Henrys Fork of the Snake/ Chester Dam

Fly Fishing the West
Vol. 4, Issue 1
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Henry's Fork of the Snake River at Chester Dam, Idaho

Nancy and I drove from Rexburg, Idaho (heading for Island Park, Idaho) to Chester Dam just north of St. Anthony, Idaho, arriving about 11 am. Here the Henry's Fork is a wide river flowing though farmland. The turnoff (north) from Idaho State Highway 20 to a stop sign (then west are both well marked, but the turnoff to the dam is not (onto a dirt road about 0.7 miles from the stop sign). It is just a short distance across a canal to the "dam". The dam is more of just a 10' wall across the stream over which water flows, some of the water being diverted into a canal for irrigation. There were two older brothers there fishing already. They were spin-cast fishing with live minnows in the white water exactly below the dam. I fly fished below them with a nymph (Tyson method), size 18 flashback midge and caught 3 MOUNTAIN WHITEFISH about 12-14". The two brothers were eating lunch and saw me catch the whitefish. They asked if they could keep them, to which I agreed. I switched to a size 6 realistic-looking dark green stonefly and caught another whitefish. (I switched to the stonefly thinking the whitefish would not take such a large fly. I was obviously wrong.) I fished for another hour or so trying several other flies with no luck. The two brothers finished lunch and returned to fishing. Each of them proceeded to catch a 16" and 17" BROWN TROUT on the minnows out in the white water below the dam overflow.


Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. The two brothers we met at the dam were very nice and gave Nancy (who was on the bank watching, while reading a C++ book, I think) some smoked brown trout. It was very good.
2. A couple walking their dog stopped and said hello. He indicated that a great place to fly fish was actually on the other side of the stream, also just below the dam. He said one could drive downstream 2-3 miles to "Farmfun (?) Bridge" which is a single lane bridge over the stream. Then drive back up the otherside to the dam. He said one could wade out a ways into the stream which is more amenable to fly-fishing. We did not have time to try it.
3. Back at the "stop sign" where we turned left to go to Chester Dam, we drove straight (north) to a bridge crossing FALLS CREEK. This stream looked like excellent water to fish. It had very deep runs above and under the bridge. There were several people swimming there at 2 pm in the afternoon. Leaving the area back on Idaho Highway 20 heading north from the Chester Dam turnoff one will cross FALLS CREEK as well (about 3-4 miles). The water looked very good here also.
4. A 2009 Idaho out-of-state fishing license was $53 for 7 days, i.e., $12.50 for the first day and $6 for each successive day plus a "convenience" fee of $4.96