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Archive for July, 2010
Middle Fork Salmon 7/31 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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Two and a half miles above Dagger Falls and about 12 miles down river from yesterday’s blog.
The day started exactly like the previous day—on about my third cast with a #12 Black Gold Hardback (dry fly fish Idaho), I hooked and landed a 13-inch cutty. Then exactly like the day before, I began catching numerous small rainbows. I worked through a great run of water for an hour without landing another quality fish. I moved up river to an awesome run of water, the best riffle I’d seen in two days. It was 100 yards long with a shallow riffle on the left gently sloping to a deep green riffle in the middle with a deep boulder edge on the right. It was the first place I’d seen in two days where you could work a small fly in great holding water.
I waded the river to the deep bouldered edge, tied on a piece of 5X tippet, and put on a #18 Emperor Caddis Black (dry fly fish Idaho). It looked perfect; it fished perfect, but the only problem was the fish didn’t think it was perfect. I caught small rainbows and one nice cutty all the way through the run in water that should have held big fish. I changed flies….same results. I skated flies…same results until I had fished the entire right side of this magnificent hole. At the top of the hole, I waded back across the river and walked the bank back to the bottom of the same hole. I was determined at that point that I was going to figure this river out.
There had to be a dry fly that would work, but the river offered zero clues. There were still no hatches to match and no fish at the surface, but I remembered a time fishing Kelly Creek for cutthroats where the conditions were the same. On that day I tied on a Beetle (dry fly fish Idaho) and it was the answer, so why not today on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River? I tied on a #14 Beetle (dry fly fish Idaho.)
There was a caramel colored cobblestone bottom on my side of the river with a gentle riffle that fell off to a deep green center of the river and it made a transition line through the entire run of water. There had to be a fish there—it was too perfect not to hold fish. I began working the beetle over the transition line. All of a sudden a big cutty rose in slow motion and ate my bug. I could see his red underbelly from 60 feet away. I hooked him and pulled him down river out of the hole. A few minutes later, he was laying in the shallow riffle at the bank. I gently removed the hook, revived him, and watched him slowly swim away.
I cautiously moved back into position casting quarter angle across the riffle and letting the fly float to the transition line caramel to green. Bang! Another nice cutty took the fly and I landed him. The angle was perfect to set a hook and they were seriously eating the fly. For a hundred yards of river, the scenario repeated itself time and time again. The fly would float gently along the surface from shallow to deep and yet another cutty would suddenly appear at the surface. I retied my knot a couple of times—they wore out my first beetle completely. It had tooth rips all over it, and the peacock hurl was shredded and sticking out the sides of the fly. I retied another fresh beetle and the fish immediately began mutilating it, too.
For two hours clear to the top of the hole, the fish smacked the beetle, and we had a reunion at the bank. I admired their beauty, they admitted that they didn’t like me, and we both went about our business.
Over the years, I have had this experience with cutthroats and beetles many times, but I’m a very slow learner. I throw our beautiful stimulators, caddis, and everything else, and the fish continue to refuse them. It finally dawns on me that cutties flat-out love beetles everywhere I have ever fished them. DO NOT ever underestimate the power of a beetle!!
Fishing Tip: Here is a technique we recommend trying the next time you fish a beetle fly. On a small high mountain stream fish the fly down stream and skate it across the riffles and holes. You’ll often catch the quality fish in a small stream working it that way.
Flies that caught fish:
Black Gold #12
Emperor Caddis – Black #18
Beetle #14
Black Gold Stimulator
$1.95 — $2.25
Emperor Series
Our #1 fishing fly for 2009 was the “Emperor” caddis series. We fished this series of flies at all elevations, from May through September and they are truly super flies. We featured the “Emperor” black caddis in a video we shot in the Idaho Wilderness called “Fishing the High Country,” and it took the place of our Black Flying Ant as the #1 fly for alpine lakes. Every place we fished these flies, they put on a show!!!!
$1.90
$1.71 — $1.90
You save $0.19 (10%)!
