My sister got married last month, so I took the opportunity to drop by the wedding and then go on a fishing trip to Idaho and Montana. I didn't take any photos of fish on this trip, so there's no fish porn here, and you'll just have to take my word for it on catches. I fished several new rivers, and I'm glad to report that the native trout populations are as healthy and feisty as ever. There was every type of fishing imaginable on all of the rivers we hit - dapping hoppers and droppers in the pocket water, slinging streamers under the undercut banks, and of course plenty of dry fly action in the morning and evenings. The evening spinner falls on the Henry' Fork and Yellowstone were absolutely incredible. Trout rising everywhere for about 2 glorious hours each night. It was almost too easy to hook fish - provided they could pick out your fly amongst so many naturals. We eventually figured out that going one size bigger helped the trout key in on the imitation.

Our first stop was the South Fork of the Snake in Idaho's Swan valley, after a hot tip from the guys at Habitat Fly Shop in Driggs, Idaho that the salmon flies were still coming off. Yes - that's right - the salmon flies. Apparently, its been a wet and cold spring there, so everything was delayed by about a month. Lucky us. After hurriedly tying up some size 6 salmon flies we hit the river with shaking hands and expectant hearts.





I am in LOVE with the S. Fork. I couldn't believe the variety of habitat. Most of the side channels and braids are easily accessible for the wade angler and these spots held BIG cutthroats and brown trout.

Happy 34th birthday to me: Reach-casting salmon flies to big bank feeding cutts.





I eventually landed a PB 22 inch cutthroat from this spot. Greg had a 24 inch brown.

We weren't alone in our enjoyment of the river. This 900 pound bull moose eventually chased me from a prime fishing spot. I was more than happy to give him some space.



Day three saw us move to the world-famous Harriman State park on the Henry's Fork. This is a spring-creek like setting with some BIG, but extremely picky rainbows that will laugh at your carefully tied spinner pattern. 6x is the maximum and you'd better have at least a 15 foot leader. My 3 weight Winnie WT was seriously outgunned by these trout. I had a 23 inch (measured) rainbow take me into the backing running UPSTREAM. I did eventually land it. My personal best trout.

About to get my ars3 handed to me by the 'educated' Harriman 'bows.' (Rakish headgear such as this is standard fare for the 90 degree daytime heat)



An 'afternoon shower' blows in.



Sunset and spinner fall (rusty's and flavs) on the Henry's Fork.



'Somewhere else' on a much different stretch of the Henry's fork.



We spent our final 3 days on the Yankee Jim stretch of the Yellowstone. This is an amazing river and the cutthroat trout are just gorgeous. Lots of variety - deep pockets, long glides and some tremendous riffles that were simply teaming with trout.



Here's a shot of Greg fishing one of the heavy evening spinner falls:



This was a fantastic trip with many memories of fish caught and carefully released. If anyone wants information on accessing any of these spots/ shops/ accommodation/ camping, I'll be happy to help you out over PM.

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Hi Mike,
Great report, Henrys Fork looks like a great river, i must add that to my list.
I love Montana, superb fishing and great people.
You were very lucky to get into the Salmon Fly hatch, we hit Rock Creek 2 years ago during the peak in early July, just like duffers fortnight in the UK!
You are a lucky guy having relatives in that neck of the woods.
Cheers
Richard

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Richard Jackson
Fly fishing instruction and guiding in the heart of Devon
www.devonflyfisher.com

The Henry's Fork in Harriman and just downstream from Last Chance was incredible. It is a big river as you can see, but in these stretches you can wade across the whole thing - its never more than 3 feet deep.

Also, we had it pretty much to ourselves. Once the green drakes are done, a lot less people fish it. We could never see more than 2-3 other anglers. Most people fish the box canyon or above the reservoir after the green drake hatch because of the reputation for difficulty further down, and also because the trout population was in decline a few years back. Seemed pretty healthy to me, and the guys at shops I talked to all said it was definitely on the rebound - even if rumors persist about its demise.

We both only landed about 10 trout between us in 2 days of careful fishing there, but I can honestly say that I've rarely been that entertained whilst fishing. 2-3 hours would just zip by while you were in 'the zone.' The fish are very territorial so you pick one and creep up as close as possible. And then you've got to work out how to get a fly over it amongst the myriads of micro currents. No one fishes an upstream drift there - its all across and down with as little fly line out/ as long a leader as possible. French nymphing guys would make a killing there I bet.

On the second night, my fishing buddy Greg hooked up with a rainbow that was absolutely gigantic. He spotted it way out in the middle and took his time getting to it. The trout was repeatedly mopping up spinners with these long scooping rises that showed off a big black silhouette against the sunset. It was just such a magical moment when that big head and shoulders rose on his little spinner pattern in the last of the sunlight and the line went tight. It jumped 3 times and on the last jump, it snapped his tippet unfortunately. He was a little dissapointed to lose the fish, but still pretty pleased that he had hooked it! Realistically he had very little chance of bringing that trout to the net on 6x.

The salmon flies on the Snake were pretty sweet. We caught the tail end of it, but the fish were still really interested in them. The cutthroats rise agonizingly slow - you have to steel yourself not to strike as they come off the bottom and wait until they turn with the fly. But when they were keyed onto the salmon flies it didn't matter so much - even if you pulled the fly from the trout's mouth on the strike they would often turn and chase it down!

I'd love to fish Rock Creek - that one's on my list too - it was just a little too far to drive.

We also fished the Madison on this trip, but I wasn't very impressed. It was crowded (at least by Montana standards) and I didn't see many fish at all. I landed a nice rainbow on a nymph, but it wasn't anything to write home (or forum) about.

I also want to put in a plug for the following shops:
Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Montana: Really nice staff and the best selection of deer hair I've ever seen. Incredible flies too.
Habitat in Driggs Idaho (part of World Cast anglers). Mitch (the owner) was really cool and wasn't stingy on the hot tips for salmon fly hatches - even though we weren't looking to do a float trip. He also shared directions to the 'other place' on the Henry's fork.
Trout Hunter in Last Chance Idaho. A big name place that looks kitschy, but still manages to keep that small shop feel. The staff were very knowledgeable, but not aloof. Flies were reasonably priced and they had all the hot ones in stock. The bar is the place to be on a friday night - even if you are still in your smelly shirt and wet wading shorts. I recommend the bison burger!

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Mike,
Glad to hear your still with us, The Ewenny crew thought you'd expired somewhere and drifted away.
Great photo's mate, you really do get to fish some stunning places
Anyway, you'll be gutted to hear you missed the Balsam pulling on the Honddu and Ewenny
See you soon on the river dude.
A.

Yes - I'm still around. Tales of my watery demise are greatly exaggerated. I'll be down on the Ewenny soon I expect, once I get over jet lag and catch up (sort of) with work!

Gotta christen the new Winnie on a Ewenny brown...

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Gotta christen the new Winnie on a Ewenny brown...[/QUOTE]

You brought a small rotund hunny loving bear all the way back from the states
Nice shot of fresh water through the system yesterday- shes on form
A.

Indeed! Ade and I both managed a nice result last night using both nymphs and dries, but I wager that will seem a little twee by comparison to these mighty waters you've been fishing!
Joe

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Fish are like sex; tons around but I never seem to get any.

Can't wait to come down. Out on the rhymney last night and I could do no wrong with the tiny dries! It's funny how your perception changes with the context. You never get spoiled by fishing the big rivers. Plucking little browns from the rhymney on my new noodley rod (complete with purist 1 reel you'll be pleased to note ade) is just as much fun as blasting out big flies in western us rivers. It's just different.


Will most likely be down this weekend. Or on the honddu...

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