Wrestling is over so now I can do some serious fish chasing and research. Last night I drove up to Henrys Lake in interview Damon Keen and get some pix of some hogs. WOW - what a bunch of fish are running into the Hatchery and some huge hybrids. Most of the cutts are between 16 to 20 inches that are running with hybrids up to 10 pounds. It looks like a great spawn this year. Watch for my article to appear in the Post Register out of Idaho Falls next week.
Bill
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Bill, great report. It is good to hear some good numbers are showing up there at Henrys. I hope you will post some of the pictures on this site as well. I would love to see some of those hogs.
Thanks for the report!
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Thanks for the quick update.
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Bsflies computer went down and it is being repaired so he might not post for a little while. He probably can't show us his pictures until his article is published.
Talk to ya'll later.
Windriver
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Thanks for the update on Bill's computer. I hope he gets it fixed soon
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Thanks, Bill for your report. The hatchery operation is neat with a friendly staff. One fellow took the time to explain the program to us and we just wandered in off the road. We saw several fish coming in when we visited in October; most of those were 3 to about 7 lbs. Saw a couple of those big hybrids at the cleaning station that were much larger. Should be a good year and with the extended season give folks a chance to hit it in November. It was cold in October but warmed up to high 50's in the afternoon most days. Nights and days in November might be some serious cold in my tent trailer. Hopefully, we'll see... Attached is a magnificent sunset at Henrys Lake.
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Nice sunset and nice fish! Is that one or two fish? Thanks for posting.
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KJFN: That's our last fish of the day. My 7 yr. old grandson caught the 20" Cutt on a rainbow holographic panther martin about an hour before we left at sunset. Gets cold fast when the sun goes down. We grilled this fish that night. They eat well!
Caught around 10 fish in a total of about 12 hours of fishing over 10 days. (we were doing Yellowstone day trips most days) All fish were 19 to 22" and weighed 3 to 5 lbs. Lost one bigger Cutt right at the shoreline one morning. Did not have my boat so we cast lures and fly fished from the bank. Bill's flies in the olive and halloween bead head patterns fished best in early morning and late night. I'll have my boat there this spring; should do better.
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Thanks Burton for the info. I love to fish with a fly and a bubble on smaller lake and I don't have a boat other than a canoe and I know the wind can be a real factor on Henrys but I would like to give Henrys a try sometime. I love catching bigger fish even if it takes more hours to get one.
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KJFN: I nailed a few Cutts on flies right at the shore line and primarily in the evening. One within 3-6 inches of the shore. I think they would have come up on the land after the fly. So you can work right up to the edge and many strikes were in 2-4 feet of water. You miss many of them because it is so unexpected. They come in apparently for minnows in the morning and evening. On my 5 weight they were awesome. Some boats do troll flies behind the clear torpedo shapped bobbers. Casting out this way did not produce any strikes for me. Attached is a shot of my grandson trying to get that one fish up on the shore and our camp. It about tore up his light rig but he finally just backed up and dragged it up with him.
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Thanks again Burton. I have never fished Henrys and have only driven by it a couple of times. I would love to give it a try. What time of the year is best for using a fly? What is the camping like; for tents, campers or trailers? Are there plenty of sites or are they hard to come by?
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KJFN: Check the Henrys State Park facilities site for space and hookup information. I think they have around 30 spaces with water and electricity? Some more without. 3 or so cabins? A tent would be pretty dang cold in spring and fall without some kind of heat. The bathroom/shower area is heated and very clean. I went through 5 tanks of propane in 10 days this last fall in my somewhat drafty tent trailer and that's using the heat sparingly. There is a superb staff at the park. Very friendly and helpful.
Flies worked best for us in the evening but good early morning as well.
Bill S., who started this thread is clearly a recognized expert on Henrys and the surrounding area. Although I'm a long-time and dedicated fly slinger I rely on others to tie them and point me to the right patterns. His bs patterns work; I will attest to it. My biggest fish was on his orange halloween pattern. Look forward to meeting him someday.
Maybe when his computer comes back up he can add more to this string!
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KFJN: I should have added: We were there right near the end of the '05 season. October 15-25? There were never over 4 camping rigs (motorhomes/trailers/campers) in the park at one time during our stay. (us included) Boat launches (drive ins) were fairly heavy in the morning on Fri., Sat., Sun.; much less busy during the week. I talked to several area regulars. Some boats got skunked. Others did well. A few did very well; seemed to know the score.
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Damon contacted me yesterday about some huge fish in the Hatchery so I ran back up last night for some pictures for some articles. Got some pictures of Damon holding a 30 inch male hybrid and got some pictures of some hybrids from 28 to 29 inches. Last night the fish were just running gangbusters into the hatchery and saw about 40 to 50 hybrids over seven pounds in the raceway and in the hatchery house. It was an awesome sight. I am looking forward to this summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bill
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Bill,
I'm
... Are the fish coming out from under the ice into the hatchery to spawn? Isn't this the wrong time of year???
I can't wait til opening weekend to see if I can get rid of my 7 year Henry's lake skunk! I just gotta catch a fish this year!
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Thanks for the info Burton, it was much appreciated. I look forward to getting up there. Hopefully it will be this year.
Bill, good to see you back. I would love to see some pictures of those beast!
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There is about 100 yards open around the mouth of the Hatchery raceway. In the fall the cutts start congregating around the mouth of Hatchery Creek, this why fishing is so good there in the fall. After freeze-up the fish do not move very much.
Then in the spring when it is time for spawning, the Fish and Game divert the water from the creek through the hatchery house, causing the fish to run in to be milked of their eggs and milt. Once spawned, the fish are then returned to the lake through a tube.
It is interesting to note that sterile hybrid females do not come into the spawn house, but the fertile hybrids, both male and female along with the sterile males do run.
I am willing to answer any questions that I can. For your info, I will be presenting a program at the Shilo Inn in Idaho Falls, next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. for the local club. Then in the spring I and Lynn Scott will be doing a program at the Fly Fishing Expo in Idaho Falls on a Saturday morning.
Thanks,
Bill
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KJFN, I have done great at Henry's any time I have gone there (thanks to BS) however in the summer the weeds do become a problem. I focus more on later summer early fall. Spent a week up there last of Aug - Sept. last year and got into a couple of 28" and a 30+". We stayed at Red Rock camp grounds (great people) with fill hook-ups. Tent trailer also, but took an electric heater. We do have a Motorhome, but with the gas prices and the fact that it is around 400 miles for me, we also try to get into Mack's Inn (booked up last year, so the tent trailer)
I think everyone should experiense it at least once and don't forget plenty of B.S. flies.
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Thanks Joni, I would probably just take a tent and ruff it. I hate cool weather camping but have done some trips in to Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone about that time of the year so I know a little bit of what to expect. Do most of the fly shops up that way carry B.S.flies or do you buy them direct from Bill? Thanks everyone for your help and input. Now I just need to GITTER DONE!
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While Bill's computer is down I think I can help with some pictures. We are putting together a program for the Idaho Falls fly club. Here are some of the Hybrids that Bill is talking about in his post.
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