I arrived home late Monday night still on a high from an unforgettable trip. I was sore, tired, smelly, and challenged. The truck dirty, fly boxes empty, and a few new friends to share time on the water with. As I settled down slowly unpacking the mess, I realized I spaced brushing my teeth that morning. Funny how much we sacrifice in our life just to fool some trout with a few feathers. Many may look at us fishermen and think we are crazy. Trips like this are why we ignore the weather, forget our responsibilities, and fish 12-hour days. Every once in a while, all that work pays off and the stars align. This was one of those trips.
It’s mid-June here in this fishy area of the world and I had dry flies on my mind. I was lucky enough to share this weekend with a few fishy guys I met through the local fly-tying night. Xavier and Bryan tagged along, and we ventured to one of the many famous watersheds in our region. It was their first time on the Henrys Fork, bringing back those first-time jitters for me. It’s funny how showing your friends a place you fish often brings back the excitement you had on your first day fishing that river. Back when you didn’t know how special a place would end up being to you and the amazing memories to come.
The goal was to fish the famous green drake hatch. A big, greenish-yellow mayfly that makes trout throw caution to the wind. While many watersheds in our region experience this special hatch, it is special to me on the Henrys Fork. It reminds me of a summer in my life when I left all my responsibilities to rest while I fished around the West for a summer, living out of my Silverado.
Saturday morning started slow. We looked for heads and awaited the hatch. I could tell the guys began to question my hype, though I made sure to give them the proper disclaimer that this is a new year with different water conditions. I tried to sound confident and excited so they would think the long drive was worth it while trying not to set their expectations so high it blows up in my face.
Speaking of blow-ups, around noon we saw our first signs of the green drakes. A few big sailboats floated down and the couple of trout blowing up on the surface brought a big smile to my face. Here we go.
Though there weren’t many fish, I was able to fool two nice rainbows out of the gate. I landed one and the excitement built as we all tied on the drake patterns we whipped up the night before.
The Saturday hatch proved to be a relatively sparse one, only bringing a few fish to the surface. We walked the river looking for heads. The green drake hatch is a special one. While many hatches confine trout to seams, riffles, and structure against the banks, the drakes bring trout to the surface in all water types. Whether it be under an overhanging tree to the fastest riffle in the middle of the river, the trout don’t care. They rise to them no matter the water type.
It became obvious that the go-to tactic was to find a fish rising and keep feeding the fish until he eats your fly. This is no easy task, especially for an angler new to this river and hatch.
Fishing swift currents with conflicting seems made it hard to present a dry fly. Especially when you must make long casts and multiple presentations to get an eat. Combine this with trout who have seen many flies, and it’s a real challenge for anglers of all skill levels. I worked with the guys all day trying to get them into fish. We fished hard and had a blast, though not many trout made it to the net.
We spent upwards of an hour in the afternoon working a big brown rising tight to the bank. While the green drakes were our goal, they were not the only bugs on the water. The green drake hatch coincides with many hatches on the Henrys Fork. We saw golden stones, caddis, pmds, flavs, and brown drakes in the few days on the water. After trying a multitude of flies, the brown finally stopped rising as he got suspicious of our offerings.
Looking back on the situation, I wish I wouldn’t have switched flies so often. We saw him eat goldens, caddis, and drakes. Xavier made some good drifts over the fish but with so many bugs on the water, I believe we should’ve kept feeding him the flies I was most confident in. Either way, it was unbelievable to see a sizeable brown feed two-rod lengths away.
We made it through to Saturday night with two trout to the net. I lost six fish which was surprising to me, though it made me more aware of my fish fighting the next few days. As we talked through the day while eating dinner, Xavier made a comment that made the trip for me. It made me so happy as it is my goal when fishing alone or with other anglers.
Xavier said that it was one of the best days of fishing he has had, though he didn’t even land a fish. This is what it’s all about. Xavier had about a dozen dry fly eats that day but we couldn’t put it all together. Both Bryan and Xavier fished hard, took what the river gave them, and enjoyed the full experience without it being contingent on the fishing. I fly fish for the full experience, and I was so happy and proud to share this weekend with them because they were all in for it.
