A nice Rainbow

Tackle testing on the Henry’s Fork

The RIO team braved the early March elements to look for winter trout and test out a top secret new fly line. While the line performed well, the trout were less than cooperative!

 

Where	Henry’s   (North) Fork of the Snake, St. Anthony, ID
Who	Simon Gawesworth &   Zack Dalton
When	Early March, 2013
Species	Trout, any – even a   whitefish would do!
Conditions	Calm, cold, overcast, air   temp mid 20′s – water; clear and cold
Best Fly	Sz. 18 disco midge
Fly Lines	New prototype, secret,   double-probation trout weapon!!
Leader/Tippet	4X Powerflex leader with   5X tippet
Technique	Nymphs and indicators –   sadly!

 

A dandy brown

 

Weather and river conditions finally warmed up enough to allow Simon and Zack to get on the water and put some more hours on the water testing a new prototype line. With overcast conditions and no wind, it was hoped there would be some midge action in the middle of the day, and a chance to get into some dry fly action. Sadly, for whatever reason, not a single snout came out, though a steady stream of midges floated dow the river, and adorned the snow banks.

The day started with both Simon and Zack fishing a double nymph rig, with a split shot to get extra depth. Zack was throwing some long lines and drifitng his team along seams, while Simon fished close in “Czech nymphing” style. Within 4 casts both Simon and Zack hooked into fish, with Simon’s fish turning out to be a cracking 18″ rainbow, and Zack’s an even biggger 20″ brown.

The two early fish suggested that it was going to be a good day of fishing, but for the next 2 hours neither Simon or Zack had another grab. A couple of different slicks and runs were tried, but they produced the same lack of action to the hook, and the same complete lack of noses taking down the ever-increasing volume of midges.

A fine selection

And so it was to be for the rest of the day – no noses, no grabs to the nymph and no chance to throw on a dry fly. Simon did manage to get one more fish towards the end of the day – throwing a large olive and heavily weighted streamer into a deep pool, but the distinct lack of rising fish was a let down. Still, the new line performed admirably well in those cold conidtions and showed it could throw large streamers and small nymph patterns equally well. The next test will be the presentation test – with dry flies…