A few weeks ago I took an epic Henry's Fork trip with some good buddies and one very special friend visiting, Evan Schwanfelder. Schwanny's a pal I used to work with in the fly shop and has since moved back to the NE where he is largely considered one of the greatest fisherman/singer-songwriter/pimp to ever be in the game.
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| This freaking monster ate a hairy, olive bugger in the canyon. |
I had parlayed a SF canyon trip (video on that coming later...) on Friday into an all weekend Henry's bash with some of my old fly shop friends including Jeff Currier, Granny, Josh Gallivan, Neil Chamberlain, Kyle Somers and, of course, Schwanny. After having an absolutely killer day on the South Fork with big Pat Harrington and Dave Smith, I parted ways and headed up to Last Chance to meet up with my boys. The beer flowed, well, like wine and we partied all night at the Trout Hunter until they gave us the boot.
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| Party at the Trout Hunter |
We fished the Ranch section all the following day after an amazing Trout Hunter breakfast. The fishing on the Ranch is always a challenge and this day was no different, but for a situation I rarely find my self in...too many insects. The Baetis at one point were so thick I couldn't find my fly or even detect a strike to save my life. It was incredible. Such a dense hatch and so many fish rising was really a sight to see. We all eventually caught some nice fish and returned to the Trout Hunter for round two that evening.
The next morning Neil and I parted ways from the group and headed south to float the lower Henry's for a couple of days. Sunday on the lower was some of the best streamer fishing I've ever had. Neil blasted the Sirius radio and we caught up on all of our NFL games whilst we laid waste to burly browns and enjoyed cigars on stream. It was a great day.
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| Neil's really colorful brown. |
After much debate and confusion, we finally found a bar (the only bar) in Ashton and sat down to watch the Sunday night game. If you ever find yourself in Ashton, ID and are thirsty, Ott's Place is it, literally. We met some great people that night and I will definitely be back for a re-visit.
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| Another nice brown on the Henry's. |
The next day proved to be another great one; nice fish and plenty of strikes in the afternoon after a fairly slow morning so I couldn't complain. We fished hard and caught some bruisers until the sun was nearing the horizon and then finally headed back home.
This was an awesome trip with some great friends and yet again reinstates my passion for fall fishing, not even just because the fishing is so on, but because it's great to fish with a group that is all out of work, enjoying the offseason, with a hankering to cut loose and get out on the river.
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| America. |
I'm always amazed by the vastness of this part of the world and love the country and the people that make it their home.
More to come soon!
I had to give the South Fork upper stretch one more go before the weather turns over in Swan Valley for awhile. I planned to fish with my buddy Owen Jones and while making some breakfast, Scott Smith buzzes in trying to fish with us too. It worked out perfectly and being that we now had a full boat crew, we made tracks toward Palisades dam.
