Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
Locals and wannabe locals affectionately call it ‘The Fork’. Simply, The Fork. As if any other fork were of no significance. Its headwaters are trickles atop the continental divide. They collect in a shallow lake whose outflow is but a small creek. A few miles downstream, though, the creek receives 185 cfs of constant 52° spring water every hour, of every day, all year long. The creek is now a full-fledged river, one of tremendous spring-fed fertility. It passes through an irrigation reservoir, squeezes down a short steep canyon, and then slows to a crawl as it meanders in an open plateau beneath the majestic Centennial Mountains. The area’s first explorers came in search of beaver, but today’s explorers seek far greater riches – large wild trout.
The river’s full and proper name is the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, and it’s one of America’s finest but most challenging trout fisheries. The Henry’s Fork is named after Andrew Henry, a trader for the Missouri Fur Company who explored the region beginning in 1810. Roughly 40 miles of the Henry’s Fork is prime trout water, and it offers everything an angler could want: fast pockets, long rocky riffles, channeled runs, grassy undercut banks, and five glorious miles of gentle, wide, shallow, gravely, weedy, gin-clear glides in Harriman State Park (a.k.a. the Railroad Ranch).
Insect biomass of the Henry’s Fork is astonishing, and it holds more species of trout-friendly insects than probably any place in the country. Hatches, though, are notoriously complex, with multiple insects coming off simultaneously and trout dining ever so cautiously at the buffet. They occur all season long, but the June emergence of Western Green Drakes is the granddaddy of them all. On the nation’s annual calendar of destination fisheries, no dates are more significant than those of green drakes on the Henry’s Fork. They herald the arrival of summer, but also the arrival of many out-of-towners hoping to capture a bit of the Henry’s Fork’s glorious history. Such pilgrimages are an annual ritual for many, but they are a once-in-a-lifetime check mark on the bucket list for others.
Part of the allure of Western Green Drakes is their large size. You’ll not fuss with gossamer tippets or flies too small to see, because duns are a solid size #10 and have stout bodies with oversized wings. Nymphs swim slowly to the surface, and duns take flight only after an awkward emergence, long drift, and lumbering takeoff. What’s not to like about that? Trout take notice, and green drakes bring even the biggest fish to the surface.
A list of anglers who regularly fish(ed) green drakes of the Henry’s Fork would read like a Who’s Who of American fishing, but none is more respected than Cyril ‘Bing’ Lempke (1917-1990), known also as “Mr. Henry’s Fork”. Born in St. Cloud, MN, he moved to Idaho at a young age, where he spent a lifetime studying habits of the Henry’s Fork. Lempke had no formal training in entomology, but he read voraciously and became an expert on area insects. He was a self-taught angler and fly tyer who, in his early days, traded fish for flies, which he disassembled to learn how they were constructed. Lempke was especially admired for his exquisite extended-body mayfly patterns, which he tied as small as size #32. He had keen vision, gifted hands, and an eye for detail, and his flies were strikingly beautiful. Lempke was a pipefitter and plumber by trade, but green drakes were his passion. He readily admitted that green drakes of the Henry’s Fork cost him three good jobs over the years. As they say, it’s all just a matter of priorities.
Lempke never wrote a book but was tremendously generous with his knowledge. He demonstrated fly tying for decades at fly fishing gatherings large and small, where he gave away thousands of flies. He taught fly tying for over 20 years and never declined requests from youth groups. Time Magazine featured Lempke, his mastery of the Henry’s Fork, and his dedication to education in a 1983 article. When you check green drakes of the Henry’s Fork off of your bucket list, pause at the streamside stone and bronze monument honoring Bing Lempke and think kindly of Mr. Henry’s Fork.
