Friday's Fishing report

I fished Henrys Lake on Friday and had fairly good luck.  The weather was calm and mostly clear in the early morning with elk dotting the meadows west of the lake.

I first fished the A-Frame Bay and only got one small cutthroat before I moved on the Duck Creek.  In seven feet of water I landed a 19 inch cutthroat and a 19 inch brook trout.  Both were taken on a Beadhead Electric Black.

 

I then decided to try the deep part of the lake as a slight breezy made drift-fishing about right.  In the Wild Rose Hybrid Hole in 20 feet of water, I started getting hits and a few fish.  I landed four cutts and another large brook trout.  Most of them were taken on a Canadian Red Leech with red tinsel in the black tail.

 

I heard reports of bait fishermen doing well along the Cliffs and also catching some large hybrids there.  I will have to try it in the next week to see what happens.  The lake is still too cold to cause the fish to school up much.

 

 

Henrys Lake opener

Yesterday (May 23) was the opening day for Henrys Lake.  The wind won most of the battles as very few fishermen fished past 9 a.m.  Before the wind came up hard, fishing was pretty good.  I had good luck in the A-Frame Bay in seven feet of water and at Timber Creek in 5 to 7 feet of water.  But after the wind came up, I had a tough time catching fish.

All my fish were taken on a Beadhead Electric Black leech.  I caught one nice brook trout and ten cutthroats between 13 to 19 inches. 

I will fish it again on Wednesday or Friday of next week and hopefully the weather will be better.  But the fishing is usually better in the early morning on most day.

Good luck.

Henrys Lake update

Spent two days at the Idaho Falls Fly Fishing Expo and had a lot of fun meeting old and new friends.  I was able to demonstrate my system of tying flies and also did a program on Henrys Lake and fishing there.

By the way, Mike from the Drift Lodge showed me a picture of the ice on Henrys and it is about gone.  I will be going up there in about 10 days to deliver flies and look at the conditions.  I had several businesses contact me about delivering flies to them for the summer.  That means I will be tying flies to catch up again.

For those of you who want to order flies or my book, contact me and I will get them to you before the opening day.

The spawning has ended on Henrys Lake and was one of the best run in recent years.

Henrys Lake map

As promised at the presentation tonight - Here it is.  Enjoy.

Ice fishing is over

I have made a promise to keep this blog up and running now that I am retired.

I believe that my ice fishing is done for this season.  It has been a weird year with very cold for a few days and then very warm for a week or 10 days.  The last two weeks have weakened the ice on most lakes and reservoirs.

I did not retire from teaching until December 1st, and was too busy to ice fish much before the new year.  I did make it up to Henrys to ice fish twice, but my first real trip was to Ririe reservoir on January 4.  I fished close to several people and we had a little success taking several trout and kokanee.  Perch fishing was the best I have every experienced on Ririe, but the kokanee fishing was the worst.  Last Friday was my last day there because of the rotting ice after fishing it 11 days.

 

About mid January, four of us made the long trip to Mackay Reservior where we caught 18 kokanee and two trout.  The fishing was also poor so the ice-house residents did more drinking than fishing.

Last Saturday four of us went to Chesterfield Reservoir near Soda Springs.  We had a good day catching planters but broke off the only two large fish we had on.

 

I may check out Island Park or Hebgen or Mud Lake, but with temps in the 50's, I really don't have much faith.

 

On Wednesday, Feb. 11th, I will be doing a presentation on Henrys Lake at the Shilo Inn and it will be free and the public is invited.

Brook Trout on Henrys Lake

Two of my sons-in-law and my grandson joined me for a great day on Henrys Lake.  We caught one hybrid, seven cutthroats and 15 brook trout for a great day.  Most of the fish were taken in 20 feet of water on a #4 Light Olive and Black Woolly Bugger.

Here a son-in-law shows off a large brook trout taken in the Wild Rose Hybrid Hole.

Just the first day of a three-day fishing experience.

