This post is pretty late but I’ve been swamped the past couple weeks with moving up to MD and getting started working. Brandon and I went out to the world famous Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in Idaho to help out on a study with Marine Ventures and the Henry’s Fork Foundation. Check out Marine Ventures Blog and the Henry’s Fork Foundation Calder Project Page for more information on our study. We were there for the week, June 14-20, and fished most days on the Ranch section. For two days we headed over to Yellowstone to fish the Firehole River.

It was my first time ever fishing out west, I am a North Carolina native and I have never fly fished for trout out of the state. We arrive at the Fork in the afternoon of June 14th and get the RV set up and ready for opening day of the Harriman State Park (Ranch section of the river). We get set up and I decided to fish upstream of the Ranch (legal year round). I casted my San Juan worm into several riffles and in the first hour hooked up on a nice fish. With the strong current (apparently not strong by Western standards–but stronger than anything I’ve fished back home) my 4wt was doubled over and after 4 jumps with the fish 2ft+ out of the water I landed this 16″ rainbow.

When I got back to parking lot with stories of the fish, I was told that it was “illegally” hooked. I was exposed to my first glimpse of “Dry Fly Fishermen”. It was interesting to see people that will only fish with dry flies to a rising trout—even if that means not catching fish or even not fishing. From what we were told in the parking lot no other fish was caught this day. I fished a little more this day but didn’t hook any more fish, but managed to snap my 4wt rod mid cast at the middle ferrule (probably a symptom of fighting the fish). We had a truckload of rods and I grabbed a 5wt that was better suited for this river.

On opening day at the Ranch, we geared up and walked down the banks to find a spot to fish. The river was super crowded this day with anglers staking their spots on the bank to watch for rising fish. We sat down and talked to one group of anglers for over an hour and it was amazing to hear their stories, each one of these three guys had been fishing the Fork for over 40 years—each had witnessed the river in its heyday with monster trout rising to the plentiful huge Green Drakes on opening day. This year, due to a late winter, the Green Drakes were not ready to come off.

We were disappointed to not see a single fish in the water all day, we only heard of 2 fish caught by these Fork veterans (we were hard pressed to find any anglers who had fished the river less than 25 years). We only fished a little this day, and none of our crew hooked a fish.

The following day, Monday June 16, was the same story. Only a few fish caught, no flies coming off and no fish in our group. We decided to head down the road to the lower section of the Ranch—we got to mud up our Suburban on the dirt road but that was the most exciting park of the day. While fishing the river Brandon flew over us taking pictures for an angler count on the river.


Word around the campground was that due to the cold water temperatures, fishing would not pick up for a few days.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we headed to Yellowstone to fish the Firehole and check out the park. We stopped by Bud Lily’s fly shop in West Yellowstone, Montana to get the scoop on hot flies for the river. We were sent off with Caddis, Royal Wulff’s, PMDs and Soft Hackles. We fished for about 30 minutes in strong winds with no sign of fish, but to our surprise a nice Caddis hatch came off and the fishing was on fire. We fished that hatch and got 9 fish between four of us in about 2 hours time. Below is a picture of Joe with a nice brown trout.

The next day on the Firehole was decent, no hatches coming off but a few fish were still willing to take Caddis dries. I fished a prince Nymph and got a few fish. The Firehole was a nice break from the technical fishing of the Henry’s Fork, but the fish were all small (only up to 10-11”).

On Thursday we headed back to the Ranch, while walking down the bank we spotted a few risers and decided to stop. We found one of the best pieces of river in the Ranch this day, three perfectly placed rocks created a 50ft long column of eddies. Many bugs were in the air this day, but we saw none on the water. We saw Caddis, PMDs, Flying Ants, and loads of mosquitoes. While waiting to cast to a riser we saw a friend from the campground with a rod doubled over up stream. He fought the fish, and it ran right through our staked out hole, a run of over 50 yards; the guy caught the fish and it measured 20” (check out the video of his catch here: Marine Ventures Foundation » Opening Day on the Ranch, 2008). We saw that he was using a Black Flying Ant, and I immediately tied one on. The fish in our hole settled down after about 15 minutes and started to rise again, I crept into the water and cast right where I wanted the fly, nothing. On my third cast to this spot this 12” rainbow took the fly.

