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Opening Day on the Ranch, 2026
Will this be the year that things turn around?Last year on June 15, the fishing was tough on the Henrys Fork through the Railroad Ranch. The one good shot I had at a big rising fish was ruined by buck fever, and I pulled my fly away before the fish had turned. The two weeks that followed saw my net shockingly empty, with…
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Last Chance Ghosts
Searching for fish to eat a dry fly on the Railroad RanchI’d spent the last several days staring at the surface of the river. I was on the Henrys Fork of the Snake at Last Chance, Idaho, and I’d been there for two weeks. The Harriman Ranch stretch of Henrys is world renowned as a dry fly fishing paradise. On opening day, June 15, you can…
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Dreams of June on the Henry’s Fork
The clock is running down on my stretch of work in 2025. I’ve got a date with a river in Idaho, opening day on the Railroad Ranch, at the little fishing community of Last Chance on June 15. Looking back, I think I’ve only hit the opener once, in 2021. Lets see, in 2015, my…
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Another Look at the Dark Side of Catch and Release
I came across an article on a Wyoming website today that discusses the pressure fish face on some of the West’s iconic rivers. Actually, the story focuses on the North Platte’s Grey Reef section, which is one river I haven’t made it to yet, but the problem affects many popular rivers. “Almost a quarter of…
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Brown Drakes on the Henry’s Fork
A few days chasing brown drakes on the Henry’s Fork near Last Chance, ID.
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Seven Hours at Last Chance
Seven hours walking along the banks of the Henry’s Fork, standing in the current, looking at bugs and birds. Almost nothing was going on in the water, until a explosion of action for 15 minutes or so nearing sunset. Huge drakes popping off the water and fish gulping them down all around me, while rain…
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Driggs, Idaho
I spent a week here in September of 2015. There is a free campground at Rainey Bridge that is good for a 14 day stay. Recommended.