Salmonflies?

It's the end of June, and everyone I've been talking to is getting anxious. We're all ready to fish dry flies. Granted, there's been some very good dry fly fishing lately on Lewis Lake and the Firehole River. Now we're ready to throw some big dries from the driftboat. The South Fork of the Snake has been holding steady at about 16,000 cfs for the past week; no sign yet of the big bugs, but it should be any day. For now, it's still nymphing well. The temperatures around here have been very hot for a few days now, so this should help that tailwater to finally heat up. A little warmer water should get the Salmonflies moving. The Snake and Green Rivers are both still running high and dirty (6,800 cfs and 2,000 cfs respectively). It's going to be at least a week on the Green, and probably two weeks on the Snake before we see better dry fly conditions. I did guide yesterday from Jackson Lake Dam to Pacific Creek on the Snake (above the dirtiest water), and had decent fishing. The water is still a little high, with a green tint. Although the Yellow Sally hatch was thick, there were only a few fish around looking up. I'm headed back up there on Friday, so hopefully I'll have a better report. For those readers that don't know...Jack Dennis' guide service (Jack Dennis Fishing Trips), is no longer operating out of the Jack Dennis Sports store on the town square in Jackson. We've moved around the corner to 70 South King Street (across from the Sweetwater Restaurant). We are receiving inventory as we speak, and should be open for business soon! I'll have more details soon...

Yellowstone Lake

The rivers around Western Wyoming and Eastern Idaho are beginning to stabilize after many weeks of rain and snow. The warmer temperatures lately have helped many of the local rivers reach their runoff peaks. Although it is still muddy, the Snake at Moose is running around 6,000 cfs. We should see better fishing conditions in a few weeks on the Snake. The Green has been a bit of a roller coaster; it's been fluctuating between 1,200 and 2,000 cfs over the past week, with varying degrees of clarity. I spent the weekend with the family camping above Warren Bridge, and we fished it both days. Although it is still high, and has limited visibility, the streamer fishing was surprisingly good. The South Fork had come down as low as 12,500 cfs over the past few days, and was brought back up again today to 14,600 cfs. I'm not sure if the Bureau of Reclamation even knows where to leave it right now, as Palisades is nearly full. If they can level it off where it is now, the dry fly fishing should really pop soon, particularly on the lower river. It's been a late start all over the region. Cool temps and high water have stalled the Salmonfly hatch on the Big Hole and the Madison Rivers. This should change this week with better weather.
Stan Czarniak and I spent Friday on Yellowstone Lake, near West Thumb. The streamer fishing was fantastic. In recent years, the numbers of fish that fly-rodders have been tying into has gone down. The fishing the other day sure felt better. We saw over a dozen fish in the net, including a 5-pounder.
Although it was not a fifty-fish day reminiscent of ten years ago, it was a heck of a lot better than the fishing I've had in the past few years. Hopefully these beautiful Cutthroat are making their comeback here. Headed to the Firehole tomorrow with some clients. More soon!

Wind River Canyon Update

Darren Calhoun, owner/operator of Wind River Canyon Whitewater and Fly-Fishing called me this week with a very positive update concerning the train derailment last month in the Wind River Canyon. It looks like the BNSF train derailment caused very negligible effects, if any at all. This is great news! For those of you who don't know much about this canyon, it is home to some of the finest trout fishing for Brown and Rainbow that Wyoming has to offer. Tumbling through some very rugged whitewater and rolling through the Wind River Indian Reservation, Darren's operation is the only way to truly experience this piece of water. Darren and I have both been getting many questions on how the fishing may be affected, and fortunately it looks like the minor spill, in conjunction with the very high spring flows, has had no affect on the fishery. I'm already looking forward to my annual trip. Check his link out below for details. Here's a great shot of Darren, and my wife Rachael, with a typical Wind River Canyon Brown. Stay tuned for a Yellowstone Lake update!

Huge Runoff...Firehole "On Fire"

Water levels throughout Wyoming and Eastern Idaho surged this week, as very heavy rains pounded the deep snow pack in the high peaks. Throughout the region, a very cool and wet May prevented much of the spring runoff from beginning. It really kicked into high gear this week. Heavy rains, and warmer temperatures brought the Snake River up to near record runoff levels. For those who do not know, the river volume is measured in "cfs", meaning "cubic feet per second". By drawing an imaginary line across the river, hydrologists can measure how many cubic feet of water are flowing by per second. Although we have not seen the record levels recorded from June 1997, the flows measured last week were very close.
Here are a few photos from the Snake River I snapped a few days ago. The first two at South Park Bridge, show a Snake River full of debris, looking more like chocolate milk, than river water. The third photo was taken at the Moose boat launch in Teton Park. The ramp is completely under water here. The South Park photos were taken on Wednesday, when the river was running about 22,000 cfs. For comparison, most guides would agree that after runoff, the Snake fishes best at about 2,500 cfs.
The South Fork of the Snake in Idaho, spilling out of Palisades Reservoir, was brought up to almost 22,000 cfs this weekend, in response to so much water coming out of Wyoming. I guided there last Tuesday at 14,500 cfs, and had tough fishing.
Although it is limiting our fishing options right now, the good news is that in high runoff years, the angling later in the summer can be excellent! The best bet around here right now is the Firehole River, in Yellowstone National Park. I spent the day there on Friday, and found stellar fishing; dries and nymphs were OK, but the streamer fishing was on fire. This can be the case in the spring when the river is higher.

Heavy Rains

The past few days around Western Wyoming and Eastern Idaho have brought us some very heavy rains, and warmer temperatures. The runoff has now been kicked into a much higher gear. The Buffalo Fork, Pacific Creek and the Gros Ventre River are all running at a very high level, with a chocolate milk coloring. The Snake River is running over 16,000 cfs at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon, and it is still rising. They are increasing the flows out of Jackson Lake Dam, as Jackson Lake nears capacity. The Green River is also running high and dirty at 1,860 cfs. Flood warnings were issued today also for the Henry's Fork River near Ashton, Idaho. A couple of months ago, we were worried about snowpack and water; at this point, things are looking much better. There is still a significant amount of snow left in Rendezvous Bowl at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. This is the snowfield that locals use as a gage to figure out when the Snake will be ready to fish. I'd say it will now be another 4 weeks at least before we are back on the Snake River. The best bet right now for local fishing is either on the Firehole River (which is running a little high also at almost 800 cfs), or the South Fork of the Snake. The South Fork is running at almost 9,000 cfs near Irwin, which is a great level to float. Both Palisades Creek and Pine Creek are putting in some muddy water right now, so be aware. The river is still fishable, with much of the dirty water mixing in. I guided on the Upper South Fork on Friday and had decent nymph fishing. Lightning Bugs and Red Copper Johns did fairly well. There was virtually no action on dries or streamers that we could find. Here's Memphis resident Ed Robertson with our best fish of the day...an 18" Brown trout. Nice fish Ed!