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Fishing Report

Dec 5, 2019 | Todd Lanning 20180312_152732.jpg
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First off let me say happy holidays to all. It’s been a crazy year. I personally have never seen a time when the country has been so stirred up. One thing however remains the same. A big trout will not eat a dry fly without a drag free drift! Democrat, Republican, socialist, communist if you can’t present a drag free drift that trout won’t eat it! Secondly, the fishing reports where a little lacking this summer. I am not one to lay out a bunch of reasons as to why it didn’t get done every week. I will tell you that it will be better in the future. I enjoy doing the fishing reports and for all of you that read it, please don’t hesitate to send me pictures.

Box Canyon

Island Park Reservoir is at 88% capacity. The flow in the Box Canyon is 500 CFS. That is great news for the young of the year trout and is good news for the health of the Henrys Fork. Snow pack is around 60 percent of average and of course we have a lot of winter left so I am not too worried about next season just yet. It seems like we get the bulk of our snow pac in February and March. If you are in the area the Box Canyon is worth a look. I would slow strip streamers and have the usual small bead heads and rubber legs. On the right day there have been midges on the surface and a few smaller fish looking up. The Spanish Quill and red zebra midges have been working well for me. If you want to float the flows are good but access changes almost daily and soon won’t be an option unless you want to drag a boat.

Lower River

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The Henrys Fork from Ashton on down continues to fish well. I really enjoy spey fishing on the lower river this time of the year. There are plenty of great runs to swing streamers. Look for fish eating midges and you can’t go wrong fishing bead heads this time of the year. Temps have been mild so far so it’s a good time of the year to get on the water and get some fishing in without the crowds of summer.