Beetle
The most realistic beetle pattern available. It has a peacock belly, a sculptured body, and exactly 6 moose hair legs. DFI beetles are killer flies in almost all waters.
$1.80
Marsh Creek 7/30 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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(Two miles above the confluence of Bear Valley Creek)
After a 3-mile walk down Marsh Creek, I did the same thing I always do when fishing an unknown stretch of water: Find a great looking stretch of water across the river and wade across. It’s always less likely that someone else would wade the river and thus you’ll normally have less fished water on the other side.
On the third cast with a #10 Black Gold stimulator (dry fly fish Idaho), a 12-inch cutthroat rolled up on the hook and I landed the first fish of the day. He was a gorgeous fiery red fish; I had forgotten how beautiful these cutties were. Thinking this was going to be easy, I began working the soft edge of the run upstream. The fly would settle and gently drift the current and bang! a small native rainbow would hit. After landing a dozen and a half 7 to 10-inch rainbows, I began to wonder where are the cutties?
I changed flies and caught more small fish, sometimes one after another. I was beginning to think there were no large fish in this section of the river until I settled into a nice hole that ran dead against a giant bluff. I tossed a #12 Tan stimulator (dry fly fish Idaho) to the deep riffle against the bluff, and right on cue, a 9-inch rainbow came up and ate the fly. I set the hook, and the fish ran to center stream then down toward me. All of a sudden, there was a GIANT fish chasing the fish I had on, and they were both coming right at me. The small fish ran right by me, made a small loop away, and I pulled him toward me. The large fish was right on his tail to the point I lifted the small fish out of the water. The big guy rose to the surface about 3 ft. away from me, then plunged off into the deeper water. The water was crystal clear, and I had a really good look at the fish. He was a 20+ inch rainbow, caramel colored back and beautifully colored along his side. The question about large fish was answered in a heartbeat; they were there!
I wanted that fish. I changed flies several times trying to get him to rise, but he wouldn’t. I changed to a #8 Bullet Head Hopper, and on one of the drifts, a nice 15-inch cutty ate the fly and I landed him’ but he wasn’t the guy I was looking for. An hour later, I left the hole and I never saw the big rainbow again. The son of a gun licked me, and I never take too kindly to that, but I know his address to come calling again. I’d walk the three miles down river any time to throw a fly at that fish.
And so the day went. Catching tons of small native rainbows and an occasional larger cutthroat, but I never sunk a hook in a big fish all day. I did see a couple more large fish deep in the crystal clear pools, but never connected on one. It was an interesting day. I never saw one fish rise, there were zero hatches, but yet I had fish at the hook all day long on a myriad of flies. I ended the day at 7:30 in the evening, caught 70 or 80 fish, 7 or 8 nice cutties 12 – 15-inches long, and still felt like I got my butt kicked.
Flies used to catch these fish:
Black Gold #12
Beetle #14
Golden Stone
Halloween
Adams Caddis
Hopper #8
Tan Stimulator #12
Emperor Caddis -
Peacock Caddis
Black Ant
Black Gold Stimulator
$1.95 — $2.25
Beetle
The most realistic beetle pattern available. It has a peacock belly, a sculptured body, and exactly 6 moose hair legs. DFI beetles are killer flies in almost all waters.
$1.80
Golden Stone
A spectacular dry fly with extended tail, dark hair back, ribbed abdomen and front antennae. It's the best producing golden stone I have ever fished.
$2.05 — $2.25
Halloween Hardback Stimulator
$1.95
Adams Caddis
A gorgeous high-floating fly tied in body colors gray and dark olive with the classic grizzly and brown collar. Fish him in fast water and very aggressively. He floats like a cork and catches fish like a worm.
$1.95
- Color:
- Gray, Green.
Bullet Hopper
$2.35
Tan Stimulator
The perfect fly when fish are feeding on that large tan caddis or bright golden stones in larger sizes. You'll love fishing this fly, always bone dry and riding high. Sizes #16, #14, #12, #10. This was our #1 fly on the Metolius River in June, 2010 and has proven deadly in its testing period over a large variety of water.
