Henry's Fork Ranch Opening Day

Immediately following the weigh-in at the Ririe Reservoir Bass on the Fly Tournament, Jeff Currier, Granny and I headed up to the Harriman Ranch on the Henry's Fork in Island Park, ID.  Our team had just scored 2nd out of 14 teams so we rode the victory wave all the way up to the Henry's to party all night long in anticipation of the Ranch section opening the following day.  Shortly after arriving my buddy Josh Gallivan rolled in to join the celebration.  We were met with some of Jeff's longtime friends (he's been hitting up the opener for close to 25 years!) and commenced to catching up over beers.


The Henry's Fork is a little high and slightly off color like just about every other river in the Rockies right now but everyone remained optimistic about the day to come.  We left the parking lot and headed to the Trouthunter bar for the annual pig roast and partied late into the night.  Instead of the usual bluegrass band at the Trouthunter, Jackson's own Deadlocks were on the marquee!!  The Deadlocks are one of the best and most entertaining Grateful Dead cover bands out there, and with my friend Meggan Kaiser on back up vocals, the night got that much better.  We eventually had to call it a night and ended up sleeping right on the banks of the Henry's.  I couldn't have imagined a better place to bed down.


The next day started eeearly as Currier made sure we were all up and at em by 7:30.  After breakfast at the Trouthunter we headed off to the Ranch to begin the day.  The hangovers and water conditions kept everyone humble as we took our sweet time getting rigged up.  No hurry whatsoever.  After lollygagging around for awhile Josh, and our friend Marty Manoni, and I set off to hopefully spot some feeders.


The day turned out just as slow as we all knew it would be and no one I know ever landed a fish.  With the water high and super cold, hatch activity was minimal.  After spotting periodic rises and making a few casts to no avail, I called it and headed back to Jackson.  The skunk will stay with me, but I have honestly never seen it quite so tough there.  Luckily my birthday is on June 30, and my bud Owen Jones and I will be heading back up to partake in my annual tradition of fishing the Henry's on my berf.

An amazing "weekend" came to a close but I'll be back soon.