Back With A Vengence

Winter returned to Western Wyoming (and most of the Western US) this past week. As of this morning, the mountains have picked up almost 4 feet of snow since Wednesday, and the valley has been blanketed as well with about a foot. Our snowpack and water equivalent is now well above average. Many areas should now be out of any drought danger and should see great fishing conditions this summer...great news! Much of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming has been enjoying all of this wet weather. The Jackson Hole Mountain resort has just one week of operation left for this season, and may surpass the 500" mark if this week's forecast holds true. Ahhh...powder skiing!

Warming Up Fast

The weather has turned to spring very quickly this week, with valley temps in the mid 50's. It is spring skiing conditions from the top of the tram all the way down to the valley. This should get area fish really moving now! Leaving work tonight, I crossed the Wilson bridge on the Snake and saw a couple of boats pulling out. This is a great time of year to float when we get nice weather like this. Local guiding legend Paul Bruun writes a weekly column in our local paper, and treated us this week to a great story about This Is Fly, the online fly-fishing magazine that is all the rage. Check the article out at http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=4368&pid=news. Also, my buddy Chris Jensen has just started a blog out of the Lodge at Palisades Creek on the South Fork, it looks pretty good! Check it out at http://tlapc.wordpress.com/ for the latest news from the South Fork of the Snake. Here is a shot of a typical South Fork cutthroat taken last fall...what a beauty.

Valley Rain

There's a very wet weather system moving into Western Wyoming today, bringing snow to the mountains and heavy rain to the valley. Still good news for skiers and anglers. The water content in the snowpack is still on the rise, while we are losing valley snow to the rain. As the valley snow recedes, boat ramps on the Snake will begin to open. Not long now until we are able to float! Although I have not wet a line yet this spring, I am still getting good fishing reports from Southeastern Idaho. Nymphing has been successful for hungry browns and rainbows. Here is a shot of Jack Dennis store manager Chris Jay with a nice Snake River Cutthroat taken below Moose bridge last April on the day they cleared the boat ramp to open.

In Like a Lion

The month of March entered western Wyoming like a lion this week, with ample snowfall and high winds for the mountains. The skiing has been great...plenty of windblown powder and cold temps at the higher elevations. The snowpack continues to grow...good news for the rivers. It's this time of year that fly-fishing starts to creep back towards the front of my mind. The valley temps are slowly rising and with the evenings staying lighter much longer, my thoughts drift to pre-runoff spring fishing. Some of the best trout fishing that the west has to offer takes place in the next few months. Blue-Winged Olives and Midges will make an appearance on area streams soon, and streamer fishing will turn back on...there are some hungry fish out there ready for the end of winter! A much anticipated trip to the Big Hole in southwestern Montana is just around the corner. I have a trip planned with an old friend from my days in Colorado who will be joining me on the Big Hole in early April. An avid and accomplished angler, he has yet to fish Montana and I cannot wait to introduce him to it. Here is a typical Big Hole River Brown trout and a great scenic shot of the river near Melrose.

Spring on the Way!

March is finally here, which psychologically gives anglers around here some hope that winter will actually relieve its grip soon. It has been a very average winter here in Western Wyoming, which means we have had many days of mountain and valley snowfall with very cold temperatures. The water content in the snowpack around the valley is still looking very good. The days are starting to get noticeably longer and warmer, which means water temps should start to slowly rise. As this happens, resident fish will start to move just a little more to take a fly. Although it is still a little cold to be out on the Snake, the fishing on the Henry's Fork right now has been improving. At its lower elevation, the Henry's Fork warms earlier and gets fish moving sooner. One of my favorite fisheries to visit in early spring is the upper Big Horn River in Thermopolis, Wyoming. As it swiftly flows out of the rugged Wind River Canyon, the river actually changes name midstream at a site called the "Wedding of the Waters", where flows slow and the river becomes known as the Big Horn. The water that slowly meanders through the town of Thermopolis holds large numbers of Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat. This part of Wyoming is known as a "Banana Belt", often staying much warmer and drier throughout the winter. Early spring is a great time to target these fish with wets and dries. Although wading access is limited, floating is very easy. Here is a great scenic shot of the Big Horn...note the dry environment. This rainbow fell for a size 18 BWO dry fly in early April a few years back.