Henry's Fork

On the Road Again Day 14 | Up close

We pulled into Island Park yesterday afternoon with our stay all set: two nights in town, and a day of float fishing scheduled for today. We checked in at the fly shop, walked into the sports bar and grabbed a table for a bit to eat. The wall of windows looked out on the river and the mountains to the west; a couple were out in the middle of the river, fly fishing. The water didn't even come up to their knees. Our food was excellent, and we tried a local brown ale. This place was hopping. Every table was full, and the bar was standing room only.

We had breakfast in the bar this morning, then met with our guide and headed for the river. When we asked Darby if we needed to wear waders or our life vests, he said that if we go in the water and have the presence of mind to just stand up, we'll be fine.

The section of Henry's we fished was a simple wide river full of boulders, fast and slow water, completely different from the South Fork, which has lots of braided sections and deep pools along the cliffs. Today we drifted the whole time, with a few stretches at anchor. I was sure there were no fish in this river, but I was wrong. Whitefish, rainbow, cutthroat, and brown... we caught them all.

Dave caught the big fish today: a 4 lb. brown that was over 20 inches. Darby netted it, and I was about to take a picture when it flipped right out and back in the water. It snagged on another hook and Dave brought it in again, but it flipped itself off and disappeared. I don't know who was more disappointed, Dave (understandably) or Darby (who said this was the biggest fish caught on any of his trips the past couple of weeks).