Copyright 2020, Rusty Dunn
Extended-Body Green Drake
Emerging Western Green Drakes are light chartreuse to olive with slate-colored wings, but they quickly darken to brown-olive with light olive highlights.
| Hook: |
Dry fly, size #12 |
| Thread: |
Black (yellow used here) |
| Tail: |
5X (0.006″) nylon monofilament, split |
| Wing: |
Goose quill sections, dark dun (hen saddle feather tips used here) |
| Abdomen: |
Olive dubbing ribbed with yellow floss |
| Thorax: |
Olive-brown dubbing |
| Hackle: |
Rooster, a med. dun and a grizzly dyed yellow, wrapped together and trimmed flat on the underside with length to hook point |
Extended-Body Green Drake
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Last Updated: April 2, 2020 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
Locals and wannabe locals affectionately call it ‘The Fork’. Simply, The Fork. As if any other fork were of no significance. Its headwaters are trickles atop the continental divide. They collect in a shallow lake whose outflow is but a small creek. A few miles downstream, though, the creek receives 185 cfs of constant 52° spring water every hour, of every day, all year long. The creek is now a full-fledged river, one of tremendous spring-fed fertility. It passes through an irrigation reservoir, squeezes down a short steep canyon, and then slows to a crawl as it meanders in an open plateau beneath the majestic Centennial Mountains. The area’s first explorers came in search of beaver, but today’s explorers seek far greater riches – large wild trout.
The river’s full and proper name is the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, and it’s one of America’s finest but most challenging trout fisheries. The Henry’s Fork is named after Andrew Henry, a trader for the Missouri Fur Company who explored the region beginning in 1810. Roughly 40 miles of the Henry’s Fork is prime trout water, and it offers everything an angler could want: fast pockets, long rocky riffles, channeled runs, grassy undercut banks, and five glorious miles of gentle, wide, shallow, gravely, weedy, gin-clear glides in Harriman State Park (a.k.a. the Railroad Ranch).
Insect biomass of the Henry’s Fork is astonishing, and it holds more species of trout-friendly insects than probably any place in the country. Hatches, though, are notoriously complex, with multiple insects coming off simultaneously and trout dining ever so cautiously at the buffet. They occur all season long, but the June emergence of Western Green Drakes is the granddaddy of them all. On the nation’s annual calendar of destination fisheries, no dates are more significant than those of green drakes on the Henry’s Fork. They herald the arrival of summer, but also the arrival of many out-of-towners hoping to capture a bit of the Henry’s Fork’s glorious history. Such pilgrimages are an annual ritual for many, but they are a once-in-a-lifetime check mark on the bucket list for others.
Part of the allure of Western Green Drakes is their large size. You’ll not fuss with gossamer tippets or flies too small to see, because duns are a solid size #10 and have stout bodies with oversized wings. Nymphs swim slowly to the surface, and duns take flight only after an awkward emergence, long drift, and lumbering takeoff. What’s not to like about that? Trout take notice, and green drakes bring even the biggest fish to the surface.
A list of anglers who regularly fish(ed) green drakes of the Henry’s Fork would read like a Who’s Who of American fishing, but none is more respected than Cyril ‘Bing’ Lempke (1917-1990), known also as “Mr. Henry’s Fork”. Born in St. Cloud, MN, he moved to Idaho at a young age, where he spent a lifetime studying habits of the Henry’s Fork. Lempke had no formal training in entomology, but he read voraciously and became an expert on area insects. He was a self-taught angler and fly tyer who, in his early days, traded fish for flies, which he disassembled to learn how they were constructed. Lempke was especially admired for his exquisite extended-body mayfly patterns, which he tied as small as size #32. He had keen vision, gifted hands, and an eye for detail, and his flies were strikingly beautiful. Lempke was a pipefitter and plumber by trade, but green drakes were his passion. He readily admitted that green drakes of the Henry’s Fork cost him three good jobs over the years. As they say, it’s all just a matter of priorities.
Lempke never wrote a book but was tremendously generous with his knowledge. He demonstrated fly tying for decades at fly fishing gatherings large and small, where he gave away thousands of flies. He taught fly tying for over 20 years and never declined requests from youth groups. Time Magazine featured Lempke, his mastery of the Henry’s Fork, and his dedication to education in a 1983 article. When you check green drakes of the Henry’s Fork off of your bucket list, pause at the streamside stone and bronze monument honoring Bing Lempke and think kindly of Mr. Henry’s Fork.
Copyright 2020, Rusty Dunn
Extended-Body Green Drake
Emerging Western Green Drakes are light chartreuse to olive with slate-colored wings, but they quickly darken to brown-olive with light olive highlights.
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Category: Fly Tying, Rusty Dunn Fountains of Youth
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