Fishing Report - May 14, 2025

Henry’s Fork
Upper River:
Things have really warmed up and the snow is mostly gone in the area. The Box Canyon boat ramps are open, however the river is very low, so tread carefully. The best fishing will be with nymphs and streamers. Try a size 6 black Pat’s Rubberlegs with a size 18 black or tan zebra midge. On a cloudy day it never hurts to strip a streamer. I like a size 4 Olive Sculpzilla in the Box Canyon. The river at Last Chance can fish good as well, there has been some Mother’s Day Caddis hanging around, so you might see some fish up in the afternoon. Try a size 16 EZ Caddis or a size 18 Spent Partridge Caddis in peacock. It also never hurts to drop a Lawson’s Partridge Caddis Emerger size 18 tan or olive below your dry. 

Riverside Campground down to Ashton:
Riverside is still closed but we are hoping to be able to get in there as soon as possible. There is limited access to the river until you get down to the Stone Bridge at the confluence of Warm River. This is pocket water, so the best fishing would be subsurface. Again, small zebra midges’ size 18-20, pheasant tail nymphs’ size 18-20, black size 6 black Pat’s Rubberlegs and egg patterns will produce. The boat ramp is accessible from Stone bridge down to either Jump off or the county boat dock. There have been some fantastic Caddis hatches in this stretch. Again, use the Lawson’s Spent Partridge and Lawson’s Partridge Caddis Emerger in size 16 and 18.  Use the same nymph patterns as listed thus far. The only difference is being able to float and you might even see some Baetis hatching in the afternoon.

Ashton Dam to St. Anthony:
The boat ramps are open and access is abundant. There has been a few baetis hatching in the afternoon hours. If you see fish rising, try a size 18-20 BWO Nohackle, size 18-20 BWO Last Chance Cripple, or a size 18-20 Renegade. We are expecting Salmon flies any day now and there has been rumor of a few starting below the Vernon Bridge. I would be the first couple of hot dry days it will happen. There are a billion and a half stonefly nymphs under the rocks by the bank, so definitely use a Pat’s Rubberleg size 4 or 6 in black, coffee, or brown either under an indicator or under chubby type dry. I like to use the Henry’s Fork Foam Stone Salmon fly size 4 for my indicator fly. If you are a proficient caster, sometimes wade fishing is much more effective than fishing from a boat. 

Madison River
We are approaching runoff time here. This river has been high and off color due the recent warm weather along with the forecast rain, this river may need to run its course with runoff for the next few weeks. If you do decide to fish, you can do pretty well with a Tungsten San Jaun Worm in red or pink size 8-12 under an indicator next to the bank.

Teton River
This river has also been fluctuating a bit due to snowmelt. This river will be high and off color likely until we approach the first part of July. If you do decide to go here, please be careful. This is a small river but is the drainage for the entire western side of the Teton Mountains. There is a lot of water that comes through the Teton River during runoff, so it can be dangerous trying to float or wade. If you do fish, use heavy nymphs and streamers. 

South Fork of the Snake
All the boat ramps are open. May and June can be a bit unsettled on the South Fork. Right now, they are drawing down the Palisades reservoir to catch the runoff, so the flow coming out of Palisades is just over 14000 cfs. The river is a bit off color but is fishable. Not much dry fly fishing, but you can do decent with nymphs and streamers. I like using Pat’s Rubberlegs size 6 in coffee and dropping a Roza Pink Hare’s Ear Jig in size 14 or just a standard size 14 half flash pheasant tail. Typically, the Salmon flies start around the first of July on a normal year. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game encourage the harvest of rainbow trout on all stretches of the South Fork. This is to protect the native Cutthroat trout. There is no limit on rainbows and some of the rainbows have monetary reward tags in the fish. If do harvest any rainbows cut the head off and deliver to the regional IDFG office in Idaho Falls and they will scan the head to see if a reward tag is in it. The max reward is $1000.