$1.95 — $2.25
Emperor Series
Our #1 fishing fly for 2009 was the “Emperor” caddis series. We fished this series of flies at all elevations, from May through September and they are truly super flies. We featured the “Emperor” black caddis in a video we shot in the Idaho Wilderness called “Fishing the High Country,” and it took the place of our Black Flying Ant as the #1 fly for alpine lakes. Every place we fished these flies, they put on a show!!!!
$1.90
$1.71 — $1.90
You save $0.19 (10%)!
Peacock Caddis
$1.95
Ants
An enormous percentage of a trout's diet above 6,000 feet is ants. Fish cruise the edges under the canopy in search of these crunchy, high-octane morsels. The four ant patterns displayed are the ultimate weapons in the most prevalent color selections. They have tightly wound oblong body segments, beautifully crafted wings, and present themselves exactly like the natural. They have no deer hair shells over the tail so they are tough and won't fray or break like many commercial flies. You will catch more fish with less refusals using DFI ants!
$1.80
- Color:
- Black, Cinnamon, Red.
South Fork Boise River 7/26 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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Our last few fishing expeditions I haven’t had a chance to fish, so I took a quick run to the South Fork of the Boise River (dry fly fish Idaho) with Ray Shervik to scratch the itch. We hit the river about 10:30 am; the river was clear, clean, and flowing about 1600 cfs. It is perfect fishing water for boating or wading. Over the years I’ve learned a lot of side channels and short fishing runs that you can wade to and those places really produced on the 26th. Even though there weren’t a lot of hatches that came off, the fish were there and looking up.
The day started a little slow on the first run above Cow Creek, but we picked up 3, two on a Golden Stone (dry fly fish Idaho) tight to the edge and one on a Black and Green Emperor Caddis (dry fly fish Idaho). We continued down river below Cow Creek to a side channel and picked up 4 more really nice fish–two on a #16 Black Gold (dry fly fish Idaho) and two tight against the bank on a Black Emperor Caddis #20 (dry fly fish Idaho). The fishing was just beginning to heat up.
I sent Ray up another side channel while I fished a section of the main river. Ray moved up the side channel to a section of boulders; and all of a sudden, the pink adult mayflies began to pop and the fish showed up in large numbers at the surface. He tied on a Dry Fly Innovations Pink Adult #18 (dry fly fish Idaho), and it was exactly what the fish were looking for. He began picking them off one after another, and every fish he targeted was eating the fly. He finally honed in on a giant fish that was patrolling in a tough place to cast. He angled around a large boulder and side around a cast to the fish. Without hesitation the big guy ate the bug and all Hades broke loose. After 15 minutes of brawling, he was admiring a magnificent 22-inch rainbow. Wow!!
While Ray worked the side channel, the main river had no hatches but the combination of #10 Golden Stones (dry fly fish Idaho) and #8 Bullet Head Hoppers (dry fly fish Idaho) was hooking one fish after another for me. At times the fish would jump completely out of the water with the hopper in their mouth; and by the time they resurfaced on the water, I would have already secured the hook in them. That process continued for a large section of river until I settled in on a beautiful deep riffle against the bank. A very large fish came up and nosed the hopper without a take, so I served the fly a couple more times and the fish wouldn’t take. I change flies to a #18 Adams Caddis (dry fly fish Idaho) and served it to the fish’s lair. No take. Another cast, and no take. The third time was the charm and the big guy rose gently and sipped the bug. A soft hook set, a monster jump, and the battle was on. After some hairy moments trying to keep him in the hole and a dive into the willows along the edge, I slid him into the net. A spectacular heavy 20-inch fish was glimmering in the net. Wow life is good!!!
We finished the day in the same place we started thinking that a late evening hatch may have started. There were a few fish surfacing intermittently, but no real hatch. Ray sunk a nymph and hooked a few nice fish and I picked up a few on an Emperor Caddis Black (dry fly fish Idaho).
