Maiden Voyage – solo on the Henry’s Fork (+caddis!)

May 4th – 23rd Day Fly Fishing in 2022

On this day, I was truly excited and a little nervous. After all, this was the day I was taking a brand new boat out on the water. There is always that rock just below the surface. The one you don’t see until it is too late. You hear and you feel the bang against the aluminum hull. Ouch! Yes, on this day I did in fact hit my first rock and put the first blemish on the bottom of my new watercraft.

The pre-planning involved checking in at World-Cast Anglers in Victor, because I needed an update on what was happening on the Henry’s Fork. And oh, and definitely the maiden voyage was going to take place on the Henry’s Fork(HF). When I asked at the shop about hatches, I learned that the famous “Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch” was rumored to be starting early and was underway at the Warm River section of the HF. Well, dry fly fishing is my favorite form and hey, fishing dries just works better when you are fishing solo. So the decision was easy, I connected up with Lynette at Yellow Sally’s on the Float River app, sent her the Venmo and my trip went from planning to execution.

Because I was a bit apprehensive, I took my time at the launch double-checking details. Making sure I had all the gear, etc. The launch went smoothly and I left boat tied to the tree and anchored(pic above), while towing the empty trailer to an almost empty lot. I was actually shocked! Sure, the Ora bridge to Chester Dam section is considerably more popular with both guides and private captains alike. Everyone knows, that’s where the big fish are! In fact, I have had several really stellar days on the Ora to Chester section. I’ve not had a stellar day on the Warm River section to date, but to be fair my go-to section is Ora to Chester.

Turns out I had the river to myself. I discovered one other boat the entire day. So great that I could take my time. Starting at the launch, I carefully worked each section. I even managed a row around with my nymph rig on my 9′ 5 wt Scott G2, covering a deep run twice. Got one bump, but missed the set. Unfortunately no heads yet. Looking at the first set of riffles below, I decided to rig my Scott G2 9′ 4wt. I wanted the flexibility to throw double dries and dry/dropper combos. I wasn’t throwing big foam bugs. but rather caddis patterns, so I really didn’t think i needed the 5wt. My three was underpowered. This became crystal clear as I began to work my way in the first run and riffle. An upstream wind had really picked up to 20+ . Also the caddis hatch was on fire! I was watching the bugs come flying out of the water and heading right upstream. So many of them it was like a squadron of grey-ish bugs. As I was working my way through the riffle I was blown away that there were no heads whatsoever. Finally, I began to see a few, but they were small fry. Anyway I was eager to cast and I wanted to see if I could match the hatch and elicit a few takes. I moved below a pod of four or five rising fish. The were so many caddis on the water, both at rest and skittering around I was shocked that so few fish were getting in on the action. The upstream cast was clearly the best move with a 20+ mile an hour wind. The most important part of the presentation is to have the fly, tippet and leader fully laid out. You don’t even have to think about a mend. Your main role at this point is to strip line quickly as it heads toward you. That line has to remain ‘almost’ taut to enable a quick, clean hook-set.

The caddis in the air were predominantly a size 16, with a dark brown body. During an actual hatch, I’m really bullish on the X-Caddis. It represents an emerging caddis that is having trouble shedding its shuck, and its wing is not fully formed. To the fish this looks like a vulnerable insect and of course they are really only around during the actual hatch. I tied on a dark brown X-caddis in size 16, put a liberal gob of Loon Aquel and above it a 3′ section of 4.5 X tippet, Trout Hunter EVO Nylon to be exact. When dry fly fishing pressured rivers I use at least a 9′ leader/tippet combo. Today, it was about 11′. The water was fairly off color and I was fishing the riffles and the flows were robust, therefore I did not feel a need to fish a lighter weight tippet.

Eying a couple of smaller fish upstream that were rising fairly consistently, at least a few times per minute. I decided to alternate my casting to each of them. At first I was having a little trouble timing the cast to the rise. Then I got it dialed in and had my first take. Frankly, I was caught a bit off guard. This usually happens on the first take of the day. I was just delighted to get the eat. Now I would be paying really close attention! The second fish took the fly about 30′ upstream and a bit to the left. On this fish, I got the hook-set. Not surprisingly, I knew right away that the fish was small. In my world under 12″ I consider small and this one turned out to be about 11″. It was a fun fight and the fish fought hard using the swift current to his advantage. Speaking of swift current, I normally get out of the boat to wade into position when casting to a fish. I feel like it really improves my catch rate. In this case, I was not comfortable wading due to the speed of the current, even though it was only knee deep. So all my casting happened from the boat. Fortunately I was below a pod of fish and I had several other fish. Some were not rising as frequently. Anyway I managed 3 more fish and one was a nice chunky rainbow. Perhaps not that long but a nice fish.

There was this one bigger head rising toward the left bank. It rose fairly consistently, but it was also my longest cast, about 50′ including leader. This is where the 4wt proved to be the right call. My 3wt G2 would not be able make that cast. The reason being that this fish was perpendicular to the boat. Because of the now 25mph wind, I had to aim my cast 5′ below the fish to land it 8′ above the fish. This cast was challenging because I really had to lay it out completely to make the distance, and with the wind, that was easier said than done. Well after about 5 tries, I made that cast and timed it with his rise and got the eat. Instantaneously, I knew it was a brown. Only some browns do this, but when they do it is obvious. After the hook-set, they just stay in place, not moving for the first few seconds, which seems like an eternity. You put the bend in the rod and the fish just sits there, daring you to make your next move. Rainbows ALWAYS take off and run as soon as they feel the hook embedded. Anyway, it was a brown, that I knew, and feeling the tug of the first few runs, I knew it was a big brown. I played this fish oh, so gingerly. Even still I had him to the net within 5 minutes. It was a great fight and I had to be mindful of the 4.5X tippet. So the drag was set correctly and I just let that Galvan reel do its thing. The main reason you pay extra money for a premium reel is for a silky smooth drag that is always consistent, with little start up inertia. A lot of the fish I land can credited to my Galvans. The drag is brilliant and behaves consistently across models and sizes. When I let the drag do is thing, I can be laser focused on fighting the fish. I’m not going to lose him when he makes a head shake or a surprise run. Between the quality of the drag and the sensitive tip of my 4wt rod, my gear will absorb those shocks and I can stay focused.

In any event, lading this brown was the highlight of my day. Soon after, the hatch subsided and fish stopped rising. I made several more stops along the way to the take out at Ashton Lake, but nothing to speak of except for one more rainbow that was rising in the frog water just below the bridge. A nice fish, but not picture worthy.

All in all, an excellent first float for the Montana Skiff, wind and all. I felt fortunate to have a solid caddis hatch that at least brought a few fish to the surface.