Henrys Fork Idaho May 16 -18, 2014

Date / Time: May 16 through May 18 2014. Location: Lower Henry’s Fork Vernon to Chester and Chester backwater. The Characters: Kory, Tammy & Anna Weather: First day overcast and nicer, then windy in pm. Water Temp: Low 50s guess Water Level: Low around 700. Water Clarity/Quality: clear. Moon Phase: First quarter. Fishing: Decided to go to the Henry’s Fork for my 40th birthday even though the fishing was in between. We stayed at the Ashton Inn which is now Eagle Peak Lodge. The owner was pretty interesting letting us know how much revenue he was getting and that the Chinese were supporting him among other things. First day on my birthday I went and picked up Mike Langford’s boat which was full of about 5,000 gallons of water and low tires. Got it bailed and took it to the car wash and cleaned it up. Fishing Day #1: Got on the water a bit late around 1pm. Floated from Vernon to Chester with Anna and Tammy, Anna’s first float which was pretty cool. Nothing of significance on the water so rigged up the nymph. Only hooked one small rainbow on a rocky pocket section since there were guides in the spot I wanted to fish. Tried various flies, rubberlegs, san juans, prince, olive leech and the small rainbow ate the leech. Fished a few other spots, but couldn’t really fish hard with Anna and never hooked anything else. Had Tammy row for a bit when Anna went to sleep and fished streamers since it looked perfect. Turned one big fish, but no eats. Got to the backwater and there were fish sporadically up on March Browns, Caddis and BWOs. A lot of smaller fish up and got a few of those pretty quickly on Hemingway. Made our way down and spotted a few good fish, so re-rigged with the PA before we got to one of them. Moved out and got that one to eat, good fish about 16-17 Bow. Saw a couple of bigger fish on the left bank, but Anna was getting frustrated. Got out and had Tammy hold her and was going to stalk the riser, got a refusal and then wind started to pick up and shut it all down. Plus Anna was over it so headed out. Fishing Day #2 Morning:Got up and went solo on Chester backwater. Weather was super nice and sunny, quite a few March Browns were around and a lot of BWOs so figured there would be good fish up. Rowed all the way up to the top looking for risers to no avail, maybe too sunny. Rigged up the nymph and planned on really hammering it figuring it would be slayfest. Had the green eyed leech, rubber legs worm to start. Immediately hooked a fish and lost it, figured it was on. After that, pounded every spot relentlessly and tried all sorts of things including princes, caddis, pheasant tails and never hooked another fish. Don’t really know what the deal was. Fished hard for two hours or so all up through the riffles, drops, under trees etc. Just couldn’t dial it in. Got back in the boat and figured might be some risers, but worked my way down looking and only super sporadic mostly small fish. Also threw the streamer here and there also to no avail. Tough morning and not really sure why. Took the afternoon and went to Mesa Falls with the girls. Looked at Last Chance water briefly but nothing that I saw up. Might have been with some effort, but didn’t try. Had early dinner at Trouthunter so I could fish evening. Fishing Day #2 Evening: Aired up the pontoon for evening streamer float. Got on around 7:30 and it looked ideal for some caddis. There were spinners around too so figured throw streamers to Chester and hammer risers. Threw streamers and after a lot of work, got a pig brown on the olive woolhead probably around 21-22. Good battle and fun. Hooked one more after that and lost it. Got to the backwater and very few fish up surprisingly, maybe I was too late but that has never seemed to be a problem in the past. Threw the streamer a bit longer along the top left and hooked a mid sized brown and lost it. Worked down looking for risers, found very few got one eat and missed it and headed out. Fishing Day #3: Got up and packed up. Hit the water one last time decided to float with Tammy and Anna. Bad call, wind was howling went anyway. Tammy was frustrated, barely fished. Threw the streamer while rowing and never hooked anything. Gale force wind upstream in backwater. Did the whole float in an hour and a half and headed home.