After returning to Salmon, Randy and I took off for Rexburg traveling Hwys 28 and 33. Interesting terrain, very flat with lava fields etc. We passed the Idaho National Laboratory, a research facility with many secret projects through the years. Later, we would learn from a guest at the Flat Rock Club, whose father worked on several projects there, that, many years ago, there was even a prototype of an atomic plane. Makes you wonder what people were seeing as UFOs. Hmmm.... Toured the town of Rexburg and the newly built division of BYU. Quite impressive. One wonders what the increased demands for potable water due to these developments will do to the water supply in eastern Idaho. May have a big impact on future fishing.
August 23rd found us at "the Pond", a semi-secret spring fed area near the South Fork of the Henry's Fork. Fishing there, as always, was challenging, particularly because of the warm, clear weather and a huge bull moose who chose to eat in the middle of our best fishing spot. Did manage to hook and land a 22" brown on a yellow parachute (#14). Randy landed a large cutthroat. Otherwise we spent a few frustrating hours casting to spooky fish and dodging the moose.
On the way to the Flat Rock Club the 24th, we fished "The Ranch" section of the Henry's Fork. "Just for fun" we decided to use our Sage 00 rods to test the ranch rainbows and browns. The rods do cast a quiet line and allowed us to get a little closer to feeding fish. In the am I caught several of the 10-12 in rainbows and had a couple of larger fish blow up on a #16 yellow parachute. With the wind blowing a gale in the afternoon, the hopper bank proved the place to be. The 00 was a challenge to cast in these conditions with plenty of "wind" casts (flip the fly in the air and let the wind cast it). Several big fish were up to the fly and Randy actually "fought" one for about 5 seconds without breaking his 00. Arrived at the FRC in time for dinner and to meet the new management: John and Nina Harrington, and our new chef Roland. The club appears to be in excellent hands with excellent service and exceptional meals. Roland was previously the chef at the Henry's Fork Lodge, has prior experience at major restaurants and, because of some health problems, was looking for a position with a less demanding schedule. Seems to be a good fit. His steak Diane the first evening was honestly the best I have ever eaten.
The 25th found Randy and me at our "secret" spot on Hebgen Lake. The calibaetis hatch was a little late but robust once it got going. We had several large rainbows and browns up to green parachutes (#14-16) during the couple of hours of the hatch before the wind came up. We tried Hebgen again on the 26th but the weather was changing, the hatch was non-existent. I only had one hookup, Randy had several, some on ants and nymphs. As Randy had "given" me his URI, we rested in the pm in preparation for getting up at 2:30 am on the 27th.
Did I say 2:30am!? Yep, in order to get to Ashton and meet Tom Grimes for a float on the South Fork of the Henry's Fork. Good plan as we were on the water at 6:30am casting foamy things on the bank and pulling in large fish after large fish. Many cuts and browns and a few rainbows. The best fishing occurred before 11:30am when the winds started blasting upstream. Still caught several good fish in the pm, but nothing like the dawn experience. Tom said this was the first and only time he was going to get up that early this year - we felt privileged. As is our custom, Randy and I took Tom out for dinner at the Relay Station for our annual chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy (I only do this once a year, honest!). After dinner, in spite of getting up at 2:30am and fishing all day, we walked to the Ranch hopper bank in the pm. Unfortunately, it was just a 2mi hike as the fish had had their fill of hoppers and were not cooperative. Oh well...
Thursday Aug 28th was to be a day off, visiting with out friend Henry Kopfinger and driving to Dillon for the Patagonia sale. Had a great visit and drive, purchased a few things and, on the way back to Island Park, stopped at the Reynaud's Pass bridge where I caught a 22" brown from under the bank, just up from the bridge. Took a copper John dropped off of a stimulator - great fight.
The 29th should have been a day off. Weather change had the fish off and the hatches were nil. Went to Hebgen where I couldn't hook up (fish rising randomly) but Randy had a good day guessing where the fish would rise and caught a dozen or so. Later fished below 3$ bridge but only caught a couple of mid-sized browns.
Second float trip with Tom Grimes on the 30th. Fished Remington backwater. Excellent fishing with several large rainbow up to 22" and Randy caught at least 4 very large (up to 24") brown in the pm. Most on flashback beadhead droppers, some on stimi. Had Henry over for dinner at the FRC.
Spent the 31st with Steve Mate fishing the Lewis River and the Madison in the park. Windy, stormy day. Few small browns
Sept 1 - Cold, windy, fished Madison at entrance to Hebgen with Steve Mate. No fish up of any size. Two flood gates broken at Hebgen dam had lake dropping and fish off their feed.
Sept 2 - Visited Rose Kopfinger, then fished above Ashton reservoir. Randy and I caught several 10-12" rainbows and browns. Good seam at second pullout. Most caught on dropper - copper john.
Sept 3 - Left for Topeka but stopped at the Lewis River on way out. Almost didn't leave. Caught several browns and had one double hookup - large brown on stimi, 12" brown on dropper with large brown getting off when smaller brown changed directions. Landed small brown. Oh well... Drove to Laramie through the Tetons and Wind River valley - beautiful drive interrupted only by battery failure while waiting for construction (left lights on). Randy and I jumped the battery in less than 2 min and were on our way.
Sept 4 - Laramie to Topeka - no problems. Ate with Larry, Randy and Lisa.
Sept 5 - Drove to Winchester Ky (approx 10 hrs) - some rain, no problems
Sept 6 - Home via 19/23 - good road, little traffic - great to be home!
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