I HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON with the green drake: I’m not an early riser. Consequently, I consider the annual summer solstice a sacred occasion, with nearly sixteen hours of continuous daylight, the earth tilting toward the sun like a tourist basking on the beach.
In the Intermountain West, the solstice summons anglers to famed rivers where big trout eat big bugs—from green and brown drakes on the Henry’s Fork to salmonflies up the road on the Madison. This perfect brew of extended daylight, neighboring rivers, and sizable bugs presents the opportunity for what I’ve termed the “Solstice Slam”—three fish on three flies from two rivers in the same day.
June on the Henry’s Fork can feel like both gift and burden. The gift is its glorious water, challenging trout, and abundant bug life. The burden is that you must choose where
