Henry's Fork - part 1

I arrived at Island Park around 11:30 AM. The weather looks amazing and looks like it will be another hot day! After checking in at the Anglers Lodge I went out to check out the two big names of fly fishing on the Henry's Fork: Henry's Fork Angler and Trout Hunter Lodge.









Mike Lawson's fly shop is the most amazing fly shop I've seen so far. After selling the fly shop to the current owner Mark Rockefeller in 1999, the old fly shop was replaced by this amazing cabin style building in 2006. Although not the owner anymore, Mike Lawson still works as the General Manager of the fly shop. He still seems to love what he does. By the way, I have no clue why the h*ll I didn't take a picture of us together?...





Mike helping out a customer about fishing in New Zealand


Mike signed my copy of his book




Upstairs there are many memorabilia (fly plates, pictures) of Mike's past as a fly fishing celebrity. In the 1990's Mike together with his friends Jack Dennis and Gary Lafontaine we known as the 'Traveling fly fishermen' giving lectures and tying demonstrations all over the country.



A fly plate together with his friend Jack Dennis. My love for the Humpy is solely to be blamed on Jack Dennis. I watched his videos, especially 'Tying Western Trout Flies' countless times back in the late 1980's.









René Harrop is another legendary name of the Henry's Fork. Started as (and still is) a fly tying family business, Harrop started with two friends Trout Hunter fly shop in the early 1990's to move and expand later on the banks of the Henry's Fork to what is now known as the Trout Hunter Lodge. The Trout hunter lodge consist of a (relatively) small fly shop, a bar and a lodge.





After looking around both fly shops and buying a few flies, it was time for some lunch. What better place than to sit on the banks of the Henry's Fork at Trout Hunter's the A-Bar and order a juicy burger and enjoy the view?





Continue with part 2 of the Henry's Fork!

My 2018 USA trip:

1) Upper stretch of the Elk river (BC)

2) Visit to RL Winston rod factory

3) A day with George Anderson on the Armstrong Spring Creek (MT)

4) Backcountry fishing in Montana

5) West Yellowstone

6) Henry's Fork - part 1

7) Henry's Fork - part 2

8) Henry's Fork - part 3

9) Cutthroat fishing with Dusty & Colt

10) Fiberglass Clave 2018

11) Last day of the trip - Soda Butte & Lamar (YNP)

12) Drone video of my BC / Montana / Idaho trip

West Yellowstone

I left my hotel in Bozeman for my two days at the Henry's Fork around 7 AM. I drove the route along the Gallatin river (highway 191) via Big Sky to visit West Yellowstone along my way to Island Park, Idaho. While driving I remembered something about road from Big Sky to West Yellowstone being closed down due to wild fires, but as I was approaching Big Sky I saw no signs of road closing. I arrived at West Yellowstone around 8:30 AM.



West Yellowstone is a famous town at the north western part of the Yellowstone National Park. This little town has the typical Montana atmosphere I haven't seen elsewhere. West Yellowstone is also the town with the world renown fly shop called Blue Ribbon Flies.

I still remember entering this small fly shop in 1992 with my friend Don. I bought this rod, Sage 690-2 LL, back home especially for my first trip to Montana. I just thought the 6 weight rod was too heavy for the type of fishing we wanted to do. Then I saw this shiny new Sage 490-4 LL sitting on the rod rack. I asked Craig Mathews, the owner of BRF, if I could cast this rod outside. The lightness of this rod amazed me...

I went back to the shop and asked Craig if he would consider trading my 690-2 LL for this four piece rod. Craig inspected my rod and said it was okay if I paid the price difference*. The cordiality of Craig was etched in my memories.

After 26 years I walked into the shop again. Blue Ribbon Flies looked just as I remember. The interior changed a bit obviously but the atmosphere still felt like back in 1992. Craig wasn't in the shop but the former co-owner John Juracek was tying while other employees were hanging around the counter.

While looking through the bins for deer hair (BRF is famous for their deer and elk hair) I also asked about the conditions at the Henry's Fork. Wading on the Henry's Fork is very easy going thanks to the gravel bottom, I asked if they could take a look at the rubber sole and the cleats I just got installed as I was slipping all the time yesterday. Big was my surprise that the cleats were already loose and way too few to be effective. Katherine, the only female staff, generously offered to install more cleats on my boots.







Around 11 AM I left Blue Ribbon Flies with wading shoes full of cleats, a bunch of deer and elk hair, and some other tying materials. The final ride to Island Park was about 30 minutes. Henry's Fork here we come!


*I looked up in my journal and that day was July 31th and I paid $40 for the price difference between a two and four piece rod

My 2018 USA trip:

1) Upper stretch of the Elk river (BC)

2) Visit to RL Winston rod factory

3) A day with George Anderson on the Armstrong Spring Creek (MT)

4) Backcountry fishing in Montana

5) West Yellowstone

6) Henry's Fork - part 1

7) Henry's Fork - part 2

8) Henry's Fork - part 3

9) Cutthroat fishing with Dusty & Colt

10) Fiberglass Clave 2018

11) Last day of the trip - Soda Butte & Lamar (YNP)

12) Drone video of my BC / Montana / Idaho trip

Backcountry fishing in Montana

After a great day on the Armstrong spring creek with George Anderson, Mark picked me up at my hotel the next morning at 7 AM to head to one of his secret streams in the hills. I know Mark prefers small streams with solitude over any famous and crowded river. I told him I'll take any stream he choses, as long as we have fun with dry flies. From the pictures of Mark's outing I knew they all looked amazing 😀.

