Henry's Fork - part 2

It was almost 3 PM when I was done with lunch. I decided to wait for the evening hatch and headed to the Harriman State Park (also known as the Railroad Ranch) and have a look at the historic site.

The history behind this summer retreat (starting as early as in 1902), working ranch and wild life sanctuary preserved by the Harriman family till gifted to the state of Idaho in 1977 is very interesting. The gift was done under the condition that the park stays open for public and future generations to come as a natural area and wild life refuge. It must have been amazing back then to spend the summers here, inviting fiends to enjoy and fish the, now famous, part of the Railroad Ranch stretch of the Henry's Fork (named after the fur trapper Andrew Henry who passed through this area in 1810).

The famous view at the Millionaire's Pool

The dozen or so cabins of the Harriman heritage are still here

The interiors are still left as they were used by the Harriman family and their guests

Maintenance on the buildings

The house the Harriman family themselves

This cute little squirrel came running towards me

While walking through the Railroad Ranch, I remembered I had an appointment with Nelson Ishiyama, the owner of the Henry's Fork Lodge, and a bamboo fly rod enthusiast around 5:30 PM at his lodge. We had a nice talk together at the porch of his lodge and talked about bamboo fly rods, the fishing on the Henry's Fork and fly fishing in general. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of us together!...

View of the Henry's Fork from the porch

I said goodbye to Nelson around 6:30 PM and headed back the my lodge to get my fishing gear. I headed to the Last Chance stretch. The heat of the afternoon was almost gone and it started to cool down.

Around 7 PM. Waiting for the evening activity...

There are caddis flying around but not much on the water...

Around 8 PM, still haven't seen much...

I packed my gear around 9:30 PM. No activity at all!

Well, the first day at the Henry's Fork was quite an interesting day. I will get up early to capture some drone footages of the sunrise at the Osborne bridge stretch before heading to the stretch at Wood Road 16. This stretch was recommended by a friend who is recovering from illness. Get well Eric!

Go to part 3 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

Enjoying the total silence

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