It was really nice to have a rod in my hand again and the itch got well scratched!
Flies that caught fish:
Bullet Head Hopper #8
Golden Stone #10
Emperor Caddis – Black #20
Adams Caddis – Green #18
Adult Mayfly – Pink #18
Black Gold #12 & #16
Tantalizer – Pink #18
Bullet Hopper
$2.35
Golden Stone
A spectacular dry fly with extended tail, dark hair back, ribbed abdomen and front antennae. It's the best producing golden stone I have ever fished.
$2.05 — $2.25
Emperor Series
Our #1 fishing fly for 2009 was the “Emperor” caddis series. We fished this series of flies at all elevations, from May through September and they are truly super flies. We featured the “Emperor” black caddis in a video we shot in the Idaho Wilderness called “Fishing the High Country,” and it took the place of our Black Flying Ant as the #1 fly for alpine lakes. Every place we fished these flies, they put on a show!!!!
$1.90
$1.71 — $1.90
You save $0.19 (10%)!
Pink Quill Wing
$2.05
Black Gold Stimulator
$1.95 — $2.25
Emergers
$1.65
- Color:
- Black Wing Black Emerger, White Wing Black Emerger, Blue Wing Olive Emerger, Brown Emerger, Gray Emerger, PMD Emerger,
Warren Dredge Ponds 7/15 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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One of Idaho’s great hidden gems is the Warren Dredge Ponds located about 40 miles north of McCall on Warren Wagon Road. The Dredge Ponds are 2 miles outside of the town of Warren, which used to be a thriving metropolis back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The whole valley was once a lush meadow with a gorgeous stream (Warren Creek) running through the center of it. The early pioneers discovered gold and silver in the valley and this is how the dredge ponds came into existence. In the middle of the valley lies remnants of an old dredger that created a unique fishery in the state of Idaho. The ponds are stocked to the gills (no pun intended) with little eastern brooks that are prime for the taking if you have the right fly.
I had the distinct pleasure of fishing with one of the best fly fishermen I have ever fished with; my brother Nathan. Nathan resides in Nashville Tennessee, and he only fly fishes when he comes home, but he never seems to lose his touch. We started off fishing at one of the several ponds and we both had tied on an Emperor Caddis Black #20 (dry fly fish Idaho). We separated and both took a different side of the pond so we could divide and conquer. Like clockwork, Nathan’s first cast resulted in a nice 7” brookie; and from that point on, I was playing catch up to keep up with his catch numbers. After about 25 fish, Nathan’s Emperor Caddis Black (dry fly fish Idaho) had seen better days, so he tied on a new fly, one that he thought was an Emperor Caddis. It turns out he had tied on a goose biot mayfly and suddenly he was getting no bites or any false takes. At this point we were separated and I had no idea why he was not catching any fish because I was routinely catching fish on the Emperor Caddis Black (dry fly fish Idaho). We finished fishing that pond and we met back up and I looked at his fly and realized he was using the wrong fly for the job. Whenever you are fishing a heavily fished area there is no substitute for the right fly.
So the day went on fishing miscellaneous ponds catching small brookies, so we decided to fish Warren Creek to see if bigger fish resided in it. We started on the lower section and we picked up a couple, but the fish were small so we headed up river to find bigger fish. I decided to tie on a Beetle #16 (dry fly fish Idaho) and started fishing upside down for the fish. I would cast down river and skate my beetle across holding waters and out of nowhere fish would strike the beetle like a bolt of lightening. Anytime you are faced with crystal clear water and fish that spook easy, the upside down technique is a great way to pick up fish that otherwise you would’ve scared before you got a hook in front of them. We fished on for a few more hours, picking up some nice brookies and wild native rainbows.
