Henry’s Fork, May 11th, 2024

The Henry’s Fork continues to offer the most consistent fishing of any area stream. Good caddis, BWO, and midge activities are reasons for great top water fishing not only on the lower river, but on the river above. Here the Last Chance area and above Coffee Pot rapids are good areas to try. For streamer and nymphing enthusiasts, Box Canyon is worth a try using streamers and fly rod jigs.

Here is some encouraging water quality information from Dr. Rob Van Kirk’s Henry’s Fork drainage SWE report filed yesterday.

Water Quality

As good as water quality was on Wednesday, it was even better yesterday. Water temperatures warmed just a hair, putting them within the optimal range for development of rainbow trout eggs and fry in all river reaches. Increased sunlight yesterday resulted in higher photosynthesis than we have seen in a week, increasing dissolved oxygen watershed-wide. Turbidity continued to drop yesterday, although that trend will be reversed today as snow begins to melt. I expect the highest increases in turbidity to occur downstream of Robinson Creek and Fall River, which are the two tributaries that will respond the most to mid-elevation snowmelt over the next week. Hatch timing is a day behind average at most locations after slowing down over the past five days. However, I expect aquatic insect development to accelerate a little as temperatures warm, putting it back at average to a day or so ahead of average by the end of next week. That means upcoming springtime hatches—including salmonflies and March Brown mayflies—should be right on time.