I took Friday off, and given the temps were supposed to be in the the 90's by early afternoon I buzzed out of the house early and hit the trail around 9:30 AM.



I brought the 5 weight with a sink tip, and walked up river swinging streamers through the deeper holes in the hopes of hooking up with a bull. Had one nice grab, and he started "bull dogging" me down towards the bottom of the hole before popping off.



Hoofed it in the three miles to the old DeMari cabin, where I put the 5 weight away and broke out the 3 weight.



I originally started out with a #16 adams, but after no activity I swapped it for a new foam parachute pattern, which looks like a #8 golden stone or hopper. It was immediate trout candy - you could see these redbands screaming out of their pockets and just hammering the thing...





Hooked plenty, landed a few, missed more. A great day on the water.

Ah, spring in the mountains. You never know quite what to expect. Last June, Doug and I nailed the Brown Drakes on Silver Creek - several nights of surreal fishing, causing you to look back and wonder if it really happened.

This year, Dave, Doug and I tried our luck - unfortunately, it's been a cold spring, and as a result the Drakes didn't happen. Despite it being rainy and overcast, it didn't dampen our spirits, and we dragged the drifter with us and made a great loop to eastern Idaho on top of Silver Creek.



The trip started out decent, landing a handful of nice fish through the s-curves on the preserve.





We rolled out of Silver Creek, heading east towards Last Chance and the Henry's Fork. It had been our hope to hit the salmonflies on the Henry's Fork, but again given the cold and slightly damp days, it was hit or miss. Soon as the big bugs would make an appearance, the weather would turn and things would slow down.





We hit the Box Canyon section Monday, then floated Warm River to Ashton Tuesday before cruising into YNP on Wednesday and checking out the Firehole. The river was high and slightly off color, but for a brief few minutes that afternoon the baetis came off and the fish were hammering the surface.





Thursday, back on the Box for two back to back runs - the first float was stellar - warm temps, maybe the warmest all week, with a blizzard of caddis out and about. No fish on the surface, but emergers and nymphs were an almost constant source of takes.





The second float of the day was slow - temps dropped, and towards the end the rain and eventually hail pounded us relentlessly. We made the 200 mile drive back down to Silver Creek, bbq'd and watched the stars come alive before breaking camp early Friday and driving to Boise to make flights and the long drive home.

I've been traveling heavily for work, which is a huge part of the reason I took the job. The opportunity to roll through eastern Oregon, visiting small communities is amazing.

So is the remoteness of it all...



I've been doing some fishing, as a trophy brown trout fishery exists within 20 minutes of one of the communities I frequent...