We just spent the better part of a week down in the Montana/Idaho area. The main focus for the trip was to pick up another boat for our guiding business. However we did spend three days in the Island Park area surrounding the well known Henry’s Fork River doing a little fishing. We took photos to capture the essence of the Island Park area and were impressed with the comfortably focused feeling the area portrays of how important fly-fishing is for both the lively-hood and well being of the community. Included are photos of the lodges and fly shops that are strategically located at the riverside in the centre of the Harriman state Park (Railroad Ranch) section of the Henry’s Fork River.

As you can see from the pictures, it is breathtaking even at this time of year and is a must experience destination for avid anglers. We will definitely be returning to the area again in the late spring, early summer or in the fall, when the scenery is more picturesque and the dry fly fishing more productive during the match the hatch part of the fishing season. We hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed our stay and fishing trip.

On a personal level this place affected me like no other place I have been. I get the feeling that fly-fishing runs through the very soul of this community. My brother and friends kibitzed back and forth to each other over how they thought I was feeling like this was a bit of a lifelong pilgrimage. To locate that elusive location where life’s very essence is comprised of a world where fly-fishing is the very centre of a happy existence. I thought that if ever an angler could find paradise this must be it. Everywhere you looked, the focus was fly-fishing. This sentiment appeared in the newspapers and magazines, as well as in the art galleries and business offices. Walls and ceilings everywhere were adorned with photographs, paintings and fly-fishing paraphernalia was in every fly shop, lodge and gas station/convenience store to community centres and even restaurants.

I considered how fortunate these people were to reside in such a special place and wondered whether living there would encourage complacency and therefore take what is there for granted. What frequently haunts me is that when I return to Island Park and West Yellowstone during the heart of the fishing season and the time comes to depart back to Canada, a part of me will always remain in the Island Park area. The Harrop’s, Lawson’s, Andre Puyans, Rich Paini, Jon Stiehl and the Hyde family have all made tremendous efforts in making this area a quality experience. This truly is a place where avid anglers can come and enjoy the wonderfully natural settings and angling challenges this area provides.