Henry's Fork Fishing Report - July 30, 2026

Henry’s Fork Streamflows

Island Park Dam:  904 cfs

Ashton Dam:  1540 cfs

St. Anthony:  1010 cfs

Fall River:  276 cfs

The Henry’s Fork remains in good shape, flows have been reduced over the past two weeks and clarity is looking good for fishing throughout the system.  Conditions are much better than anticipated a few weeks ago, so we’re thankful for every week this continues.  Hot weather is driving warmer water temperatures but oxygen levels are staying high and fishy throughout the system above Ashton Reservoir.  We expect flows to begin to increase again here as irrigation demand comes back around.  Fishing has been good in some reaches, more difficult in others, I hope this report helps!

Box Canyon

The Box is a terrific place to spend a day’s fishing at the moment:  beautiful scenery, wildlife, tumbling and oxygenated water, golden stones and hard-fighting rainbows combine to make this a great choice.  Flows are high but not overly so, good for indicator nymphing rigs or dry fly runs, choose your own adventure.  Short line nymphing is the key and good reach casts for dry fly presentations will help convince a few trout to tango along the way.  If you fish well, the Box will generally reward you with a solid day’s fishing.  Bring a variety of split shot and a well-stocked fly box!  We like the following at the moment:  BSA Razorback Golden, Lawson’s HF Golden Stone, and Jojo’s Golden Stone for dry flies.  Nymph selections should include:  PTs, R/L Tactical PTs, Rednecks, Hare/Copper, red and brown Zebra Midges, HP Caddis Pupa in olive or tan #14-18 as well as Rubberlegs in a variety of colors #8-12.  Your favorite perdigons will be good as well, we like the following:  red Jig Napoleon, Frenchie, Olive Hot Spot, Bullet Quill, Spanish Bullet, PMD Bomb, Duracells, and Black Daggers #14-18.  Remember to check your flies for weeds and set on the slightest of indications, good luck out there!

Railroad Ranch

At this point in the summer, we really need to separate the upper Ranch from the lower Ranch.  The upper Ranch has sparse activity, and is generally best in the mornings and then again later in the evenings.  If you can find trout rising in the upper, you should be able to convince them to eat spinners or small terrestrials like ants.  Finding them is the hard part, hunting them is the key.  This time of year anglers should expect few clues that point to the whereabouts and be ready to capitalize on this to place their flies.  Finding a regularly rising trout at the moment is a dream, so be ready to act on sparse signals.  Flav, Callibaetis, PMD, Trico, and Baetis spinners, black ants and honey ants, small caddis, as well as a few hoppers will round out the selection nicely in here.

In the lower Ranch, the presence of cold water springs changes the program, occasionally solid afternoon fishing can be found in addition to quality mornings. Trout will be more difficult down here and require a focus on emergent patterns in the cold water, sight fishing is often necessary and angler should consider the angle of the sun when doing so.  Mormon Crickets abound but are hard to predict, their movements have little to do with the factors that drive other terrestrial bites, they’re a migratory insect, on the move and more present some days than others.  Opportunities are sparse but present for imaginative anglers who can successfully line up potential for greatness with reality.  Anglers should be prepared with the aforementioned bugs as well as PMD emergers of all sorts and a variety of terrestrials that might suggest these crickets.  We’re liking the Rainy’s Grand Hopper, Sweetgrass Hopper, Moorish Hopper and any other thing that you can mark up with a brown and red sharpie in a #4-6. 

Canyon Country

The canyons have been great places to hide out on these hot summer days, we’ve been enjoying some terrific dry/dropper fishing as well as a little dry fly and streamer fishing from time to time.  Dries needn’t be too well thought out beyond a high visibility Chubby Chernobyl of some sort and droppers that resemble stoneflies of all age classes and caddis larvae seem to do the trick most of the time.  We like the BSA Jig Rubberlegs in black and coffee/black #10-12, Rosa Pink, and the Blowtorch in #12-14 in there.  For streamers, try an olive/black BFE (Best Fly Ever), Copper Zonker and Kreelex or Sparkle Minnows #4-6.  Remember that solid oarsmanship and a raft are highly recommended!

Warm River to Ashton

This section of water begins with the input of the not-so-aptly named “Warm River”, which is actually a very cold spring creek that joins the Henry’s Fork just above the boat ramp.  It’s known as the “warm river” only during the winter months when it’s spring-fed temperatures are warmer than the cold water coming from the high country and the canyon upstream.  Summer water temps remain fishy through this section and good days are being had by anglers of all skill levels down here.  Indicator nymphing will be the most productive, but anglers can fish dry/dropper rigs as well as streamer rigs during the early and late hours or while cloudy conditions prevail. Nymph selections should mirror that of the Box Canyon and streamers can be anything you wish to throw.  Streamers will produce few opportunities but provide chances at larger trout along the way.

Below Ashton Reservoir

The lower river is generally too warm to fish sustainably at the moment.  Early morning runs are best or floats on cloudy days that have reduced temperatures.  Anglers are taking risky chances fishing after 12:00 pm down here.

Get out there and have fun, good luck!!