Fishing

Henry's Lake, Idaho

Did you know that late September and October is the best season for fishing on our lake, Henry's Lake! Right in front of the house! About 200 ft from shore. Perfect for float tubing! Pack a float tube in a duffle-bag or throw one in the car. The chronomid hatches are finishing and there are no more flies for the fish to eat. The fish come in toward the shore looking for leaches coming up from the mud. There are several natural springs that empty into Henry's Lake on either side of our house. The old name for the area is Staley Springs. Our home is actually used as a fishing marker in fishing books for Henry's Lake.   There is exclusive access for float tubers. Simply drag your tube across the yard, through the pond and over the berm to the lake. Winds and weather can kick you off the lake in October. Expect a couple days of snow. Snow does not usually stick until Thanksgiving.

Just off the Yellowstone lakefront log home back yard (Picture to the left) has some of the best still water trout fishing in North America.   Henry's lake has Cutthroat trout to 8 pounds, Cutthroat/Rainbows (or Cutbows) to 15 pounds, and Brook trout to 7 pounds. Cutthroat trout naturally spawn in the lake tributaries, some trout are artificially hatched and released as fingerlings. It is not uncommon to catch numerous 20 inch trout over 2 pounds. There is a 2 fish take limit, though many fishermen catch and release up to 50 fish a day, with wet fly techniques.   Henry's lake chronomids, mayflies, caddisflies, damselflies, scuds, sculpins, shiner minnows, and Cutthroat fry provide the food source that allows trout at a very fast growth rate. Fishing from the backyard, by boat, is best in spring (Memorial Day-end of June) and fall, by float tube, (October-Ice cover November).   In the last few years, ice fishing is very popular in late November and December. The below pictures are Left - Cutthroat Trout, Center - Brook Trout, and right - Cuttbow.   Boats are available for rental at Wild Rose Ranch, 5 minutes away.  Guide services supporting Henry's Lake and Henry's Fork of the Snake River include: The Trout Hunter (Great Food!!) and Henry Fork Anglers. The video below shows fishing in the fall off Pintail Point, this home is in the background at 1:43, 2:00, 2:08, and 2:21 (we are to the right of the 3-story home).

These are the distances from our home to prime fishing sites:
          Henry’s Lake, ID                    .009 miles / 30 sec walk
          Madison River, MT                 12.6 miles / 14 minute drive
          Quake Lake, MT                     16.3 miles / 20 minute drive
          Hebgen Lake, MT                   15.4 miles / 27 minute drive
          Henry’s Fork, ID                    25.4 miles / 35 minute drive
          Yellowstone Lake, Nat Park   85.7 miles / 1 hr. 50 minutes

Madison River

Twenty minutes north in Montana is the blue ribbon Madison River. From the outlet of Quake Lake all the way down to Ennis, MT is 50 miles of what is called the "50 mile riffle", it is considered an easy to wade river. The river is famous for brown trout, rainbow trout, and mountain whitefish. Trout can reach 6 pounds.

Guide services supporting the Madison River and Hedgen Lake include: Bud Lillys Trout Shop, Arrick's Fly Shop, Madison River Outfitters, Jacklins Fly Shop, located in West Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming

About an hour and a half away is Yellowstone lake, the largest fresh water lake above 7000 feet in North America. In the 1980s someone added the lake trout to Yellowstone Lake. Since 1985, the numbers of Yellowstone Cutthroat have dramatically dropped by being eaten by the lake trout, affecting numerous animals that rely on the cutthroat spawn. The forest service actually pays two boat crews to gill net and kill as many lake trout as they can, yet the lake trout numbers continue to increase. So the Yellowstone National Park rangers would greatly appreciate the killing of all lake trout - no limit, all cutthoat trout must be released unharmed. Lake trout are easiest caught in the spring to mid summer using a technique that gets lures 9 feet down into the water. Trolling is best. Fishing is allowed from June 15 through the first Sunday in November. Lead weights are prohibited, lead-core line is allowed. All hook barbs must be pinched down and a single hook or single treble hook used on a lure. Cutthroat trout are to five pounds, lake trout are up to 20 pounds. Boats are available for rental on a first come, first served basis, and there must be two people in each boat for safety reasons. Lake trout from the lake have pink flesh and my wife says they are very tasty. If you want to fill your freezer with wild trout, this is the place to go. The primary food sources in the lake are cutthroat/lake trout fry, brown leaches, or pink scud.

Hebgen Lake, Montana

Hebgen lake is a 15 minutes drive from the house and is considered a world class dry fly lake. Boats sneak up on schools of trout "gulping" flies on the surface. Accurate casts in front of moving trout, without too many false casts will result in success. Brown and rainbow trout are caught in the 16-20 inch range.

Henry's Fork of the Snake River

From the outlet of Henry's lake, the Henry's Fork of the snake river flows for the next 150 miles. The river conditions vary by location from white water to almost still. A popular place to fish is Box canyon, about one mile down river of Island Park Reservoir.
Visit between July 4th and July 14th to get the salmon-fly hatch.
Guide services supporting the Henry's Fork of the Snake River include: The Trout Hunter and Henry Fork Anglers.

Quake Lake, Montana

In 1959, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake caused an 80 million ton landslide onto what was the Madison River. The newly formed lake is Earthquake Lake or Quake Lake. Quake Lake is 20 minutes from the house and is a famous dry fly lake. The lake is up to 150 feet deep and six miles long, with a lot of dead standing trees providing incredible structure. About a mile west of Quake lake is an area common to a herd of big horn sheep, easily seen from the highway.