When You Come To The Fork In The River, Take It

Saturday 8/23 and Sunday 8/24/08

We had a very restful nights sleep at a Courtyard Marriot Hotel in Boise Idaho, where we plotted our course to the next major fishing destination, Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. This section of the Snake River winds its way through Last Chance, Idaho, a tiny little town where it seems there are more fly shops and guides per capita than in any other place. It is a Mecca for the trout fisherman, known to contain some of the most difficult and technical water in the world. As a result, the trout grow large and strong, feeding in the myriad of micro currents on an incredibly rich and diverse selection of aquatic insect life.

We stopped in at Henry’s Fork Angler, one of the aforementioned fly shops, where Alex filled us in on current hatch information while he printed up our licenses. It was going on dusk, so we got right to the river to catch the evening caddis hatch. Much like in the tail waters in Colorado, these fish required extra long leaders and a downstream presentation. Unlike Colorado, these fish only give you one shot. If the drift isn’t absolutely perfect, the fish spot the leader when it passes by and they are down, indefinitely. Mosquitos made their evening appearance as well, and joyfully dined on us as Dan tried to coax a rising trout. There was only one take, and though the hook pulled free, Dan was pleased to have tricked a Henry’s Fork Rainbow. We had dinner beside the river at The Trout Hunter, a fly shop/restaurant/lodge/guide service, and the only place to eat in town. After the meal, we checked in late at World Cast Angler, just across the street, where we would spend the next two evenings.

Our accommodations were perfect, a small cabin right in the middle of all the best fishing. The next morning we stopped at the tiny local grocery store (also a fly shop), to gather provisions for a long fishing day. Melody donned Grandpap’s waders and we made the mile hike into Harrimen State Park at the famous Railroad Ranch section of the river.

It was here that Dan, as long promised, began teaching Melody to Fly Fish. Though she is well versed in other forms of fishing, this is the milestone they had both longed to reach, and it was extra special that it took place on this most famous of rivers.

As with most things, she was a quick study. At one point while practicing a drag free drift with a hopper pattern, a broad shouldered rainbow of nearly two feet long rose to inspect the fly, and nearly took it before seeing us and fleeing upstream in a colorful flash.

Through the rest of the day, we fished several sections of the river, including a very swift canyon section, where Dan landed the only fish of the stay, a feisty little rainbow, on a heavy streamer swung deep in the current. We rode our bikes back to the ranch section for the evening rise, where Dan had two more takes, the last one the biggest of course. This fish took a caddis pattern just as darkness set in, and snapped the 7x tippet in a large swirl. It was maddening and satisfying, and it is always the big fish we don’t catch that makes us vow to return someday.

We talked to the couple that ran Worldcast Angler for a while the next morning before heading Northeast through Montana on route to Bismarck, North Dakota.