Henrys Lake Fishing #1 - 2011

Yesterday, Friday, I took my boat to Henrys Lake to park it for the season.  Grandkids are coming tomorrow from Utah and want to fish a lot, so I had to find the fish.  I found a few fish off the County Boat Dock and Staley Springs.  I caught six in about one and a half hours.  Three were brook trout, one a hybrid and two were small cutthroats.  The brook trout are still large and will get larger.

There is plenty of snow on Sawtelle to melt and the lake is 104% full.  We will have plenty of water this year.

With at least three days of fishing next week, we should have some good reports.

Kokanee fishing on Ririe Reservoir

On the ice at 6:30 this morning and drilling holes in the dark.  Head lamp was very handy.  While getting set up two schools came through and missed all the hits - but then they flashed through and were gone.  The south wind was howling and setting up the ice house was a chore.  But once it was anchored down it gave me a lot of protection.

The third school produced one kokanee, 45 minutes later I got another from a fast moving school.  All of the schools dashed through in 30 seconds or less.

The Boy Scout Troop who had camped out all night started running the four-wheelers pulling sleds.  The sled made one heck of a racket as they slid over the rippled ice.  While they were playing, the kokanee would come through at 45 to 59 feet below the ice.  When the four-wheelers stopped they would move back up to 18 to 25 feet below.  A group of shakers, kokanee from 6 to 8 inches, came through and I landed six of them.

On my depth finder I saw a fish near the bottom, down I went for it and caught a 16 inch sucker.  About 10 minutes later I saw another one near the bottom at 55 feet so down I went for it.  It fought very hard coming up and I was surprised at the kokanee over 16 inches long, the largest I have ever taken on Ririe.

I caught a few more kokanee in schools as they flashed by, returning some and keeping two more.  Then I saw another fish near the bottom and dropped down to jig for it.  It turned out to be just under 16 inches.  Today I was glad to be irritated by the Scouts as I believe it broke up the groups of kokanee and the single ones on the bottom rewarded me for my persistence.

Here is my catch for the day before I caught the last one.

A great way to spend in the wilds of Idaho.  I was able to beat the snowstorm as it came in just as I was leaving the lake.

I have fished Ririe Reservoir five times since it froze over.  Fishing has been fair but pretty tough.  Kokanie seem to be hitting the lures really light.  But enough schools come through that you have a chance to catch your limits.

The ice has been good, but very slick at times after the rain removes the snow off it.  On Saturdays, the area around the boat dock area.  Here was the scene last Saturday as I was leaving.

The lake should be good fishing until mid March. 

Holiday fishing.

Twelve available fishing days during Christmas vacation and six days on the ice.  Mackay Reservoir treated us very well on both days there.  Took a son-in-law and a grandson there.  We caught trout and kokanee there.  We used my flasher-jig setup for kokanee.  Here Brandon lands one of the small kokanee we caught.

You can see our setup for the kokanee in the picture.  I tye the jig and tip it with a wax worm or piece of nightcrawler.  The kokanee are withing a foot of the bottom no matter what depth of water we were in.

Mud Lake was still dead and we took all the grandchildren to Roberts Pond to catch small perch.  They had a lot of fun, but nothing of any size.

Island Park Reservoir was good to me as I caught rainbows and a couple of nice kokanee there.  I used the same setup as I did for kokanee.  The area by the dam is my favorite area.

Henrys Lake for the one day season on New Year's Day was not good.  I predicted in my newspaper article that it would probably be slow and it was.  My son-in-law, Steve, and I each caught one brook trout.

Tomorrow is back to school, but what a way to spend a couple of weeks in the wilds of Idaho.

Ice fishing Mackey Res

After two weeks of no fishing at all, I just had to find some hard ice - thick enough to hold me and allow me some chance at success.  I found it by traveling to Mackey Reservoir about 110 miles from home.  Thick fog made the travel over difficult and very slow.  But the fishing was good.  It was my first trip ever fishing this small reservoir.  The sun was just touching the tops of the mountains surrounding the town of Mackey as I pulled in.