The drive to the hills was pure sight seeing. This is probably why I love the Rockies. After an hour and a half we arrived at our destination. As we geared up, I saw Mark hanging his bear spray on his 'vest belt'. Just to be safe... This 'vest belt' made by his wife is probably the best waist bag I've seen so far. I did consider packing it for the trip. I left it at home as my duffle was already exploding.

As we walked into the bush, I saw this small stream that reminds me of many streams in Southern Germany and Austria. The bottom was covered with bowling ball sized rocks, covered with alge. I was hoping that the cleats under my rubber soled wading boots would help me from slipping but that wasn't the case. Within half an hour I slipped and had water in my hippers. Being so early, it felt a bit chilly. Well, it should warm up any soon. By the way, Mark is a the president of the wet wading club.






Mark was catching his first fish as I was struggling with my slippery boots (feeling insecure about a firm grip on the stream sucks!) as well as being on the wrong side of the stream I wasn't really able to concentrate on my fishing. I soon crossed the stream and the first fish on my nymph was a fact.

Besides rainbows and brown trout this stream has a very healthy population of mountain whitefish. Surely a sign of clean water. The strikes of these whitefish are lightning fast (boy did I miss a few!) and they fight like fish at least twice their size. I love them!







Every now and then Mark dipped his thermometer in the water and the temps went from around low 40F to almost around 50F. So, we changed the nymphs for dries. I tied a Humpy and we were catching fish on the surface the rest of the day.





Mark with his specialty: high sticking a dry

























Mark's Bill Blackburn and my Scott


These two sure know how to pose


A tiny spring along the banks








Thanks for an amazing day Mark!

Tomorrow: on my way to the Henry's Fork

My 2018 USA trip:

1) Upper stretch of the Elk river (BC)

2) Visit to RL Winston rod factory

3) A day with George Anderson on the Armstrong Spring Creek (MT)

4) Backcountry fishing in Montana

5) West Yellowstone

6) Henry's Fork - part 1

7) Henry's Fork - part 2

8) Henry's Fork - part 3

9) Cutthroat fishing with Dusty & Colt

10) Fiberglass Clave 2018

11) Last day of the trip - Soda Butte & Lamar (YNP)

12) Drone video of my BC / Montana / Idaho trip

A day with George Anderson on the Armstrong Spring Creek (MT)

I met George during my first trip to Montana in 1992. In fact it was the first fly shop I entered (at 6:30 AM!) during that trip. My friend Don and I were on our way to Yellowstone National Park. I needed a pair of wading shoes to go along with my Red Ball waders (remember those?...). The shop was the only building in the area. But boy does it look different now 26 years later.

We kept in touch during these years. Our contact intensified when Yellowstone Angler started their rod shoot outs. We exchanged quite a few emails about rods and actions over the years

When I told George I was coming to Montana after almost 15 years he agreed to join me on a days fishing. I wanted to try one of the many spring creeks in Paradise Valley. He suggested we fish the Armstrong Spring Creek.







George on his way to the 'office' to check me in

Well seeing George after more than 25 years again sure is nice. Our friendship has certainly been a long distance friendship. Fishing together felt very comfortable. We both geared up at the shed next to the parking place. I fished my Livingston Western Glass 8.6ft #3. What a great (spring creek) rod this is. Until the heat I caught half a dozen fish including a nice 18 inch rainbow. George tried my rod and he was quite impressed. 

After lunch George was a bit tired. Time doesn’t do any favors to any of us. He had some problems with one of his ankle which obviously bothered him after a few hours. During the whole day George basically guided me. I’m not used to be guided and being guided by a legend felt a bit awkward to me sometimes. But It's an honour to have such a knowledgeable fisherman next to you.

We didn’t see much of a hatch during the morning (just a few PMDs and some midges). After lunch the heat made sure all insects were hanging around the local refrigerator. Fishing slowed down considerably. But the company and the view was amazing. 

Just before George left, we saw a pod of fish cruising a slow part of the stream. They were probably used to fishermen trying to fool them as they were not really interested in the offerings. After George left (George needed to go back to the shop and get some rest) I fished the upper part of the stream. I missed a very nice fish because I was more into admiring the scenery than watching the drift of my hopper. 

Thanks George for a great day!

Before packing up I launched my drone for a view from above. Quite a spectacular area!


After fishing, on my way to Bozeman I stopped at Sweetwater Fly shop to get some cleats under my new rubbers soled wading boots as I was slipping on the algae covered rocks. Nice guys but they need some classes on fitting cleats. Fishing next day with my friend Mark, I thought I would get a firmer grip on the slippery rocks but it was hardly the case. It turned out that the cleats were loose(!) and way too few cleats under each boot as the guys at Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone showed me.

Next: backcountry fishing in Montana!

My 2018 USA trip:

1) Upper stretch of the Elk river (BC)

2) Visit to RL Winston rod factory

3) A day with George Anderson on the Armstrong Spring Creek (MT)

4) Backcountry fishing in Montana

5) West Yellowstone

6) Henry's Fork - part 1

7) Henry's Fork - part 2

8) Henry's Fork - part 3

9) Cutthroat fishing with Dusty & Colt

10) Fiberglass Clave 2018

11) Last day of the trip - Soda Butte & Lamar (YNP)

12) Drone video of my BC / Montana / Idaho trip

An article in Fly Fisherman magazine, March 1971 about the Armstrong spring creek. Times when fishing the Armstrong was accessible for free(!) for a period.

Update Nov 22, 2024

Here is a nice podcast with George and his son Jamie.

They talk about the younger years of George, how the shop was started and their passion for fly fishing.