Henry's Fork

Just caught word that the Salmon Fly's are indeed hatching on the Fork. Vernon to Chester and Warm River to Ashton are on fire. Go get ya some!

The Henrys Lake outlet fished very well recently. We caught several fish - mostly small, but a couple of nice 15" + fish all on a black and red Chernobyl Ant with a prince dropper. 

The word on the street is fishing is better in the high elevations with the relentless heat baking the waters in the valley, so Island Park is the place to be. Also heard the South Fork was fishing better than it has in years, but that flows were up due to the need for water downstream. 

The caddis are thick on Warm River to Ashton. Big fish start feasting as soon as the sun stops beating on the water. Find a shady edge of river and toss that infamous caddis. Fish after fish over 18 inches was the rule of the night. With the heat getting up there in the day, the best time to fish is after 6 PM or before noon.

Last night we slid a pontoon down the canyon at the Lower Mesa Falls Campground and floated to Warm River. What an amazing section of water! Besides the fishing, which is great, the scenery, wildlife, and pure solitude makes it unforgettable. If you do decide to take this water on, make sure you plan on using a soft bottom boats to help prevent erosion on the slide. 

Lot's of fish feeding on the surface on the Warm River to Ashton stretch. Throw caddis anywhere you see a pod of risers. The bigger fish are out from the bank in slow water and in the seams. Not sure what's happening in the middle of the day, but the evening was insane. Some of the best fishing of the year for sure (for me anyway).

Spent the last two evenings fishing the backwater above the Chester Dam at about an hour and a half before dark. Fish were rising everywhere at the cloud of bugs on the water. Caddis, green drakes, and all the typical bugs for June on the Henrys Fork were out there. I chose to stick to my go-to fly for still water, the Renegade, and was almost instantly battling a toad. After he was landed it seemed difficult to sneak up to the rising fish as they were all fairly boat shy. We did manage to sneak up and land a couple decent fish. 

I fished Chester to fun farm on Sunday caught 4 fish. It looks like I missed it down there, spent shucks everywhere on the banks but I think I saw a few goldens. So hopefully the fish will get a rest and be ready to feed by this weekend. Like I said on the warm river report if you tie your own or have a buddy who does get some stimulators from him or her. These fish have been pounded with store bought flies and need a different look and a smaller profile on the water. Haven't heard anything about the box yet but hopefully that's coming soon good luck out there.

They are here! The Slamon Fly hatch is moving up the Henry's Fork and are crawling on the banks of the Ashton to Warm River section. The fish are striking on the big bugs so get out there and have some fun! Stop by Ashton's fly shops to load up on salmon flies and rubberlegs before the trip. Hurry! This hatch dosn't last long!

Everyone is waiting for the epic salmonfly hatch on the Henry's Fork. As of Friday May 11th, no big bugs were seen on the Warm River to Ashton streach, but fish were hungry for rubberleg droppers off adult salmonfly patterns. There was a few strikes on the surface, but mostly on the rubberleg. With the warm weather the hatch should be rolling up the river starting any day so keep your eyes open for those big bugs!

Went swimming yesterday at the Vernon put in it was really refreshing I do not recommend it, so watch your footing. Got to Vernon around 10 am and as expected it was slow. I hooked through out the day 7 fish a few in the 20 inch range 1 on a wooly bugger and the rest on midge pupa as would be expected this time of year. I used both red and black midge either one worked I tried a pheasant tail at first but lost my rig so I just put a bugger with 2 midge on.