Brandon then waded out and as soon as he got in the water the wind picked up—no more hatch or rising fish. We headed back in to get some lunch and work on the project some more.

The next day we trekked back to our same hole and saw tons of rising fish again. I cast out my PMD fly several times and hooked up on a nice fish, right at my feet this fish decided to come off the barbless hook, this fish was probably right at 14”. I missed my chance on that fish and sent Brandon in the water to catch him with Flying Ant tied on he hooked this fish in two casts.

I ended up landing two more fish in this spot, one around 10” and the other 12”.

The final day of the trip we headed back to the same spot but mostly to put the rest of the crew on fish. Slack lines and clumsy casts kept the fish from being landed this day, several fish were missed and one big one was broken off. It was time to head back east to give it a go in the saltwater…

The Henry’s Fork trip was the greatest fishing trip I’ve ever been on for sure. I had a great time and a caught a few fish. I would have loved to fish the river in its prime, when fish under 20” didn’t count, and the habitat was perfect for the big bugs that bring the big fish to the top. This was great technical river to fish if you ever get the chance. We weren’t able to find tons of fish on the Ranch section of the river but check out this video we made of the upper section, which has apparently great habitat for the fish here: Marine Ventures Foundation » Under the bridge.

A few more pictures from our trip:

Trout Hunter

Last Chance, ID

Scanning the River after Breakfast

Campground/parking lot where we stayed (we were the only guys there who hadn’t fished the fork for 25 years):

Trying to spot fish off the canyon on the Fork

Bison in the middle of the road in Yellowstone

Back to Fishing Travel Journal Homepage

**Comments due July 25, 2008**

George Washington’s favorite fish, the American shad, used to be so abundant that it supported the largest commercial fishery in the Mid-Atlantic. Shad were easily caught in rivers during their spring spawning migrations from the ocean, providing a staple food for many communities along the Atlantic seaboard. Sadly, because of years of overfishing, damming waterways and habitat destruction, many Americans have never seen a shad, either in the water or in the seafood market. Stocks have steadily fallen since the turn of the 20th century and are now at “all-time lows,” according to a recent stock assessment published by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). This news is alarming because shad, like other species in the herring family, are important forage fish throughout their range supporting many predators such as striped bass, sharks, bluefin tuna, king mackerel, shorebirds and porpoises.

In response to the assessment, the ASMFC has initiated Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring, and is accepting public comment on a Public Information Document (PID) until July 25th. Regrettably, the issues selected for the PID do not address a key finding of the stock assessment team. After a brief period of shad recovery in the 1980s, the scientists found a new pattern of coastwide decline beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, suggesting that the problem is likely caused at sea, where stocks mix together on migrations to and from their summer feeding grounds that include the Gulf of Maine.

The stock assessment also indicated that the Atlantic herring fishery, which has been dominated by a fleet of mid-water trawlers operating in the Gulf of Maine since the late 1990s, could be responsible for “significant bycatch losses.” While directed ocean harvest of American shad is not permitted, fisheries are given a bycatch allowance of 5% by weight. Considering that the Atlantic herring fishery lands an average of 150 million pounds a years, a 5% shad allowance could translate into over 7 million pounds - that’s seven times the current annual landings from directed inland fisheries.

While shad bycatch at sea may be considerable, no measures have been taken to accurately quantify this bycatch. Observer coverage is poor, averaging less than 3% historically for pelagic fisheries that include Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel. Making matters worse, the National Marine Fisheries Service allows observers to use general categories such as “herring unknown” when classifying bycatch of shad, river herring and other small pelagic fish, so the individual species are lost in the system.

After 23 years of failed attempts, it’s time for the ASMFC to get serious about rebuilding American shad. Tell the ASMFC that a successful rebuilding plan for American shad must include measures to protect shad both in their riverine spawning grounds and in the ocean where they spend the majority of their lives.

