One important function of wildlife biologists is to ensure that there are sufficient game and fish in our state.  Idaho wildlife biologists and dedicated volunteers spent the day today doing just that at the Henry’s Lake Fish Hatchery.

Volunteers gathered with wildlife biologists early this morning to catch spawning cutthroat trout and milk the females of their precious eggs.  The males were then milked to fertilize those eggs and the roe was placed in the hatchery to set up.

Biologists said the vast majority of the fingerlings would be returned to Henry’s Lake to grow into game for fishermen.  Were it not for this heroic effort each year, Henry’s Lake would have long since been barren of fish.  That’s because left to reproduce on their own in a wild setting, the mortality rate on hatchlings would never provide sufficient quantities of fish for the future.

Our thanks to local wildlife biologists for the photo, and for doing this great work for all of us.  And an especially big thank you from those of us who fish in Henry’s Lake and those of us who make our livings here in Island Park.

We spent some time this morning with the good folks down at Trout Hunter in Last Chance talking about all things fishing.  These guys are into it!  If you’re looking for current information on what’s happening on the Henry’s Fork or the Madison, these guys are the guys to talk to.  They’ve already started guiding fishermen and are looking forward to a busy season.  If you’ve been thinking of a guided float trip, better schedule now, as dates are filling fast.

One of the things manager Rich Paini showed us was the stream flow section on their website (yes it takes a few seconds to load, just be patient!)  This not only shows what the current flow rates are on Henry’s Fork and the Madison, they show historical data as well.  If you’re one of those people who has to check the stream flows every day (and I suspect you are) then you have to go to trouthunt.com and check out the stream flow info.  To save you the trouble, you can go direct to the stream flow info by clicking here.

With temperatures well above freezing for the last couple of weeks, the locals are starting to think spring may not be far off.  And you know what they say:  when springtime comes, a young man’s heart turns to . . . well, fishing of course.  The locals have been fishing Montana’s Madison River all winter, and things have really heated up lately.

In this part of the world we fly fish.  We don’t use worms, or salmon eggs, or cheese, or peanut butter.  This is purist country.  We use flies.  And most of those are lovingly hand-crafted, hand-tied masterpieces from the bench of the fisherman.  Flies are tied all winter and casted all summer.  We use feathers from Teal wings, from ducks harvested here in Island Park.  We use the guard hairs from deer and elk (also harvested locally.)  We are very nearly a self-sustaining economy when it comes to our fishing and hunting.  We recycle, reuse, and redistribute our resources, the fruits of one pursuit feeding the needs of another.

They say if you haven’t fly fished the Henry’s Fork, you haven’t fly fished.  These are blue ribbon trout waters, and there are none better in the world.  Fishing (open year round on selected waters in Montana) will open here in Idaho around Memorial Day.  So you’ve still got a couple of months to prepare.  My advice to you:  get tying.  You know you can’t afford $2 a piece for store-bought flies that may not be as good as what you can do yourself.  And summer will be here before you know it.