves long leaders and often tiny dry flies. But while I enjoy the intensity of this kind of fishing above all other aspects of the sport there comes a time when the distraction of a completely different game takes temporary control over my time on the water.

 

For several decades, my appetite for chasing fall runs of over size brown trout was satiated only on waters of considerable distance from my home. But in the years following their introduction in the mid 1970’s, brown trout have become a solid factor in the Henry’s Fork fishery below the massive Mesa Falls. A giant brown in excess of 25 pounds taken last year above Ashton Dam verifies the lower Fork as trophy water for this relatively new inhabitant. But while nothing I have taken thus far is even close to this record size specimen, autumn streamer fishing for sizable browns lies virtually at my door step.

 

The brown trout run has usually been underway for several weeks by the time we have returned to our winter home in St. Anthony. Early November finds me wading a stretch of the Henry’s Fork that is roughly double the size of its upper reaches in Island Park, forty miles upstream. I rely on a weighted fly to achieve needed depth rather than resorting to a sinking line, and prefer a double taper for its mending ability when swimming the streamer through likely lies.

 

My favorite fall streamer pattern for Henry’s Fork browns is a Black Leech tied with an orange head and Silver Dazzle Eyes added for weight. Palmered black hackle secured with copper wire over black chenille completes the body of the fly, and the tail is black marabou with a few strands of Crystal Flash.

 

Periods of low light during morning and evening hours are most productive although an overcast day can keep the fish active throughout the day. The brown trout run on the Henry’s Fork coincides with the final days of fall Baetis which joins with Midges in providing an option when streamer fishing is slow.