Wild Trout Fishing on Henry's Fork of the Snake River, Idaho

The Snake River, which rises in Yellowstone National Park, is a major tributary of the Columbia River. Just outside Last Chance, Idaho, is Big Springs, a magical place and one of the sources of the best known section of the Snake River – Henry’s Fork. Brown trout, cutthroats and rainbows as well as mountain whitefish can be caught on the Snake River system.

Floating down a quiet stretch of Henry's Fork

Trout fishing
The most notable stretch of Henry’s Fork is known simply as ‘The Ranch’, a wide, slow stretch of water with a dense weed-covered riverbed which creates numerous mini-currents offering the ultimate challenge to the flyfisher. Along with a good population of smaller rainbows, it is home to large and ultra-wary specimen rainbows that will disappear at the slightest wading stumble or disturbance of the silty bed. Those flyfishers who attempt the ultimate challenge of The Ranch and are determined to adhere to the strictest ‘upstream dry-fly’ mentality will surely fail in their attempts to catch the big, 20-inch + fish: a dry fly cast downstream and slightly across (to avoid a flow of silt alerting the fish to your presence) will reachthe fish before it sees the tippet and leader; this, we learned, is the surest route to success.

Ron Sorensen with Sue Parker and a 23-inch wild rainbow
that Sue caught on 'The Ranch' section of Henry's Fork

Another notable stretch of Henry’s Fork is Box Canyon, where the water flows dangerously fast over big boulders. Wading is all but impossible there, and a professional guide with a boat is a necessity when attempting to catch the big, immensely strong rainbows that choose this inhospitable place to live.

If you need detailed advice on getting started in river trout flyfishing, our Beginners' Guide to Trout and Grayling Fishing is available online...

Tackle
For The Ranch and other gentle stretches of Henry's Fork a 9ft AFTM #4 or #5 trout rod is ideal; and matching the hatch, when one occurs, is vital.  Amongst the prolific hatches you may expect to see are Pale Morning Duns (PMDs as they are invariably referred to in the USA), Blue-winged Olives, Mahogany Duns and other up-winged flies, along with periodic massive hatches of flying ants on which the fish will often feed to the exclusion of anything else.  In the afternoons when the prairie winds blow and put down the hatches, the use of imitations of hoppers, crickets and other terrestrials issometimes the best way to proceed.

For Box Canyon, rather blunter instruments are required and big, ugly nymphs, bugs and streamers are key to success in catching the fish (if not in honing elegant casting skills!).

What to expect
Two or three fish over 16 inches in a half-day's fishing must count as a reasonable catch from this world-famous (and hence quite heaviliy pressured) river. Fortunately the American catch-and-release culture means that very few fish are killed, and so you can expect to see quite a lot of rising fish whenever there is a hatch.

Accommodation and fishing licences
If you stay at Trouthunter Lodge, in Last Chance (Idaho) you will be ideally situated for fishing on the Henry's Fork. Licences for

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