I was the third person on the ice and set up too close to the shore.  After an hour of fishing with no bites, I noticed two fishermen catching a few out further in the reservoir.

I moved further out and soon started getting a few hits.  Some were very light and I thought they were probably minnows or crayfish playing with my bait.  The solid hits produced rainbows like this one.

 

I visited with a local fisherman and he explained the light hits were the kokanee, the fish I wanted to catch.  He explained that they hit most bait light, but they hit rotten corn or wax worms harder.  I did not have either, but used smaller hooks and pieces of bait.  I then started catching some of them.

It was a very enjoyable day - cold as the devil, but fun.  Another wild day in Idaho.

Saturday at Henrys Lake

Went ice fishing at Henrys Lake again.  Twice in two days - But then it will have to satisfy me for two months before it opens again.  On January 1st, it will open for only one day and then will close until Memorial Day weekend.

I fished with my neighbors and we caught some nice fish.  Here is Jared with a big cutthroat.  His smile is bigger than the fish.

We were fishing off the mouth of Pittsburg Creek just east of the Hatchery.  The Hatchery area was loaded with people by 10 a.m.  The best fishing is usually about 7:30 to 8 in the mornings.  Jigs tipped with a piece of nightcrawler worked best for me.

A great way to spend a morning or day in the wilds of Idaho.

Ice fishing Henrys Lake

With only five more days of open fishing on Henrys Lake, we finally made it up there.  The recent cold weather had put five inches of ice near the Hatchery and two friends and I had a great time.

Moose caught three large brook trout like this one.  We were fishing east of the Hatchery with a variety of lures and bait and caught about 30 fish between us.

Here Gary is landing a nice cutthroat.  We missed a lot of bites and a nearby fisherman lost a huge fish that we could not get up through the 8-inch hole. 

With fish like these, I am headed back up there tomorrow morning.  A great way to spend a wild but cold day in Idaho.

Fishing with Jesse

Last night my son-in-law, Jesse, decided he wanted to fish Henrys Lake this morning.  It turned out to be a great day.  After a few fish, Jesse landed the largest brook trout he has ever caught.  It was 20 1/4 inches and weighed about five pounds.  It was one of the most colorful brook I have seen this year.

It is one of those "enuf" fish.  I will in the future run my essay on "enuf" fish.  But we continued to catch fish.
here is a female brook trout Jesse caught.

But 15 of the 18 fish we caught were cutthroats between 16 to 22 inches.  All were caught on the Light Olive Crystal at Howard Creek near Henrys Lake State Park.

Great way to spend a Saturday morning in the wilds of Idaho.

Fishing heating up on Henrys Lake

I drove up to Henrys Lake to exercise the fish that wanted to lose a little weight.  Fishing was slow to start off, but I was joined by seven Common Loons just as the sun tried sneaking through the fog.

As the fog lifted this loon worked close to me, but both of us were not successful.

Even the coots were very busy, but they were after veggies not meat.

About 10, the fish started hitting the Light Olive Crystal with most of them between 18 to 22 inches.

My sixth fish was a 21 inch brook trout.  The only one of the trip.

I did not get a hybrid, but caught 14 fish by noon. 

With wind, rain, birds and fish, it was another wild day in Idaho.  I am glad that I do not stay home when the weather appears to be bad.



Hybrids at Henrys Lake

After three weeks of busy Saturdays, I finally got one off and headed to Henrys Lake for some early morning fishing.  Some fish were rising in the Staley Springs area, so I stayed there.  My first fish was a very large hybrid.

Not ten minutes later I got another hybrid, just a little smaller.  No measurements or weight - just great battles and released to fight again.

Pictures are hard to take while battling fish by yourself.  But what a joy it is to hook and wrestle them.

Four cutthroats were also caught, before I headed to help a neighbor get a load of firewood.  Just another wild day in Idaho.

Henrys Lake again

Yesterday I got some calls that businesses were running out of flies and my book, so about 4 p.m. I took some up to Ashton and Island Park.