Sunday morning we woke up to cloudy skies and cold weather. The weather called for wind and rain. Perfect for an epic green drake hatch. We stopped in the fly shop to stock up on more drake patterns (ours weren’t big enough) and made our way to the river. With a days worth of experience, we each felt confident going into Sunday.
After the slow morning, we patiently watched the river waiting for fish to rise. Dwayne (my future father-in-law) met us on the river and showed us how it was done. As soon as the fish started rising, he made his way into the river and fooled a few fish. We each followed suit, though he made it look easier than it was. The fish were rising in the middle of the river. We needed to make a long reach cast while wading in deep water. I got the hang of it and started to fool a few, while Xavier and Bryan did their best to land one themselves. They both ended up getting it done. Great job guys.
The cloud cover made for a solid drake hatch and a few hours of awesome fishing. Though it was only to get better. As the hatch waned and Dwayne went back home, we each spread out looking for rising fish. After landing a nice rainbow, I peered upriver to a shallow slick and found a nose. The rise was discrete, tipping me that it may be a big fish. I put on a size 14 rusty spinner and went to work. On my third cast, I fooled what turned out to be a beast of a brown. A stunning fish on a dry fly. With a kype jaw, thick belly, and bright yellow body. It was an absolute stunner.
This is where it got crazy. After landing that brown and making my way back to the same slick, another nose appeared. I fooled and landed another big brown on the dry fly. This one kicked my butt and took me farther downriver than I would’ve liked. Bryan helped me net the fish as I gasped for air and my forearm was weak from just landing two big browns in a short time frame.
The big browns moved into the banks and were feeding on leftover drakes and the afternoon pmd hatch. It made for some of the best dry fly fishing of my life. I spent the rest of the afternoon working the banks. We all witnessed Xavier hook and land a nice brown in the push of a rock garden. First cast on a size 16 last chance cripple he tied himself. A very special moment.
I woke up Monday to partly cloudy skies and excitement for another epic day on the water. After warming up a breakfast burrito, I hit the water looking for heads. The morning turned out to be stellar. Shallow flats and seems against the bank is where I found fish rising to caddis and leftover pmd’s. The angle of the sun and scattered clouds made for good lighting when looking for rising fish. I caught three while losing or putting down another three. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to head hunting on the Henry’s Fork and am excited for more opportunities to learn in the future.
The green drake hatch was sparse midday. I had worked my way down to a bank I had in mind all weekend. Unfortunatley it was being fished by a drift boat by the time I got down there. As I watched for blowups in the middle, I spotted what looked to be a very nice brown gulp a few green drake duns. After a few casts, I was able to fool him on a green drake cripple pattern, though the hook didn’t stick. This was the only fish I was slightly heartbroken over when looking back on the weekend. We all have that one fish that leaves us wondering “what if” at the end of a fishing trip.
It was getting to the time of day when I was thinking about calling it. I was more than satisfied with the fishing over the weekend and getting back to town at a decent time was appealing. Though the Henrys Fork in June rarely allows that to happen. I walked the bank back to the truck only to find more big browns rising to drakes against the banks. I took my time on these fish, watching them rise a few times before making a cast. I felt so alive in these moments. The cripple pattern fooled a few more up the bank and I even caught one rising to golden stones on a mini Henrys Fork golden stone pattern.
Around 3 pm a storm rolled in and the fishing got crazy. The drake hatch took off and the river had big mayflies floating everywhere. Witnessing a drake hatch at its fullest is a sight to see. Big mayflies, trout blowing up everywhere in the river, seagulls swooping down getting in on the action, and every other angler you see is hooked up on a fish.
What a wonderful and magical time of year on the water. The trip ended after catching a few nice trout during this epic hatch. This weekend will go down as one of the best trips of the 2023 season and I am so grateful for the opportunity. Shout out to Xavier and Bryan who worked their butts off over the weekend. We all learned a lot and developed as dry fly anglers. I hope to spend more time on the water with these fishy dudes in the future.