My brother and I finished up the day on one more pond, and we decided to use new flies and experiment a little bit. I had tied on a Black Ant #14 (dry fly fish Idaho) and Nathan tied on a Little Morman Girl #16 (dry fly fish Idaho). We fished on picking up a few more fish before we called it a day and headed back to camp. On the day we caught lots of fish, we had some good gut laughs and waded through some very cold stretches of river. The flies we used on the day were:
Emperor Caddis Black #20 & #18
Beetle #16
Black Ant #14
Emperor Caddis Gray #18
Little Mormon Girl #16
Emperor Series
Our #1 fishing fly for 2009 was the “Emperor” caddis series. We fished this series of flies at all elevations, from May through September and they are truly super flies. We featured the “Emperor” black caddis in a video we shot in the Idaho Wilderness called “Fishing the High Country,” and it took the place of our Black Flying Ant as the #1 fly for alpine lakes. Every place we fished these flies, they put on a show!!!!
$1.90
$1.71 — $1.90
You save $0.19 (10%)!
Beetle
The most realistic beetle pattern available. It has a peacock belly, a sculptured body, and exactly 6 moose hair legs. DFI beetles are killer flies in almost all waters.
$1.80
Ants
An enormous percentage of a trout's diet above 6,000 feet is ants. Fish cruise the edges under the canopy in search of these crunchy, high-octane morsels. The four ant patterns displayed are the ultimate weapons in the most prevalent color selections. They have tightly wound oblong body segments, beautifully crafted wings, and present themselves exactly like the natural. They have no deer hair shells over the tail so they are tough and won't fray or break like many commercial flies. You will catch more fish with less refusals using DFI ants!
$1.80
- Color:
- Black, Cinnamon, Red.
Little Mormon Girl
$1.85
- Size:
- 16 14
Warren Dredge Ponds (near McCall) 7/15-16 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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Some of the most awesome experiences of my life have come with a fly rod in my hand. The rod has led me to the granite world of high mountain lakes, to the tail waters of spectacular rivers, to the small mountain streams, to the gin-clear spring creeks (dry fly fish Idaho). I love the thrill of the take, the explosion of the zings, the singing of the drag, and the first look of the fish in the net. All these things have created memories I’ve relived on replay for a lifetime (dry fly fish Idaho).
But you know, my grandson (Josh) who is 4 years old, burned a memory in my mind that will live on perpetually. We fished Warren Dredge Ponds (dry fly fish Idaho) for three days. It’s the perfect kid water: small ponds chocked full of small brookies; a perfect place to teach a kid how to fish, The first time Josh lifted an 8-inch fish out of the water, his face was priceless. Josh’s eyes were as big as saucers, mouth wide open, and a little guy totally involved in the experience (dry fly fish Idaho). I may have enjoyed that moment as much or more than any fishing venue of my life. It reminded me of my own children a long time ago and their first fishing experiences, which came very early.
And then it struck me. That is what fishing enthusiasts do. They create generations of people who know how to serve a fly, set a hook, and fool a big fish. I hope you save a little time for a kid with a fishing pole, because it could be as exciting for you as it is to a small fishing enthusiast. Share some fishing time with a kid (dry fly fish Idaho)!!!
Henry’s Fork of the Snake River (below Ashton Dam) 7/3 – Dry Fly Fish Idaho
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As fly fishing normally is, we went back to the same stretch of river that we fished yesterday (see blog for 7/2) and the river had changed. We jumped into the boat in the middle of a prolific PMD hatch so thick that you couldn’t tell the natural from the fly we were trying to offer. I decided to throw a large fly in the upper part of the hole. Steve was smart enough to serve the right fly to feeding fish in the center of the hole and he bangs into a heavy 17-inch rainbow in the first five minutes, and I continue to throw a large fly as we had done yesterday searching for a giant. The giant never appeared and the PMD hatch disappeared with the rising sun on the water. We rowed the boat down river in search of holding water that we had experienced yesterday, but the big fish were lying low, and there were virtually no feeding fish at the surface. I tried a variety of flies to encourage them to peek up their heads—no luck. And again, Steve makes the right call. He straps on a tandem of stoneflies and hangs them below a strike indicator. Game On! He hooks half a dozen rainbows over a deep transition in the center of the river.