Of course I took my fly rod and flies so I could fish for a couple of hours before it got dark.  Only caught four fish - but one was a big hybrid at Duck Creek and one was a 22 inch brook trout at Howard Creek.

It had stormed the day before and the water was still murky, so I used the Gold Glimmer fly and it was successful, but slow fishing.  Henrys Lake should really get good around Howard Creek in the next two to three weeks - if you can miss the storms and muddy water.

Sturgeon Fishing - JC Strike Res area

A friend of mine, Gary, invited me to go sturgeon fishing for a couple of days, so 3 a.m. we left home for a four hour drive to the JC Strike Reservoir area.  We started fishing Tuesday morning at 7:20 in a hole in the Snake River above the reservoir.

Using a 12 foot rod with a six ounce weight and fishing for fish over 100 pounds was way out of my league.  I could not cast the rod.  Gary had pitty on me and cast for me.

My first sturgeon was a 2 footer - small, but about six years old.  But what a beautiful fish.  The scutes on the back were sharp and rough - probably to protect them from being eaten.

Not too long after, the slow dip of the rod indicated another sturgeon.  I set the hook and it did not budge - I had the bottom - so I thought.  Soon the bottom moved up river.  Forty minutes later, Gary tailed my fish - a seven and a half footer - probably about 180 pounds.  Here I am about to release the largest fish I have ever caught in my life.

About 30 minutes later, Gary lands a six and a half footer.

Then late in the afternoon, I got a four footer.  Here Gary is unhooking it.  A great fish, but much smaller than the big ones.

We caught some squawfish and bass, but went sturgeonless for that evening and the next day, but what a trip.  One good enough for a lifetime of memories and thrills.

Those fish better get ready, because I will be back to wrestle with them once again.

Fishing Beula Lake in Yellowstone

Had a great time hiking in 2 1/2 miles to Beula Lake on Saturday and fishing for three hours.  The birds, animals, flowers and sounds were a great solitary experience. 

Here is a picture of a faint rainbow I took just before I got rained on.

The fish were willing as I got hits on almost every cast with Yellowstone Cutthroats running from 12 to 16 inches.

A loon interrupted my fishing as it came in to fish the same area I was and it spooked the fish.

But the fish soon returned and continued feeding until 32 people showed up to fish the lake.  Here an 8 year old son of a friend of mine with a cutt that he caught.

With dogs running uncontrolled and swimming through the fishing holes it was time to head home and pick raspberries and peas.

Anything with red or peacock bodies worked for me until all the activity started.  It was a great day for fishing, hiking and photos.

Fishing Report July 27,28, and 29.

Had great fishing this week.  First trip was on Tuesday, when I went to Sand Creek Ponds and fished Pond #4.  The fish were dimpling the surface and I immediately started catching rainbows from casting from shore.  I did not take my float tube as I was getting firewood also.

Anything green would work as the damsel flies were thick.  After catching 17 I headed to my truck and visited with the assistant manager of the wildlife management area.  He said float tubers were getting from 20 to 30 a day by working the shallows along the reeds.

I did catch a large rainbow over 20 inches.

Henrys Lake.

On Wednesday and Thursday I fished Henrys Lake and it was like two different trips.  Wednesday was super, but after a huge storm Wednesday night, Thursday was slow.

Wednesday I caught fish at Targhee Creek with a Canadian Blood Leech and then on a Light Olive Crystal.  I left to explore at 9:30 and caught fish near Howard Creek, Cliffs, Phils Hole, and Duck Creek. 

Duck Creek was the best that I have seen it for several years.  I got two big hybrids, many cutthroats and six brook trout.  The hot fly was the beadhead Mity Mouse and the Henrys Lake Renegade.  I gave some to a fisherman that had not caught any fish and he ended catching 14 with them.  I ended the day with 52 fish, with three of them large hybrids.

To fish Targhee Creek, fishermen are leaving camp at 4:45 a.m. to get one of the favored spots.  Here is how crowded it gets around 7 when the late fishermen arrive.  The spot you get will determine whether you catch 5 or 40 in the morning.  Everybody has their favorite area GPSed.