Read the Public Information Document for Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring at http://www.asmfc.org/speciesDocuments/shad/fmps/shadPIDforPublicComment.pdf

See a sample letter here

HOW TO SUBMIT COMMENTS:

Email to:     comments@asmfc.org   (subject line: American Shad)

Fax to:        202-289-6051

Mail to:       Erika Robbins
Fishery Management Plan Coordinator
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1444 Eye Street NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Comments must be received by July 25, 2008, 5:00 pm EST

NO MORE LOBBING HAND-GRENADES
NO MORE LOBBING HAND-GRENADES
I’ve been writing conservation articles and blogs for various print and electronic publications for close to a decade now.  During such time I’ve done a lot of research, and so I’ve come to have what I think is a good understanding of the issues facing fish and fishery management.   But is writing about such issues enough?  Does making the case for precaution and conservation in print and online really serve to change things for the better?  Perhaps, but at best, it’s intangible and indirect.  Inevitably, it is those folks on-the-ground, doing the day-to-day advocacy, management and legislative work that push the ball in the right direction.

They’re gonna love me…

Fishing Reports
In Southern New Jersey things are a bit inconsistent, but there still seems to be schoolies in the back bays.  The bass bite on bunker is still happening in Central and Southern New Jersey, but it’s mostly on live bait.  But, if you hit it right, usually in the afternoons, it miraculously turns on and you can catch these big stripers on plus, soft plastics and flies.  In Lower New York Harbor it’s been solid schoolies under birds each morning.  The number of larger fish lurking underneath has definitely has filtered out.  They are still down there as the liveliners are catching them.  But they aren’t hitting artificials like they were last week.  No sign of black drum this week, but really the conditions weren’t good.  I imagine they are there but we just can’t see them.  On the backside of Breezy Point we’re beginning to see some fish in the flats and the sandeels are thick.  That fishery should be pretty good over the next few weeks.  Over in Raritan Bay it’s been almost all bluefish under the bunker schools.  If you want bass, you need to go on the outside.  In Jamaica Bay, one can catch plenty of schoolies throwing poppers up against the sod banks early in the morning.  Out on the Island, it’s been slow.  Mostly cocktail blues under the birds.  But if you can find those roving schools of bunker off the beach, be ready to tangle with some big bass.  There have been sporadic sightings of bluefin, a few miles from the beach, but not in any numbers worth targeting.  Out east, the flats fishing has been so-so, with some guides complaining about the lack of sizable fish this year.  The south side does seem to be producing though.  The Western Sound is producing the usual schoolie action.  Some big bluefish can be found under the bunker schools though.  The Eastern Sound has got lots of bass in their usual haunts.  Word is the flats up there are working much better than their counterparts in the south.  Pretty much the same deal on the Connecticut side.  As with any summer scenario, it’s best to fish under low light conditions.  Some ridiculously big fish are coming out of Rhode Island.  Narragansett hasn’t been fishing well, but the outside beaches have.  In Mass, the bluefin action continues, although definitely not as consistent.  In Maine, it pretty much sucks.  The bass fishing is terrible this year.  What that means for the stock is up in the air.  More on that later.  There are some bluefin up there as well, but they’ve been difficult to impossible to catch. 

New Jersey Fishing Reports
From Atlantic City and Ocean City, Capt. Bryan DiLeo from Iowa Fortune Guide Service reports: This week has been a roller coaster of water temperatures and action. Big temperature swings has been having the Bass pattern in the shallows challenging at times. When the water is cool (55-62) the Bass have been super aggressive in the shallows delivering some terrific topwater action with Bass in the 26-30″ size class. When the winds swing to the SW (the kiss of death direction) and the waters temps jump to 68 - 73 the Bass become very weary which has been translating into allot of follows back to the boat as well as 1 chance strikes. So summer is officially hear and it is now reached the sleep depriving stage of the season where 1st light , last light as well as nighttime runs are the only way to go until we reach the fall run in the beginning of October. My daytime hours will soon be filled with the offshore run and gun action on the 32′ for Dolphin, Tuna, and Albies as we approach September. Running offshore is an exclusive service that is offered to existing Iowa Fortune clientele only, sorry no newbie greenhorns. That’s all for this week. I wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July and until next week..keep it reel.