I’ve always believed that you can encourage a fish to come to a dry fly in almost all scenarios, but it was 1 o’clock, I tied on a dozen different flies, and I’d yet to catch a fish. A smarter person would have tied on a nymph as all other fishermen on the river were doing, but I just couldn’t go there.
After lunch, we moved down river to the holding water where we had caught a large fish yesterday. There were no hatches on the water, no feeding fish, but all of a sudden, I hook a heavy 13-inch rainbow in the middle of the river with a large black gold (dry fly fish Idaho). We begin to work a deep edge below a low bluff line and there was a large cover boulder that looked like a natural for a big fish. Sure enough; a giant rainbow darts up and eats the fly. I didn’t judge my slack line correctly, overset the hook, and popped the hook in the fish’s mouth. Damn! We pulled the boat in as I retied the fly; and as we’re doing so, I see giant rainbow break water out from a large boulder about 40 feet above us. I tie on another Black Gold, jump out of the boat, and serve the fly to him. On the third cast, a large rainbow false takes, and I continue to huck the fly. I make a long cast above the boulder in hard water. It settles and begins to drift back towards me. Straight out from the boulder, a large rainbow smacks the fly. I set the hook and begin to fight the fish, and I see more big fish above the boulder. I tell Steve to grab his pole and serve the fish while I’m landing the one I have on. After a bit of a tussle, I land the fish as Steve casts to the feeders up above. We can’t get the fish to take, and we don’t recognize what they’re feeding on because there are a variety of different flies hatching. They won’t take a big fly, and we can’t see the fly they are actually taking. We change flies. I catch a small fish on a mahogany searcher (tester fly). I think it’s the answer, but it isn’t. I catch another small fish, but we’re not hooking the premium fish. We change flies until the fish quit feeding and we never figure them out. So we moved down river and the river goes dead. Nothing on a dry fly; nothing on Steve’s nymph, and it continued that way for a long time until we looked out ahead of us to a slick above a long riffle, and there were fish feeding at the surface. Again there were a multitude of bugs, but the fish appeared to be feeding on an emerger. Steve ties on our Gray Hatching Emerger, size 14 (dry fly fish Idaho), and immediately hooks and lands a nice 16-inch rainbow. The fish quit feeding around us and we moved on to the upper portion of the Chester backwater. We found another group of fish. We both tied on the Gray Hatching Emerger size 14 (dry fly fish Idaho), and it was the ticket. For the last hour and a half of fishing, we selected a feeder, served the fly, and almost every fish took the pattern. The only problem with the run of fish was that they were not the giant variety. Most were 12-14-inch takers, and we hooked a lot of them until dark began to overtake us. It took a lot of casting and a lot of hard fishing, but we took what the river had to offer on this day.
There are lessons learned, and one of these is never calculate consistency of fishing from day to day. Every day on the river is a new chapter, a new puzzle to solve, and a new challenge. That’s the reason we fish. Fish on….
Fish caught on:
Black Gold Size 8;
Black Gold Stimulator
$1.95 — $2.25
Gray Hatching Emerger Size 14;
Product Not Found
Sorry! The product you requested is not found in our catalog!
Mahogany Searcher Size 16 ,
Searcher Patterns
The new world of dry fly fishing challenges the belief that you need a hatch. Fish this bug with NO hatch in holding water, and you'll be shocked to see what's calling. The fish will suddenly appear and eat this pattern. DFI has designed the new generation of of "searcher" flies built to sustain at least two hatches; in this case, a mayfly and a caddis, and get fish to take on their preference. It's a concept that catches fish!! One size; 6 different colors.
