Fishing Report - May 26, 2025

Henry’s Fork

Upper River:

The Box Canyon boat ramps are open, however the river is very low, so tread carefully. The Salmonflies are crawling! It never hurts to try a Henry’s Fork Foam Stone Salmon fly size #4, and a size 6 black Pat’s Rubberlegs as a dropper. You can also get plenty of action on smaller zebra midges and pheasant tails. 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 still been some caddis and march browns 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:

All the forest service campgrounds are open including Riverside. There is limited access to the river until you get down to the Stone Bridge at the confluence of Warm River. The Salmon fly hatch is in full swing in this section.  This is pocket water, so the best fishing fishing all the seams around rocks. A lot of fish can be caught in the middle of the river and less on the banks. This is due to the river being low. Salmon fly dries are the game. If you get the right drift, you will get plenty of fish on the surface.  We are getting lots of fish on the Henry’s Fork Foam stone and the Salmon Fly Chubby Chernobyl. The boat ramp is accessible from Stone bridge down to either Jump off or the county boat dock. There has been some pretty good caddis action right before dark.

Ashton Dam to St. Anthony:

The boat ramps are open and access is abundant. With the Salmonfly hatch in full swing, there are lots of anglers and boats. Please be respectful of other anglers. As I write this report, we are on the tail end of the Salmonflies in this stretch,  but we are just starting to see some golden stones. Also, there is some really good caddis fishing in the evening. Try Henry’s Fork Foam Stones in Salmonfly #4 and #6 as well as golden #8 and #10. The EZ Caddis Tan #16 with a size #16 Lawson Partridge Caddis Emerger as a dropper is deadly during the last hour of daylight. The PMD hatch is right around the corner, so if nymphing is your game, try a split case PMD nymph size 16 below a size 8 Pat’s Rubberlegs. It also can be fun dragging a streamer through some of the deep runs on a dark day. I like copper zonker #4 or a Hen Saddle Matuka #4. 

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 Juan 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.