New York Fishing Reports
From the Lower New York Harbor area, Capt. David Azar from One More Cast Charters reports: What can I say…Life is good.  I started a long needed vacation last Thursday.
On Friday’s charter Peter Strong and friends caught a lot of bluefish, including one that was about 7 pounds, that was fun, but the highlight of the day was coming upon the hordes of black drum that were schooling on the surface off of Breezy Point, that’s right I said “black drum”!  We spotted schools that contained dozens of 50 to 70 pound specimens.  Peter hooked up immediately upon casting a large yellow bucktail into the school.  He fought the fish valiantly for about ten minutes when the hooked pulled…but he was immediately bit again, that one dropped it also but he was immediately hooked up again, this time after a few more runs the 20 pound braid parted.  We switched to heavier tackle and went searching for the school.  Peter put another cast into the school and hooked up again, but this fight only lasted a couple of minutes before the hook pulled.  Despite not landing one, just seeing this exotic species and experiencing those powerful runs was worth the price of admission!  You can be sure I will be out looking for them again.
The large bass bite that has been going on almost daily in Monmouth County, New Jersey continues.  This afternoon I joined Steve Rahmey on his boat and we cruised the Jersey coast looking for the action. While it was not an all out blitz, as it has been on many days, big bass and blues were being taken under bunker.  The bunker schools stretched for miles but there were not a lot of predators visibly working.  A few chopper blues took  poppers, but striped bass were only taking live bunker.  On our final drift I did a “snag & drop” to take my personal best striper of 32 pounds!

From the North Shore Capt. Robin Calitri from longislandflyfishing.com reports: We  had productive couple  of  days on C Sic Again.  On Tuesday Mitch and Scott Bernstein joined Robin and covered an area including CSH, Glen Cove, Stamford and Eatons Neck.  It was a tough bite but Scott did well with schoolie blues.  The trick for the Bass was to find the bait balls on the fishfinder and then use a small green and white or olive and white clouser on intermediate or sinking line. On Wednesday captain Robin and Long Island Bassmaster Steve Socko covered the Eastern North shore from LIPA to Mount Misery Shoal.  2-4 lb blues were all over the slugo while a few ate the fly.  Best catch was a five pound fluke on a chartreuse and white half and half on sinking line. Judge Artie Greenspan, Dana Thompson join Joel Weiss on an evening  trip with Robin.  They slaughtered the  smallish blues on sluggos until there arms were tired east of Eatons.

Also checking in from the North Shore is Long Island outdoor artist Bob Giordano, he reported: We had a small flotilla out last Wednesday evening for a fly fishing outing in Huntington Bay. This was a gam put together by a bunch of us from the North Shore Flyrodders club.  Most boats saw a handful or so schoolies and cocktail blues. I had onboard the famous Sullivan’s and Dottie showed her prowess hooking up with four schoolies and a few blues. Had one pre ’90’s keeper follow a smaller bass she had on the line. Nice to see but never hooked up on her. Our largest went maybe 27″.  This past Saturday morning, I found my go to spots in the bay very quiet. Fished from 5:15 to 8:30 or so. After trying inside Lloyds and the Inlet first two hours or so, made way to Sand City. First three casts hooked up on medium schoolies which lasted until the cocktails took over. After ripping through three clousers took off to find some micros off the old Centerport Channel. Real small stuff whereupon I decided to maybe call it a morning. Hot and muggy out there. Decided to try one more spot inside Huntington Harbor and bang, nine bass in less than twenty minutes under full sun. These fish were larger and more aggressive with one just under 28″. Chart/ Pink-White clousers on the first signs of the outgoing once again in tight to the shore. Nice to know the bites still on real close to home.

From out in East Hampton, Capt. David Blinken from North Flats Guide Service reports: The motto for the season 2008 is WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO IMPRESS APON THE FISH COUNTERS  THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE STRIPER ISSUE AND HOW TO BETTER MANAGE THE RESOURCE.  I have been talking to guides from Maine to the Carolinas and the story is the same; fewer fish and in some cases none at all.  There have been a few exceptions such as Cape Cod and parts of New Jersey, but for the most part it’s been dismal. For there to be a healthy fishery we need fish in many year classes at a particular density. This does not seem to be the case this year. Continue Reading »