My Setup
For this trip, I used my 9 foot 5wt Orvis Helios 3F. I paired it with Scientific Anglers infinity taper fly line. This combination is killer when casting heavier setups like the big dry flies I was throwing. I highly recommend getting the infinity taper if you have a Helios 3F, I’ve been very impressed.
My leader started as a 9-foot 3x tapered leader that I consistently added 3x or 4x to. I kept the leader a tad longer, in the 10 ft range. There were a few times I lengthened it to the 12ft range to avoid putting my fly line over trout.
The green drake last chance cripple in a size 10 was my best performing green drake pattern. I also had success with JoJo’s green drake and a variety of cripple and dun patterns. An EP fiber comparadun in size 16 tied to represent a pmd did the job when fishing the pmd hatch. I was also turned onto Kelly Galloups bent cripple pattern and was very impressed with how this fly fished. I plan to tie a few more up in a variety of sizes as I thought it was a perfect representation of the spinners/cripples I was seeing in the river.
What Did I Learn?
I was humbled my fair share of times throughout the weekend. I learned to take every fish seriously and give each rising fish the respect it deserved.
I found myself targeting a rising fish and going into the situation too quickly. Assuming my setup would work and not thinking through how the eat and fight may play out beforehand. This led to a few fish I didn’t get to eat my fly and plenty of fish I missed the hookset or lost before the net.
I assumed I would continue to have more opportunities so going through the effort for each fish was not a priority in the moment. This bit me in the butt a few more times than I’d like to admit. Next go around I plan to have more patience. Watch the fish feed, make sure my setup is ideal for the situation, and plan accordingly for the take and the fight. I believe this will drastically increase my success rate on fish landed and continue to grow my skills as a dry fly angler.
What Left Me Curious?
I couldn’t help but wonder how often these fish are caught. With so many other anglers on the river catching fish, I wonder how many nets these fish see every week.
It’s obvious on the Henrys Fork and other heavily pressured rivers. The trout in these rivers can be somewhat numb to angler traffic. A prime example is a story I have from a few summers ago fishing the green drake hatch. I watched a boat pull up and eat lunch in prime trout water next to the bank. About 10 minutes after they rowed out, I walked up to the location to continue fishing my way up the bank. Sure enough, four fish had already begun rising right where the boat was parked. That same summer on the Henrys Fork I caught the same rainbow on back-to-back days in the relatively same area.
This topic came to the forefront of my mind when I released a big brown trout this weekend and it was very slow to recover. I fought the fish well and landed the fish quickly. The trout was hooked in the mouth and caught in the morning hours when water temperatures were cool. No grip and grin shots were taken as all I did was a quick-release video from the net. This fish may have been in my net 30 seconds before I went to release it.
The fish surprisingly sunk to the bottom and started to belly up. I sat with my net supporting him upright for about five minutes. Eventually, I took the net out from under him and he sulked to the bottom in the weeds. I wouldn’t be surprised if the fish didn’t survive.
If you fish with me you know my views on fish handling. I am relatively strict and getting more so as time goes on. I thought I did a great job at landing and handling this trout, so it made me wonder if the fish had been caught the day before.
I don’t know how often these fish are caught, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were multiple times a week during the heavy hatch periods. The trout have their favorite feeding spots that they return to regularly. The many experienced anglers and guides that fish the Henrys Fork know exactly where they are.
Maybe I am soft but it is hard for me not to feel bad for the trout sometimes. On the other hand, we are putting hooks in their mouth and ripping them out of the water. That is what fly fishing is at some level. Maybe I am wrong and there are so many trout per mile that each fish is caught only one or two times in a summer?
As you can tell from this post and my other blog posts, I am currently working through my views and emotions on this topic. It makes me question how many fish is enough. Is it worth putting excess pressure on certain fish? I’m very curious to hear your opinions and thoughts on this topic. How many times do you think our trout in heavily pressured rivers are caught?
