Henry's Fork in Mid/end June 2023 Thread

[stealurface831]

It is apparent on the South Fork as well, the dry fly fishing is nothing like it was 10 years ago - and I don’t think that can be attributed to low flows.


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Can’t be attributed to low flows as in flows have been consistently good over that span or because low flows don’t impact hatches? Cause low flows definitely impact hatches.
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[east or bust]

I haven't lived here long enough to put together any objective observations on the weather/climate, but I bet the hard data exists for those who really wanna dive into it. I'd start with looking at average daily temps - is there a trend of rising/falling temps for certain seasonal periods (let's say April thru June, July-August, Sept thru Nov), are historic seasonal/transition periods lengthening/shortening, etc.

[teleee]

Can’t be attributed to low flows as in flows have been consistently good over that span or because low flows don’t impact hatches? Cause low flows definitely impact hatches.
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Because it is a controlled tailwater and the flows have been more or less the same from year to year for the last 25 years I have been fishing here.


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[plugboots]

I agree with bugs: “Ain’t what they used to be.”
I’m gonna try to find it, but there was just an article I read about a study that was done because people were noticing that if you did a cross country trip years ago, your windshield was covered with bugs, and now it isn’t anymore. They literally took the license plate as the control square inch area and analyzed data and found that it in fact there are just less bugs than there used to be. It’s not just aquatic insects.
Anecdotally, I remember fishing the Missouri near Craig 15 or so years ago and I could not see out of the windshield from the PMD and and caddis coating the windshield.

[neckdeep]

Across the midwest, night baseball games near streams used to have massive hexagenia hatches swarming the lights every summer and suddenly it stopped over the last few years.

Personally, I think we're well into a new "silent spring" scenario. Big Ag has saturated the environment with neonicotinoids and there's also a proliferation of forever chems in everything. There's so much forever chems in our lives that human shit is now toxic. Some geniuses recently started cooking down American human waste to make cheap biosolids fertilizer and the result was disaster. It's a farm poisoning sludge full of concentrated forever chems and micro plastic.

[stealurface831]

it all tracks. everything is dying and we are all fucked.

[neckdeep]

I haven't lived here long enough to put together any objective observations on the weather/climate, but I bet the hard data exists for those who really wanna dive into it. I'd start with looking at average daily temps - is there a trend of rising/falling temps for certain seasonal periods (let's say April thru June, July-August, Sept thru Nov), are historic seasonal/transition periods lengthening/shortening, etc.

Well, the thing about that is the 1999-2004 drought was the hottest, driest period we've had around here in 30 years. We had more 95+ degree days in those few years than we have experienced in the next 20 years. It was so fucking hot. But, it didn't affect the mayfly populations like whatever is going on now. For example, the trout population totally crashed in 2003 on the upper teton but the mayflies came through it just fine.

[guide]

Well, there were copious numbers of big bugs but nary a fish up on them. We fished HARD for 5 days. 9 ppl. the best day for one person was when 6 of 9 hiked into Mesa Falls. We floated different sections but essentially from Stone Bridge to Ashton Reservoir. Dave's Jubilee was a revelation. We thought it might just be a gas station sized convenience store. But NO! And some good selections of foods.

[neckdeep]

Very stoic of you to not even mention the 30 to 50mph winds.

[kokomas]

Gonna poke around tomorrow where Guide left off. Give a holler if anyone is heading that way

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[guide]

Very stoic of you to not even mention the 30 to 50mph winds.

Good lord that made for some heinous rowing conditions for sure.

[east or bust]

Going to a wedding in Bozeman on the 15th. May stop at the ranch for a pain cave session on our way back on the evening of the 16th. You know, just for fun.


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[east or bust]

Was windy AF when I arrived around 6:00pm last night. Biked out from the mailbox to my usual spot. One other dude a bit below me out in the middle of the river moving around a ton. Don't know what he was fishing but appeared subsurface. Watched him dig up some guppy sized fish. His tactics seemed questionable to me, more on that below.

Took a nap, woke up some time around 7:15, still windy. Rode down to the cabins to see if it was more sheltered down there. Less wind but still nothing going on, couple dudes all sitting on the bank. Rode back up to my spot. Two new guys upstream, seemed like they knew what they were doing, which is basically sit on the bank until stuff starts happening. Guy below me still out in the middle on the river walking around scaring fish. Things calmed down right at dusk as usual. Had a nice fish in front of me in what couldn't have been more than 6" of water, dorsal and tail above the surface like a bonefish, but couldn't get it to eat. Downstream guy leaves 5 minutes before things really turn on, WTF. And most of the feeders are literally right where he was. They were sporadic but some studs in the bunch. Best one I saw was on the other side of a hydro and had no chance of getting in position to cast to it without fucking up. Couldn't pin anything down in the 15min between when fish started rising to complete dark.

/endmemoir