$1.90
PMD Single-Upright Wing Size 18;
PMD Quill Wing
$2.05
Empress Sally Size 18
Empress Sally
Empress Sally, she's a Movie Star!! This nasty little gal takes a lot of pride in showing off her little pink tail and luring a bunch of big fish up to eat her. This is a fantastic Sally pattern tied on a Tiemco 200R hook #18. Fish her in the hatch or blindly as a searcher, she'll score for you dramatically and often!! This fly is tied and fished in our 2010 video "Tie Magic".
$1.90
Henry’s Fork of Snake River (below Ashton Dam) 7/4 (Dry Fly Fishing Idaho)
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I was sitting on the float boat having lunch. The morning fishing had been a little slow for dry fly fishing. I looked straight across the river, and there was an enormous break in the water against the far bank. I marked the location. We finished lunch, and I asked Steve Hardy if he could row the boat straight across the river. He said he’d try. Even though the current was fairly swift and we were losing ground fairly quickly, Steve was able to get me a long cast to where I saw the fish rise.
I had one shot at the location, and I zinged the long cast to where I thought the fish to be. The golden stone fly (dry fly fish Idaho) barely hits the water and bang! the fish crushes the fly. I set the hook and the fish explodes upstream against the hard current and immediately I’m in my backing and the fish is swimming upriver. The fish continues on an upstream beeline and then abruptly turns right and rocks me up on a big boulder in the center of the river. I yell to Steve to get me to the bank. I bail onto a low lava cliff line and begin to run the cliff line toward the fish. He’s up river over 50 yards, and I finally get straight across from the boulder and can feel the fish is still on. The second I’m above the boulder, the fish clears and streaks down river toward the boat. I rerun the low cliff line as the fish goes past the boat, and we jump in the boat and chase the fish. The fish goes into my backing a second time, and rocks me up on another boulder down the river. We paddle to the fish until we’re almost over him and he clears and begins to fight in the current in the center of the river.. I finally get his head, we let the boat slide down to the fish, and we put him in the net.
Over a 15-minute battle, serrated taper and tippet, one knee scar from a lava boulder, and “There he is!”, a spectacular 19-inch toad rainbow; and so my baptism went on that section of the Henry’s Fork River (dry fly fish Idaho). Wow! By midday, we had figured out the river. The wind was blowing hard up river, the golden stones were abundant, and the giant fish were in mid river in hard current over structure. We hunted that scenario, and every time we found it, we located more giant rainbows for the taking.
We were throwing large stoneflies in hard current, and the fish were crushing them like a freight train. They began shying away from the golden stone fly (dry fly fish Idaho), so I tie on a large Black Gold (dry fly fish Idaho). It didn’t take long to notice it was a good change. Within minutes, we were hooking large rainbows again. We settled into an underwater boulder patch with strong currents over it, and intermittently a large rainbow would rise and we would serve the fly to the location. I saw a gentle rise and the head of an enormous rainbow straight out in front of me about 20 feet. I immediately serve the fly straight down his trough. He makes a perfect porpoise with my fly in his mouth. I sink the hook deep into the side of his mouth before he fully submerged into the water. He responded with two enormous jumps 3feet out of the water. There was a long gravel bar below me and not too many boulders below me—a perfect place to land a fish; and after 10 minutes, that’s exactly what happened.
Steve and I were nearly dumbfounded by the size of this hog. He measured over 21 inches and we guessed his weight to be between 6-7 lbs. It was a wonderful way to finish our first fishing day on the Henry’s Fork. By day’s end, it felt like we oared our way through a battlefield of giant rainbows.
We caught fish on: Black Gold, Size 8; Golden Stone, Size 8, Adams Caddis, Size 16.
Black Gold Stimulator
$1.95 — $2.25
Golden Stone
A spectacular dry fly with extended tail, dark hair back, ribbed abdomen and front antennae. It's the best producing golden stone I have ever fished.
$2.05 — $2.25
Adams Caddis
A gorgeous high-floating fly tied in body colors gray and dark olive with the classic grizzly and brown collar. Fish him in fast water and very aggressively. He floats like a cork and catches fish like a worm.
$1.95
- Color:
- Gray, Green.
