Bighorn Boys

I planned to rendezvous with three of my old high school teachers and one of their sons on the Bighorn River in southern Montana. Little did I know that the next three days would host some of the best fishing I've experienced this season.

Everyday produced rainbow and brown trout that averaged in size from 14 to 20 inches in length. I often found myself having to borrow my colleagues' landing nets, as I over confidently left mine at home.

The memory of the fish I caught on this trip will soon be overlapped by more recent angling success back at home. However, the memory of the five of us sitting around at day's end as we watched the sun go down over the Montana horizon can only be duplicated once a year.

See you again next year boys.

The Start of The South Fork

This past week I was able to float the South Fork of the Snake River for the first time this season.

HFA guide, Phil Hanamaikai, and I floated "The Canyon" section from the Spring Creek boat access to our private take out owned by Mark Rockefeller. It was a welcomed break from our beloved Henry's Fork, and hosted some great fishing for cutthroat trout in the riffles and brown trout on the banks.

Afternoon PMD mayflies in a riffle

Phil with a native 19-inch cutthroat

Friends and Fish

This past week I guided two college buddies down the river. Mitch sure gave me some "real life experience" as he was consistently tangled, snagged, or had his flies caught in trees. It proved to be good guiding practice, but in the end we did catch some fish, had lots of laughs, and told a few stories. That's what a day on the river should be like.

Nate Peters with a Henry's Fork 21-inch brown trout

Mitch Stephenson and "the big one that got away."

Guide House

This is where I'll be hanging my hat for this fishing season. If you were to walk inside, you'd think you went back in time to the 1970's. Let me introduce you to my roommates...

Captain J.D. Miller has been with Henry's Fork Anglers since 2005. He previously spent several seasons guiding his home waters in Colorado, as well as southern Montana and Yellowstone Park. He is a prolific commercial fly tier and is a fly designer for Montana Fly Company.

John "Hootie" Mauldin was born and raised in Dalton, Georgia. He Graduated from Kennesaw State University with a B.S. degree in Psychology. He began fishing Northwestern Wyoming waters as a young teenager on Summer vacations. 2008 was his first season with Henry's Fork Anglers. Between November and April John can be found guiding for southeastern trout for Unicoi Outfitters.

Dustin Hegsted grew up fishing the Henry's Fork, Teton River, South Fork, Warm River, and many other streams and lakes in the area. Dustin's first fly shop experience was with South Fork Outfitters, where he spent three seasons in the fly shop, followed by a season as a fly fishing guide. The following year, he made the transition to guiding for Henry's Fork Anglers. He recently graduated from BYU-Idaho and plans to eventually obtain an MBA in International Business.

JD's dogs: Ruby and Folsom

Pteronarcys californica...what?

For the past few weeks, the Henry's Fork has been the choice destination for traveling anglers in pursuit of the famous salmonfly. After living in the river for up to three years, these insects migrate toward the banks to transform into their adult form...mate...and then die. This hollowed "hatch" can provide the best dry-fly fishing of your life, or be the biggest let-down of your season.

Living The Dream

It has been over a month since I started my second season with Henry's Fork Anglers located in Island Park, Idaho. The month of May brings melting snow, opening day of the general fishing season, and truck loads of new merchandise. With box cutters in hand, my days are spent opening and stocking the latest gear from companies such as Patagonia, Cloudveil, Columbia, and Simms. It's almost like Christmas...but I don't get to keep any of the presents.

More Steelhead...

I started this post a month ago after making my final steelhead trip to the Salmon River with fellow HFA employee, Chris Lawson. It is now the first week in May, and you may be asking, why are you writing about a fishing trip that has been belated for over a month? In all honesty...only a steelheader would understand.

All week I had been checking the weather, and saw two consecutive days predicting sun and temperatures reaching the mid 60's. This would allow the water temperature to raise and hopefully motivate the steelhead to start moving up river. I already knew why Chris was calling me when my phone rang, and after ending the conversation I immediately started tying dozens of egg patterns in anticipation for the following day.

To make a long story short, the enclosed photograph is the first steelhead I landed that day, and was followed by a dozen more. By days end, Chris and I had landed over thirty fish, and lost many more. At one point we we're hooking up on almost every cast. I may be a fisherman, but I don't lie.

This was a day that I will never forget, and is day that few steelhead fishermen ever experience in their lifetime. I am addicted to steelhead.