Henry's Lake

Henry's Lake lies at about 6,500 feet just west of Targhee Pass, a shallow natural lake of about 6,000 acres raised by a small dam, where the Henry's Fork begins. It is one of the most famous trophy stillwaters in the West, for Yellowstone cutthroat, cutthroat-rainbow hybrids and brook trout that grow big on scuds, leeches and damsels in the weedy, spring-fed water. Idaho manages it closely, with a hatchery on Hatchery Creek.

The season that counts opens on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Early on, fish cruise the shallows and the spring mouths; through summer they hold near the cold springs and the weed edges, and a slow-sinking line with a leech or scud is the standard. Fall, from September to freeze-up, is when the biggest fish come shallow. The lake is wide and open, and the wind off the pass can build waves fast. From February 15 to the opener it is catch and release only, and parts near Staley Springs and Hatchery Creek are closed.