February 21, 2020
Flows: 118 cfs (88 cfs above the Hatchery)
Water Temp: 38 @ 9a
Water clarity: ~6’ to 8’
Air Temp: 25 @ 9a – high 50s to low 60s @ 5p.
Hatches: Midges – 10:30a to 4:30p.
My plan last week was to research the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in preparation for a trip that Brian and I will be making in June. It’s a big river – about 80 miles all told – and they have different size flies and use different fly patterns on it than on the rivers I've been fishing in Colorado. So I’ve got lots to learn.
Brian gave me call on Thursday and asked if I wanted to join him on the Tailwater on Friday. There is no way I could fish with a cast on my right arm and hand – so he suggested that I guide for him. Hmm – pretty interesting since I’m not a guide and never did it before, but I thought why not. I could scout and maybe help rig up some flies – and I didn’t have anything else to do. So I was in.
At first I thought – wow, Brian must think a lot of my fishing skills to ask me to guide. Then about 30 seconds later, I thought - no he just wants some companionship on the river. Then another 15 seconds later, I got it - he wanted me to buy the beer!!
Anyway it was an experience to actually try “guiding”. We decided to start out close to the dam because it had been a cold week and the water temperature should be warmer near the dam. After setting up a 3 nymph rig with a Desert Storm leading and a Red and Black Midge following – we set out to explore that stretch of the river. We’ve never been that far upstream, so we were unfamiliar with the various holes and runs.
We hit a run just upstream from the bridge that crosses the river. I didn’t see any fish – but it looked like a good place for fish to hold. There was a nice riffle leading into a pool – then a tailout at the end. As Brian was covering the hole and tailout – I was looking upstream to a hole I named the “Platform Hole”. There’s actually a viewing platform that looks over a deep hole that looks very fishy. There were already 2 fishermen in it though, so I went downstream and located a nice little seam by one of the bridge abutments.
Brian had no luck in the 1st hole and was planning to move downstream to seam underneath the bridge. As he was prepping to move, the 2 guys left the Platform Hole. So I went up onto the platform and spotted 20 or so fish feeding on midges on the south side of the river. A midge hatch was coming off and the fish were sipping the duns on the surface and the emergers just beneath it. So I waved Brian over. We changed his bottom fly to a #20 Top Secret Midge and Brian hooked up about 3 fish on it in the next hour or so. They were taking the Top Secret.
An adult midge.
As an aside, I have to say this was the most prolific midge hatch I’ve witnessed. They started to come off at 10:30a and it lasted the entire day - and they were pretty thick. In the afternoon I was thinking the hatch had changed to mayflies, but we caught a couple of duns floating down the river – and no, they were still midges!
Then we decided to try a Dry/Dropper setup to see if we could get a little more action on the surface and just beneath it. We had a large Ant as the Dry, and followed it with a Griffith’s Gnat, then hung the Top Secret off of it. Somewhat of a different way to fish a Dry/Dropper setup – but it did work, as Brian hooked up 2 more fish - one hitting the Ant and the other hitting the Gnat. I was surprised that none of the fish took the Top Secret. We then broke for lunch.
The head-end of the Platform Hole.
After lunch, Brian wanted to head to the Bend and Double Tree Holes. Someone was in the Bend Hole – so we continued down to the Double Tree Hole. In between these 2 holes is Tom’s Hole - which had been productive in the past. So we hit that. I was standing on the only boulder that sticks out above the water in front of the hole, scouting - and spotted 2 nice rainbows. They looked to be in the 20” range and were brightly colored, feeding subsurface. As Brian cast into the hole and his indicator floated toward the fish – they bolted. Needless to say – they were very skittish. Brian moved out of the hole – and after it sat for a while - they came back. So Brian hit it again with the same result - there’s a reason these 2 fish were big! I made a mental note to try a Dry/Dropper setup next time I fished this hole. This setup is less likely to spook the fish because the Dry acts as the indicator and with it’s insect looks, is more natural than a traditional indicator.
Brian spotted a couple of fish rising on the north side of the river directly across from Tom’s Hole. So he switched to dries as I watched from the same rock. It’s a difficult cast – as you need to get the flies very close to the bank and the entire bank is lined with trees that are overhanging the seam. As Brian drifted his flies to the fish - almost the same thing happened – as the flies floated toward them, they bolted. Very spooky fish in this area!! But I did make another mental note to try this bankside seam next time – maybe they won’t be as spooky.
After several tries in this seam and switching to a nymph rig – which go tied up in the trees that line the bank – we moved into the Double Tree Hole.
The Double Tree Hole.
This hole is tricky. There is a shallow riffle that feeds into a deep pool, and the water is fast coming into it. So you need a decent amount of weight and the indicator needs to be moved back to allow for at least 9’ of leader. This makes it hard to detect a hit. After Brian got hung up on a snag and lost his rig, we changed the nymphs to baetis patterns with a #18 Bead Head Pheasant Tail in the lead, followed by another Pheasant Tail – a #20 – and then a #22 Chocolate Thunder. Brian was able to hook up a couple of nice fish – pretty sure they hit the Chocolate Thunder. Interestingly, on both occasions he let the line set at the end of the drift and slowly brought up his rod tip – enticing a strike. Me – the “guide” – got in the way as Brian was bringing one of the fish in, and he got off. At least I did learn to let the fisherman complete the task of landing the fish and stay out of the way!!
Then the hole seemed to dry up. We spent maybe another hour with no hits and it was getting late. Brian suggested that we call it a day and I agreed. But before we left, I wanted to try my luck and get a cast into the hole. On the 1st or 2nd drift using the Induced Take technique – I hooked up a really nice rainbow. He was in the 20” range and I had to give the rod to Brian, as there was no way I could fight the fish with my arm/hand in a cast. It was a pretty exciting fight as he got aerial once, gave a bunch of head shakes on the surface, and made several runs. I had the net in hand and the fish was no more than 2’ away and it made one last run - and broke off- ugh!
All in all it was a good day for Brian who had 3 fish in the net and 7 hooked up, half of them on dries. And it was fun for me just to get out on the river and observe. I kind of new I wouldn’t be able to resist at least one cast!!
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